Caring for Your Jewels This Summer

Our summer routine tends to involve certain elements that, while beneficial to us, are less friendly to our jewelry. We reached out to the experts at Booth Custom Jewelers in Raleigh, North Carolina, to find out how our summer activities can negatively affect our keepsakes; here are their recommendations for keeping your jewelry clean and intact if your summer plans involve swimming pools and sun protection:

  1. Remember to remove your jewelry before jumping in the pool. As far as we know this has not been scientifically proven, but we’ve noticed that chlorine eats away at the alloys at the joints in silver jewelry, weakening the clasps. (A pinkish tinge will indicate that the copper has started to break down.)
  2. Alcohol-based products like hand sanitizer and spray-on sunscreen, which evaporate quickly and are therefore great products when you’re on the go or traveling, seem to leave a crusty, frosty film on jewelry that needs to be scraped off.
  3. Unlike the quick-dry, spray-on variety, sunblock lotion can be removed from pieces with a jewelry cleanser. So while slathering on the SPF can be messier than using a spray, it’s easier to remove from your most precious accessories.

Expert tip from Booth Custom Jewelers in Raleigh, NC.