Most fashion jewelry is made with plated metals, which reduces the cost dramatically. This allows us to afford to have many pieces of jewelry for everyday wear to suit our moods and whims without breaking the bank! These pieces of jewelry are not meant to be a financial investment and they are not meant to last forever. With care, however, you can enjoy these pieces longer.
Plated jewelry is a base metal (such as silver, brass or surgical steel) covered
with a thin layer of either silver or gold. The layer of gold or silver will eventually
wear away. By handling the jewelry carefully and following the tips above for general
jewelry care, it will last longer, but the speed with which the top layer wears away
will depend on how often the jewelry is worn, as well as the thickness of the plating.
When the plating wears away, gold-
Follow the tips given for General Jewelry Care to help make your plated jewelry last longer. Handle with care and store the pieces carefully, preferably in a velvet lined jewelry box to help protect the jewelry from getting scratched.
Don’t use jewelry cleaners on plated jewelry. You can use a damp cloth to wipe away
dust from the surface to help keep the surface clean or use a non-
It has been suggested that applying clear nail polish or a clear spray fixative to plated jewelry can help it last longer and will protect skin from the green stain that sometimes appears due to the base metals used in this jewelry. (The green stain is not caused by an allergic reaction to the metal, but by a reaction between the body’s oils and certain metals, such as nickel and copper.) However, be aware that these lacquers can wear and chip away, making the jewelry look awful in spots. This may cause more frustration than it is worth, and perhaps the best use for lacquers in jewelry wearing is to coat earwires and posts if you are sensitive to nickel or other metals.
The coating on plated jewelry can be restored by a jeweler, but this may cost more than the jewelry is worth to you.