Jewelry Care & Information
About our Process
We work with an eclectic mix of materials that include polymer clay, cellulose acetate, solid brass/bronze, freshwater pearls, 14K gold-filled metals, and semi-precious stones, and employ a diverse variety of jewelry making methods such as lost-wax casting, beading, and sculpture.
How to Care for Your Jewelry
Be sure to store your jewelry carefully away from humidity, direct sunlight, and other metal pieces that might scratch the softer surfaces of polymer clay or acetate. Please remember that pearls and other delicate gold-filled parts can be damaged by rough handling, so take care while wearing and removing jewelry.
Gold-filled metals contain a minimum of 5% gold (100 times more than gold plated!) which is bonded to a core of high quality jeweler's brass. This means that it is more compatible with sensitive ears, and resistant to tarnish, although individual body chemistry influences this greatly. Gold-filled jewelry can easily be cleaned with a jewelry polishing cloth. Take care of makeup or dirt buildup on clay and other materials with a gentle swipe from a soft cotton pad and a bit of rubbing alcohol.
Many of our solid metal pieces are raw yellow bronze or brass, which are durable, affordable, attractive gold-colored alloys containing mostly copper. This means that for certain people, bronze/brass has the potential to cause greenish black discoloration when it reacts with the acid levels of the skin, creating tarnish. This depends entirely on individual body chemistry and is not the result of any defect or quality issue — it is simply the nature of solid bronze and brass! If you are someone whose skin reacts to easily tarnish these metals, you can paint the inside of your ring (or whatever part of the metal makes contact with the skin) with a thin coat of clear nail varnish to reduce the discoloring effect, and make sure to remove your jewelry before showering or exercising.
Brass and bronze metals may darken over time as they are exposed to water and oils from the skin, but can be cleaned and polished with a soft jewelry cloth (sunshine cloth) and/or tarnish remover.
All jewelry is nickel free. Please see individual product descriptions for more information.