Caring for Your Sustainable Jewellery: My Tips for Longevity
I strive to create pieces that last a lifetime, and one of the best things about working with silver and gold is that they can always be restored to their original beauty.
Here are my top tips on how to keep your jewellery looking its best, and ways to bring back to the shine.
Things to Avoid
Sterling Silver and Gold Vermeil are susceptible to tarnish over time. Whilst water doesn’t directly hurt your jewellery, avoiding it being submerged for long periods will certainly keep it looking shinier for longer. Chlorine, body lotions & perfumes in particular should be avoided, as they will dull your pieces quickly.
Breakages happen, to minimise the risk it’s worth removing and safely storing jewellery whilst exercising or sleeping.
CLEANING
Carefully washing your jewellery with warm soapy water and gently polishing with a microfibre or specialist jewellery cloth will restore the shine.
For best results with Sterling Silver Jewellery use a silver polishing cloth, available to buy here. Please note that these contain a tarnish removing agent which can remove the gold from Gold Vermeil jewellery, so should only be used on Sterling Silver.
STORAGE
Tarnish occurs when silver and gold come into contact with the air, so store your jewellery in a box (such as the box it came in) to help keep tarnish at bay. Separating your pieces will help to reduce knocks and scratches - particularly keeping gold and silver apart, as gold is a softer metal.
My Commitment to Sustainability
With a focus on creating truly sustainable jewellery, I want my pieces to last a lifetime. Even with the best of intentions, much loved jewellery can get damaged, dirty, or in the case of Gold Vermeil – eventually start to lose its plate. If this is case for any of your Black Octopus Jewellery pieces, please get in touch to see how I can help bring your treasured piece back to life.
Read more about my commitments to sustainability here.