All Soulbound jewelry is designed to be worn every day, on every adventure!
Your jewelry may develop minor scratches and dings along the way, but some people love the look of worn and aged jewelry.
If you're not into that and would like to keep your jewelry looking shiny and new, follow the guidelines below.
It is important to keep in mind that while 14 karat gold and gemstones are strong, they are not indestrucable.
All fine jewelry must be worn with care, espically so for delicate and thin designs.
Removing your jewelry while performing hard labor, exercising, showering, and cleaning with harsh chemicals is always recommended.
Please remove your gold jewelry before bathing, swimming, cleaning, or applying lotion. The chemicals in pool water, certain cleaning supplies and some face and hand lotions can erode the metal. When gold is broken down into tiny microscopic pieces, it appears black. This may result in a tarnished look on the metal and a black mark on your skin.
You can clean your gold jewelry with warm water, mild soap, and a soft bristled toothbrush (child and baby toothbrushes work well for this). Be sure to rinse and dry your jewelry thoroughly.
Use the gold polishing cloth included in your order for extra shine and to remove any tarnish. Sometimes 14 karat gold can tarnish a bit (particularly on earrings and the inside of rings) because of a reaction with your skin chemistry, but you can remove this tarnish easily.
Through normal wear and tear your gold jewelry will develop minor scratches. I personally love the look of well-worn gold jewelry, but if that's not your thing, you can take your jewelry to a local jeweler to have it repolished. Keep in mind however that polishing does remove a bit of gold (fractions of a millimeter), so this should be done sparingly to maintain the structural integrity of your jewelry.
Nearly all white gold jewelry created today is plated with white rhodium. This hides the true color of white gold and gives the jewelry the bright white/silver appearance that we've come to expect with white gold.
This plating will slowly fade over time, typically on the areas of your jewelry that receive the most wear and tear (the base of your ring, for example). Every few years you may need to have the white rhodium plating replaced if you would like to maintain the bright white color of your jewelry.
Underneath the plating, the true color of white gold is a warm white. This is because you're seeing the actual gold within the alloy. The 14 karat white gold alloy I use is 58.5% gold, 23% copper, 9% zinc, and 9.50% nickel. The gold still shows through in metal. I like to describe it as a champagne color.
Although it is uncommon, some jewelers (including me!) now offer unplated white gold jewelry. I personally think the warm white color is beautiful, and there's no maintinance involved since there is no rhodium plating!
Since unplated white gold jewelry is so rare however, I cannot offer necklace chains, charm bales, or earring posts/backs in unplated white gold, as these are findings that I purchase from jewelry finding suppliers. Anything that I cast myself however - all rings, the design part of my pendants neckalces/charms and earrings - can be made in unplated white gold!
By default, Soulbound's white gold jewelry contains nickel.
If you have a nickel allergy, please choose yellow or rose gold, or contact me at info@soulboundnyc.com to information about ordering a piece of jewelry with a special type of white gold that does not contain nickel.
By default, all Soulbound jewelry is made with 14 karat gold, but I am happy to create 18 karat gold and platinum jewelry by request.
18 karat gold is softer than 14 karat gold, so it is more prone to scratching and warping.
It must be worn with even more care than 14 karat gold jewelry.
Platinum jewelry shows scratches more visibly because the metal tends to just move out of place when scratched, rather than be removed. You'll likely notice that your platinum jewelry will show visible scratches upon the first day of wear. This is normal, and is unfortunately one of the downsides of choosing platinum. The beneifts of platinum are that you get to have a truly bright white colored metal without the need for rhodium plating.
Diamonds are the hardest gemstone, which means that only another diamond can strach one. However, it is still possible for diamonds to chip or break with heavy wear and blunt force trauma.
It is best to remove your diamond jewelry when doing anything rough with your hands. Try to avoid dropping any jewelry containing diamonds or gemstones, as this can cause the stones to shift and they may become loose in their settings.
Be sure to store your diamond jewelry away from other jewelry, since the diamonds can stratch other gemstones and gold.
To clean your diamonds, use a soft toothbrush and a jewelry cleaning solution. Rinse with warm ater and dry with a soft cloth. For a deeper cleaning, you can bring your diamond jewelry to a local jeweler and ask for a professional steam or ultrasonic cleaning service.
Most gemstones do well with regular use, as long as you are careful to avoid blunt trauma.
I always recomming removing your jewelry when doing anything rough with your hands. Try to avoid dropping any jewelry containing gemstones, as this can cause the stones to shift and they may become loose in their settings.
To clean your gemstones, use a soft toothbrush and a jewelry cleaning solution. Rinse with warm ater and dry with a soft cloth. For a deeper cleaning, you can bring your jewelry to a local jeweler and ask for a professional steam or ultrasonic cleaning service, with the exception of jewelry containing opals or pearls.
Opals are relatively delicate stones, and require special care. They are soft (5.5 - 6.5 on the Mohs hardness scale), high in water content, and porous. This makes them sensitive to changes in climate, temperature, and humidity.
You should not wear opal jewelry in the shower, spa, hot tubs, or any other environment with an extreme temperature shift.
Avoid contact with soap and household cleaning products, and be sure to set your opal jewelry down gently when removed. Store in a cotton or microfiber pouch or jewelry box when not in use.
To clean opal jewelry, use warm water and your fingers to gently remove any debris.
Opal jewelry should never be steam cleaned or placed in an ultrasonic cleaner! When in doubt, bring your opal jewelry to a local jeweler for a professional cleaning.
Like opals, pearls are soft gemstones that must be worn with care.
They are especially sensitive to the chemicals found in cosmetics, hair products, perfume, and chlorine. Even the chlorine in tap water is enough to cause damage, so please remove your pearl jewelry in the pool and before taking a shower.
Pearl experts always say: put them on last and take them off first
With this in mind, you should shower, style your hair, apply make-up and lotion before wearing your pearl jewelry.
To clean your pearls, use a soft cloth moistened with waer.
Ironically, the oils in your skin improve the luster of pearls, so wearing them frequently keeps them looking beautiful!