As we all try to limit ourselves to essential activities only; adhering to social distancing; frequent hand washing; there are surfaces people often forget to clean…your jewelry (rings, bracelets, watches, etc.)
According to the Centers for Disease Control, COVID-19 can live on surfaces anywhere from a couple of hours to multiple days.
My entire career, I've watched people lick their fingers to pull off a ring from a finger. Cringe. People do this to lubricate their finger for easier ring removal. DON’T DO IT!!! YES, I’M YELLING AND AM NOT SORRY!!!
Regular hand washing will help to kill the germs on your hands but rings will only get “slightly washed”. Even before COBID-19, germs and bacteria grow and hide underneath the ring and inside the holes behind diamonds. Even if you take your rings off then wash your hands, if rings are contaminated and you pop them back on after washing your hands, you have re-contaminated your hands. Other jewelry items that don’t get washed because they aren’t on a hand (i.e., bracelets, necklaces, etc.) need extra precaution.
Many of the common chemicals and sanitizers that can kill COVID-19 bacteria can cause precious stones to become dingy and cloudy. Common alcohol-basic hand sanitizer may ruin the precious metal. PLEASE DO NOT SOAK YOUR RINGS AND JEWEWLRY IN CLOROX! Don’t use alcohol, witch hazel, hydrogen peroxide, or chlorine to clean your jewelry. Instead, Use hot water, soap and a toothbrush to clean your rings for now. However, still this will not get into all the crevices.
Before COVID-19, it was important to have your jewelry PROFESSIONALLY cleaned and serviced periodically. Now, more than ever, it is imperative. Jewelers use materials, tools, and knowledge that most people do not have access to. This allows the jewelry to receive a very thorough cleaning, resulting in jewelry and stones that look as good as new. First, a strong blast of hot steam in order to wash off the dirt and grime. Then, use ultrasonic cleaners with high frequency sound waves and disinfectant chemicals, which create bubbles that latch on to the dirt on the diamond.
We are not a large jewelry store with lots of sales people. Its just me and Lisa. We will take in your jewelry by appointment and it is not necessary for any hand to hand contact as you will insert your jewelry in an envelop and place on the disinfected desk.
While you have your jewelry cleaned, it also a good time to have it serviced. One of life’s inevitabilities is that your ring, bracelet necklace, or other piece of cherished jewelry will one day need to be repaired. When that happens, you must have confidence in the skill of your jeweler. Jewelry repair starts with trust and expertise; you're handing over something near and dear to you, so you want to make sure that it is treated with care and brought back to it's former condition.
We proudly complete all of our repair and restoration work onsite in our Workshop – we do NOT send your items out to a third party for repair or service. Our workshop uses the highest quality techniques and tools, and we always protect your items with stringent security standards.
Among the services we provide are the following:
- Ring sizing
- Jewelry cleaning and polishing
- Ring shank replacement
- Stone tightening
- Stone replacement
- Prong tightening and retipping
- Soldering
- Chain shortening or lengthening
- Chain repairs & clasp replacement
- Rhodium plating
