The Brighter the Bauble

If you have any fine jewelry at all then you probably have one of those little jars of cleaner with the sieve and brush inside. While this is fine for touch ups it does not restore the look of your jewelry the way your jeweler can.

Let me explain.

Here are some guidelines you can follow for any type of precious metal:
Platinum - Though it is the most pure precious metal, it is also the softest. When you scratch a platinum piece of jewelry the surface is actually dented slightly. This means a quick "buff" on the polishing wheel just won't do the job. You've probably noticed that your platinum ring is a little bent as well. Unless you have an oval shaped finger, this is not a good thing. You will probably have to leave your piece with your jeweler over night. Let them reshape it, file the dents away and give it the polish that will bring it back to life!

White Gold - All gold starts out yellow, when alloys such as silver, palladium or nickel are added to the mix you get the most popular of metals, white gold. White gold is a fabulous alternative to platinum as it is much stronger and a fraction of the price. As with yellow gold, when white gold scratches little pieces of metal are chipped away. This is much easier to polish than platinum and can often be done while you wait. With normal wear and tear you will start to notice a hint of yellow in the metal. How long this takes to happen depends on your chemical makeup and how often you're wearing the piece. I use rings for most of my examples as they usually require the most maintenance. To brighten your piece to its original state jewelers use a liquid platinum plating called rhodium.

Yellow Gold - The process for polishing yellow gold is the same as white, minus the rhodium.

Silver - Silver also scratches pretty easily and tends to tarnish. Most of the time you can purchase a quick dip cleaner or a polishing cloth and maintain silver yourself. The scratches will obviously have to be taken care of by your jeweler. Also, do not dip sterling marcasite pieces in silver cleaner...it will remove the oxidization that makes the piece look antique. Instead, rub gently with a silver polishing cloth.

Ok, enough of the serious talk...I guarantee that if you follow these steps you'll look down at your ring and say, "Oh my gosh, it looks BRAND NEW! It's like I have a new ring! I can't believe it. It's soooo worth it! Oh.....man....I can't believe how dirty it was."

:)
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone