Caring For Your Jewelry

General Information Caring for jewelry is a necessary part of owning the jewelry. With proper care, your jewelry will bring you continued satisfaction of ownership over the years. We are bringing you this information to help you know how to care for your jewelry and get that lasting satisfaction. Some tips to remember when caring for your jewelry include: * Clean your jewelry periodically. This will help ensure its fine appearance and will help it last. To clean, use warm soapy water (use a non-detergent soap) to soak your jewelry. * Use a soft brush to help remove dirt on the prongs of larger gem jewelry. Cultured Pearl Information Cultured pearls have a living organism origin. They are highly susceptible to damage and are very delicate; cultured pearl jewelry owners should be careful with their cultured pearls. Some tips to remember when caring for cultured pearls include: * Be careful where you store your cultured pearl jewelry. Metal and other materials can damage the surface of the cultured pearl. * Cleaning cultured pearls need only involve soap and water. Other cleaning agents may damage your cultured pearls. * Remove traces of cosmetics and other such materials from your cultured pearl jewelry before placing it in its storage place. * Wrap your cultured pearl jewelry in a tissue or other suitable holding device before placing it in its storage place. * You should bring your cultured pearl jewelry back to Chinn Jewelry for restringing when necessary. Gold This is one of the most precious metals in the world. It is present in the rivers, seas, and the earth’s crust and trace amounts are present in plants and animals. It is, however, difficult and expensive to extract. In modern mining operations approximately 3 tons of ore are needed to extract one ounce of gold. The many desirable qualities found in gold, along with its scarcity, have made it the most popular metal for use in jewelry today. Silver Information Silver, one of the world’s most useful metals, is also one of the world’s most valuable metals. It can achieve a great polish and does not tarnish in its pure form. Most silver jewelry is silver combined with other metals (alloys). This makes it more suitable for general jewelry use. Some tips to remember when caring for silver jewelry include: * Silver is scratch-resistant but not scratchproof. * In addition to the general jewelry care steps, silver jewelry care can benefit from special silver jewelry cleaning solutions. Check with Chinn Jewelry about these. * Avoid placing silver in chlorine-containing materials. * Be selective in what you use to clean your silver, i.e. pads, cloths, etc. Felt works well, as do special cleansing cloths designed for silver cleaning. Other materials, including tissue, should be avoided. Ask Chinn Jewelry for more information.