Nicolles Jewelry Designs

Jewelry care

Keep your jewelry sparkling for a lifetime.

 

       Jewelry is made to be enjoyed, and a little extra care will help extend the enjoyment for a lifetime and if you pass it down, maybe several lifetimes.

        Select the jewels that you will wear is a pleasure. We recommend that you take the time to handle them with care. Choose your jewelry bearing in mind your activities. For instance, it is preferable to avoid wearing your jewels to the beach, swimming pool or to play sport, so as to avoid knocking or scratching them. Moreover, repeated contact with perfumes, cosmetics, household detergents or insecticides may damage the stones that decorate your jewels.

 

 

Cleaning

 

          Everyday cleaning: Clean your jewelry at home to avoid dirt buildup that can increase wear, but use precaution. With the exception of pearls and emeralds, you can clean your jewels yourself with lukewarm soapy water, by delicately scrubbing them with a small, very soft brush. Carefully rinse them with lukewarm water and dry them with a soft cloth. Stay away from sinks and drains.

         The cleaning procedure for pearls and emeralds is extremely delicate, and must be entrusted to the specially trained professionals at our shop.

 

         Once a year: We recommend that you take your jewelry to be cleaned professionally at our shop: your jewel will be checked, cleaned and revitalized.

         Every one to three years, we recommend that you arrange for the stringing of your pearl necklace to be checked.

 

 

Storage

      

        Precious metals and stones may become marked by surface scratches through simple contact. Their resistance to scratching is defined by the Mohs scale, which established a “hardness index” from 1 to 10 for each type of material.

        Diamonds are among the hardest materials on earth : its hardness rating is 10, and can only be scratched by another diamond.  However, a diamond is brittle and can chip if struck at the right angle. Don’t risk a damaged engagement ring. For any potentially high-impact activity, store your ring safely on the sidelines.

        Gold and platinum are the densest materials, but their rating is less than 5. Therefore, they can be scratched easily, particularly by the stones of other jewels.

        As jewels become scratched when they come into contact with each other, we recommended that you store them individually: each jewel must be stored separately in the cases given to you when you purchased it. Storing jewelry cluttered together can cause scratches. Never hang necklaces as that can cause them to stretch. Be careful when using ring holders or jewelry dishes as these tend to stack rings on top of each other, which can cause damage.

   

        Chains should be stored closed and laid flat in order to avoid the formation of knots. 

 

        We strongly advise against placing several jewels together without protection.

 

 

 

Safety

 

         Before putting on your jewel, check that the clasp  and the safety catch, if it has one, is not loose and that the setting of the stone has not moved. There are two ways of checking this yourself:

          By shaking the jewel close to your ear: if you hear a slight noise, the stones are not longer perfectly secured in place.

          For grain-set or prong-set, by rubbing your jewels against a fine cloth: if the cloth catches, the prongs have moved.

 

        If you see a loose stone or a prong that is worn or catches on fabric, it could lead to a lost stone. Take the piece to our store and have it checked immediately.

       If you have the slightest doubt, it is preferable not to wear your jewels before having them checked at our shop.