Our cleaning guide has been designed to help you keep your jewellery cared for.
Remember the feeling when you wore a beautiful brand new piece of sparkling diamond jewellery, it glimmered in the day and shone bright at night. But slowly over time, the sparkle dulled.
Exposure to hand creams and soaps, as well as dirt and moisture in the air can cause our precious pieces to dull over time.
The good news is, you can easily restore your pieces back to their former glory with a few simple tried and tested hacks - which we’ll walk you through below.
The processes are simple and quick to clean most tarnished items in your jewellery box without having to take them to a professional jeweller.
We will walk you through the processes for how to clean solid gold jewellery, and how to clean sterling silver jewellery. We will cover how to clean rings, how to clean earrings and any jewellery items that contain precious stones such as diamonds, sapphires, rubies - as well as how to clean porous pearls and costume jewellery.
You can create your own DIY jewellery cleaner at home with a few simple household items that most people have at home.
From our experience, we have found this to be the perfect homemade jewellery cleaner for tarnished gold items, such as pave diamond necklaces or bracelets, chains, earring and diamond engagement rings and wedding bands - and any other solid gold jewellery.
You’ll need the following:
You’ll want to mix the washing up liquid and the warm water together in a small bowl using the back of the toothbrush, drop the jewellery into the solution and bathe for 5-10 minutes.
This solution is especially great for quickly and gently dissolving and dislodging trapped dirt within the crevices of the jewellry.
Swish the jewellery around in the solution and remove from the bowl. Lay the piece on a cloth and gently brush with a toothbrush, really working into any small crevices and underneath any diamonds or other stones.
You can dip the toothbrush back into the bowl to add more lather and dislodge any remaining dirt.
Rinse under warm water and lightly buff/dry with a soft cloth.
Your jewellery should look beautifully sparkling after this process! If you have any really stubborn grime you can repeat the steps.
As an extra tip - you can also (or instead of) use a gold cloth to polish gold items and clean and polish, such as these Connoisseurs gold cloths. We advise wearing some dish gloves when using these, to avoid the residue from transferring onto your fingers, and storing in an airtight zip-lock bag or container.
It is recommended to use a good silver polish to clean your sterling silver jewellery and prevent stains from re-emerging, such as this Goddards silver polish which also comes with a cleaning cloth.
Using a silver polish is the best way to keep products from re-tarnishing as quickly by leaving behind a protective layer.
If you need a quick solution, then you can follow the steps above for cleaning gold jewellery - but it is advised by experts to avoid using this as a solution where possible as this will not really prevent tarnish from returning and you won’t get anywhere near the same result.
Another quick (and less messy) alternative is to use a two-step silver cloth - one to clean and one to polish, such as these Connoisseurs silver clothes. Again we recommend the steps mentioned above to protect your hands, and prolong the lifespan of the cloths.
There’s a more delicate approach for costume jewellery, as you’ll want to make sure that you aren’t removing the outer layer, or dislodging any jewels or stones that may be attached with glue.
The best approach is to take a damp soft cloth and gently wipe over the surface of the piece. Avoid buffing, to ensure you don’t buff away the colour of the piece.
If you need something a bit stronger, dip your cloth into some soapy water (such as washing up liquid) and gently wipe again over the surface.
Remove the soap with a damp cloth, and dry your piece with a soft cloth. You should notice your piece comes up clean after this.
Porous stones such as Pearls, Emeralds, Opals and Amber should not be submerged in water and require a different approach.
Such treatment could cause damage or discolouration if the stones absorb any moisture. For this reason you should be careful not to spray perfume or hairspray on these items, and remove when bathing or showering.
For the best results, simply polish the stone with a dry soft cloth.
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The Evil Eye 🧿 is a well recognised symbol around the world. As it goes, there's deep meaning and history behind it.
We would like to cover all you need to know, by answering the below questions for you within this article:
The popular phenomenon of the evil eye is legendary in status, and dates far back to the Ancient Greek and Roman era.
An evil eye is said to come as a result of envy of another, and that receiving such an evil glare will impart a supernatural force that will undo your good fortune.
