Gold jewelry is designed to be brilliant and eye-catching. But over time, you can find that it starts to lose its shine. One of the selling points of gold jewelry is that it can last for generations. But it might need a little help to get there.
If your jewelry is polished frequently, it may start to lose material. A jeweler can also add material if this happens, but this is rare; this is something that usually happens over the course of generations with antique jewelry. Otherwise, getting your jewelry polished shouldn't lead to any damage to the jewelry itself.
The Karat of Your Jewelry
Knowing the karat of your gold jewelry is important. 24k jewelry is very soft, while 14k jewelry is much harder. If your jewelry is close to pure gold, it's going to scratch more easily. Either way, you should clean jewelry delicately — but it will be more common that you're going to need to have 24k gold jewelry polished compared to an alloy with lower gold content.Cleaning Gold Jewelry
Gold jewelry can be cleaned gently with a soft brush such as a makeup brush. Dip the brush in warm, soapy water. You can get a special jewelry cleaner or use dish soap. Brush the gold jewelry in circles until you start to see the dirt come off. You should thoroughly rinse and dry the jewelry after finishing. Though gold cannot stain, it's still best to dry it to remove any lasting soap residue.Getting Gold Jewelry Polished
If you clean your gold jewelry and it still appears to be dull, it's possible that it needs to be polished. Gold is a soft metal. Over time, there may be small scratches or scuffing that can make the jewelry look dull. Luckily, this is very easy for a jeweler to fix. A jeweler can polish your jewelry, so it looks new again.If your jewelry is polished frequently, it may start to lose material. A jeweler can also add material if this happens, but this is rare; this is something that usually happens over the course of generations with antique jewelry. Otherwise, getting your jewelry polished shouldn't lead to any damage to the jewelry itself.