How to Care For Your Gold Jewelry
The absolute worst thing for gold jewelry (any color) is chlorine. A chemical reaction takes place between the chlorine and the alloy metals in gold jewelry and certain jewelry items can actually disintegrate over time. Jewelry should be cleaned in an ammonia and water solution. If a ring is cleaned with chlorine bleach, the ring may turn black and develop small hairline cracks (called stress corrosion), even a few hours later. Pure gold will show no reaction since there are no alloys. Platinum is also virtually impervious to chemicals since it has anywhere from 5% to 10% alloy.
Chlorine can be found in:
Swimming Pools, Jacuzzis, Resort Spas
Bleach, Detergent, Cleansers
A ring that has been exposed to chlorinated situations may look fine to the naked eye (the gemstones will actually look better because they are clean and sparkly), but a ring may break in a curious way with jagged edges. Upon close inspection of these breaks, the gold looks like miniature Swiss cheese, having the tiniest holes throughout. This breakdown of the alloys in gold is what causes the sometimes random breaks. In diamond jewelry that has chlorine damage, the prongs can become weakened and break off; the risk of losing diamonds is very high.
Once a piece of jewelry has been damaged by chlorinated chemicals, it is almost impossible to repair. A diamond should be remounted to eliminate the risk of further breaking and loss of a valuable and sentimental gem. The only good news about damaged gold is that the scrap value is the same as any, since the gold content is not affected.
Since we will soon be entering the summer months, I sincerely hope this information has helped someone who may have worn fine jewelry into a swimming pool. Knowledge is important!
Thank you for reading this article. If you have any more questions about jewelry and its care, please call or email us.
Written by Annette Long Covington
Chlorine can be found in:
Swimming Pools, Jacuzzis, Resort Spas
Bleach, Detergent, Cleansers
A ring that has been exposed to chlorinated situations may look fine to the naked eye (the gemstones will actually look better because they are clean and sparkly), but a ring may break in a curious way with jagged edges. Upon close inspection of these breaks, the gold looks like miniature Swiss cheese, having the tiniest holes throughout. This breakdown of the alloys in gold is what causes the sometimes random breaks. In diamond jewelry that has chlorine damage, the prongs can become weakened and break off; the risk of losing diamonds is very high.
Once a piece of jewelry has been damaged by chlorinated chemicals, it is almost impossible to repair. A diamond should be remounted to eliminate the risk of further breaking and loss of a valuable and sentimental gem. The only good news about damaged gold is that the scrap value is the same as any, since the gold content is not affected.
Since we will soon be entering the summer months, I sincerely hope this information has helped someone who may have worn fine jewelry into a swimming pool. Knowledge is important!
Thank you for reading this article. If you have any more questions about jewelry and its care, please call or email us.
Written by Annette Long Covington
