Taking care of your ethical fine jewellery from Hargreaves Stockholm
After 20 years as a master goldsmith, Hargreaves Stockholm’s founder Jemima Hargreaves has a pretty good idea about how to look after your ethical fine jewellery.
Any piece of fine jewellery, (especially so from Hargreaves Stockholm of course!) is a lifetime investment in craftsmanship and ethics, designed to be worn, be part of your life and an heirloom for future generations. Taking care of it will help to maintain the original finish and may help avoid future repair or costly restoration of your fine jewellery.
USE AND SAFEKEEPING
Jemima recommends these simple practices that will help to prolong the lifespan of your beautifully made piece of jewellery.
Put on your jewellery in the morning and take it off at night before bedtime. Jewellery should be the last thing you put on. After your shower, after your clothes and after your perfume/aftershave or cosmetics.
Make sure to take off your jewellery before house and garden work, cooking, swimming, bathing and sports activities especially the gym.
Keep your fine jewellery in a safe place, the original packaging that came with the item is often best.
Do not put heavy objects on top of jewellery items as this may cause damage to your jewellery.
Chains should be stored flat, hung or wrapped around something soft to avoid tangling.
To avoid marks and scratches on your jewellery, it is best not to directly expose it to rough or hard objects as these may cause damage to the precious metal. Be aware of things like contact with other pieces of (gold) jewellery (clapping when wearing rings on both hands is genuinely one of the most damaging thing you can do. Theatre goers beware!), door knobs, bannisters, garden tools, stoneware and clay pottery. We want you to love your jewellery and feel confident wearing it but to prolong the life of your jewellery, try to be aware of things that are damaging.
Fine jewellery with diamonds or precious stones should be checked once a year depending on how frequently the jewellery is worn. Wear that may constitute a risk of stones becoming loose or even lost might be difficult to see but is worth checking.
GOLD AND SILVER
Gold and silver are malleable materials, soft enough to be worked easily with handtools. A patina of age and use is part of the natural beauty of a piece of gold or silver jewellery. Although gold doesn’t tarnish in the same way that silver does, both can get dirty from the oils in the skin, body lotions and perfume.
We recommend that gold jewellery without precious stones is cleaned frequently using jewellery care products without abrasives. Solid gold is easy to care for, you can remove the dirt and restore the shine in seconds.
Fill a small bowl with hot water and gentle soap . Place your jewellery in the solution for 1 minute, rinse with clean water and polish with a soft 100% cotton cloth and pat completely dry. A soft toothbrush is also great for removing marks.
Silver pieces can be cleaned using any of the commercially available solutions, we prefer the non chemical ones.
For the best care, store your jewellery in its original packaging when it’s not being worn to minimise tarnishing.
All Hargreaves Stockholm gold and silver jewellery is 100 % nickel-free.
STONE SET JEWELLERY
Coloured gemstones are fragile and do not possess the durability of diamonds. Even so, in order to avoid scratched, or chipped precious stones and fractured diamonds, jewellery should be worn with care.
Precious stones can be affected by chemicals, losing their shine when exposed to oils, lotions, perfume, detergents etc. For this reason precious stone and diamond jewellery should be gently cleaned with a soft toothbrush and tepid water.
Stones set in claw or crown settings are particularly vulnerable to damage from accidental impact, so be especially careful if you are wearing your jewellery when you are out and about.
Rings are more exposed than other pieces of jewellery. especially the part of the ring that faces the palm of the hand, will be particularly exposed to wear.
