Jewelry Care & Repair

The five-minute check

Once a month, hold the piece up to a lamp and look at each stone. Then press a soft cloth against the stone and try to move it. Any movement at all means the setting has loosened — stop wearing it and send it to us. A tightened prong costs a few dollars; a lost center stone costs the stone.

Cleaning by material

Moissanite and lab-grown diamond

Warm water, a drop of washing-up liquid, a soft toothbrush. Brush the underside of the stone — that is where soap and skin oils collect and where the sparkle actually comes from. Rinse, pat dry, polish with a lint-free cloth. Ultrasonic cleaners are safe for these stones in solid gold or platinum settings.

925 sterling silver

Sterling contains copper, so it tarnishes. That is not a defect and not a reason for a refund. Wipe with the polishing cloth supplied, keep it dry, store it in a sealed bag with the anti-tarnish strip. Silver-dip solutions work but are harsh on rhodium plating — use them only on unplated pieces.

Rhodium-plated white gold and silver

Rhodium is a thin white metal layer; it wears off at the highest points first, usually after 12–24 months of daily wear. Re-plating is routine maintenance, not a repair, and we do it at cost. Do not polish plated pieces with abrasive compounds — you will remove the plating faster.

Pearls, opals, emeralds and turquoise

Never ultrasonic. Never steam. Wipe with a damp cloth only, and keep away from perfume, hairspray and chlorine. Emeralds are usually oiled; heat and solvents pull the oil out and the stone goes chalky.

Things that damage jewelry faster than people expect

• Chlorine. Pools and hot tubs attack alloys at the grain boundaries; sterling can crack.
• Hand sanitizer and sunscreen. Both leave residues in pavé settings that are hard to remove.
• Gym equipment. A 2 mm band on a barbell is a lever; the shank bends before the bar does.
• Sleeping in prong-set rings. Sheets catch prongs; the prong bends; the stone goes missing in the bed.
• Storing pieces together. Diamond scratches everything, including other diamonds. Use separate pouches.

Travel and storage

Store pieces separately, dry, and away from direct sun. For travel, a hard case beats a soft pouch — a soft pouch in a suitcase is how most bent shanks happen.

When to send it to us

We tighten stones, re-tip prongs, re-plate, re-polish and resize. Repairs typically take 10–20 days including transit, and every piece comes back with photographs of the finished work. Start with an email to service@holycome.com.