Jewelry Care

Handcrafted jewelry can be especially delicate. Please take special care of your MMR Design!

In general you should keep your jewelry in a box or some type of container. The less air and debris that get on your jewelry the better! Keep in mind to put on your perfume, hairspray and lotions before you put on your jewerly. This will extend the life of your jewelry!

Sterling Silver tarnishes very easily. Try not to get it wet! If you do get it wet dry it off with a soft dry cloth immediately.

Some common household items that can tarnish silver are bleach, cleaning scrubs with bleach in them, saline solution, hydrogen peroxide, chlorine, salt from ocean water, wool, felt, food (eggs, onions), rubber bands, and latex gloves.

Sterling is best kept in an airtight ziplock storage baggie! Keep your dangly earrings, chain necklaces and chain bracelets separated or hanging up to prevent kinks.

Most jewelry can be cleaned with a store-bought polishing cloth or any soft cloth. Be careful with any liquid or abrasive jewelry cleaning solution. Most are far too harsh for your delicate jewelry.

For your 14k -24k gold, boil water in a teapot and use the steam to clean the gold. You can also use this method on prong set diamonds and some gemstones. Do not do this with pearls, marcasite or any costume jewelry. If you are not certain if it is real do not do it. You can also use a soft toothbrush with the steam. Some people use a tiny bit of toothpaste. Again do not do this with Sterling silver or the other delicates mentioned above. Make sure to dry the gold very well with a soft cloth. Make sure your prong set stones are secure before doing this as well.

Some words on skin discoloration

The most common reason is metallic abrasion, caused by make-up. Cosmetics often contain compounds harder than the jewelry itself, which wear or rub very tiny particles. Very finely divided metal always appears black rather than metallic, so it looks like jet-black dust. When this dust comes into contact with absorbent surfaces such as skin or clothing, it sticks, forming a black smudge. When you perspire, fat and fatty acids in perspiration can cause metal alloy corrosion, especially when exposed to warmth and air.This problem can be worse in coastal and semitropical areas. Smog fumes in large urban areas gradually attack jewelry and are evident as a tarnish that rubs off on the skin.