Concierge · Care
A ring worn every day needs about ten minutes of attention a week.
Diamonds are the hardest natural material there is, but the metal holding one in place is not. Nearly every problem we see — a dull stone, a thin prong, a shank worn flat — comes from ordinary habits rather than accidents. Here's the routine that prevents them.
Clean it every week
Warm water, a drop of unscented dish soap, ten minutes to soak, then a soft toothbrush behind the stone where film collects. Rinse over a bowl rather than an open drain and dry with a lint-free cloth. A diamond looks dull for one reason far more often than any other: hand lotion on the pavilion.
Take it off for these
Gym sessions and anything with a barbell, gardening, swimming pools and hot tubs, bleach and other chlorinated cleaners, and applying sunscreen or lotion. Chlorine attacks the alloys in gold over time, and a hard knock on a prong does more damage than years of ordinary wear.
Have the prongs checked
At least once a year, a jeweler should look at the setting under magnification and tighten anything that's moved. Prongs wear thin gradually and invisibly; the point of the inspection is to catch that before a stone loosens, not after.
Care by metal
- 14K or 18K
- Every piece is solid gold, stamped 14K or 18K inside. 14K is harder and more scratch-resistant, which suits hands-on days; 18K has a higher gold content and a slightly richer colour, and is a little softer.
- White gold
- Yellow gold alloyed white and finished with rhodium plating. The plating wears through at 12–24 months of daily wear and the warmer base tone shows, most often on the underside of the shank. Re-plating is inexpensive and takes an afternoon.
- Yellow and rose gold
- No plating to wear off, so the colour is permanent. Both benefit from an occasional polish to lift surface scuffs.
What to avoid
- Ultrasonic cleaners on a ring with a stone you haven't had inspected recently — they will shake a loose stone right out of its setting.
- Toothpaste, baking soda, and abrasive powders, which scratch metal even though they can't scratch a diamond.
- Bleach, ammonia in quantity, and chlorine, which degrade the alloys in gold and can pit a setting permanently.
- Storing rings loose together in one box — a diamond is the only thing hard enough to scratch another diamond, and it will.
A quick note on insurance: our Lifetime Warranty covers manufacturing defects, not loss, theft or accidental damage. Insure your piece with a jewelry insurer such as Jewelers Mutual or through your homeowner's policy, and keep the IGI report filed alongside.
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