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Caring For Your Jewelry

General Information

Caring for jewelry is a necessary part of owning the jewelry. With proper care, your jewelry will bring you continued satisfaction of ownership over the years.

We are bringing you this information to help you know how to care for your jewelry and get that lasting satisfaction. Some tips to remember when caring for your jewelry include:

  • Clean your jewelry periodically. This will help ensure its fine appearance and will help it last. To clean, use warm soapy water (use a non-detergent soap) to soak your jewelry.
  • Use a soft brush to help remove dirt on the prongs of larger gem jewelry.

 

Cultured Pearl Information

Cultured pearls have a living organism origin. They are highly susceptible to damage and are very delicate; cultured pearl jewelry owners should be careful with their cultured pearls. Some tips to remember when caring for cultured pearls include:

  • Be careful where you store your cultured pearl jewelry. Metal and other materials can damage the surface of the cultured pearl.
  • Cleaning cultured pearls need only involve soap and water. Other cleaning agents may damage your cultured pearls.
  • Remove traces of cosmetics and other such materials from your cultured pearl jewelry before placing it in its storage place.
  •  Wrap your cultured pearl jewelry in a tissue or other suitable holding device before placing it in its storage place.
  • You should bring your cultured pearl jewelry back to Chinn Jewelry for restringing when necessary.

 

Gold

This is one of the most precious metals in the world. It is present in the rivers, seas, and the earth's crust and trace amounts are present in plants and animals. It is, however, difficult and expensive to extract. In modern mining operations approximately 3 tons of ore are needed to extract one ounce of gold. The many desirable qualities found in gold, along with its scarcity, have made it the most popular metal for use in jewelry today.

Properties of Gold
Gold in its pure state:

  • Has a melting point of 1945 degrees Fahrenheit (1063 degrees Celsius). When alloyed (chemically combined) with other base metals the melting temperature of the resulting alloy is changed. 18K yellow gold has a melting point of 1675 degrees Fahrenheit and 14K yellow gold has a melting point of about 1550 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Has a specific gravity of 19.33. It is relatively heavy compared to most metals, such as silver (SG 10.7) or iron (SG 7.8). A notable exception is platinum (SG 21.4).
  • Is more malleable than any other metal and can be hammered into foil so thin that it is almost transparent.
  • Has a unique ductility property allowing it to be drawn into wire so fine it can barely be seen.
  • Is deep yellow in color. Its great reflectivity properties help keep its brightness and color from fading with time.
  • Will not rust, tarnish or corrode. Gold jewelry recovered from ancient Egyptian tombs is in the same state as when placed there over 4000 years ago.
  • Is softer than most other metals. On the Mohs scale of hardness (which is a measure of a gemstone or mineral's resistance to scratching), gold has a hardness value of 2 to
  • 2.5. Diamond has a value of 10. Pure gold may easily be scratched. Fortunately, gold becomes harder when alloyed with other base metals.
  • Is relatively scarce and therefore expensive. It is estimated that only 125,000 tons of gold have been mined the world over since the beginning of time.
  • Is able to bond with other base metals. This property gives rise to the many different colors available in modern gold alloys.

Fineness (Karat Value)
Since ancient times the purity of gold has been defined by the term karat, which is 1/24 part of pure gold by weight. Pure gold is equivalent to 24K. Gold purity may also be described by its fineness, which is the amount of pure gold in parts per 1000. For example, a gold ring containing 583 fine gold has 583 parts (58.3%) gold and 417 parts (41.7%) of other base metals.

Federal Trade Commission rules require that all jewelry items sold in the United States as gold shall be described by "a correct designation of the karat fineness of the alloy." No jewelry item less than 10K may be sold in the United States as gold jewelry.

The following table lists the relationship between different international gold markings.

Fineness of Gold Karats

United States Markings Parts Gold Gold % European Markings
24K 24/24 100% 1000 or 999
22K 22/24 91.7% 916 or 917
18K  18/24 75.0% 750 
14K 14/24 58.3% 583 or 585
10K 10/24 41.7% 417

 

Diamond Information

Some of the most popular jewelry items involve diamond jewelry. Diamonds are durable and the hardest material known. Because of the amount of light that can enter a diamond, they shine very well.

The 4 C's is a way of describing the quality/traits of a diamond.

The 4 C's:

Color-The more colorless the diamond, generally, the more valuable it is.

Cut-A full-cut diamond has 58 facets, flanked surfaces on the stone. This is considered a roughly "perfect" cut. Other cuts have different values.

 Clarity-The clearer the diamond, the less foreign matter (inclusions, ­air bubbles, rubies, black spots of carbon, or anything else that is in the stone) is present in it, the more sparkly it is, and the more valuable it is.

Carat Weight -The higher the carat weight, the higher the value of the diamond.

Some tips to remember when caring for diamond jewelry include

  • Avoid wearing diamond jewelry when performing manual labor.
  • Ammonia and water, as well as several commercial cleaners, work well for diamond jewelry.
  • Avoid placing your diamond jewelry in chlorine-containing substances.

Some tips to remember when caring for gold jewelry include:

  • Be wary of makeup, moisture, and chemicals that may affect your gold jewelry's appearance.
  • Keep gold jewelry out of swimming pools with chlorine; chlorine can damage it over a period of time.
  • Check your gold jewelry for scratches or other damage, and bring it to Chinn Jewelry if there is any damage; we may be able to repair it.

 

Platinum Information

The purity of platinum is often higher than that of gold. Platinum jewelry is usually in the neighborhood of 90%+ pure. It also more "solid" than gold in terms of how resistant it is to tarnishing by chlorine, etc. It is very strong; plus, it is a very popular choice in jewelry making.

Some tips to remember when caring for platinum jewelry include:

  • Fortunately, platinum is very durable and does not lose its polish very easily. Cleaning patterns are the same as other metals.
  • For jewelry that combines platinum with other fine jewelry components (like gold), clean those substances and care for them as you would if they were not paired with platinum. Also, keep in mind the necessary steps for caring for these other components.

 

Silver Information

Silver, one of the world's most useful metals, is also one of the world's most valuable metals. It can achieve a great polish and does not tarnish in its pure form. Most silver jewelry is silver combined with other metals (alloys). This makes it more suitable for general jewelry use.

Some tips to remember when caring for silver jewelry include:

  • Silver is scratch-resistant but not scratchproof.
  • In addition to the general jewelry care steps, silver jewelry care can benefit from special silver jewelry cleaning solutions. Check with Chinn Jewelry about these.
  • Avoid placing silver in chlorine-containing materials.
  • Be selective in what you use to clean your silver, i.e. pads, cloths, etc. Felt works well, as do special cleansing cloths designed for silver cleaning. Other materials, including tissue, should be avoided. Ask Chinn Jewelry for more information.