Caring For Your Jewellery
Thank you bringing our creations into your life. We want you to enjoy your jewelry forever.
Here are our best tips to keep your jewelry clean and sparkling. We've organized our advice according to metal.
Whether made of silver, gold or platinum, be extra careful with soft gems like such as pearls, turquoise, lapis lazuli, coral and opals. Avoid exposing these delicate gems to chemicals such as hairsprays, perfume, swimming pools and the powerful Town Talk cleaning products we recommend below.
Silver Jewelry
Silver is a beautiful bright white metal that is known to darken over time. This discolouration is caused by skin oils as well as by tarnish developed with exposure to humid and acidic conditions.
If your silver is plated in gold or rhodium, clean it by gently with warm soapy water and a soft flannel or micro fibre cloth. Excessive rubbing will wear down the plating.
Our favourite way to clean non-plated sterling silver at home is by making a paste with equal parts dish soap (our favourite is Sunlight) and baking soda and cleaning your jewelry as follows:
- Gently rub the paste on your silver piece.
- Use a soft-bristle toothbrush to access hard-to-reach areas.
- Rinse in warm water. Dry immediately with a soft flannel or microfibre cloth as sterling silver tarnishes when humid. Do not use paper towels as they may scratch the silver.
- Once your silver is fully dry, restore its shine with our polishing cloth. Made by Haggerty, the polishing cloth also contains anti-tarnish agents that will give your jewellery a lasting shine and delay tarnish from developing in the future.
Another effective way to clean silver chains and silver jewellery that does not have any gems is with Town Talk Silver Sparkle. This powerful solution will restore your silver's shine in a brief minute. Due to its strength, follow these precautions when using Silver Sparkle.
- Protect your hands with gloves and cover your work surface. Silver Sparkle can leave permanent marks on stone and stainless steel surfaces. It's safe to use Silver Sparkle on a porcelain surface.
- Do not immerse jewellery with gems, especially soft gems like pearls, turquoise, lapis lazuli, coral and opal.
- Immerse your solid silver jewellery for seconds at a time and frequently checking its cleaning progress. Do not leave your immersed jewellery unattended.
- Once your jewellery is clean, rinse it well under water, dry it with a soft cloth and protect it with our Hagerty Polishing Cloth.
If you don't plan to wear your silver frequently, store your clean jewelry in our Anti-tarnish pouch so that it stays shiny and tarnish-free.
Fine Jewellery, Diamonds & Precious Gems
Diamonds & Faceted Gems
Gems lose their sparkle when covered in skin oils and lotions.
Restore your diamonds' sparkle by cleaning them in warm water mixed with a small amount of dish soap. Use a soft-bristle toothbrush to clean the hard to reach areas.
If in a pinch or when travelling, rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball will clean your precious faceted gems.
Gold and Platinum
Gold and platinum do not tarnish and require minimal care. Clean your jewellery with warm soapy water and dry it gently with a soft microfibre cloth.
White gold is often plated in rhodium to give it a bright white finish. Be extra gentle when cleaning white gold jewellery to prevent wearing down the plating.
Avoid exposing your solid gold jewellery to chlorinated or salt water pools as the chemicals may react with and discolour your gold. Should this take place, we can re-polish your gold to restore its shine.
To give your wedding rings and fine jewellery a deeper cleaning, restore their sparkle with Town Talk Jewel Sparkle by following these steps:
- Protect your hands with gloves and cover your work surface.
- Jewel Sparkle works wonders on hard, faceted gems like diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, amethysts, etc. However, avoid contact with soft gems like pearls, turquoise, lapis and coral.
- Immerse your jewellery for a few seconds, observing the cleaning progress. Do not leave your immerse jewellery unattended.
- Once clean, rinse your fine jewellery thoroughly under water and dry it with a soft cloth.
- Revel in the sparkle!
If you have specific questions on how to best clean jewellery we have created for you, please contact us.