Wear them well.
Jewelry made by hand wants to be lived in. Here is how to help yours age the way it should.
Wear it often.
Solid gold and silver develop their best surface from being worn. The natural oils on your skin polish them gently, every day. Jewelry kept in a drawer ages worse than jewelry kept on a finger.
Take it off for these
Showering, sleeping with your head on it, swimming in chlorinated pools, hot tubs, the gym, and any cleaning that involves bleach or abrasives. Silver and chlorine in particular don't get along — the metal will tarnish quickly.
Put it back on for these
Cooking, walking, working, eating, hand-washing, sleeping if you're a still sleeper, and any moment where the piece will remind you it's there.
Storing
Keep pieces in the soft pouch we ship them in, or in separate compartments of a jewelry box. Chains tangle if you let them. Rings scratch each other if you let them.
Cleaning
A soft toothbrush, warm water, and a drop of unscented dish soap. Brush gently, rinse, pat dry with a soft cloth. That's it. Avoid silver dips and harsh polishes — they strip the patina that makes your piece your piece.
Patina is not damage
Silver darkens over years. Gold loses its high shine and goes softer. Stones pick up a thin film of micro-scratches. None of this is wrong. It is the piece becoming the only one of its kind.
If you want it returned to mirror finish, send it back to us. We'll polish, restring, replate where needed, and ship it home. Most of our pieces only need this once every five years or so.