We don’t often think about jewelry and safety together, but there are more aspects than you know to consider. We’ve covered a few safety situations below and encourage you to consider further exploration if you will be in any of these situations.

First, we’ve mentioned before situations that can be unsafe for your jewelry, but it bears repeating.

• Remove your jewelry before swimming or working out as sweat and chlorine can tarnish silver and saltwater can make gemstones shine and sparkle less.

• Remove your jewelry before using lotions or sunscreens as lotions can dull your gems.

• Remove your jewelry before gardening or playing in sand – dirt and sand are abrasive and can permanently damage jewelry.

As always, regularly clean your jewelry at home – here and here are some helpful home cleaning tips. Make sure to get regular checks and cleanings by your favorite jeweler, at least every 6 months.

Secondly, keep your workplace in mind when you think about what to wear to work. Always check to see if your workplace has a “jewelry at work” policy. Here are some common jewelry mishaps that can be easily avoided.

• Ring avulsion is when your ring gets caught on something hard and unyielding. This can cause lacerations, joint dislocation and the possibility of losing a finger.

• Jewelry getting caught in machinery can happen with any type of jewerly, but especially anything that is long or dangles.

• Electric shock can be caused by metals as they are conductors of electricity and can cause shocks or even electrocution.

• Heat and cold – jewelry heats faster than we do and cools more slowly and, in a very hot environment, it could burn your skin. Cold is a similar issue in extremely cold environments.

We recommend saving wearing your jewelry at work in these types of environments.  Consider a silicone ring if you must wear a wedding band.

Finally, keep safety in mind when you are out in public. We recommend buying some “vacation jewelry”, beautiful, but less expensive pieces to take with you – see our vacation jewelry blog here. 

• If you do choose to wear your valuables in public, be wary of more dangerous locations – crowded tourist areas that might be frequented by thieves, for example.

• When wearing valuables, keep to a group as you may be less likely to be targeted than if you are alone.

• Be aware, pay attention to your surroundings, move to a populated area if you feel unsafe or that someone is following you.

Stop in to Bridgewaters and let us help you choose vacation jewelry or safer pieces for work. We can clean and check your jewelry at the same time!