Caring for your Handmade Jewellery

Love your jewellery and it will love you back.

  • Prevention is key. Your jewellery has been handmade by skilled professionals. But it's not indestructible. Mason and Collins recommends you try not expose your jewellery to chemicals including perfume, cosmetics and household cleaning products. 
  • Do not play sport in your jewellery, or expose it to heavy physical activity.
  • Be careful not to knock or hit your jewellery against solid objects as precious and plated metal can be soft and stones can break.
  • Follow the instructions of Mason and Collins for specific care of your piece according to what your piece is made from and how it is designed.      

Bronze, Brass, Copper, Sterling Silver, & Gold

  • Bronze, brass and copper can be prone to oxidisation when exposed to air. Rates of oxidisation can differ from wearer to wearer. Ask us for a complementary polishing cloth with purchases including copper or bronze and regularly polish your jewellery with it to keep it in tip top shape.
  • Try your best not sleep, shower or wash while wearing your jewellery.
  • Avoid exposing your copper or bronze jewellery to highly chlorinated pools and natural hot springs.
  • Sterling silver can come purposefully oxidised (to look black) and can also blacken over time similarly to copper and bronze. Sterling silver can benefit from a regular polish with a soft cloth to keep it shiny and beautiful. 
  • Gold is a hardy metal but the above advice also applies. Be particularly careful around abrasive surfaces and chemicals as gold is particularly soft. 

Gold-plated pieces

Gold-plated jewellery is a fantastic way to enjoy the beauty of gold, without the price tag! But it needs to be cared for carefully because of its relatively thing exterior layer. 
  • Usually each piece is plated with about 2-5 microns of 9, 14 or 18 carat gold plating solution using an electroplating technique.
  • Avoiding all chemicals including perfumes, cosmetics and household cleaning products helps to preserve and protect your plated jewellery for longer.
  • Prevention of exposure to environmental factors is key to prolonging the plating of your jewellery.
  • Do not sleep, shower or wash while wearing your gold plated jewellery.

Stone-set jewellery

  • Some stones are porous (i.e pearls, turquoise, coral) and can change colour over time when exposed to skin, water and chemicals, including soap and cosmetics. 
  • Some stones are very soft, brittle or fragile and can crack without warning after years of wear due to many factors including a sudden knock against a solid object or a previously undetected natural inclusion in the stone’s gemological make up, or even being exposed to extreme changes in temperature. So be gentle with your stones to ensure a long and lustrous life of enjoyment.