Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions About Handcrafted Wire Jewelry
This is a list of common questions about wire sculpted jewelry.
Fragility
Even though wire jewelry can look delicate, it does not require any more care than any other fine jewelry. The care required is more about the stone, than by the fact the jewelry is made of wire. Soft stones such as Amber, Turquoise, Opal and Ammolite require more thought and care than super hard stones like diamonds.
Wire sculpted jewelry will serve you best if you keep it away from things that will snag and pull hard on the wires. Storing them in their box, where they will not be snagged by other pieces of jewelry, works the best. Storing them in their boxes when traveling will prevent heavy items in your suitcase from resting on them and causing them any damage. On long chains and pendants, put them on the outside of the shoulder harness on the seat belt when driving.
Keeping It Pretty
To keep your jewelry looking like new, some of the following tips are helpful. Apply perfume or lotion to your skin first and let it dry before wearing your jewelry. Remove fingerprints or skin oils by polishing your setting and stone gently with a soft cloth (non chemically treated) and made for jewelry.
Cleaning Your Jewelry
Wire sculpted jewelry may be cleaned the same way that you would clean 14K solid gold jewelry. The concern is not the wire, but the stone. Jewelry cleaners that safe for opals should be fine with most stones. Do not allow your jewelry to be cleaned in ultrasonic cleaners. Ionic cleaners are okay under the following conditions. Do not clean Azurite Peacock Ore or other stones with metal inclusions an ionic cleaner. Do not let your jewelry sit and soak in any cleaner. Soaking soft stones like Ammolite for prolonged time periods can ruin their surfaces.
Remove your sculpted jewelry before coming in contact with chlorine, bromine, cleaning products that contain these chemicals, and pools and spas that use chlorine.
The most effective way to clean wire jewelry and keep silver from tarnishing, is to use a small amount of toothpaste on a toothbrush and give it a light cleaning. Dab a wet toothbrush on just a little toothpaste and rub making it foam. Gently rub the piece with the toothbrush, letting the bristles go between the wires. Rinse and allow it to dry. Doing this frequently with silver jewelry is a great way to prevent any tarnish from happening.
For brass wire pieces only, you can use a small amount of liquid Brasso with water on a toothbrush to clean the wires, but do not scrub the stone. Do not allow the Brasso to dry, rinse immediately and thoroughly in warm water and dry with a soft cloth. I do not use brass wire on delicate stones that would be affected by the use of Brasso. As a general rule do not use Brasso on gold, silver, or soft stones such as ammolite, opals, pearls, certain druzy and peacock ore.
Purchasing “Intercept Tarnish Proof Jewelry Bags” or tarnish proof strips placed in a zip lock bag with your jewelry will also prevent any tarnish from occurring for 3 years.
Chains
Chains are an individual decision, they are generally not included with the pendants unless stated in the product description. We do carry some chains at shows for demonstration or purchase.
Elements Used In The Design
14K/ 20 Gold Filled Rose and Yellow Gold.
We use gold filled wire rather than solid gold for several reasons. The most important is because it represents the best value. 14K/20 Gold Filled is considered a lifetime product and it has a low incidence of allergy problems, if you can wear 14K gold, you can wear 14K/20 gold filled, because it is gold.
Gold filled is an actual tube layer of gold-pressure bonded to another metal generally jewelers brass. Gold filled is not to be confused with gold plating as filled literally has 100% more gold than gold plating.
Gold filled is a lifetime product with much more valuable and tarnish resistance. It does not flake off, rub off or turn colors. The layer of gold does not wear off under normal wear situations and it makes it a good choice for pendants, bracelets, and other pieces of jewelry that are not in constant contact with other surfaces.
For further information on the metals used in our jewelry please see the “More” section regarding the type of wire used in sculpted jewelry.
Repairs
Requests for repairs are handled on a case-by-case basis. Should it happen that a wire comes loose due to workmanship, we will fix that free of charge. Should a piece of our jewelry get stepped on, caught and pulled out of shape, slammed in a car door, seatbelt, or otherwise smashed, it will pretty much depend on how much damage has been done. The fee could range from just shipping to the cost to completely rebuild the setting. We only repair items purchased from sculptedwirejewelry.com. Please email us with pictures and the date of your purchase to discuss any repairs.