Jewelry needs just as much love and care as you do. For this edition of our blog we have decided to share a few tips and tricks for caring for your jewelry. It is easy to forget to take care of your jewelry when you are busy with your day-to-day activities. Once you read this article we hope that these tips can be added to your everyday habits—we've also listed a few creative jewelry hacks for organization!

1. Be Cautious with Light and Heat Exposure

When wearing semi-precious stones, like the ones in our charms and one-of-a-kind necklaces and rings (amethyst, topaz, onyx, etc.), be cognizant that they can be damaged when exposed to heat or the sun for an excessive amount of time. Don’t stress yourself out too much about this; but keep in mind that if you have a beach weekend planned, protect your jewelry just like how you would protect your skin from the sun.

2. Chemicals + Jewelry = A Big No-No

This may seem like a given, but it is easy to forget: precious metals and precious and semi-precious stones can be damaged when exposed to household cleaning products, chlorinated pools, and even everyday grooming and beauty products like hairspray, lotion and perfume. Especially when wearing gold vermeil and sterling silver, be extra cautious when you’re using cleaning and beauty products. Also when taking a swim, be mindful of removing your pieces! The tarnishing process is sped up when jewelry is submerged in chlorine for a long period of time. 

3. End-of-Day Cleaning

Wiping your jewelry down after taking them off and before storing them away can work wonders. Use an anti-tarnish cloth for best results. You want to make sure there is no leftover moisture, oils or dust from a full day of wear.

4. Storing Your Jewelry

Always store your jewelry in a case, box or silk pouch, and keep pieces separated from one another. This will ensure that your pieces will not scratch or tarnish. Also, no one likes to spend an hour detangling chains!

5. No-Soak Treatment for Stones

When cleaning jewelry pieces with stones, use a small soft-bristle brush dipped in a shampoo-and-water mixture to clean them. Then use a damp cloth to wipe all excess moisture off of your piece.

6. Quirky Tip for Storing Necklaces

Hurriedly detangling a chain necklace while getting ready can be so frustrating and ruin your mood as you're about to head out. A trick we recommend is a straw! Insert your chain through the straw leaving one side out then connect with the clasp. This trick works beautifully when traveling!

7. No More Missing Earrings

Earring pairs are so easily misplaced (kind of like socks). Buttons are a great way to organize your earrings. All you have to do is put the earring post through a button’s hole and attach the earring back to secure it. This is a cheap and effective tip to help keep yourself organized,

8. Jewelry Box Care

Chalk is an easy way to help eliminate trapped moisture in your jewelry box. Just do not forget to change out your piece of chalk every couple months. Moisture build up jewelry can increase the chances of tarnishing, chipping or other damage to pieces.

9. Ketchup

Ketchup is a DIY sterling silver cleaning tip! It sounds funky, yes, but it actually works! The acidic components in ketchup react with the oxidation of the tarnished silver. Leave your jewelry submerged in the ketchup for 5-10 minutes, after which you can proceed to rinse them with warm water and unscented soap, and then gently buff with a polishing cloth. You will be surprised when you see the results!

10. Alka-Seltzer Shine Repair

If your jewelry is starting to lose its shine, drop your piece into a glass of fizzing Alka-Seltzer for a few minutes. Once you remove them, they will come out looking brand new!

As a sustainable brand, we do our part by keeping our manufacturing practices up to high ethical standards. As a consumer, your part in sustainability is making sure our pieces last a lifetime. We hope that this article gave you some special insight on how to do just that.

[Note: the bracelet featured in the above photos is our Madison Paper Clip Chain Bracelet with Celestial Charms, from our spring/summer 2022 collection.]

Article by Chloe Tribe

Photographed by Angelo Kangleon