Jewellery Cleaning Tips...

Jewellery and Watch Care and Cleaning...
Jewellery items and Watches should always be treated with care. Keeping your items clean ensures they look their best and that they give you good, reliable and long service. It is also important to regularly check your jewellery and watch for signs of damage or wear and tear. By having your item repaired or serviced, sooner rather than later, could save you from having bigger more costly repairs. Guest and Philips offer a total repair service, see the Repair section of our website.

Cleaning and Care of Diamonds...
Diamonds are forever, but you still need to give them care to maintain their brilliance and sparkle. One Diamond will scratch another so it's a good idea to keep items stored separately, for example in a pouch. To keep your Diamonds looking bright gently clean them with a mild cleaning solution, then rinse thoroughly with water and finally dry with a soft cloth. Remember try not to wear your Diamond when doing manual work. Diamonds are very durable but they can still be chipped by knocks and scrapes.

Cleaning and Care of Gemstones...
Gemstones are precious stones such as Sapphire, Ruby, Emeralds. After wearing any gemstone jewellery it's best to store it in a lined jewellery box or pouch. You can keep gemstones clean by wiping the stones with a soft cloth. Try to avoid contact with soap and liquid cleaners as not all gemstones are resistant to these. Avoid harsh chemicals (including chlorine) and abrasives making contact with your jewellery, as they can scratch and erode the gemstone surface and cause it to dull. If you want advice on what's best for your jewellery please ask a member of our staff.

Cleaning and Care of Platinum...
As with all precious metals, platinum scratches and dents when it comes into contact with harder surfaces. Any scratches and dents that occur are just a movement of the metal, none of its volume is lost, If your jewellery is accidentally knocked, most heavy marks can be removed by polishing. We recommend that a platinum ring isn't worn when carrying out manual work, sports and other activities.

Cleaning and Care of Yellow and White Gold...

Yellow Gold...
To keep it looking its best it can be polished with a soft cloth or special Gold cloth to bring out its colour and shine. As with most types of jewellery, contact with chlorinated water can attack the surface of gold and result in damage to its appearance. Everyday items such as perfume, hairspray and cleaning products can also tarnish your gold. It is best to store your gold jewellery separately to avoid discolouration from other jewellery metals.

White Gold...
White gold needs to be cared for and protected in the same way as gold. There is in fact no such natural material as white gold, the appearance is created by mixing yellow gold with other alloys. For example most white gold items are enhanced with rhodium plating, giving a highly reflective surface. Over time, this surface may lose some of its brightness. This is perfectly normal and you can re-plate the surface with rhodium, our shop staff can advise you on this.

Cleaning and Care of Silver...
The best way to keep silver looking great is to wear it as often as you can. To clean it you can buy Silver cloth, (a soft cloth impregnated with a chemical cleaner) which is non-abrasive and will remove tarnish and return surface shine. It is best to store silver in a soft pouch on its own to help prevent scratches from other items. To maintain the shine on your silver, avoid contact with perfume, hairspray and domestic cleaning products.

Cleaning and Care of Pearls...
Pearls are delicate organic gems. They are classed as soft stones and have a very low resistance to heat and chemicals. You must avoid using any cleaning solutions on them at all. As they are so delicate even direct contact with perfume’s, hairsprays etc can affect their appearance. Always allow perfume or moisturising creams absorb into the skin before wearing your Pearls. It's best to simply clean them with a dry or damp soft cloth. It is best to store your pearl jewellery in a separate box to avoid the pearls themselves getting scratched by other jewellery, metals or stones. If you wear your pearls a lot they will need restringing every year or so our repair desk can take care of this for you.

Cleaning and Care of Watches...
Watches are very complex items. Even changing batteries can be a highly technical process, with waterproof seals, different battery types etc. If you want more information on watch repairs and maintenance go to the repairs section of our website. Day to day care of your watch is very important if you are going to get the best out of your timepiece. Every so often wipe your watch case and strap or bracelet with a soft, dry cloth, to help prevent dust and grime building up. Avoid using water and cleaning solutions on a daily basis, especially if the watch is not waterproof If your watch is water resistant, you can use a cleaning solution but be careful and do not use chemicals that are too aggressive or ones that will damage the case or bracelet/strap. You must still clean and dry the complete watch after contact with water. We strongly recommend you have the water resistance tested annually to avoid any mishaps in use or when cleaning. Try to avoid direct contact with many everyday items such as perfume and hairspray. These contain chemical compounds which can affect the appearance of your watch. Also watch glass is often made of hardened glass or crystal, making it highly resistant to scratching or marking. Damage can occur, however, if the glass comes into contact with particularly hard materials.