Jewelry Care

GOLD: Gold jewelry should always be taken off before showering, since soaps can build up a dull film on gold.

STERLING SILVER: Sterling silver will polish up by rubbing or buffing it with a soft cotton cloth or a Sunshine Cloth. Silver stored in plastic bags with an interlocking seal will be less prone to tarnish.

PLATINUM: Platinum jewelry can be cleaned by using a specifically designed jewelry cleaner, or you can have us at Burque Jewelers clean and polish your platinum.

PEARLS: Do NOT store pearls in plastic bags! Pearls require a certain level of moisture in storage. Check with us at Burque Jewelers for the best long-term storage options if you know you won’t be wearing your pearls often.

To protect your jewelry, always take care to shield pieces from scratches, sharp blows, harsh chemicals, extreme temperatures and sunlight. Make certain to carefully store any fine jewelry, and store each piece separately, so it can’t scratch other pieces.

When doing household tasks such as gardening and cleaning, remove your rings.

Put your jewelry on after washing and applying any makeup or hair spray.

Never wear jewelry while swimming in a swimming pool or when using chlorine bleach. In addition to damaging the gold by making it brittle, chlorine can cause damage to various gemstones and gold settings which may cause them to become loose and fall out.

Avoid keeping your jewelry next to a heating vent, window sill or on a car dashboard.

Store jewelry away from sunlight as the sun may fade the gemstones.

If you have bead necklaces, such as lapis or pearls, store them flat because silk stretches over time. Burque Jewelers’ repair department will restring necklaces or reset stones. If you wear your bead/pearl necklaces regularly, have them restrung by us at Burque Jewelers once a year.

Hardness is based on a gem-trade standard called the Mohs scale. The scale goes from 1 to 10 and the higher the Mohs scale number, the harder the stone is. Diamonds are a 10 on the Mohs scale. Anything with a Mohs scale rating of less than 7, such as coral, lapis lazuli, opal, pearl, and turquoise, is easily scratched. Gold, silver, and platinum are only Mohs 2.5 to 4.

Be certain that stones mounted in rings are not loose or rattling in their setting. The prongs of a ring can and will wear down. If the prongs wear down too much or even break, you risk losing your gemstone(s). Prongs can be easily “retipped” by Burque Jewelers’ repair department to keep the stone(s) secure.