With our unique collection of beautiful jewels comes a few tips to ensure they stay just as alluring as the day you received them.
To help answer every question you may have had about caring for your jewels or the materials used to create them, we have created our Essential Care Guide.
Quick Click Guide
Making Sterling Silver Jewellery
Sterling Silver is the metal jewellery is most commonly made out of. With anti-tarnishing properties, it is also a metal that does not generally irritate the wearer's skin.
The number ‘.925’ refers to the concentration of silver in the metal (92.5% pure silver). The purest form of silver is .999 however, due to the malleable nature of pure silver, it is generally only used as plating over other materials.
You and Your Silver
Sterling Silver will naturally oxidise due to a reaction with chemicals in the environment and air, this does not mean your gorgeous jewel is tarnished but with the right care methods your Sterling Silver pieces will be shining bright always.
Though you may take perfect care of your silver jewellery, they will still need a clean every now and then. You can use a silver polishing cloth or non-abrasive cloth to give it a good polish. It's best to move to a new section of the cloth regularly and follow the grain of the silver.
Remove when swimming to prevent tarnish
Protect from harsh chemicals in perfumes and lotions
Remove before sleeping to prevent damage to stones
Among our shining gold jewels, we have gold plating, gold fill and gold dipped jewellery. Each type has different ways of being created and cared for.
Solid Gold
Though unlikely to tarnish or lose its shine, Solid Gold can be cleaned with any type of polishing cloth using a light buffing motion. Our solid gold jewellery are made with 9k gold, meaning other alloys are mixed into them to ensure it is more durable in order to help retain their quality.
Remove when swimming to prevent tarnish
Protect from harsh chemicals in perfumes and lotions
Remove before sleeping to prevent damage to stones
Gold Filled
Made by heat and pressure bonded to a layer of karat gold to another metal, in our jewellery, the other metal is either brass or sterling silver. To look after any jewels that are gold fill, lightly polish them with a cloth to remove any marks or tarnish and ensure they are kept in a safe place. We currently use both 18k and 14k gold fill materials for our gold fill jewellery.
Gold Plated
Created with a layer of gold on the surface over another type of metal, at Indie and Harper our gold-plated jewellery is 9k or 24k gold plated over either brass, zinc alloy or .925 sterling silver.
As your gold-plated jewels are not 100% solid gold, extra care is needed to maximise their lifespan. Clean your plated jewellery with a very soft cloth to remove any dust and dirt after everyday wear as often as possible. To prevent scratching, ensure your jewellery is in a jewellery bag or box away from other jewels to prevent any rubbing.
Remove when swimming, showering, washing hands and exercising
Protect from harsh chemicals in perfumes and lotions
Remove before sleeping to prevent damage to stones
Among our shining rose gold jewels, we currently have jewels with 9k solid rose gold, rose gold plating and rose gold fill. Every type of rose gold jewellery has a different way of being formed and cared for.
Solid Rose Gold
Though unlikely to tarnish or lose their shine, to clean our Solid Rose Gold jewellery, any type of polishing cloth can be used. Our Solid Rose Gold jewellery use 9k Rose Gold, which means other metal alloys are mixed into them to ensure they are more durable and will retain their quality.
Remove when swimming to prevent tarnish
Protect from harsh chemicals in perfumes and lotions
Remove before sleeping to prevent damage to stones
Rose Gold Filled
Made by applying heat and pressure to bond a layer of karat rose gold to another metal, in our jewellery the other metal is always either brass or sterling silver.
To look after any jewels that are rose gold fill lightly polish with a cloth to remove any marks or tarnish. Make sure you keep your rose gold jewellery in a special place, where it will not be damaged or exposed to anything that could cause it to become damp. We currently use both 18k and 14k rose gold fill materials for our gold fill jewellery.
Rose Gold Plated
Created with a layer of gold on the surface over another type of metal, at Indie and Harper our rose gold-plated jewellery is either over brass or .925 sterling silver.
As your rose gold-plated jewellery is not 100% solid rose gold, extra care is needed to maximise its lifespan. Clean your plated jewels with a very soft cloth to remove any dust and dirt after everyday wear as often as possible (remember to be gentle!). To prevent scratching, ensure your jewels are in a jewellery bag or box away from other jewels to prevent any rubbing.
Remove when swimming, showering, washing hands and exercising
Protect from harsh chemicals in perfumes and lotions
Remove before sleeping to prevent damage to stones
Electroforming
Our beautiful copper jewellery is created through a process called electroforming.
Electroforming is a step-by-step process whereby gemstones are first coated with conductive paint and then submerged in a copper-rich electrochemical solution for approximately six to twenty-four hours.
During the electroforming process copper molecules are attracted to the conductive paint to then form a copper bezel which transforms the jewellery into their own unique piece.
To finalise the process each piece is then tumbled, blackened and buffed to create the beautiful jewels our Indie and Harper customers are purchasing.
Copper jewellery naturally oxidises over time creating a unique patina, however, using a very fine abrasive pad regularly will ensure your piece stays shiny.
Remove when swimming, showering, washing hands and exercising
Protect from harsh chemicals in perfumes and lotions
Remove before sleeping to prevent damage to stones
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