Caring For Your Jewellery

Tips and advice - Caring for your Antique & Vintage Jewellery

Whilst the majority of the Jewellery we sell is suitable for everyday wear, it does need a certain degree of tender loving care! (Oo lovely that rhymes!)

Cleaning

Most items (with exceptions noted below) can be simply cleaned when armed with a baby toothbrush and some hot soapy water. It’s amazing what a quick clean can do to bring a lacklustre piece of Jewellery back to it’s former glory! Of course you will receive your Jewellery squeaky clean and ready to wear when purchased from Nellies Trove! But we do recommend a periodic clean once your piece of Jewellery is living its new life with you.

To clean a ring (and most other pieces too) that has collected a little debris along the way, submerge in hot soapy water and leave to soak and unwind for half an hour so the dirt can soften and be removed with ease. Using a Baby toothbrush (nice soft bristles) gently clean the item, be careful with claw settings that may be delicate. Get to the back of the setting with the brush and remove any dirt behind the stones that might be dulling their appearance. Rinse away the cleaning residue from the piece in clean water and dry

Never get any memorial pieces containing hair wet!

The piece of Jewellery can be polished with a soft cloth or the Jewellery cleaning cloths that are widely available are very good at bringing any dulled precious metal back to life

(Exceptions: Don’t soak Emeralds, Opal doublets/triplets, Pearls, Amber or Turquoise and definitely don’t put them in an ultrasonic cleaner!)

Emeralds shouldn’t be soaked in water as they often have oil treatments that can be compromised, they can be cleaned with a soft brush and warm soapy water and rinsed

Pearls shouldn’t be soaked in water and are susceptible to damage from harsh agents like cleaning products and perfumes try and avoid your pearls/ pieces containing pearls coming into contact with these and clean gently with a dampened cloth, a soft Brush can be used to remove any stubborn dirt, always dry well before putting them away. Pearls can even be damaged by perspiration so should be gently wiped after wear, if they have been worn on bare skin. Never apply heat for example with a hairdryer as this can damage them.

Solid Opals can be gently soaked in water however they are susceptible to changes in heat, they can be cleaned with warm soapy water and a soft brush. Opal Doublets and triplets should not be soaked in water as this can damage the structure

General Care

Diamonds are the hardest precious stones, Sapphire and Ruby coming in close second on the Mohs hardness scale but this does not mean they are indestructible! Emeralds are more susceptible to damage as they can be brittle and do need extra care

Care is needed especially with older pieces that may have more delicate settings, always remove your Jewellery when doing manual work, cleaning, playing sports and swimming

We love the traces of time to be maintained on our Jewellery so our pieces will usually have been only hand cloth polished but if you prefer a ‘back to new look’ ask a working jeweller to machine polish your piece (not all pieces are suitable for machine polishing)

Pieces with set stones if worn regularly should be checked periodically ideally by a Jeweller to make sure they are still safe in their settings and not liable to fall out!

We hope you have found this info useful, it isn’t an exhaustive list, feel free to contact us if you have any questions about how to care for your piece