Do Not Despair When Jewellery Cleaning Products Are Near.

We all love beautifully polished and shiny jewellery! What happens though when the metal starts to discolour or tarnish.

Firstly, do not panic – this is a perfectly normal thing for most precious metals to do, including sterling silver and gold.

Jewellery which has a base alloy metal and is coated to look like silver or gold is however problematic and is often referred to as costume jewellery. If you can afford to, it is best to save up and buy jewellery which is either solid silver or gold, even platinum.

At The Jeweller’s Florist we work in sterling silver and gold (for commission pieces). Our sterling silver range is either plated in Rhodium (silver in colour), Yellow Gold or Rose Gold.

The Yellow Gold and Rose gold plating is just a very thin layer, so special care needs to be taken when wearing these pieces. All yellow and rose gold plating will fade eventually so it is not recommended that they be worn as everyday items but rather saved to wear on special occasions.

Yellow or Rose Gold plated sterling silver jewellery which has faded can be replated at a cost or if it has tarnished this can easily be remedied with a soft polishing cloth (I use the Town Talk one) or a gentle cleaning jewellery dip (I use the Connoisseur jewellery dip range – there is one for silver jewellery and a separate one for gold).

Tarnishing occurs over time when jewellery comes into contact with abrasive chemical agents such as perfume, salty air, sulphur, skin creams, chlorine, perspiration, hair gel or spray and acidic skin ph. balance.

Do not discard or set aside your precious pieces because of this. Grab that polishing cloth or dip and in a few seconds your beloved jewellery will be shiny and ready for you to wear.

Treat your jewellery with love and respect and wear it with pride.