How To Care For Your Gemstone and Silver Jewellery

Whenever you wear a piece of jewellery you expose it to all sorts of different pollutants in the air and in your skin. The old saying that prevention is better than cure is still valid today and there are ways that you can reduce the effects of air pollutants and help your gemstone and silver jewellery to stay as bright and untarnished as possible .

You can reduce the effects by gently wiping the jewellery over with a soft cloth and then putting it into a appropriately sized zip locked bag before you put it away in your jewellery box. Use the smallest size zip lock bag that will fit your piece of jewellery and work your fingers up from the bottom of the bag so that there is the minimum amount of air left in it by the time you seal the bag. The cloth you use should be soft 100% cotton and not used for other cleaning jobs. Because silver is a soft metal it is better to use gentle pressure in straight lines to clean jewellery than small circular movements, which could cause damage. For convenience keep your cloth in a bag in the same room as you put on and take your jewellery off. If you have been out partying and aren't in a fit state to worry about your jewellery do it as soon as you can.

All our jewellery is stored and shipped in a zip lock bag plus a gift box. Don't throw the zip lock bag away keep it to protect and care for your jewellery.

Even using the above method to care for your silver and gemstone jewellery, the chances are it will not stay completely untarnished over time and you will need to use another method to remove tarnish from the silver element of your jewellery. Silver tarnishes because it undergoes a chemical reaction with sulfur-containing substances in the air. Silver combines with sulfur to form silver sulphide, which is black, and darkens the silver. The silver can be made shiny again by removing the silver sulphide coating from the surface.

There are two ways to remove tarnish from silver. You can use polishes, which removes the silver sulphide or you can reverse the chemical reaction and convert the silver sulphide back into silver

The second method is ideal for completely silver items with no gemstones. It uses a chemical reaction, electro chemistry, to clean the silver and can be used on bigger household items of silver or silver plate as well as on silver jewellery and silver chains; detailed instructions can be found further on in this guide.

Cleaning Silver and Gemstone Jewellery

There are a lot of jewellery cleaners on the market but because of the variety of jewellery there is no single cleaner that will clean all metals and some can damage gemstones. You need a different cleaner to clean brass, silver and copper. Tarnish from different metals have a different chemical make up and therefore the cleaners need to be different too. What may clean copper may damage silver and vice versa. Make sure that you buy a product that is suitable for the piece of jewellery that you want to clean and follow the instructions carefully.

My preferred method is to use a Silver cleaning and polishing cloth. It's quick and easy to clean the silver parts of gemstone and silver jewellery and there is no mess to clear up or liquid to damage delicate gemstones. The best cloth I have found is the Blitz Jewellery Care Cloth, which is a two-in-one cloth made from 100% cotton flannel. It is two cloths sewn together in the middle, much like the rag books that you can get for children. The inner cloth is used to clean your silver jewellery and is treated with a tarnish remover and the outer one is used to polish the silver. The cloth is non toxic and can be used over and over again.

It shouldn't be used on Pearls, Opals, Coral, Lapis Lazuli, Malachite, Ivory, 24 carat gold or lacquered surfaces. Sea Witch's Cavern at present stock the Blitz Jewellery Care Cloth and also Blitz Silver Shine.

Blitz Silver Shine uses the electro chemical method of cleaning silver but packed into a neat little box, which would be ideal for travelling and when you don't want to take the kitchen sink with you.

Cleaning Silver Jewellery or Household Silver by Electro Chemistry

You will need

• A bowl large enough to fully immerse your silver item or items in and have room to spare.
• Aluminium foil or a disposable aluminum foil dish or bowl, which means you can dispense with a separate bowl.
• A pack of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda - Sodium Bicarbonate) Not Sodium Carbonate which is washing soda and shouldn't be used with Aluminium.
• A kettle of water, which you will need to boil.
• A sink - The kitchen sink is best for both safety and practical reasons.
• Oven mitts if the bowl or pan you use is metallic
• Washed hands - There is not a lot of point cleaning your silver or jewellery if your hands have natural oils on, which they will do even if they look clean.

If you are using a separate bowl, rather than a disposable aluminum one, place it in the sink and line it with aluminum foil.

Add your tarnished silver so that it is in contact with the aluminum foil.

Heat or reheat the water to boiling and then carefully pour into the bowl until the silver item or items are fully covered with water.

Add the baking soda (bicarbonate of soda - Sodium Bicarbonate). How much you need is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string. It's depends on the size of the article and how tarnished it is. I usually sprinkle in enough to cover the silver with a thin layer about a quarter of a centimetre thick. The baking soda will froth or fizz and it is why you should use a bowl which has room to spare after adding the silver and the boiling water. It is also a good reason to have the bowl in the sink because if you misjudge it will overflow harmlessly into the sink.

The tarnish should begin to disappear quickly, sometimes it attaches itself to the aluminum foil and leaves a brown or blackish stain on it. If the item is badly tarnished you may need to let it soak or repeat the process.

Remove your silver jewellery or household item, being careful that it is not still too hot and will burn you. My children say I have asbestos fingers so I find that by the time the Sodium Bicarbonate has done it's work I can take it out unprotected but if in doubt use oven mitts or a tea towel and rinse it under luke warm water to cool it down and rinse off the Sodium Bicarbonate residue. Rubbing gently with your fingers can speed the process and remove any remaining tarnish. With silver chains or intricate jewellery items a soft toothbrush designed for a baby can be used.

Gently dry the silver item with an 100% cotton cloth and if it's jewellery that you have cleaned, make sure that it is completely dry before you put it in a zip lock bag. Putting it on a cloth for an hour or so and letting it air dry will make sure it is completely dry.

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