It’s a well known fact diamonds are the hardest gemstone; as measured on the Mohs Scale of hardness. On a handy scale of 1 to 10 they register a full 10. Over day to day use with a little TLC you can keep their sparkle and learn some handy tips to spot any warning signs with your jewellery and especially rings which receive the most wear.
At home, a soft toothbrush and some warm soapy water will remove most handcreams, dirt and general mess from your jewellery. A polishing cloth (we have them in the shop) will then help you polish any exposed metal work.
Diamonds, gold and platinum all wear over time – sometimes faster, sometime slower depending on the wearer. This sometimes causes puzzlement however when ones takes a minute to reflect, we all know people who seem to go through clothes faster than others, or who seem to ‘wear harder’.
As you might expect, we have some tools and machinery here in store that allow us to finish to a professional standard and we’d be happy to quote you for this. Typical prices will start from around £45 and we’ll always guide you through and advise honestly and with options if available. Click here to see a bit more about our repair services.
For customers who have bought their jewellery, engagement ring, wedding rings etc from us, we will always give them a quick valet clean with our compliments in store (please allow a couple of hours to organise) though there is a nominal charge for a full restoration.
Over and above cleaning, there are a few little things to watch out for:
Does your ring fit properly? If it’s too loose and swings around your finger, you may run an enhanced risk of accidentally damaging the gemstones when they’re facing inside your hand. Quite often people keep the fingersize larger so a ring can squeeze over a knuckle – drop in and show us as we may be able to keep the size the same but by making a small modification to the inside of the band of the ring we can invisibly anchor the ring in place. Contact us for more information.
Are the settings loose? If you hold the item up to your ear between finger and thumb, then tap the setting with another finger, sometimes you can hear a loose stone rattling in the setting. This ought to be look at urgently as this can very quickly lead to stone loss.
Two areas of wear are the band or ‘shank’ of a ring, the piece at the bottom towards your palm. Once this becomes thin and a little sharp, do consider having it repaired – the earlier the better as it won’t cost as much. Also, if you can, keep an eye on any settings of your rings and whether they’re becoming worn or loose. This is especially common with claw style settings.
At any stage, do drop in and we can take a look and advise.