Fine jewelry that’s versatile and durable enough to be worn everyday is our JAM! The quality and craftsmanship behind each piece of jewelry are essential to ensure it lasts a lifetime. However, there are some things that jewelry owners should know about how they can preserve their precious bobbles amidst the daily hustle and bustle. Let’s discuss how to care for your jewelry so that it lasts and shines forever!
Key Factors That Affect Jewelry Durability
Jewelry durability depends on two main things: the quality of materials and expert craftsmanship. High-quality metals, precise settings, and thoughtful design ensure longevity, plain and simple.
However, even the strongest jewerly can show signs of wear when exposed to moisture, chemicals, or constant use. Proper care and storage will help preserve the shine and integrity of your jewelry, especially if you wear your pieces daily.
Metal Type and Quality
The metal you choose is the foundation of your jewelry’s strength and durability. Precious metals like platinum and high-karat gold are more resistant to tarnish and wear, making them ideal for everyday wear.
Lower-karat metals, such as gold or silver, can be beautiful but are more susceptible to scratches and oxidation over time. Durable alloys are blends of metals engineered for resistance, helping jewelry maintain its structure and appearance over time, ensuring the piece lasts for generations.
The Impact of Stone Settings
The setting you choose plays a major role in your jewelry’s longevity. A well-crafted setting provides both style and protection for your stones.
Secure options, such as bezel or channel settings, offer protective coverage and prevent diamonds or gemstones from loosening over time. More delicate prong or pavé settings can highlight a diamond’s cut and brilliance, but they may require extra attention to avoid bending or losing stones.
The quality of craftsmanship also matters—well-made settings keep gems firmly in place and preserve the piece’s structure over time.
How to Properly Care for Jewelry
Diamonds and strong, durable metals like gold and platinum are some of the most durable materials on earth and rank high on the Mohs scale. However, they're NOT indestructible! The gym is good for the mind/body and tough on jewels. Your rings, earrings, bracelets, and necklaces are all at risk here. Weight lifting, tightly gripping the handles of an elliptical, pressing your hands into the floor as you finally achieve that perfect handstand - these are all situations that can warp the metal of your rings, tangle necklaces, and snap bracelets.
The #1 place where jewelry gets lost is in water (pools, oceans and lakes)! Plunging into water or even hitting a surprise wave can easily remove jewelry from a slippery body. Skin naturally shrinks in water, which causes jewelry to fit much looser. Beware of chlorine in pools as it’s extra harsh and can strip your gems of their rich color and even breakdown gold. Store your jewelry in a cool, dry location (avoid places with high humidity, such as bathrooms).
To prevent scratches and dents, remove your jewelry during physical activities, heavy lifting, or household chores. When storing your jewelry, separate your pieces into individual compartments to prevent harsh contact and scratching.
Avoid exposure to chemicals! Remove your jewelry before applying lotions, perfumes, hairsprays, and cleaning products, as these can contain chemicals that can contribute to tarnishing.
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Important Note: Silver pieces should be stored in anti-tarnish pouches and cleaned regularly with a polishing cloth to prevent oxidation.
Gentle Home Cleaning Remedies
Good old soap and water! This method is classic and efficient – sometimes the simplest methods work best! Our favorite jewelry cleaning cocktail is: Warm water, gentle dish soap, and a soft toothbrush. A brush is extra important as it’s a safe way to get in between small cracks where gross things like to nestle. Then, softly pat the ring dry, followed by a few minutes of air drying. This mixture/process gently yet effectively washes away buildup.
A jewelry cleaner also works, but there needs to be something to move the dirt away; that’s why a soft toothbrush is great. We love our super easy DRD Jewelry Cleaner. Simply combine water with the contents of one cleanser pod in the eco-friendly jar, immerse your jewels in the solution, let them rest for five minutes, then scrub with the gentle brush (included) to remove any gunk. Rinse and blot dry with a soft cloth. The solution is good for several uses; however, we recommend changing out the water once it becomes murky. The system comes with two cleanser pods. [Please note this cleanser is not safe to use on pearls, soft stones or other gemstones].
We also offer our Jewelry Dish and Cleaner Set that comes with our cleaning solution! Everyone needs a trinket tray to store their favorite everyday jewels!
For those who love technology, ultrasonic jewelry cleaners (available on Amazon) are another cleaning option. They use frequency waves that shake and rattle the jewels in order to clear the dirt and debris. They typically work well, but due to the shaking from the machine, you should have a jeweler check your stones to make sure the prongs are tight — if they’re loose, your diamonds won’t be nestled snugly.
Professional Jewelry Maintenance: When to Get It Cleaned or Restored
We recommend occasionally cleaning your jewelry yourself with a mild soap solution and a soft toothbrush. Even the most durable jewelry pieces can benefit from a little professional attention. Professional cleaning and inspection should be done once or twice a year. If you notice visible scratches, dullness, bent settings or missing stones, those are all clear signs that you should take your jewelry in to be checked and restored.
Regular jewelry “checkups” with a jeweler that you trust helps maintain the beauty, safety and value. A jeweler can detect early signs of wear (loose stones, weak clasps or thinning prongs) which helps prevent loss of stones or - god forbid - the entire piece!
Most importantly: live your life worry free! Your fine jewelry should be worn proudly [almost] all of the time! Even a little grime can’t stop your diamonds from glistening, so no matter what, enjoy the jewels and hit them with a little extra TLC from time to time. DRD is a team of communicators - we love talking to our clients about anything and everything, so please email or call us to discuss ring cleaning concerns and more! We also want to see your jewelry care journey - tag us [@danarebecca / #everydayluxe]!
