No Diving, No Horseplay and No Gold in the Pool!

Did you know that your gold jewelry can be weakened or even broken by being in your chlorinated pool? Bleach and chlorine can turn your gold black, and even more importantly, the chemical reaction can actually break down your gold's strength. Depending on how highly chlorinated the pool is, the damage can happen over a long period of time or be nearly instantaneous!

If your gold has tarnished (turned a different color) we can clean it in our store, either by chemicals or by the jeweler using a buffing machine.

If the damage is severe, where the gold jewelry literally has fallen apart (yes, it CAN happen!), in some cases the piece is a total loss! That's serious!

Soooooo, no running around the pool deck, and NO gold in the pool! :)

Storing Your Silver

Anyone who owns silver jewelry knows that keeping it tarnish free is quite the task. What you save in costs you make up for in cleaning time! Modern pieces often have an industry-approved rhodium plating applied, which prevents tarnishing for the most part. But, for pieces that do not have that coating (and that can be the majority of your collection!) , we recommend storing your sterling silver in ziplock baggies. This prevents air from freely interacting with your silver and decreases the opportunity for tarnish to occur. It also had the added benefit of keeping your pieces from scratching each other, which could cause damage to stones!

Why Did My Gold "Turn"?

Recentlt, a client in my store had a 14kt yellow gold bracelet with a blackened area on it, which reminded me about when gold supposedly "turns."

First of all, when we say that a piece of jewelry "turns", we are really referring to the plating on metal that is in the process of wearing off. Turning can include the visible peeling of the top layer of metal, pitting, different textures on the same area or a green color being present. Real gold, meaning karated gold, does not "turn."

Instead, real gold "tarnishes." Tarnish can (in almost all cases) be cleaned off via sudsy ammonia, Tarn-x or machine buffing by a jeweler.If the tarnish on your genuine gold is orangish in color, it could be a result of hard water in your home, some perfumes, lotions, colognes or hairspray. These are good reasons to always put your jewelry on last before leaving the house!

If the tarnish is blackish in color, it could be a result of contact with bleach or chlorine. Diabetics and highly acid people can also darken the color of real gold.The client I mentioned at the beginning of this post had been cleaning her bathroom with her jewelry on, and clearly bleach had come into contact with it. Just another reason to avoid housework at all costs! Our bench jeweler cleaned and buffed the bracelet back to gleaming like-new, and the lady was thrilled. I love a happy client!

Note: Although in most cases these examples hold true, if you have any question about a piece of jewelry, take it your local independent jeweler for an expert opinion. In most cases, they will gladly tell you free of charge. (If they act grumpy or annoyed, find another jeweler!)