Gem

Caring for Gemstones

The cleaning and caring for gemstone are basically the same as diamonds. It should be kept separately in jewellery box or transparent plastic bag to avoid being knocked against by other accessories. To clean gemstones on your own, you can put gemstone jewellery into diluted soapy water and brush the gemstone and setting gently with a soft brush. Then rinse it and dry it with a piece of soft cloth. Don't forget to prepare a basin or plug the washbasin well before cleaning, to prevent the jewellery from going down the drain. Also, please be reminded that emerald should not be cleaned in ultrasound jewellery cleaner and must not be cleansed in highly soapy water or hot water, which would lead to tarnish or breakage of the emerald resulted from the vibration. Emerald is rather vulnerable, so care should be taken when wearing to avoid scratching.

Gold

Gold is a unique metal. Its value does not only lie in its scarcity, but also in its diversity of hues, high resistance to stain, as well as its ductility and malleability. The ductility of gold allows delicate patterns to be crafted. Since gold is highly malleable, a single ounce of gold can be turned into a thread measuring 25 km long and can be beaten into a sheet covering 50 square metres. The commonly seen 24K stands for content of gold up to 999‰ , while 999.9 gold pioneered by Chow Tai Fook has become a highest standard in terms of the content of gold nowadays.

Caring for Gold Jewellery

You should keep away from chemicals like perfume, bleach or cosmetics when wearing gold jewellery to avoid chemical reaction. Gold reacts with metals like silver, mercury, lead, etc., readily to give white spots on the gold jewellery. Such white compound can be easily removed with a propane torch. Therefore, try not to contact the said metals as much as possible when putting on gold jewellery. In case of such a circumstance, all you have to do is to send the gold jewellery back to a jeweler to have it cleaned. Gold jewellery can generally be cleaned with diluted soapy water and then dried with a piece of soft cloth.

K Gold

The colour of gold is determined by the content of impurities. Natural gold displays a typical hue of golden. Gold can also be blended with other metals into alloys to enhance its hardness, durability and diversity of colours. Purity of gold is determined by the content of metal. Karat is used to refer to its value. 18-karat gold contains 75% gold with the imprint reads "Au750". The jewellery with higher content of pure gold is more valuable. Blending gold with other metals can create alloys with different hues ranging from light yellow to rosary red or white. When gold is blended with copper and silver, yellow karat gold is formed. White gold has higher silver content, whereas the blend of copper gives red or pink gold.

Caring for Karat Gold

Platinum

Among the three precious metals (namely, gold, silver and platinum), platinum is the most uncommon, precious and durable. Platinum is 30 times rarer than gold. Around 1,500 tons of gold is mined around the world every year, compared with only 160 tons of platinum. There are not many places with platinum mines either. The main producers include South Africa and Russia. The intensely high density of platinum makes it relatively heavier per unit volume. A platinum ring weighs 60% more than a 14-karat gold ring of the same volume. The purity of platinum is usually indicated with 900 or 950. Platinum jewellery in such purity does not discolour or tarnish easily. Nor does it cause allergy. Its brilliant white luster goes well with the dazzle of diamond. The high density of platinum means it has greater resistance than pure gold. Platinum is highly unreative and has excellent resistance to corrosion. All precious metals scratch, and platinum is no exception.

Caring for Platinum Jewellery

Sterling silver

Pure silver is an easily scratched metal. Owing to its rather ductile property, ordinary alloys need to be blended in the jewellery making. Indications of purity range from 1000(100), 950(95), 925(92.5), 900(90), 800(80) to 750(75). The figures mentioned above refer to the content of silver. In general, 1000 refers to pure silver, but it is too ductile for any jewellery production. 925 content of silver prevails, therefore it is called 925 silver

Caring for Pure Silver Jewellery

Pure silver jewellery should be kept in a sealed plastic bag after wearing. Clean the surface of jewellery with warm water, together with chloride-free detergent. Then dry it with a piece of cloth and finally wipe its surface gently with a silver polishing cloth.