Caring for Jewellery

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Posted on July 04 2019

Much of the jewellery we receive has been personally given to us by someone special and the piece then becomes quite sentimental.  But how do we treat that piece of jewellery over the years.   I have heard so many times from people wearing chains "I never take it off", "I've had this for so long and its never broken before why is this happening now?".    Jewellery is a delicate piece even if its chunky and not all jewellery is made the same.  Its not a case of where you bought it ie chain store or high end store, its a case of how its made.  The cheaper the piece could mean for a ring it has been hollowed out, for a belcher necklace it could be hollow and so forth.  Again it makes no difference that is was bought from a high end brand or from a small family jeweller its a matter of how its been made.  

A gold piece of jewellery only has the amount of gold that is marked eg  9ct gold has only 37.5% gold in it the rest is additives. 18ct gold 75.0% is gold the rest additives.  The more gold the softer the piece and generally the more flexible a piece.  An 18ct gold ring if squashed a small amount it will bend, a 9ct gold ring may break not bend.  


So where am I going with all of this.  When you buy a car you see a service manual in the glove box and most of you know that it is important to get your car serviced to ensure it runs right all the time.   It is much the same as jewellery.  This is something you are wearing majority of the time and as such needs also to be cared for and serviced.   This mean every 6 months take it to a reputable jeweller and have them clean and check your item.  In the long run this will hopefully stop any heartache when your chain broke and fell off whilst you were on that run, the diamond in your ring lost in the garden.  Even checking your items yourself can be a big help in you not losing your special piece of jewellery.  If you care for you jewellery correctly it can last a very long time.  But like tyres, jewellery if worn every single day there is going to be wear and tear and as such it is up to you to be aware of how it looks and feels and how its cared for.  

Many people wear their chains in bed.  When you are tossing and turning in bed asleep you don't realise when your chain has got caught under shoulder and you have rolled and possibly stretched the links.  You have a ring that has claws and you were putting on that jumper the other day and you didn't realise the claw hooked and broke.  Or you were getting something out of the cupboard and knocked your hand against the saucepan and the claw was pushed out of place. For items that are so delicate, jewellery cops a bashing every day and yet many people are surprised when it breaks, or stones get lost.   We don't think twice when we drive out of the tyre place and drive home on a gravel road that a week later we have a puncture, we just accept that.  But the surprise on so many peoples faces when the ring they got loses a stone (especially as small one) a month after purchase.  They want to know why and believe the ring is a dude.  But do we actually think what we have done in that month. Where has that ring gone over the month?  What part of our body is used every single moment of our awake time? Your hands.   Where are our rings??? On our hands, just like the tyres on the car.   They are on the part of the body that cops a lot of bashing.  Chains that are worn all the time also end up getting a beating.  When you took off your shirt and it got caught up and hooked on your hair.  You picked up your grandson and he grabbed the chain.  Did you think that maybe he stretched the chain a bit when he grabbed it?  

So where am I going with this?   What I am trying to say is - Look after your jewellery.  Take time to get to know your jewellery.  Every day check the claws on your ring.  If you get your chain caught check that the jump ring didn't open or a link break.  Get your jewellery serviced.  Majority of jewellery does have an expiry date and this date will depend on how you treat it and care for it.     

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