Care can be divided depending on whether the jewelry is made of gold or silver, gold or gilded silver.
First of all, we would like to emphasize how important it is to take good care of your jewelry, so that it can last you well and for a long time. We recommend storing your jewelry in the original boxes that come from BY•L or in closed jewelry boxes. We only use precious metals in our jewelry, which is real gold and 925 sterling silver, and therefore you can always bring BY•L jewelry to us at Silfursmárann, where both our store & workshop are located, for inspection if you start to see signs of wear.
Silver care:
We always recommend removing silver jewelry, rhodium (silver-plated), black rhodium (shiny black) and those with 18kt gold plating (gold-plated), before sleeping, swimming, exercising and steaming. It is also important to apply perfume, creams and oils before putting on jewelry. When a silver ring has gold plating, it is very important to remove it before hand washing, but it is the most damaging to rings of all jewelry, so extra care must be taken with gold rings.
Also keep in mind that it tarnishes silver in Iceland, which means that the silver can turn dark, including silver under the gilding. When you are not wearing your jewelry, store it in a jewelry box or other closed box, even a zip-lock bag, and not in a bowl or on a jewelry hanger in the bathroom, as it will quickly oxidize (tarnishes the silver, turns dark).
It is fairly simple to polish or clean the jewelry if it has fallen on it, with a cloth or cleaning product that you can purchase from us.
Caring for silver with 18kt gold plating:
Silver plated with 18kt gold and 14kt gold are two different things. The gold plating actually allows us to buy gold-colored jewelry at a much lower price than if it were made of real gold.
Gilding on silver jewelry is skin, even if the skin is thick and fine, skin is always skin and will most likely come off over time, it all depends on how you care for the jewelry how long the gilding will last. We therefore recommend taking your gold jewelry off before showering, swimming, exercising, steaming and sleeping, but the PH level of the skin also has an effect on the gilding . High skin acidity wears off gilding faster, and hormones (pregnancy/breastfeeding) can also have an effect.
The good news is that precious metals, like silver, can always be replated. It is normal care to need to re-plating plated jewelry - when and how often depends entirely on use.
14kt gold jewelry:
Gold jewelry (14kt gold +) can be taken swimming and showering without falling on them. However, there are many other things that have an effect, such as skin oils, creams, oils or perfume. If you wear your jewelry a lot, it will get grease that can be cleaned off with soapy water, a soft brush, cleaning agents and cloths - it can also happen that gold darkens slightly in our water here in Iceland.
Jewelry with gemstones & pearls:
Hairspray and perfume should be kept away from gemstones and pearls, so we recommend applying perfume and hairspray before putting on jewelry with pearls or gemstones. Pearls are particularly sensitive to these substances, but the finish can become dull.
Gemstones vary in sensitivity to these substances - but don't hesitate to ask BY•L staff for more information about your gemstone.
If you have any questions about jewelry care, please drop us a line or stop by at Silfursmárin. You are always welcome to bring your jewelry in for cleaning or inspection.
