Whether diamonds are your best friend or you covet another precious stone entirely, few pieces of jewelry rival your engagement ring for affection. It’s more than just a ring. It’s the moment your partner asked you to marry them. It’s a symbol of your devotion, love, and commitment – so you want to take good care of it!
Here are a few tips on taking care of your engagement ring, so it will look beautiful for years to come.
Get Insurance
Before you even leave the store, you should get your ring insured. Not only is this important for protecting your investment, but engagement ring insurance policies and warranties can come with a few other handy perks.
Lose a stone in your setting? Scratch the band? Need a resize? If your ring is insured by the jeweler that sold it to you, routine repairs and polishing may be included with your policy. Just make sure you understand the fine print and stipulations to avoid accidentally voiding your warranty.
Clean Your Ring Regularly
What’s the best part about your engagement ring? The sparkle, of course! Well, the symbolism too… If you want to keep your engagement ring glittering and bright, then dirt and oil buildup are your enemies! This will happen no matter how careful you are with your ring. Just think about how much oil, dust, and dirt our hands are exposed to on a daily basis! The good thing is this buildup is easy enough to deal with.
The key to keeping up the sparkle is to clean your ring regularly. Place it in a mug or small bowl of warm water mixed with a few drops of mild dish detergent. Let it sit for a few minutes to an hour before gently scrubbing it with a soft-bristled baby toothbrush. Once you’ve cleaned it thoroughly – and gently – rinse and pat it dry. Don’t forget to cover the drain while you’re rinsing!
Don’t Treat Your Ring With Harsh Chemicals
Remember that gentle is the way to go! Avoid cleaning your engagement ring with harsh chemicals or proclaimed jewelry cleaners. You don’t need to get fancy for regular care!
Make sure to always remove your ring when cleaning or touching harsh chemicals. Bleach and other cleaners can dull the finish of your ring and even harm porous gemstones such as emeralds. To be safe, remove your jewelry before scrubbing the toilet – and really, you should be wearing rubber gloves anyway!
Get Your Ring Professionally Cleaned And Inspected Twice A Year
Aside from routine maintenance, it’s advisable to have your engagement ring professionally cleaned and inspected by a jeweler twice a year. In fact, a biannual cleaning and inspection may be part of your insurance contract or ring warranty anyway!
Jewelers use professional equipment to clean your engagement ring and keep it sparkling. Having it inspected while you’re there is important to ensure there are no loose stones or hairline cracks and that all the prongs are tight and secure. Better safe than sorry!
Remove Your Ring During Hands-On Activities
We always recommend removing your engagement ring and storing it in a safe and secure place during hands-on activities. We know you love your ring, but there’s really no reason to wear it to the gym, on a hike, or gardening.
Stay on the safe side and leave your ring off if you’re expecting an active day. If there’s a risk of hitting your ring on a hard surface, exposing it to harsh chemicals, or getting dirt in hard-to-clean places, it’s probably better to keep it safe in your jewelry box. That being said, we don’t recommend removing your ring while you’re at the gym or in the middle of an activity – it’s too easy to lose!
Be Careful When Resizing
Our bodies change over time, and that includes our fingers! If you plan on wearing your engagement ring for life (and we hope you do), then it’s likely you might have to get it resized at least once. That being said, don’t take resizing for granted! While it’s a simple enough procedure for an experienced jeweler, it shouldn’t be done to the same piece of jewelry more than once or twice.
Before getting your ring resized, be mindful of circumstances that can affect the fit of your ring, such as temperature, weight fluctuations, and traveling to different climates. Avoid making any changes during pregnancies, which can cause temporary swelling of your fingers. If your ring feels too loose or too tight year-round, then a resize may be appropriate.
Regularly Check The Prongs And Setting
Keep a close eye on your ring. We mean more than just admiring it! Check your stones, settings, and prongs regularly, and take your ring in immediately if you suspect anything is loose. Aside from assessing it visually, try also holding it up to your ear and shaking it a little bit. Sometimes you can hear a stone coming loose before you can see it.
Your engagement ring is an important symbol of the love you share with your spouse. If you’re like many brides around the world, you will be wearing your engagement ring alongside your wedding band for the rest of your life!
Adequate maintenance and care will keep your engagement ring looking new year after year. All it takes are a few good habits! While you and your partner may change through the seasons of life, your ring will stay as stunning and bright as the day you first said yes.
