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*Beaded Handmade Jewelry Home Page
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 Taking proper care of your gemstone jewelry is very important. We have already chosen quality stones to create a unique jewelry design, now you need how to keep your treasure looking great! Try to protect any of your gemstone jewelry from scratches, harsh chemical or extreme temperatures. One needs to store your pieces away from sunlight and/or heating vents as well. As with commercial jewelry, handmade jewelry should be reasonably durable, and able to withstand the wear and tear of normal daily activity. Common sense should be one's best guide when considering whether a piece of handmade jewelry is appropriate to be worn during a given activity. Caring for handmade jewelry will vary depending on the metals involved, as metals react to the environment in different ways. Pure ("fine") silver and pure (24 k) gold are very resistant to tarnish. However, their properties make these pure metals too soft to be used extensively in jewelry. The metals with which gold and silver are alloyed usually don't have great resistance to tarnish (also known as oxidation). Sterling silver contains 92.5% pure silver and the 7.5% remaining is usually copper. This small copper content makes sterling highly susceptible to tarnish, which is seen as a gray-to-black coating on the surface of the metal. Golds are also alloyed with copper, although they tend to hold up better to tarnishing. Oddly enough, tarnish on copper is green. Both brass and copper jewelry are susceptible to tarnish, and may be coated with a compound to seal the metal. This sealing coat may be subject to wear. It should also be mentioned that tarnish may be called patina, and may be desirable. Some artisans intentionally antique pieces to provide a contrast to show off texture, contrast different metals, or just create a look of age. Cleaning and polishing a piece that has developed a desirable patina may reduce the visual appeal of the piece. Bear this in mind before jumping in with an aggressive cleaning. To some degree, prevention can help with tarnish, especially in sterling silver. Sulfur in the air (sulfur dioxide, to be specific) is the main culprit. In areas with a high sulfur content in the air, or air pollution in general, tarnish will be harder to control. Paper products are usually processed with sulfur, so avoid storing jewelry (especially silver) in tissue paper, paper or cardboard boxes or paper bags. Ideally, storing jewelry in little zip-lock bags is best, as the atmosphere can't interact with the metal. There are also products that can be placed in jewelry storage areas that absorb the chemicals from the air. These have to be replaced periodically as they become "spent". It has also been reported that ordinary blackboard chalk will have the same result, although I have not tested this. Gentle cleaning with a soft bristled toothbrush and warm water with mild soap should be acceptable for most handmade jewelry. Before using an abrasive or cleaning compound, be sure to consider any gemstones present. See our page on Gemstone Dos and Don'ts. Cleaning with soap and water will not remove any tarnish, but will clean grime, especially from under faceted stones in prong settings. Titanium and anodized metals are very resistant to oxidation and should require no special care.
We hope this will help you to keep your jewelry looking great forever!! |
