Jewelry Care Guide

Nearly everything we sell is made by hand, which means nearly everything we sell wants slightly different handling. Silver tarnishes. Copper changes on purpose. Pearl and abalone would rather you kept the water away entirely.

Here's how to look after all of it, material by material. If you're not sure what your piece is made of, check its product page or just email us and we'll tell you.

Start here: four rules that cover most of it

• Put jewelry on after perfume, hairspray, and lotion. Always.
• Take it off before you swim, shower, or exercise.
• Store pieces separately so they don't scratch each other.
• When in doubt, a soft dry cloth is always safe.

That last one is worth remembering. Nothing we sell is harmed by a dry cloth. Plenty of it is harmed by the wrong cleaner.

Sterling Silver (.925)

Store it in the anti-tarnish pouch or with the silver polishing cloth we sent along with your order. When it dulls, polish gently with the cloth and it comes right back.

Take it off before swimming, showering, or putting on perfume and lotion, and keep it out of prolonged moisture and direct sunlight.

Argentium Silver

Argentium has a higher silver content than standard sterling, which makes it noticeably more tarnish-resistant. It stays bright with very little effort on your part.

Store it somewhere cool and dry, polish with a soft cloth when it needs it, and take it off before swimming or showering. That's the whole routine.

Silver-Plated

Silver plating is a thin layer of real silver over a base metal, which means it behaves like silver right up until it doesn't.

It tarnishes the same way sterling does. What's different is what you do about it. Polish gently and sparingly with a soft cloth, then stop. Hard rubbing, abrasive polishes, and silver dips all take the plating off along with the tarnish, and once you're through to the base metal underneath there's no putting it back.

So prevention is worth far more here than polishing is. Keep it dry, take it off before water, and store it in an anti-tarnish pouch. Treated that way a plated chain lasts for years.

Recycled Copper

Copper develops a patina over time. Some love it, some would rather keep things bright. Your choice.

• To let the patina come: wear it and enjoy it. The aging is normal and it adds character.
• To bring back the shine: a soft toothbrush, a drop of Dawn dish soap, and warm water. Rinse thoroughly and dry completely before storing.

The one exception is the Southern Moss Cuff. That piece has a hand-applied patina under a protective seal. Do not scrub it and do not use soap on it — wipe gently with a dry soft cloth only. There's much more on copper, including why the cuff is different, in our copper care guide.

Niobium

Our niobium ear wires are hypoallergenic and highly resistant to tarnish and corrosion. Wipe clean with a soft damp cloth and that's it. No special care required, and one of the lowest-maintenance metals in jewelry.

If other ear wires have given you trouble, these are the ones to look for.

Titanium

Titanium is about as body-friendly as metal gets. Nickel-free, it won't corrode, it won't tarnish, and it doesn't react with skin, which is why it turns up in surgical implants as well as in ear wires.

Wipe it with a soft damp cloth. That is genuinely the whole routine.

If niobium and titanium are both new to you, the short version is that either one is a safe bet for sensitive ears. Check the product page to see which a piece uses.

Rhodium-Plated Stainless Steel

Wipe clean with a soft dry cloth. Skip abrasive cleaners and polishing cloths, which wear the plating down over time, and take it off before swimming or showering.

Stainless Steel

Plain surgical-grade stainless steel is about as low-maintenance as jewelry gets. It won't tarnish, it won't turn your skin, and it never needs polishing. Wipe it with a soft cloth when it looks like it wants it, and that's the whole job.

Don't confuse it with the rhodium-plated kind just above. That one has a finish that can wear; this one doesn't.

Fordite

Fordite is hardened automotive paint, and it's tougher than that sounds. It spent years curing in a factory bake oven before anybody cut it.

It may dull a little with wear. Buff it gently with automotive polish or a soft polishing cloth and the depth comes right back. Don't soak it, don't scrub it, and keep harsh chemicals away from it.

Whatever your fordite is set in will have needs of its own, and the copper and stainless steel notes on this page cover ours.

There's a good deal more about fordite, including what it actually is and how to tell the real thing from the fakes, on our What Is Fordite? page.

Resin

Wipe clean with a soft damp cloth. Keep it out of prolonged direct sunlight, which fades the color eventually, and don't use chemical cleaners on it.

Porcelain & Ceramic Pendants

Wipe gently with a soft dry cloth. Don't submerge them and don't use any chemical cleaner. Porcelain is durable, but it will chip if you drop it on tile, so handle it like you mean it.

Leather

Wipe clean with a soft dry cloth. Keep leather away from prolonged moisture and direct sunlight, and avoid getting it wet at all if you can help it. Store it flat or hanging so it holds its shape.

Teakwood

Wipe clean with a dry cloth and don't soak it. The grain may shift subtly over the years. That isn't wear, that's natural wood being natural wood.

Gemstone Care

This is where it pays to know what you have, because stones vary more than metals do.

Safe with a soft damp cloth

Amazonite, Bronzite, Jasper in all its varieties (Red Creek, Picasso, Zebra, Sea Sediment), Labradorite, Snowflake Obsidian, Tiger's Eye, Tibetan and DZI Agate, Millefiori Glass, and Czech Glass.

Keep all of them away from harsh chemicals and prolonged sun.

Dry cloth only, no water at all

Aquatine Calcite, Azurite, Hematite, Pearl, and Amber.

These are sensitive to moisture and water will damage them, fade them, or in hematite's case rust them. A dry cloth is the only thing they need.

Stones that need special handling

• Abalone and abalone shell. A soft damp cloth is fine, but keep it away from all chemicals, perfume, and prolonged water. Abalone is sensitive to acids and harsh products, and once the iridescence goes it doesn't come back.
• Tanzanite. Soft damp cloth only. No heat, no ultrasonic cleaners, no harsh chemicals. Tanzanite is the most delicate stone we carry.
• Pearl. Wipe with a dry cloth after every single wear. On last, off first, and away from all chemicals including perfume and hairspray.

One more thing worth knowing

Nothing we make is glued. Every stone is wire-wrapped or set on a hand-forged stem, which is why our settings don't fail the way mass-produced ones do. It's also why we'd rather you didn't soak anything with a stone on it — water gets into a wire wrap far more easily than it comes back out, and it will quietly tarnish the metal underneath where no cloth can reach.

Still not sure?

Email us at hello@belleandsouthern.com and tell us which piece you have. A real person will answer, usually within a day or two, and we'd genuinely rather you asked than guessed. You can also find shipping, returns, and everything else on our FAQs page.