tricks of the trade

I'm not a gemologist, nor do I have any formal training in jewelry fabrication. I do, however, love jewelry and I am always on the hunt for "something new;" I also need to take care of that something new.

Trying to keep my silver jewelry looking shiny has always been a problem. It would tarnish, as all silver does. I would try to polish it with a polishing cloth, never having very good results. And if there were stones or pearls in the piece, it was almost impossible to get in all the nooks and crannies.

One day a customer returned with a piece of 14K gold jewelry she had purchased here. She had noticed a couple of dark specks on the metal, specks that had not been there when she had purchased the necklace a few months before. I was at a loss. How could I clean this so that it looked like new again?

I called my friend, Matt Wahl, of Forsythe Jewelers in Rochester. I had been a long-time customer of Forsythe's - in fact, we had purchased our wedding rings from Susie Rochow Wahl's grandfather. Matt graciously told me to bring the piece in to him and we'd see what was going on.

Matt determined that somehow the gold was tarnishing and he cleaned the necklace in his SPEED BRITE IONIC CLEANER. It came out looking brand new! Matt told me ionic cleaners were safe for all metals, pearls and most stones (not hematite). I had the answer to my cleaning problem and googled the cleaner to find an online source. It came within days and I use it frequently to keep the metal jewelry in the shop sparkling and looking its best. The cleaners are sold in several different sizes and there is even a small one for personal use. If you have a lot of silver jewelry, I heartily recommend it. Just one more trick of trade...I keep on learning new things about jewelry and that's what makes this job so much fun.