Jewelry Care Tips

You’ve channeled all your energy into choosing the perfect jewelry for yourself or for someone you love. Not only are your dollars invested, but now your memories are too. Avoid ring damage and premature wear by learning how to properly clean and care for your precious gems.

We’ve been in the jewelry industry for a long time . so we’ve seen a lot of jewelry tragedies. This guide is our method for reducing those tragedies—giving you years of expertise from our own jewelers on the care and keeping of gems.

Protecting Your Jewelry from Daily Wear and Tear
Your daily habits heavily influence how and how often you’ll need to clean your fine jewelry pieces. By practicing standard care, like removing your rings to do the dishes, take a shower, or lift weights at the gym, you’ll preserve the life of your heirloom.

Here are some things to avoid:

Everyday chemicals like bathroom cleaners (use gentle chemicals or remove your rings for cleaning).
Pool chlorine.
Outdoor elements (dirt, beach sand, and salt water).
Gym weights.
Team sports with heavy equipment (like baseball).
Manual labor—anything that requires precision and heavy lifting.
If you’re unsure about whether or not something is safe for your ring, just take it off. It’s better to be safe! You can keep a ring holder at home for chores and a special pocket in your purse for outdoor activities. Form a habit, so you always know where to find your ring when you’re ready to put it back on.

How to Clean Gold Jewelry?
The most common types of gold—yellow gold, rose gold, and white gold—should be gently washed about once a year. Too frequent cleaning can damage the metal, which is why we encourage this timeline in addition to daily care.

Here’s how to clean your gold:
Find a mild dish soap (preferably unscented) and mix it with a cup of warm water and two teaspoons of baking soda.
Allow the jewelry to soak for a few minutes.
Take a toothbrush with soft bristles or a microfiber cloth and gently scrub the gold until shiny.
Dry and polish with a jeweler’s microfiber cloth.
When stored, your gold rings should be fully dry and kept in their own box or cloth bag. This is because metal can damage other metals when scraped or jostled.

If you aren’t seeing results from cleaning your gold, it may be time to re-rhodium plate your band. This is common jewelry maintenance—and low cost (around $60). You can take it to your local jeweler to have this done.

How to Clean Diamonds and Gemstones?
Diamonds and gemstones can generally be cleaned with the same soap and water technique used for gold. However, it’s important to pay attention to the hardness of the stone (you can learn this on the Mohs Scale). Softer gemstones like tanzanite, peridot, and garnet should be cleaned and worn with extra care, since they are easier to damage.

Caring for Black Gold and Blue Gold Jewelry
If you’ve purchased a black gold or blue gold ring from JooJewel, you’re probably the object of many compliments. These gold variations are truly striking and incredibly unique!

That said, “beauty is pain” applies well to blue and black gold variations. They require a special care routine. Blue and black gold can rub off over time—sometimes after just a few years of wear. When it’s time to replate black gold, it has to be done with a different type, like yellow gold or white gold.

That’s why it’s so important to preserve your ring with proper care. Be sure to remove your black gold ring for any strenuous activities. Make sure it doesn’t come in contact with hand sanitizers or skincare products like lotion. If you need to clean it, either take it to a professional or use warm water and a microfiber cloth.

Should You Buy an Ultrasonic Jewelry Cleaner?
Ultrasonic jewelry cleaners use high frequency waves to wash gold and gemstones without damage. Instead of scrubbing away dirt and oil yourself, the fluid in your ultrasonic cleaner is designed to gently pull away debris. This machine is a great investment—and will ensure you’ll get the best and safest clean with every use. It is safe for almost every type of jewelry.

Traveling with Luxury Jewelry
Obviously, you need your ruby rings with you in Greece for your Instagram photos. This isn’t a question.

Traveling with fine jewelry does raise concerns for the cleanliness and care of your jewelry, though. In order to keep your favorite accessories free from dirt and damage, we recommend packing them in individual cloth bags, ring boxes, or a travel case that carefully separates each piece of jewelry.

When Should You Take Your Jewelry to a Professional?
Your local jeweler probably has a cleaning service—and this can be a great option if you feel intimidated by the idea of mixing your own safe cleaner at home. In just a few minutes, your ring will become just as shimmery as the day it was removed from the box.

There are other reasons why you might want to take your jewelry to a professional, too. If you notice scratches on the gold, missing gemstones, or anything abnormal on your ring, you should immediately take it to a jeweler for inspection.

The Purpose behind Regular Fine Jewelry Cleaning
Every day, our hands are exposed to massive amounts of dirt, grime, and germs. Over time, these elements can build up on jewelry and slowly start to dull its shine.

You might not immediately notice that your engagement ring or anniversary ring has lost its brightness. But if it’s been more than a year since you dusted off your jewelry, you will notice the difference after you pull it out of soapy water.

We think clean jewelry should be considered self-care. Proper upkeep of precious stones and metals can increase your jewelry’s value over time, too.

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