Care Instructions
General Jewellery Care
To keep your jewellery looking at its best, wear your items with care. Do not expose them to harsh or common household chemicals, remove all jewellery before getting wet. Salt water or humidity can degrade enamel faster. Treat it like the precious item it is and it will last a lifetime!
Perfume, skin and hair products can react with silver causing it to tarnish, cause vermeil to erode and damage certain stones – especially pearls. Always apply your products before putting on your jewellery and leave for a few minutes to be absorbed by the skin.
Please treat your jewellery gently. Remove before doing physical work or activities, hot weather and sweat can also speed up the tarnishing process. We recommend that you do not sleep in your jewellery, particularly necklaces and pendants.
A silver-dip solution is the best way to clean tarnished silver and vermeil jewellery and is available in store. Dip your jewellery in the solution for a couple of seconds only and then rinse thoroughly in warm soapy water. For more stubborn dirt, use the little soft brush supplied with our dip to gently rub away and then rinse well.
Soft stones and pearls may react to the silver dip solution so please avoid dipping and simply with a soft cloth.
Enamelled Jewellery
Please wear your enamelled jewellery with care. At Fiona Rae, our enamel pieces are designed with the utmost of care to ensure they are wearable and stand the test of time. However, our enamel jewellery is glass fused to silver/gold and must be treated gently - if banged against another object or dropped, the enamel can shatter or crack. We recommend when putting on your enamelled jewellery or cufflinks to do so on a carpeted area.
Gold Plated Jewellery
Our vermeil is a heavy layer of fine 18ct gold, plated on top of silver. As this is just a layer it can gradually wear, giving the appearance that it has faded. Everyday wear may speed up this process, especially on items like rings and bracelets which have lots of contact against objects. We offer a re-plating service for our vermeil jewellery.
Pearl Jewellery
Pearls are very sensitive and should be treated with care to maintain their beauty! Please store your pearls out of direct sunlight and keep your pearls away from chemicals, including perfume, hair products and skin lotions. Do not spray perfume or hair-spray directly onto pearls, instead leave products to settle into the skin and hair before wearing your jewellery. Take pearls off at night-time, when bathing and during physical activities.
Pearls love to be worn and absorb the natural oils in your skin – this helps to keep their lustre shiny. We recommend re-stringing pearls every 1-2 years. This depends on how often you wear your pearls and how well you care for them after use. For restringing enquiries, please contact us for more information.
Diamonds & Fine Jewellery
All fine jewellery must be kept clean and stored carefully when not being worn. When not wearing your jewellery, be sure to store them in a fabric-lined case or in a box with dividers to prevent the diamonds from scratching other jewellery or diamonds.
Avoid wearing your diamonds and fine jewellery while doing gardening work or any other kind of rough work. Even though diamonds are extremely durable, a hard blow could chip it. When doing household chores, never allow your jewellery to come into contact with chlorine bleach.
After many years of continuous wear, you may notice stones become loose in their settings. If you notice any damage, do not continue to wear the piece until we can make an assessment and repair your jewellery. Please note, we do not provide repairs for any non-Fiona Rae jewellery.
Lotions, powders, soaps and even the natural oils from your skin will create a film on diamonds, reducing their brilliance. Keeping your jewellery clean will maximize its sparkle.
Here are a few ways you can keep your fine jewellery clean:
Detergent Bath: Prepare a small bowl of warm suds using any mild household liquid detergent (be sure not to use any cleaners containing chlorine). Brush the jewellery with a soft brush until you have created a lather around it. Rinse off with warm water in a strainer - be sure not to clean your jewellery over the drain! Pat your jewellery dry with a soft, lint-free cloth and dry hard to reach parts with a hairdryer on a slow cool setting, holding firmly.
Cold Water Soak: Make a solution of 4 parts cold-water to 1 part mild dishwashing detergent. Soak the pieces for several minutes. Lift out and tap gently around all sides of the mounting with a soft brush. Rinse the pieces in the solution once more and drain on tissue paper.
Quick-Dip Method: Use a liquid dip jewellery cleaner, choosing the one that is best for the kind of stones and metals in your jewellery. Read the label carefully and follow the instructions. Rinse well and pat your jewellery dry with a soft, lint-free cloth. Dry hard to reach parts with a hairdryer set on a slow cool setting, holding firmly.
At Fiona Rae, we offer our customers a free in-store cleaning service on our fine jewellery. We use an ultrasonic cleaner to give your Fiona Rae jewellery a deep clean and maintain its sparkle. Please contact us to arrange this complimentary service or for more information on cleaning your jewellery.
