Guest Post "How to clean your engagement ring" by Jeweller Harriet Kelsall and a blogtastic giveaway!.

Harriet Kelsall runs the UKs leading bespoke jewellery design company.  Harriet has had an amazing year winning many awards including the UK Jewellery awards and the Everywoman Retail ‘woman of the year’ award.  Also they were chosen in February to be one of the first allowed to use Fairtrade gold and are the first independent to be certificated by the Responsible Jewellery council, as jewellery ethics are important to them too. 

Whilst best known for their ‘clean sheet’ bespoke design service, they also have a great range of ready-to-wear jewellery perfect for Christmas presents which arrive gift wrapped with your own handwritten message – and I even have a few lovley pairs to give away to you (read on for more details!).

Harriet took time out of her schedule to give us some tips on maxing the sparkle of our engagement rings in time for Christmas..........

"In our 40s, we are certainly fabulous, but are also very busy juggling careers, relationships and kids.  I notice my friends just don’t have time to go to the jewellers and get their rings professionally cleaned as often as they would like.

Whilst the official line is to always take your ring to a good jewellery for regular clean and check-over, it is very easy to give your ring a dramatically good clean at home – it takes about 3 minutes and you will be amazed at the results.

I should just emphasize that home cleaning is only really suitable for a really well made and sound engagement ring. But if your well made engagement ring is made from gold, platinum or palladium with with no stones other than diamonds, sapphires, or rubies you can do this as often as you like.

Sapphire engagement rings in particular really benefit from cleaning because light does not totally-internally reflect within the gemstone structure as it does with a diamond, and so they do so lose their sparkle when the backs get mucky. Even a little hand cream can build up and stop your stones from sparkling.

Be careful not to try this with soft gemstones – if you don’t have diamonds, sapphires or rubies, seek advice from a good jeweller about whether your gemtones are definitely ‘hard’ enough before home-cleaning as some stones like emeralds or opals could be severely damaged by home cleaning because they are porous and even just water can damage them.

·        Before you start, have a really good look at your engagement ring. Check that the claws look really sound and that none of the stones are chipped or moving in their settings. If you do have any damage or any claws which look worryingly thin, it is important to take your ring straight to a professional in case you loose a stone.

 ·        Fill a bowl with warm or hot water (with the plug in to avoid accidentally dropping your ring down!).

 ·        Get a very soft bristled toothbrush like a baby’s toothbrush or a sable paintbrush and neat washing up liquid.  It is important that the brush is soft so that the bristles can’t scratch the metal.

 ·        Put a few drops of washing up liquid directly onto the wet brush and gently brush in and around all of the stones particularly concentrating on the stone backs (you should always find the backs of the stones are open from the inside of the ring on a good quality ring to allow for cleaning as otherwise dirt works in through the top and can never come out).  Don’t’ apply too much pressure when brushing so that you don’t scratch the metal or push on the stones and dislodge them from their settings.

 ·        Rinse of the detergent thoroughly (this is particularly important if you have sensitive skin as the detergent can be an allergen and cause contact dermatitis).

·        Dry using a lint free cloth (ideally one especially for jewellery but actually a glasses cleaning cloth can work well too – just make sure the cloth is completely clean).  When storing your metal cleaning cloth, you must keep it in a packet and not out in the atmosphere because otherwise the polish dry up and dust or grit can get onto it and then when you rub your metal with it, this will scratch the ring. 

If there is any really caked-on dirt (e.g. anything like pastry that has hardened onto the ring) or if you haven't cleaned it for a really long time, it sometimes helps to soak the ring overnight submerged in neat liquid detergent like Flash before you start (that's right - the all purpose or floor cleaner! Or you can use any other similar non-abrasive neat floor or all-purpose detergents). Just pop your ring in a glass and completely cover it in this liquid detergent... being careful to put this in an unusual place so that you don't accidentally pour it away and loose your ring! This soak will help loosen off this dirt before you start.

In days gone by, people used to soak their diamonds in gin which also works but in my opinion is a waste of gin!

Another thing that my customers often say from our grandparent's generation is that you can clean a diamond ring with toothpaste but I don't recommend this as I think it is a bit too abrasive and could scratch the metal on a fine setting.

Have a very sparkly Christmas!"

If anybody would like to tweet Harriet with questions about cleaning their own engagement ring, you can contact her @HarrietKelsall  

Now for the blogtastic giveaway!  Harriet has very kindly provided 7, yes 7 pairs of earrings to form part of a fantastic Christmas giveaway.  Each pair is made of sterling silver in the Hertfordshire countryside in small runs where the brand rarely make more than 10 of any particular design to keep things exclusive and unlike most jewellers, everything is made in the UK and contain such gorgeous materials as smoky grey river pearls, swarvoski crystals, rock crystals and hematine and all retail between £15.95 and £32.92 and come beautifully gift boxed. 

To be in with a chance of winning one of these fantastic pairs of earrings make sure that you are a follower of the Blog on Facebook and simply leave a comment below by midnight Tuesday 20th December telling me why you deserve to win, along with your email address, yes its that simple!  My favourite 7 answers will each receive a pair, chosen at random. 

*Purple Label Jewellery are currently offering free delivery on all orders over £100 and their last order date for Christmas is 21st December.