General Information

Take special care of jewelry:

• With insertions of pearl, mother-of-pearl, amber, coral, malachite, and turquoise. The reason for disintegration of these stones could be contact with acids, thinners, or other domestic chemicals, as well as temperature warming, and effects of direct sunlight.

• With transparent genuine stones. One should remember that, as a rule, these stones contain natural inclusions and tension (cohesion) areas of the crystalloid grating. This is a normal occurrence; such stones are widely used in the jewelry trade and are considered very suitable. Furthermore, these areas and inclusions constitute a sign of the gem’s natural formation since absolutely transparent stones are virtually non-existent in nature. Please remember that under strong impact, a stone may crack along these very areas.

• With stones that significantly protrude above the jewelry item. Usually in such case they are mounted using the technique of sticking in (pearls, amber) or of claw setting and could fall out of the setting place when unfortunately grazed by clothing or another object.

• Decorated with enamel. Please note that these are not to be subjected to drastic temperature changes or strokes, which could lead to chips and changes of hues in the enamel surface.

During the making of some jewelry, jewelers use soldering that binds the details in the articles with a golden solder. In golden solder, according to the technological requirements, there is no copper (this is done to reinforce durability and flexibility of the soldered areas), and because of this, in places where such solder has been used the color of pink gold can be slightly more yellow. This is permitted by the State Standard. During treatment of jewelry at high current chain-weaving equipment, the so-called ‘diamond cut’ is applied to it with a special diamond tool in order to give the jewelry a beautiful shine. However, one should remember that surfaces treated in this way are more susceptible to appearance of scratches.

Jewelry with filigree is known for its soft gold lacy designs consisting of tens and even hundreds soldered together very thin soft wires. Therefore, one should treat such jewelry with special care remembering that it is very expensive to repair broken filigree.

 When making rings, wires of different widths and degrees of thickness are used. If you purchased a ring with a narrow wire, please remember that to avoid breakage, you should be careful with the item.

When making ear-rings, the most technologically challenging element is making the parts comprising the lock. When dealing with the so-called ‘French’ (or ‘Russian’) locks (backs), to avoid breaking, one should not exert strong pressure on the hitches of the structure during opening or closing. That being said, locks of this kind allow for adjustments. To adjust such lock, one should use their finger to slightly bend upwards or downwards the hook of the lock until the desired tightness of it has been achieved.

Warnings

In order to be able to enjoy your jewelry for many years, we strongly recommend that you avoid wearing it while:

• Sleeping

• Engaging in physical work or exercise

• Participating in water-related activities

To keep your gold from changing its color (darkening), losing its luster, and to prevent appearance of spots and scratches on the jewelry’s surface, please AVOID CONTACT WITH:

• Cleaning and washing substances containing CHLORINE and ABRASIVES

• Perfumes, cosmetic crèmes, ointments, and deodorants that contain compounds of MERCURY and SULPHUR (sulphur and its compounds, aside form cosmetics, can be found in cardboard, and therefore keeping jewelry in cardboard boxes may cause darkening, as well as in the air of industrial cities, in ointments for skin disorders, etc.)

• Chemicals used in photography

• Medicinal mud, some mineral waters, sea water, pool water

• Automobile fuel and lubrication oils

• Acetone (nail polish removers) and acids

• Body, in circumstance of some metabolic disorders or excessive sweating.

Helpful tips

Gold jewelry with inserts of precious stones or with cubic zirconium, which had become dirty or lost its shine, should be washed in soapy water with liquid ammonia (6 drops per one glass of water), then rinsed in clean water and wiped dry.

 For removal of dark spots that appeared on jewelry as a result of its contact with moist skin (due to sweat or water), it is enough to take off that jewelry and wipe it with flannel or suede.

Jewelry with enamel or decorated with enamel is cleaned with a moist pad that has been dipped into a mixture of tooth powder and several drops of liquid ammonia.

 While cleaning pearls, mother-of-pearl, coral, amber, agate, turquoise, and ivory, one should not use acidic, basic, or ammoniac additives. Warm water and a soft cloth will do a great job when cleaning such jewelry.

Please note:  Any abrasives (like sand, pumice stones, etc.) are counter indicated for cleaning any kind of jewelry. Only regular tooth powder (or crushed chalk) can be used for this purpose.

Jewelry can be easily refreshed with a special polishing tissue (cloth) that allows restoring the surface of a precious metal in home environment. Such tissues can be purchased in our online store, and they are really inexpensive.