Jewelry Care
EM Jewelry is handmade in the US by artisans who care about what they do and how they do it—and it shows! We obsess over the details—from how each piece feels in your hands and how it looks when you're wearing it. We've compiled tips to ensure your EM Jewelry will shine on.
Elisha Marie is raising the bar for style, design, and craftsmanship in fashionable jewelry. Thats why our designs are made using high-quality materials with ethically sourced diamonds and gemstones. I believe that every woman is made to shine.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Try to put jewelry on last after your daily beauty routine. ( perfumes, lotions, hairspray and cosmetics, have weird chemicals that jewelry just doesn’t particularly get along with )
When not wearing your jewelry, store in your pouch or jewelry box to avoid scratching or tangling.
Wear it daily but handle with care.
TRAVELING WITH YOUR JEWELRY
When traveling, store your jewelry in your pouch or order a travel sized jewelry case. It's small enough to put in your carry on and protects your jewelry from scratches, broken gemstones and tangled chains. Shop the selection of lux jewelry cases here.
CLEANING YOUR JEWELRY
Need a quick touch up on your solid gold and 14K Gold Fill jewelry, use your polishing cloth. Gently rub around your piece to remove dirt. ( You’ll notice your cloth turning black. This isn’t from your jewelry, it’s the chemical reaction between the cloth and the metal. )
Cleaning solid gold, gold-fill and gold plated jewelry:
To clean, mix a few drops of detergent-free soap with warm water and soak your jewelry. With a very soft toothbrush, lightly clean each piece. Rinse with care and be careful not to drop it down your drain. Gently dry with a soft cloth.
GOLD VERMEIL JEWELRY CARE
Gold vermeil jewelry is made of a thick layer of gold (2.5 microns) electroplated over sterling (.925) silver. These pieces need to be cared for to last as long as possible. Do not wear your gold vermeil jewelry in water. Avoid contact with lotions, perfumes, oils, and sweat. These chemicals can dull your pieces and reduce their shine or cause the gold to wear away, changing the color of your jewelry to more silver than gold..
If you have a known allergy to silver, please be aware when purchasing vermeil jewelry.
GOLD FILLED JEWELRY CARE
Gold fill is the closest to solid gold and comes at a modest price point. Its durability and longevity make it a great choice.
Our gold filled jewelry is created with an outer layer of entirely 14k gold that is pressure-bonded to the brass base metal and contains at least 5% gold by weight. This technique is more durable than plating and vermeil. Gold fill is safe for most sensitive skin types. Please be cautious if you have an allergy to brass as our gold filled jewelry still contains this metal and your skin may have a reaction.
Gold fill pieces are more durable than plating or vermeil but will still need some TLC over time.
Though our gold filled pieces are durable, we still do not recommend them coming in direct contact with lotions, oils, perfumes, or ocean/pool water. This can dull your pieces and reduce their shine. We recommend your jewelry be the last thing you put on when heading out. After removing your jewelry, run a clean dry cloth over each piece to remove the day.
WHY DOES GOLD FILLED JEWELRY TARNISH OVER TIME?
The chemical reaction occurs when the metal of your piece reacts to non-metal components such as oxygen, sulphur, and other chemicals. This causes the metal to darken. Certain metals such as copper can be very reactive to salt water, citrus or even sulfur from packaging. Sterling silver for example is also reactive to the air - aka 'oxidization'.The wear and tear of your jewellery depends on a number of factors and varies from person to person. These are:
1. YOUR LIFESTYLE
When you are wearing jewellery, particularly gold filled, contact with chemicals can happen very often on a daily basis depending on your lifestyle and should be avoided to avoid wear. If you are washing your hands with soap, washing dishes with liquid soap, doing laundry, putting on body lotion, or spraying perfume, these are all examples of lifestyle-related factors that can be harmful to your jewellery and cause it to tarnish.
2. HOW YOU CARE FOR YOUR GOLD FILLED JEWELRY
Generally, the more committed you are about the care of your jewelry, the longer it lasts. This also applies to gold filled jewellery, which in comparison to gold plated is highly resistant to tarnish.
3. YOUR BODY CHEMISTRY
Your body chemistry also plays in how fast your jewelry becomes tarnished. Factors that can affect these are your skin pH, how much you sweat, what you eat, what medicine you take, how much you drink, etc. Generally, if you are having a reaction to metals or experiencing more jewelry wear out of nowhere, this may be due to a change to your body chemistry, or environmental reasons below.
4. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Lastly, the environment you are in also affects the wear of your jewelry. Acidity in the air, pollution and humidity are major factors in jewelry tarnish. To reduce the effects of environmental wear on your gold filled piece, we recommend to clean the jewelry often with a polishing cloth, and keep the jewelry away from moisture and sunlight in our organic cotton pouches or boxes.