Every piece of The Elven Smith jewellery is crafted from precious metals and  semi-precious gemstones, and so with a little bit of care your jewellery should last you through the ages!

I created a quick general guide on how to care for your jewellery below, with some top tips on how to wear, store and clean!

1. Wearing Jewellery

Silver Jewellery naturally tarnishes over time, but wearing it regularly can actually help slow this process down. The movement against your skin actually helps to keep it clean!

However, since each piece is delicate by nature, I do recommend you make sure it doesn’t continuously rub against other metals or harsh surfaces as that will scratch your pieces over time.

To reduce tarnish I recommend:

• Not wearing jewellery in the shower, swimming in the sea and especially in chlorinated water as the chemicals will react with the metal

• Avoid spraying perfume or applying creams directly onto your jewellery. Let them dry on your skin before you put your jewellery on.

• Keep away from extreme temperatures, humidity and sunlight. 

• Avoid wearing when using bleach and other strong household cleaners

2. How to store your jewellery

Keeping your jewellery safe is best in a jewellery box where it can be stored individually - preventing scratching, but also getting tangled together!

Having a cool, dark and dry environment is key to keeping away tarnish

If you have them, use anti-tarnish squares to help absorb that moisture too!

3. Cleaning jewellery

Metal:

Lint free cloths are a great way to keep silver, yellow & rose gold, vermeil or plated jewellery clean and bright!

If your jewellery is really dirty, then use warm soapy water (dish soap works well!) and a soft toothbrush.

You can also give your pieces a buff with a silver or gold jewellery cloth (sunshine cloths and Towntalk are two great brands!). These are impregnated with cleaner to help remove tarnish.

You can use these cloths until they are black, they shouldn’t be washed.

TOP TIP!
If you have brass or gold plated items with light tarnish - put it into some tomato ketchup and rub it gently into the metal. 
Leave it for a couple of minutes before washing off thoroughly in warm water and dry.
Its a handy trick that works really well for bringing out the bright shine again.

Gemstones:

Most gemstones are quite robust, but if your jewellery contains gemstones please take a little extra care when cleaning.

For softer stones like pearls, opals, lapis lazuli and turquoise, do not use silver dip or ultrasonic cleaners or even excessively hot water as this can damage them. 

For Opal doublets, do not submerge in water as this could cause the materials that hold the layers together to dissolve.

Cord and leather:

The best way to clean synthetic cords is to occasionally wash with a mild soap in lukewarm water.

Leather cords should never be submerged in water or be worn swimming. Water will discolour leather and cause it to harden and crack.

Image by Master1305 on Freepik