You often ask me how to care for and clean the jewelry that comes out of The MeriTomasa's Treasures Factory. In a previous post I explained how to clean your silver jewelry. In this post I complete the series with my best tricks to clean and care for your gold jewelry.

To begin with, the most important thing to remember is that the way you care for and clean a gold jewel depends on its finish: glossy or matte. And whether it is yellow gold or white gold. In the photo above this post, you have an example of each: two alliances in white gold on one side, and two alliances in yellow gold on the other (one of them with a glossy finish and the other with a matte finish).

If it is yellow and bright, nothing better than a chamois to clean gold

Gold is one of the precious metals that requires less care: it does not rust and is less soft. I do not write "hard" because in jewelry, diamond is hard and that means that it can scratch any other metal, but that it breaks with any blow. Precious metals are soft, malleable. Gold is less soft than silver but more so than platinum. That means that gold is quite good at handling bumps and scrapes.

To maintain and clean it, it works the same as in silver: it depends on the finish of the jewel. If the finish is shiny, and the piece is made of yellow gold, the best option is a chamois to clean gold. I include one in all my treasures with this finish. You simply need to gently rub the shiny surface of the gold to remove any skin contact marks before storing your jewel. And remember: never wash your suede: it is impregnated with special chemicals to shine your jewelry and if you wash it, it loses them.

What if it's rose gold? Same as with yellow gold. What if it's white gold? Well, in this case it is totally different.

If it is yellow gold with a matte finish, it is better not to use suede. And if it is white gold... even less!

On the other hand, if your jewelery has a matte finish instead of a polished finish, it is better not to use suede. Gently remove the sweat with a cloth, but do not rub your jewel with a chamois to clean gold because what you are doing is giving shine, and that implies that you will remove the layer of the matte finish and instead of taking care of your jewel you will be damaging it.

White gold is more of the same. First of all: it is forbidden to use a chamois!

You must bear in mind that 18K white gold is an alloy made up of 750 parts out of every 1000 of pure gold. The remaining 250 parts are made of a metal that makes the gold whiter (each jeweler/laboratory uses a different league, it is the eternal dispute, to see who can make the whitest white gold). That means that most of each gram is pure gold, and pure gold is yellow. For that reason white gold, natural, always has golden reflections and that is why it is bathed.

This is not just the case for white gold. It also happens in silver or yellow gold. Both "pure" silver and gold are very soft metals. For this reason, in jewelry, we work with alloys that allow these metals to harden to prevent the jewelry from being too fragile. That is why we speak of “sterling silver” (which is an alloy, generally with copper) and “18-karat gold” (which is also an alloy, generally with silver and copper).

White gold is the result of alloying pure gold (yellow in color) with other whiter metals (such as silver, platinum, palladium, nickel, or manganese). As after that alloy there are still golden reflections, we add a rhodium plating, which is a precious metal with a color similar to steel, but much more noble, scarce, durable and antiallergic.

This rhodium plating, over time, especially with the friction of wearing the jewels, goes away, revealing the true color of white gold, with its yellow sparkles. That is why it is important not to wipe it with a chamois to clean gold, because instead of taking care of the jewel you are helping to eliminate the rhodium plating.

So, especially in the case of white gold, it is important to go through a set-up in the workshop from time to time. And even more if it has precious stones (it is worth checking that they are well secured and the setting has not worn).