Take Your Jewelry Off
I know it's hard to imagine a jeweler saying this, but I want you to take your jewelry off. Not all the time, but when you're doing these everyday activities:
- Cleaning - chemicals used around the house, like bleach and ammonia, can damage metal and gemstones. Hitting your ring against metal pots and pans while doing dishes can misshape the setting and cause damage to prongs.
- Putting on lotion or sunscreen - not only can the lotion or sunscreen take away the sparkle of your stone, certain porous stones like Opal and Pearl can be damaged.
- Applying hairspray or perfume - it's easy to leave your necklace on while you're getting ready, but don't do it. Hairspray and perfume build up and eat away at the metal, weakening your chain. They can also strip the plating off of a gold or rhodium plated piece.
- Swimming - chlorine reacts with most metals and can cause corrosion a pitting. This can lead to chains breaking and prongs dissolving. It will also eat way any plating, including rhodium and lacquer, which will discolor your piece.
- At the gym - repeatedly hitting your ring against equipment can cause the shape to become deformed. This causes breaks in the metal and loose stones. Silicone bands are a great option for individuals that spend a lot of time being active.
- Hiking, camping, rock climbing, etc. - although diamonds are extremely hard, they have a fracture point. If you are out in the woods and hit your ring against a rock at the correct angle, it could crack or possibly even shatter. You could also bend your prongs or scratch a softer stone.
This is not an all inclusive list, but does cover the top causes of damages that come in locally. I love working on jewelry, but hate to see preventable injuries coming into the shop. For more information on getting your jewelry fixed, visit our Repair page.