Caring for Your DeVer Originals Creations
Gems and precious metals are gifts of nature, which need special care. The harder the gem, the less vulnerable it is to potential damage. A diamond is the hardest gem known to man. Hardness is based on a gem-trade standard called the Mohs Scale, developed in the early 19th century. Diamonds are rated the highest, at 10; rubies and sapphires are Mohs 9; emeralds and topaz, 8; and garnets, tourmalines and quartz. Anything softer than a 7 can be scratched easily, including opal, turquoise, lapis lazuli, coral, pearl. Gold and silver metals are softer than many stones which means that they require special care when wearing, storing, or cleaning.
To keep your jewelry clean and ready to wear. Use a smooth soft 100% cotton cloth or special jewelry cleaning cloth to gently wipe each piece of jewelry clean of make-up and skin oils after each wearing. Always use 100% cotton since paper, polyester, and coarse fabrics often contain wood fibers or synthetics, which can cause scratching.
To help retard tarnish on sterling silver, wrap in soft cotton cloth or special non-tarnish tissue and place in a plastic zip locked bag and seal. After every couple of wears - to remove fingerprints, oils or dirt, add a small amount of mild liquid soap to a half cup of warm water, soak for 2-3 minutes, rinse thoroughly with clean water and dry completely before storing in an air tight plastic bag. If you do these things - you may never deal with heavily tarnished jewerly.
You can also buy silver jewelry cleaner at many stores. This cleaner also works for your 14k gold filled jewelry. Check the instructions on your jewelry cleaning solution prior to placing any items with stones in it to be cleaned. Some stones, such as turquoise, malachite and freshwater pearls cannot be placed in most jewelry cleaning solutions. One product I like that is available online is jewelry cleaner from Goddards .
Keep in mind your DeVer Original Creation is an artistic piece of jewelry. Don't wear your jewelry when you are showering, washing dishes, using household chemicals, or enjoying a chlorinated pool. Use caution when applying lotions, hairsprays and perfumes, for they will discolor gems such as turquoise and will speed up tarnishing of jewelry. Special care should be taken with pearls. They are much more fragile than most gemstones.