Materials & Care

OUR MATERIALS

At YVIE, we are passionate about the details.  We hand pick all of our materials and gemstones and hand-make most of our findings.  All stones & handmade findings are organic, and will naturally vary to some degree in color, size and shape.

We primarily use sterling silver and 14k gold-filled wire, chains, and components in our jewelry.  In many cases our findings (such as beaded chains and clasps) are custom shaped and handmade in our studio.  

Sterling Silver:  Sterling Silver is a white and highly reflective precious metal. Sterling refers to silver that is 92.5% pure. Sterling silver is 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper.  The copper is necessary for durability and strength since 100% pure silver is too soft to hold up on its own.  

Gold-Fill:  Also known as rolled gold, gold-fill products are made by bonding gold with a core of brass.  Gold is essentially rolled around the brass core, which explains the term "rolled gold."  In the U.S., gold filled items must contain 20% gold by weight.  Gold-Filled is a durable gold product affording the look of gold at a fraction of the cost.  It is much more durable than gold plate or vermeil, and with careful wear and treatment, will last a lifetime.  If you can wear gold, you can wear Gold-Filled without worries of an allergic reaction.

Sterling silver, gold-filled jewelry and natural gemstones are fine precious metals and minerals that can be a beautiful and timeless companion in your jewelry repertoire with careful handling and loving care.  Like all precious art, YVIE jewelry requires proper storage and attentive care to maintain its original shine and lustre.  Therefore, please read on for some general tips on how to care for your jewelry, in order to keep it clean and ready to wear.

JEWELRY CARE & CLEANING

Fine jewelry is a precious possession that is designed and crafted to last a lifetime. However, proper care is required to assure the lasting qualities of your jewelry.  

Here are a few simple guidelines and tips for the care and cleaning of your jewelry:

Your jewelry should be: "The last thing on and first thing off."

-When getting ready, put your jewelry on last, after cosmetics, perfume, hairspray and other chemical products that can be corrosive.  

-A polishing cloth is the most effective polishing tool for removing tarnish and keeping your silver jewelry shiny.  We do not recommend liquid or paste polish, as many of these products are harsh and will eventually strip away silver.  Also, due to the wire details on many of our pieces, paste polish will more likely gum up in the fine crevices and become difficult to remove.

-Always wipe jewelry carefully with a soft (rub free) cleaning cloth to remove any excess make-up and skin oils after each wear.  Be sure to use fresh cloths since dirt and grit left on the cloth from a previous use may leave scrapes and pits in the piece you are trying to clean and polish.  

-Remember to be gentle with your piece when cleaning it.  Certain 3D features on your YVIE jewelry are delicate and require thoughtful care.

-When cleaning sterling silver and soft stones, never use anything but 100% cotton as a polishing cloth since paper, polyester, and coarse fabrics often contain wood fibers or synthetics.  These materials may impart fine scratches in the metal (sterling silver is a very soft metal) and on gemstones.  In general, we recommend you avoid stones whilst polishing your jewelry, especially soft or porous stones - pearls, lapis, turquoise, etc.  To clean the stones in your piece use the untreated outside part of your cleaning cloth.

-Finally, store your jewelry separately in jewelry boxes or non-abrasive pouches to avoid scratching.  To help retard tarnish on sterling silver, wrap the piece in jeweler's tissue paper (which each YVIE design is shipped with) and place it inside a plastic zip lock bag and seal.  Tarnishing is a natural process that takes place when silver is exposed to oxygen for long periods of time.  Thus, wear your silver often, keep it clean and take the care to store your silver pieces safely in zipper bags.

DO NOT (under any circumstances): use chlorine bleach, denatured alcohol, turpentine, acetone, or ammonia or petroleum based products on your jewelry.  These chemicals can cause harm to your jewelry and cause irreparable damage by breaking down gold and other alloys, as well as dull and even pit the surface of softer gemstones.

Always remove your jewelry before using any product that contains bleach!  This includes swimming pools and bathing in hot tubs as chlorine products are added to prevent bacteria growth.