25 June 2012

Care for your gold jewellery

Care
Despite its flexibility, gold is also renowned for its indestructibility. With its unique resistance to the ravages of time, given the proper care gold will retain its beauty and colour for generations to come.

Here are three simple but important tips for looking after your gold jewellery.

Cleaning

Experts recommend cleaning your gold jewellery regularly.

For best results, use a soft cleaning cloth, chamois leather or synthetic chamois – together with a good cleaning liquid.

Apply the liquid to the cleaning cloth and dab generously onto the jewellery. Polish the metal in a gentle, circular motion, making sure to cover the entire surface of the gold.

Next, using a dry area of the cloth, polish the newly cleaned gold, again using a circular motion. This will remove any excess cleaning fluid, and give your jewellery a deep, clear shine.

Follow these easy guidelines and you can maintain the lustre of your gold jewellery indefinitely.

Alternatively, you can visit a reliable jeweller and have your jewellery professionally cleaned. This may seem like an extravagance but many reputable jewellers will offer this as a free service to trusted clients. Even if not, we all spend considerable sums cleaning and caring for things that mean a lot less.

Storage

Individual pieces of gold jewellery can scratch and wear if they are not respected. It is therefore advisable that you store your gold jewellery with care.

The best place to store gold jewellery is in a lined box. Keep individual items separate inside the box, ensuring that they cannot touch each other; as an additional safeguard, wrap smaller items individually in tissue paper before placing them in your box.

Be careful not to place multiple pieces of gold jewellery in pouches. Such storage can lead to minor damage if separate pieces make contact, especially if the piece is studded with diamonds or other hard gemstones.

Every effort you make to care for your gold will pay dividends in terms of maintaining its beauty and longevity.

Insurance

It sounds obvious but it is really important to insure your gold jewellery, as this allows you to recover the full value of a piece should it ever be misplaced or stolen; most people are unaware of the true replacement value of a treasure which has been in the family for generations. A photograph of your jewellery will help trace an item should you ever lose it.


source: http://www.gold.org/jewellery/about_gold_jewellery/care/

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