Jewelry Care

General Care:

The Sylvan Smith jewelry is artwork and should be treated with care, it is very sensitive to certain products and the piece can change overtime. Keep away from places such as when showering, in pools, doing dishes, exercising, and avoid from applying lotion using hairspray and perfumes when wearing jewelry. 

Store jewelry in a dry place, preferably in a ziplock bag with anti tarnish strips or an anti tarnish pouch available online or in many jewelry stores. Do not keep it around cardboard/newspaper as the materials can cause the silver to tarnish quicker.

Patina: 

The blackened parts of the jewelry are oxidized on purpose to give the jewelry the effect it has, I use it in my jewelry to give my pieces contrast and depth. 

What is Patina? 

Patina can be used by artists to accelerate the process of darkening the metal (oxidization). But this can also happen naturally and will eventually with time by being exposed to air and moisture. One of the most commonly used patinas on the market used by jeweler's is liver of sulfur. It can make the metal go from a brown/black look. 

Which means, if the raised areas of jewelry are not kept polished it will eventually turn a dull brown/black color. 

You can use the small white square cloths (Pro-Polish Polishing pads) I include in each order to polish those raised areas. But if that doesn't quite work, you can use a slightly more abrasive material such as dry polishing paper. You can usually find an assorted pack, white, blue, pink. grey and green colored abrasive paper on amazon. I use the green paper as it's coarse yet fine enough to remove the layer of oxidization to the areas I want to keep "white/silver"

However, this means that any darkened area can be removed, so please avoid rubbing it in areas that have been intentionally blacked. 

If you have accidentally removed the patina on those areas, I can add the patina back on for you for a small fee. 

Tips On Cleaning Your Jewelry:

-Gently clean your jewelry with mild soap, water and a soft bristle toothbrush. 

-Do not put the jewelry in a "silver bath" or clean with commercial jewelry cleaning solutions as it can be too harsh and affect the overall piece and damage more porous stones. 

Gemstones care tips:

Long term exposure to sunlight can damage gemstones by fading the color of certain stones such as, amethyst, turquoise, opal, citrine, and much more. Please store your jewelry in a dry, shaded area to avoid such things from happening.