ITEM CARE

GENERAL

MATERIALS

Every piece of Atelier Peridot’s jewellery is thoughtfully designed and intricately hand crafted.

Follow these simple guidelines to ensure your jewellery will stay beautiful.

Apply all beauty products, such as perfume, hairspray or deodorant, before putting on your jewellery.

Jewellery should be removed prior to swimming or doing household chores which involve the use of abrasive cleaners or chemicals.

It is also not advised to clean jewellery products with abrasive cleaning products or even proprietary jewellery cleaning products to restore pieces, doing so may damage the jewellery. 

Only use mild soapy water.

Contact Atelier Peridot to use her repair service or professional cleaning for a deeper and safer cleaning of jewellery pieces (except Oxidised Silver). Sending piece for repairing or cleaning is upon customer’s cost.

Please note colour changes to the surface of the metals may be part of natural wear-and-tear and not usually manufacturing faults.

SILVER

MATERIAL

Sterling silver is a beautiful bright white, warm shiny metal.

Fine / pure silver is generally too soft for producing functional objects; therefore, the silver is usually alloyed with copper to give it strength while preserving the ductility and beauty of the precious metal.

I use bright white sterling silver in my jewellery range which has good strength properties and eliminates fire-scale, this means that it has a lower tarnishing (surface oxidisation / blackening) rate and a beautiful warm silver finish.

Due to sterling silver being alloyed with other metals like copper for its strength this means that it tarnishes over time. Especially when exposed to oxygen, salty air or water and will react by tarnishing.

MAINTENANCE

To avoid the rate of oxidisation / tarnishing to your silver jewellery it is recommended to store them in a zip lock bag to prevent the acceleration of this process.

In order to clean or bring the sterling silver back to it's beautiful bright white state there are a couple of ways to you can do this.

Silver polishing cleaner, available from most hardware stores can be used to dip your silver piece into and then rinse, this can be smelly and poisonous and if the wrong chemicals are used this could damage the piece.

A great alternative that I would recommend is toothpaste, apply a small amount on a brush with a bit of water and lightly scrub the piece to clean your silver perfectly. Once cleaned you can run it under the water and dry. 

Another safe bio method is to use bi-carb soda, mix a tea spoon with a 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of water and use the same method as the toothpaste.

For heavily tarnished silver the most effective method to brighten and restore your jewellery is to use an ultrasonic cleaner.

Contact Atelier Peridot to use her repair service or professional cleaning

OXIDISED SILVER

MATERIAL

Oxidised sterling silver has a lovely matte black surface with a gun metal lustre.

The process of oxidising silver turns the metal's surface black. 

This treatment is called a patina which is just a surface treatment and does not change the internal characteristics of the metal. As any surface treatment it will wear off over time and use, to show the metal underneath.

With wear, oxidisation rubs back, exposing the true metal colour beneath. This will happen at varying speeds depending on how regularly the piece is worn and how much it rubs against clothes and skin.

Rings and bangles tend to wear the fastest, pendants a little slower, and earrings the slowest, but they will all wear back eventually.

Each oxidised silver piece has been sealed with a wax to prolong this beautiful dark patina but is still not resistant to wear.

MAINTENANCE

When you purchase an oxidised piece, expect it to wear back and polish up, so relax and enjoy the way it's surface evolves with time. If you need to clean your oxidised jewellery piece, use a soft sponge or cotton ball with a dab of methylated spirits and wipe gently to remove any grease or dirt. Do not rub too hard and do not use an abrasive surface or solvent.

GOLD

MATERIAL

Gold is yellow and has a beautiful lustre and rich natural colouring, whereas most other pure metals are grey or silvery white. 

Gold is a dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal with an attractive, bright yellow colour and lustre that is maintained without tarnishing in air or water. This means that it will retain all of the beautiful qualities you love about gold and remain the same from the day purchased there onwards with only minor maintenance needed to clean dirt that may get trapped in it's detailing.

MAINTENANCE

Gold is one of the easiest metals to care for as does not need to be cleaned regularly, it is very low maintenance.

For a deep cleaning of gold jewellery, especially if there are diamonds and gems set in the material; an ultrasonic cleaner is most effective.
Contact Atelier to use her repair and cleaning service.

Please bare in mind that gold can be quite soft depending on how many carat it is, this means that the surface will wear and be susceptible to dents and knocks. The more pure (higher carat) the softer it will be and the more easily it can get dented.

BRASS

MATERIAL

Brass has a warm bright gold-like appearance, when polished it has the same appearance to 14K gold. 

Brass is an alloy made of copper and zinc; with varying proportions.

Today almost 90% of all brass alloys are recycled. As brass is not ferromagnetic, it can be separated from ferrous scrap by passing the scrap brass near a powerful magnet. Brass scrap is collected and transported to the foundry where it is melted and recast into billets. 

Using brass as a material in my practice has a low impact on the environment and meets the ethical principals of my practice.

A characteristic of brass is that it will naturally tarnish overtime and get a darker, more antiqued patina on the surface.

MAINTENANCE

To best care for your brass jewellery it is recommended to store your pieces in a zip lock bag to avoid them coming in contact with water and oxygen, this will more rapidly aid the oxidisation process. Salty air and water especially will change the patina of brass jewellery.

To bring your brass jewellery back the beautiful warm golden lustre of the material, you can clean with vinegar / lemon juice and dishwashing liquid soap to polish. 

To clean apply a small amount of vinegar or lemon juice and lightly scrub over the surface of the piece, rinse under water and then dry thoroughly to clean away any tarnished areas. 

To bring back the shine and luster of your polished brass piece lightly scrub over the surface with a squirt of liquid soap on a strong nylon brush or brass bristled brush. Scrub lightly in a circular motion with a little water then rinse and dry thoroughly. Make sure to always dry brass straight away with a soft cloth.