~ Unique Handcrafted Jewelry Including Necklaces, Bracelets, Earrings, Watches and More in Precious Metals and Gemstones ~
- Designer Jewelry by C. Otterson

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Care of your Handcrafted Jewelry Daily Care To keep your handcrafted jewelry clean and in good condition, gently wipe off residues and oils with a soft, 100% cotton lint-free cloth after each wearing. Apply perfumes, make-up, hairspray or other products prior to putting on jewelry to prevent damage to softer stones and build-up on your jewelry. Once a month, clean your jewelry using a soft bristled toothbruth and a drop of liquid dishsoap or hand soap (never use toothpaste or other abrasive cleaner as they may scratch metals). Be sure to rinse and dry thoroughly prior to re-storing. Tarnish Prevention and Storage Tips To help prevent sterling silver from tarnishing, your jewelry has been shipped to you in a plastic zip-lock bag within a soft bag. Simply placing your jewelry back in the bags and sealing them when not in use will help retard the tarnishing process. Store each piece individually to prevent soft stones and metals from being scratched by harder stones. Cleaning Instructions When your jewelry begins to tarnish or become heavily soiled you may soak your jewelry in warm water with a mild liquid soap for 2-3 minutes. Rinse thoroughly and allow your jewelry to dry completely on a lint-free cloth before re-storing it in your bags. Be very careful when using any soaking method to clean jewelry that has soft stones (amber, azurite, calcite, chrysocolla, fluorite, lapis lazuli, malachite, pearls, rhodochrosite, sodalite and turquoise are all soft stones which should be cleaned with care). Extended soaking in any solution may harm the polish on the stone. With these soft stones it is preferable to simply wipe the stones down with a little soapy water rather than soaking them. Because they are very porous they absorb liquid and can become discolored by any chemicals - even soap. Pearls are especially sensitive to acidity and humidity. It is recommended that you wrap pearl pieces in jeweler’s tissue and store directly in a soft bag as moisture can build up in a plastic bag and damage the pearls. Tarnish Removal To remove excessive tarnish from sterling, we recommend a jeweler’s cloth such as the Sunshine Polishing Cloth. Because several of our jewelry designs incorporate the use of patinas to achieve different colors on metals, an aggressive metal cleaner may do the job too well, removing the patina and changing the overall appearance of the piece. In general, the use of a home ultrasonic cleaner is not recommended. Most of the stones used in our jewelry designs can be damaged by ultrasonic cleaners. Special Care and Consideration Apatite, chrysocolla and tanzanite are very brittle stones and crack easily. They should be worn with care to avoid broken stones. Daily wear of these stones is not recommended. Remove jewelry pieces that contain soft stones if you are doing activities that require them to be submerged in liquid for any length of time (i.e. doing dishes, bathing, swimming, etc.). Always remove your jewelry before using any product that contains bleach or chlorine. These chemicals can cause gold and other metals to break down as well as discolor and damage softer stones. With a little care and the cleaning methods described above, your handmade jewelry will maintain it’s original beauty throughout the years.

 

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