It originates from the general belief that if someone achieves success or good fortune, that is generally attracts the envy of others - a very natural and instinctive human reaction.
There is clear distinction between the evil eye, which is the curse itself, and and an evil eye symbol (sometimes referred to as Nazar) which dispels the curse.
For thousands of years the curse of the evil eye has not only spanned generations, but the ancient belief in the evil eye spans far and wide across many different cultures, namely West Asia and the Mediterranean. You will likely find common use of the symbol in Greece, Israel, Portugal, Brazil, Armenia, Tunisia, Lebanon, Morocco, Naples, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Spain, Mexico Romania, Syria - and that's just to name a few - and have become a popular souvenir choice for tourists visiting these destinations.
References to the evil eye can also be seen in the Bible and the Quran - where different religions offer their own interpretations of the belief.
To bring this concept closer to the modern day, for around the last 10 years or so, the evil eye has made it into the fashion world, and has really become a popular symbol for many. It's been seen on the likes of Madonna, Britney Spears, Kim Kardashian, Meghan Markle and Gigi Hadid.
As we can see, the belief in the evil eye transcends cultural, geographical and religious borders, which is really quite interesting.
Apotropaic (in other words averting evil) symbols are believed to hold the power to deter evil influences or bad luck. As such, talismans and amulets have since been created to cast back such malevolent glares back upon those who wish harm upon others, and therefore forming an invisible layer of protection on yourself.
Many people choose to have protection from the evil eyes of others, and some choose to wear their evil eye symbol in the form of a jewellery, such as an evil eye pendant, necklace or evil eye charm held on a bracelet. Others might choose to display an evil eye symbol in their home, in the entrance of their home or in their car.
It's believed that by having such protection from evil eyes, that your good fortune and luck will be protected.
There aren't many symbols as widely recognisable as the evil eye. At almost every stage of human history (as far as we can record, more information below), the evil eye symbol has been called on to protect good fortune. Over the course of human history, man has been known to source magic symbols and objects to defy evil forces - and the evil eye has remained long-standing throughout history.
The light blue colour is reminiscent of the colour of the sky, symbolising truth - and by way of protection many choose to gift an evil eye symbol for many traditions where good fortune may be required, such as births, housewarmings, new business or even new expensive purchases.
As such, perhaps due to the longstanding tradition and belief in the evil eye, many cultures believe that the supernatural force of an evil eye requires protection, to avoid evil eyes wishing harm upon them and causing them bad fortune.
After all, eyes are probably the most symbolic and sensory organ. They can represent a myriad of emotion and thought - a true gateway into someone's conscience. Whether they be light in thought, or dark.
As far as we know, it's believed the first recording of the evil eye was 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia (Iraq), interestingly on clay in cuneiform. Cuneiform existed around 3500-3000 BCE and was the system of writing developed by the earliest known form of civilisation (ancient Sumerians). Amoung the many contributions they made, it's fascinating to know that the evil eye was also founded during this time. It may have even originated during the late stone age. The evil eye was also widely known to be an apotropaic symbol widely used on drinking vessels in Greek Classical antiquity, dating back to 6th century BC.
As well as the evil eye symbol being used in almost every country, there is reference in all religions, including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Christianity, Hinduism and Atheism. The significance of the evil eye, and its concept vary amongst different cultures. Mention of the concept appears several times in translations of the Old Testament. This quote from the bible makes reference to the ancient belief; “If, however, your Eye is Evil, your entire body will be full of darkness” (Matt 6:22-23).
It has historically been a widely known belief across many of the Asian and Mediterranean cultures. Charms and decorations with eye-like symbols (also known known as nazars), have been used to avoid bad luck.
If you enjoyed reading this article, and learning all about the history of the evil eye you may like to shop our collection of Evil Eye diamond jewellery.
All of our evil eye jewellery items are made from 9 carat solid gold, ethically sourced diamonds and sapphire.
You can shop our Miniature Diamond Evil Eye Necklace here, and our Miniature Evil Eye Bracelet here.
Our jewellery carries small but mighty protection.
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