Jewellery Maintenance

Caring For Your Jewellery
 
Every piece of Amanda Green’s jewellery is thoughtfully designed. Intricately hand-crafted. To ensure your jewellery will stay beautiful, please follow these basic guidelines:

Apply all beauty products such as perfume, hairspray, or deodorant, before putting on your jewellery.

Jewellery should be removed before swimming or doing household chores that involve the use of abrasive cleaners or chemicals.

I advised you not to clean your jewellery products with abrasive cleaning products or even proprietary jewellery cleaning products to restore pieces. Use only mild soapy water to avoid damaging your jewellery.

Contact AJG and use her repair service or professional ultrasonic cleaning equipment for deeper and safer cleaning of jewellery pieces (except oxidised silver).

Please note that colour changes to the surface of the metals may be part of natural wear and tear and are not considered manufacturing faults.
  
Gold

Gold is one of the easiest metals to care for as it requires minimal maintenance. For deep cleaning of gold jewellery, especially if there are diamonds and gems set in the material, an ultrasonic cleaner is most effective. Contact Amanda to use her repair and cleaning service.

Please bear in mind that gold can be quite soft depending on how many carats it is. The purer the gold the softer the metal is. For example, 24k is pure and very soft it will miss shape and be more susceptible to dents and knocks. 18K gold is beautiful rich yellow and is harder wearing than 24k gold. However, if you have an active lifestyle or work in manual labour 14K Gold is more hard-wearing and is recommended.

 
Silver & Sterling Silver

Sterling silver is a beautiful and bright white, warm, shiny metal. Excellent/pure silver 999 is generally too soft for most jewellery; therefore, silver is usually alloyed with copper to give it strength and to preserve the ductility and beauty of the precious metal. Amanda uses sterling silver in most of her jewellery because of its strength and durability. In some pieces, pure silver is used and will be noted in the individual style.

Pure silver will not tarnish unlike sterling silver, due to the copper within the alloy. This tarnish happens over time, especially when exposed to oxygen, salt, or water. For this reason, it is best to keep your piece away from sunlight and in an airtight ziplock bag when it is not being worn.

To polish silver, you can use a commercial silver cleaner from any jewellery store. Just dip it in the formula, then run it under cold water before leaving it to dry. If you want to be chemical-free, you can try the following DIY method.

Directions:
Place tin foil in a bowl with the shiny side up, making sure it covers the container. Place the jewellery and a tablespoon of baking soda into the container. Pour hot water over the jewellery so that it is fully submerged. When the frothing has finished, take the piece out and rinse with cold water. Please use tweezers or wait until the liquid has cooled to avoid potential burns. Repeat if necessary.

 
Oxidised Sterling Silver

Oxidised Sterling Silver is a patina that turns silver into a lovely matte black surface with a gunmetal lustre.  I use liver of sulphur to oxidise the sterling silver in a patina, which is a surface treatment and does not change the internal characteristics of the metal. As with any surface treatment, this will wear off over time and show the true colour of the metal beneath. This happens at varying speeds depending on how regularly the piece is worn and which parts of the article have the most contact with clothes and skin. Each oxidised silver piece has been sealed with a wax to prolong the beautiful, dark patina, but be mindful that the part will naturally evolve. When cleaning oxidised jewellery, use a soft sponge or cotton ball with a dab of methylated spirit. Wipe gently to remove any grease or dirt. Do not rub too hard and do not use an abrasive surface or solvent.

If some of your jewellery has stones, please make sure to research proper care of the specific stone(s) before you hand clean them. Alternatively, contact Amanda, and she will get back to you with instructions for care of your piece.