How to keep it, honestly.

The five rules that cover almost everything

1. Last on, first off. Put jewellery on after perfume, sunscreen, hairspray and moisturiser. Take it off before you take them off.
2. Store it dry, apart, and closed. Each piece in its own pouch, in a closed box. Not a bowl on the dresser.
3. Wear it. Skin contact keeps silver bright. Jewellery in a drawer tarnishes faster than jewellery worn daily.
4. Take it off for water, sleep and the gym. Chlorine, salt water and repeated impact are the three things that actually cause damage.
5. Never use an ultrasonic cleaner or a steamer on anything with a stone in it.

Cleaning silver

Warm water, a drop of mild washing-up liquid, a soft toothbrush around the setting, rinse, dry completely with a soft cloth, then finish with an impregnated silver polishing cloth.

Do not use toothpaste. It is an abrasive, it scratches polished silver and it dulls a rhodium finish. This advice is everywhere online and it is wrong.

Do not use dip-style chemical tarnish removers on plated pieces or on porous stones. They strip rhodium and attack lapis and turquoise.

Full detail is in the 925 sterling silver guide.

Care by stone

Hardness is on the Mohs scale, where 10 is diamond and 1 is talc.

Moonstone and labradorite, 6 to 6.5

Both are feldspars, and both need the same care. They scratch against harder stones, so store them separately. Both can also cleave along internal planes if knocked hard against a hard surface, so take a ring off before the gym or heavy work.

Warm water, mild soap, soft cloth. Never ultrasonic, never steam.

Aquamarine, 7.5 to 8

The most durable stone we set and fine for daily wear. Warm soapy water and a soft brush. Avoid sudden temperature changes.

Amethyst, citrine and rose quartz, 7

Durable enough for regular wear. The important one: prolonged direct sunlight will permanently fade all three. Do not leave them on a windowsill or in a car dashboard. Amethyst and rose quartz are the most susceptible.

Warm soapy water. Avoid heat.

Carnelian, tiger eye and black onyx, 6.5 to 7

All opaque, which means surface scratches show less than on transparent stones. Warm soapy water and a soft cloth. Avoid harsh chemicals. For black onyx the polish is the entire stone, so keep it away from abrasives.

Note: most black onyx is dyed chalcedony, which is standard and permanent, but it makes harsh solvents a genuinely bad idea.

Lapis lazuli, 5 to 6

The softest and most delicate stone we set. It scratches easily, it dislikes heat, and it is porous, which means it absorbs liquids.

Do not soak lapis. A barely damp cloth, dried immediately. No soap, no ultrasonic, no steam, no chemical cleaner of any kind. Store it away from harder stones.

Garnet, 7 to 7.5

Durable and fine for daily wear. Warm soapy water and a soft brush. Faceted edges can chip on a sharp knock, so avoid banging your hand on things, which is also good advice generally.

Storage

A closed box, each piece in its own soft pouch. Two reasons: stones of different hardness scratch each other, and enclosed air tarnishes silver more slowly than open air.

A silica gel sachet in the box genuinely helps in humid climates, and a strip of anti-tarnish paper helps more. Both are inexpensive.

Do not store silver in direct contact with rubber bands, wool, or newspaper. All three contain sulphur compounds.

Beaded pieces

The Strand Bracelet is strung on thread. Take it off before showering: the thread lasts considerably longer dry. Restringing after a few years of wear is normal rather than a failure.

When to bring it back

• Claw settings on the Lucent Ring should be checked roughly once a year
• Rhodium plating on a daily-wear ring will want replating after one to three years
• If a stone moves at all in its setting, stop wearing it and message us

Our repair and replating service and pricing: We repair and replate our own pieces — message us.

Travel

Take the pouches. Do not put jewellery in checked luggage. Do not wear moonstone, labradorite or lapis to the beach: sand is quartz at hardness 7, and it is harder than all three.