Maintaining the Beauty of Your Jewelry

Jewelry maintenance is just as important as the jewelry itself when it comes to long-term wear. Over time, chemicals in the air corrode at the metals, causing tarnish. Jewelry can also get dull over time or take on hues as the top plating of metal wears off. Here are some ways to keep your jewelry looking brand new even years later.
Rhodium Plating

Most white gold jewelry and some silver jewelry are plated in rhodium. Rhodium is a metal that is resistant to tarnishing. However, over time jewelry loses its brilliance and lust and can get dull as the rhodium wears away. To restore jewelry to a like new condition, jewelers will re-dip it in rhodium. This is most common for white gold jewelry since it begins to take on a yellow hue as the rhodium wears off but has become increasingly more common for silver jewelry to delay tarnishing.

Proper Cleaning

To maintain the original luster of your fine jewelry, it is important to wipe down your jewelry after you wear it with a cleaning or polishing cloth. This cloth removes any excess dirt or materials that have gathered on your jewelry through daily wear. The daily wipe will help slow down how quickly your jewelry tarnishes.

Storing Your Jewelry

Storing your jewelry is just as important to maintaining the beauty of your jewelry. After you finish wearing your jewelry, your storage should be airtight in order to minimize the airflow the jewelry receives and to avoid tarnish. Plastic bags are a great, inexpensive choice for storage.

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