Jewelry Care
Storing Your Jewelry
Keep your Riot Alliance pieces in a fabric-lined box/pouch, an air-tight plastic bag, or wrapped in a soft cloth. This can help prevent natural tarnishing that happens over time. Storing pieces individually in a cool, dry location can also help prevent scratching and keep your jewelry looking fresh!
Sterling Silver
Sterling silver is an alloy made of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals (usually copper). Sterling silver is used in jewelry making because it is more durable than pure silver. It looks amazing with a high shine—but can be prone to tarnishing and scratches over time.
Polish your pieces regularly to maintain the quality of your sterling silver and to remove the natural tarnishing that will occur. Use the included polishing cloth or a specially designed, pre-treated silver polishing cloth.
You can also put your jewelry in warm water with mild dish soap (like Dawn) and use your fingers or an extra soft toothbrush to remove silver tarnish. Rinse with cool water, then dry it with a soft cotton cloth.
Oxidized Silver
Oxidized silver is sterling silver that has been darkened through a chemical process. Over time, with lots of wear, this surface treatment may polish off, and you will see the original color of the silver. We love the way that oxidation wears over time!
To prolong the dark color, remove your oxidized jewelry before contact with water, cleaners, perfumes or lotions. Shine it up with a gentle polish from your polishing cloth, but avoid aggressive polishing or silver cleaners.
Riot Alliance offers free reoxidation services as a courtesy to our customers. You can send your pieces back to us (you will have to pay for shipping), and we will reoxidize and return them to you. Please contact us for details.
Gold Vermeil
Gold Vermeil is sterling silver that has been heavily plated with 14k gold. Gold vermeil is similar to gold-plated jewelry, but will last longer because the layer of gold is thicker.
Gold vermeil does wear away over time if worn continuously. To ensure your gold vermeil finish lasts as long as possible, remove jewelry before contact with water, cleaners, perfumes or lotions. Shine it up with a gentle polish using a 100% cotton or flannel cloth, but avoid aggressive polishing or silver cleaners.
We do not offer refunds on worn out gold vermeil pieces, as this wear and tear is considered natural, but we can offer re-plating services for a small fee. Please contact us for details.
Non-Porous Gemstones
Non-porous gemstones are hard stones that are easy to wear and keep shiny.
Non-porous gemstones include:
Amethyst
Blue Topaz
Citrine
Garnet
Green Tourmaline
Iolite
Rose Quartz
Rutile Quartz
Smoky Quartz
While these stones are very durable, they may be prone to scratching over time if worn continuously. Gems set in rings are more likely to become scratched due to natural hand movements.
To clean, dip in warm, soapy water and use a gentle cleaning brush or cotton swab to remove buildup. Rinse thoroughly and use a soft cloth to dry and shine it up. While ultrasonic cleaning is generally safe for untreated stones, you should avoid steam cleaning.