Eight Easy Steps to Care for Your Jewellery

To preserve the beauty and sparkle of your jewellery so that it will shine for years to come, it is important to understand how to care for each of your pieces.

Webb’s Jewellery Department assesses, values, catalogues and successfully sells thousands of pieces—including rings, necklaces, bracelets, watches and objects of virtu, valued at over $1 million—at auctions across the year. Here, the department offers some simple steps for maintaining the sparkle and shine of your jewellery:

1. Never allow your jewellery to come into contact with chlorine bleach, as it can pit gold alloys. Also, chlorine will tarnish silver severely.

2. Never wear your jewellery while showering or cleaning, because gold jewellery will develop a soapy film, which will dull its appearance.

3. Never expose your gemstones to salt water and harsh chemicals, as these will dull and erode your gems.

5. Never rub gold or silver with anything other than a polishing cloth or a piece of felt.

6. Never clean cultured pearls with chemicals or abrasives, as this will damage and scratch the surface of the pearls.

7. Avoid allowing pearls to come into contact with perfumes, hairspray or cosmetics.

8. Never wear jewellery to bed or while participating in sport, as this may cause kinking, snagging or breakage.