Care and Repair

Care and repair

Our jewellery is strung on a double strand of polyester coated nylon thread, which we

have found, over the last 12 years, is the strongest and longest lasting stringing

material available. It has the added advantage of usually giving some warning before it breaks,

and not all the beads are likely to come off immediately, as they are with tiger tail or wire.

Care of Jewellry

We recommend:

Keeping your necklaces in a closed container. This will delay silver tarnish, as will regularly polishing the silver bits with a silver polishing cloth (available from any jewellers).

Wiping the stones from time to time with a clean soft cotton polishing cloth to make them shine.

Washing the necklaces once in a while in jewellery cleaner (also available from jewellers) or in warm mild soapy water. Use only a very soft toothbrush if you must scrub. Rinse well and allow to dry naturally. There may be some stretching or shrinking of thread otherwise.

Do not wear your jewellery in the bath, shower, or swimming (especially in a swimming pool). Getting wet, helps rot and weaken the string. Chlorinated water is worst of all, and some pool chemicals can turn silver black and take the polish off some of the softer stones.

Do not get hairspray, perfume or body lotion on your jewellery as this will attract dirt, and many chemicals can also take the polish off soft stones.

Do not hang your jewellery from hooks as this stretches and weakens the string, puts pressure on the clasp, and can cause premature breakages.

Do not put silver items with semi precious stones into silver dip. This will destroy some of the stones.

Gemstone hardness and porous-ness varies. Some of the most easily damaged stones are: Amber, Chrysocolla, Coral, Emerald, Fluorite, Lapis Lazuli, Malachite, Mother of Pearl, Opal, Pearl, Rodochrosite and Turquoise.

• Especially Fragile (may break if dropped): Fluorite

• Some stones, particularly the quartzes--which include Amethyst, Aventurine, and Citrine--can fade if exposed to long periods of extremely hot sunlight.

Repair of Jewellry

Our necklaces are guaranteed for a year against breakage or defects, and will be re-strung free of charge during that time, whether the breakage is your fault or ours. If the fault can be proven to be ours, we will give you a credit to cover the postage as well.

Repair procedure:

Please email and describe the fault in the piece of jewellery as well as the date of purchase. Please do not send anything in the post before getting in touch.

Other repairs:

Outside the guarantee period, we will be pleased to restring any of our necklaces. The cost depends on the length of the piece and whether it is broken or whole. A 16” unbroken necklace can be restrung for £5 + postage, complicated longer necklace can be up to £10+postage. Please contact us for quote.

Restringing other jewellery:

We are willing, time permitting, to restring our customers’ other jewellery. Please contact us for a quote.

Knotting:

Restringing of knotted necklaces is charged at £10 an hour. Please contact us for a quote.

Cleaning:

We clean all the jewellery we repair and will clean our customers unbroken jewellery for a small charge. Please contact us for a quote.

Please check your necklaces regularly for fraying and stretching as this is a sign that one or both strands are weakening and on their way to breaking. It’s much easier and better to restring a necklace before it breaks

There is no way to predict how long a strung necklace will last. It depends on the amount of wear, the care it is given, even the skin acidity of the wearer, and sometimes on the unforeseen sharp edge of a bead.

Always protect your jewellery from sharp blows,

scratching, chemicals, and extremes of sunlight and

temperature.