Native American Jewelry Care and Cleaning
CARE:
* Never submerge in water, which means no baths or swimming.
* Many stones used in this type of jewelry should not be steam cleaned.
* Do not put it in a ultrasonic.
* Do not use abrasive chemicals on the jewelry (ie bleach, toothpaste, ect.)
* Do not soak in liquid jewelry cleaners.
* Do not wear while doing heavy work or moving items (ie: heavy work).
Many of the above listed items are common sense, and apply to all jewelry items. The key for Native American jewelry, is no submerging in water or chemical. There are exceptions to these rules, but check with your local jeweler.
CLEANING:
* The best way to clean your Native American Jewelry is with a silver polishing cloth.
* There is also a silver spray on polish (Haggarty) that works very well (just spray on, let dry, and wipe off). It seems to be the best for the task of cleaning. It must be used in a well ventilated area, and as with all things in life read the directions. * A old used toothbrush works well at cleaning out the hard to reach spots on the ring.
* After using the above mentioned methods of cleaning you should wipe completely, with a clean white rag or paper towel until you no longer see and black residue.
People often wonder if a item is fake, because it makes their finger turn black. In most cases the residue from the cleaning.is the culprit. As a final note....People who like vintage jewelry, normally don't like it black from tarnish. The jewelry always look much better cleaned up. Vintage is ok, but do you really want to wear a ring with crud from the last 100 years? That why I make it a note to clean all my rings prior to shipping. Vintage equals Nice, or Vintage & Clean equals Very Nice.
SIZING:
RING SIZING:
There are only three ways to size a Native American ring with gemstones:
(1) Cold stretch sizing, which will thin out the shank. If the shank is too thin this can be dangerous, because it might make the bottom of the ring too thin, and it will bend (or cave in on the user). This method can only be used on shanks (bottoms) that are thick enough, so as to not weaken the shanks (bottom) integrity.
(2) More expensive, is to remove the gemstone, size the ring, and then reset the gemstone. The labor to do this normally costs more than the ring. What you are asking someone to do, is figure out how to best remove the stone from a ring (that someone else made), and put it back together. Many artists have different ways of doing things... It requires much time and labor.
(3) Most expensive is Laser welding. It is so much more expensive that I will not even discuss it here.
It is always best, to find a ring in your size (for silver Native American rings). Going up one size is normally not a problem with stretch sizing. Check with the vendor to see if he thinks their might be a problem (with stretch sizing). If the vendor is good they can give you a yes, no, or maybe (Note: They may, or may not charge a fee and do it for you). Lead soldering does work in some case, but it has a different color than silver, and it may not hold up well.
CUFF BRACELET SIZING: Most Native American Bracelets can be easily sized to your wrist. The key, is to open the bracelet, by gently bending open the bracelet. When the opening is just big big enough to fit over the smallest part (and side) of your wrist. You slip the opening over the side of your wrist, then twist the bracelet to the correct position.
I hope you enjoyed this guide.
Life should be like a nice diamond......Always sparkling and very colorful !!!
Bracker's Native American Fine Diamond Jewelry Store< /a>
About Author
I am a GG, GIA, and have been in the jewelry business for 33 year. I retired from the Army in 1993 and decided to be a jewelry maven full time.
Source: ArticleTrader.com