Worried about a little jewelry wear and tear?

Its inevitable. One day you look down at the ring or bracelet you're wearing and you notice the scratches and other signs of abuse. No matter if your piece is in steel or 24kt gold, after some time, it'll get a little banged up. There are some precautions you can take to extend the life of your jewelry a bit such as, not sleeping with your jewelry on (so many people do! how is that comfortable?), removing your rings and bracelets before doing chores, keeping them clean, taking them to your jeweler to have finishes put back on, etc... its about being mindful really.

If you know you're hard on jewelry you can choose metals that have the ability to withstand a lot of abuse. Metals like steel and 18kt gray gold are good choices. The steel that we use for jewelry is the same as in high-end watches and looks beautiful set with stones or on its own. Steel will get some scratches after a lot of wear but can be easily buffed out depending on the type of finish it has (satin, matte, semi-matte, etc).

18kt gray gold (that's right, 'gray' not white) is our proprietary alloy that's a true white metal and doesn't need to be rhodium plated or 'dipped' like white gold (un-plated or un-dipped white gold has a yellowish tinge). Gray gold is also more durable than other white metals such as, white gold, platinum, and silver. Depending on the type of finish, gray gold can look identical to platinum but hold up so much better.

Its always a good idea to bring in your jewelry at least once a year (especially if its pieces you wear everyday or very often) to have your jeweler inspect for damage. For example, if you have stones set in a prong setting, your jeweler will take a look at the wear on the prongs and be able to alert you to worn down or weakened prongs before you loose a stone.

Bring your jewelry by our studio for an inspection and free cleaning. We'll be happy to answer any questions you have for proper care and cleaning. We also have expert experience in conserving period pieces, so if have period items bring them in for us to take a look!

A fellow blogger, Wendy Brandes, has some helpful information on how to care for your fine jewelry. There's a link in our link list to the right or you can just click here. Its a good supplement to this post.

Now while this post is about the negative effects of wear on your items, we'll also post on the positive effects in tomorrow's post. Yes, there are positives! You can get really interesting effects from simply wearing your favorite pieces...its all in the chemistry between your skin and the material of your jewelry. More on that next time!