Jewellery Care

Simply

Try to protect your jewellery from scratches, chemicals and extreme temperatures to minimise wear and tear.

Please remember to remove all pieces before bathing with beauty products and especially when swimming. Chlorine and salt water will damage gold vermeil jewellery.

Put jewellery on last when getting ready, hairspray, perfumes, creams etc can damage metal and gemstones.

All jewellery needs a clean from time to time. Soak the piece in warm soapy water for a minute or two. If there is stubborn dirt you can use an old soft toothbrush to gently brush it out from corners, for pieces needing a thorough clean an electric toothbrush with a soft head can be used. Follow with a good rinse in water then air dry on absorbent paper towel.

Ideally store your jewellery in a box or in a pouch which has a soft lining, away from other jewellery to avoid pieces scratching each other. Ideally you want to store your jewellery in a dark, cool and dry place. With silver jewellery this will inhibit oxidization which leads to tarnishing.

Tarnishing is when silver changes colour, from a dull yellow to brown then eventually black. Some skin types can make the change happen within hours or days. Living with air pollution can speed up tarnishing, as do some household chemicals. It’s difficult to avoid tarnish on silver. Before you start, clean away grease and dirt with warm soapy water (as above), you’ll get better results.

There are several different ways to treat silver tarnish:

Shiny metal

A jewellers polishing cloth is great for buffing a shiny surface. Don’t use on matt finishes, the chemicals in the cloth will polish the metal.

Chains, tiny items and all satin or matt finished metal

A dipping solution, (Goddards silver dip for instance) is best for tarnished chains, tiny silver items and all satin or matt finished metal. Just dip, wait a maximum 1minute, rinse and dry with a soft cloth. Repeat if necessary. Don’t use with pearls, coral, turquoise or lapis or gold vermeil jewellery. Always read the instructions first.

Gold vermeil (gold plated silver)

Gently clean jewellery with a soft polishing cloth. Lisa Hamilton jewellery has a high quality, thick layer (2.5 microns )of 23.7carats gold on silver.  Take care not to scrub or over-polish as this may prematurely wear away the gold plated layer, be careful not to use polishing dips with gold plated jewellery as this can damage the gold surface layer.  The word ‘vermeil’ is pronounced vehr-may; it’s French.  Gold vermeil is superior to gold plated jewellery in terms of longevity, quality and value.

Cleaning silver with soda crystals

Good for special finishes, fine textures and satin silver. Used originally for cleaning silver cutlery, its a great way to clean silver items in bulk.

You will need a piece of Aluminium foil, a handful of soda crystals,( sodium carbonate ) warm water and a glass ( pyrex, heat resistant ) bowl.  Put the foil in the bowl and the Soda crystals onto it. Place the jewellery you want cleaned onto the crystals and poor warm water into the bowl. Watch as the preparation fizzes, in a few minutes the silver will be white. Rinse in clean cold water and dry on an absorbent paper towel

Don’t use with pearls, opals, coral, turquoise or lapis, they will start to dissolve. You can tip the solution down the drain safely after you’ve finished with it. Use the solution once and throw away.

Advice, repair & replating service

Each and every piece is handcrafted with care the studio. The beauty and longevity of the jewellery pieces created is important.  Sometimes, even with good care, general wear and tear can leave pieces needing a little TLC.

We offer a professional cleaning, repair and re-plating service.  This can breathe new life into your pieces and restore them to their original lustre and finish.