We specialize in handcrafted, minimalist & dainty jewelry. Our pieces are considered delicate and not meant to be worn during rough activities such as sports, gardening, cleaning, etc. While our jewelry is made from quality materials, they will still need a little TLC from time to time! Here are our basic instructions for keeping your new jewelry in optimal condition.

Wearing your jewelry: We don’t recommend wearing your pieces in chlorinated pools, hot tubs, or the ocean. However, wearing your pieces in the shower/bath is fine as long as you are drying them off afterwards. We suggest removing your jewelry before sleeping to avoid any accidental yanking from tossing and turning that may happen while sleeping. Apply any cosmetics, creams, oils, etc. prior to putting your jewelry on. Avoid excessive contact with sunscreen as the chemicals in most sunscreens can be pretty harsh on most metals.

Cleaning your jewelry: All metals can be cleaned regularly by letting them soak in a mixture of lukewarm water and mild dish soap for 10-15min and the wiping them off gently with a soft cloth. Pat dry and then lay out until fully dry before wearing or storing your jewelry. You can also wipe them down with the microfiber cloth included in your order if you need a quick clean, but don’t have the time to soak them. The cloth will help remove oils from skin or any skincare products that were transferred to your jewelry during daily wear.

Do they need a deeper clean or have they developed a patina? We love liquid jewelry cleaners as they are instantly effective and super easy to use! Just make sure to pick one that is suited for your specific metal (i.e. gold cleaner for solid 14k and gold filled, sterling silver cleaner for sterling silver jewelry). Always make sure to check for gemstone compatibility before using a cleaner!

Still curious? We’ve written an extremely comprehensive guide to understanding what effects your jewelry and how to clean + care for it in different scenarios. Read the “FULL LOWDOWN” tab at the bottom of the page if you need more info!

Wearing your jewelry: We don’t recommend wearing your pieces in chlorinated pools, hot tubs, or the ocean. However, wearing your pieces in the shower/bath occasionally is fine as long as you are drying them off afterwards. We suggest removing your jewelry before sleeping to avoid any accidental yanking from tossing and turning that may happen while sleeping. Apply any cosmetics, creams, oils, etc. prior to putting your jewelry on. Avoid excessive contact with sunscreen as the chemicals in most sunscreens can be pretty harsh on most metals.

Cleaning your jewelry: All metals can be cleaned regularly by letting them soak in a mixture of lukewarm water and mild dish soap for 10-15min and the wiping them off gently with a soft cloth. Pat dry and then lay out until fully dry before wearing or storing your jewelry. You can also wipe them down with the microfiber cloth included in your order if you need a quick clean, but don’t have the time to soak them. The cloth will help remove oils from skin or any skincare products that were transferred to your jewelry during daily wear.

All of our gold filled, sterling silver, and gold vermeil jewelry is nickel free. All of our jewelry is also lead free!

14k gold filled is a super thick layer of solid 14k gold that has been permanently bonded on to a core of quality jewelers brass using extreme pressure and heat. The layer of gold is about 100x thicker than the layer of gold on most gold plated pieces. With proper care, gold filled can last decades! This makes it an amazing choice when balancing price + quality. It will last WAY longer than gold plated pieces, but cost a fraction of the price of a solid gold piece! Want the full lowdown? Check out this article.

Sterling silver is by definition 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% alloys. This adds strength and durability to the metal and makes it more suitable for day to day wear. Want the full lowdown on sterling silver? View our blog post here.

Similar to silver, pure gold is actually extremely soft and not suitable for everyday jewelry. In order to solve that dilemma, gold is mixed with alloys to strengthen the metal. The higher the percentage of alloys in a gold and the lower the percentage of pure gold, the lower the karat will be. So for example: 24k is 99.9% gold, while 8k is only 33.3% gold. We love 14k gold because it is a lovely balance of both. 14k gold is 58.3% pure gold and the remaining percentage is alloys. This gives the color a beautiful soft gold hue while simultaneously making it a durable metal fit for everyday jewelry. Want more info about solid 14k gold? Check out our blog post here.

You can view our Returns + Exchanges page here.

Yes! We offer a 6 month warranty on gold filled + sterling silver
jewelry, and a 1 year warranty on solid 14k gold pieces. You can read
the full warranty details halfway down the Returns + Exchanges page.

Yes! We’re so glad you are interested in stocking our jewelry! We sell wholesale through Faire. Shop our catalog.

Our most popular metal, gold filled, can last a very long time, but it is heavily dependent on several lifestyle and environmental factors. I've written an extensive and honest review about my knowledge and experience with gold filled in order to help you best care for your new, beautiful piece of jewelry! There is also a short section at the end regarding care of sterling silver jewelry.

In the end, it comes down to the big three:
1. What ends up on your jewelry.
2. How often it is cleaned.
3. How it is stored.
Things that cause tarnish (what ends up on your jewelry):
1. Pools/hot tubs/chlorine: This one is very possibly one of the worst offenders. I’ve seen gold filled ruined after just a couple dips in a heavily chlorinated hot tub before, and sterling silver can tarnish almost immediately in a chemically laden public pool. I personally wouldn’t even wear solid 14k gold in hot tub or chlorinated pool. If there's one thing you just don't do to your jewelry, it's this. While our gold filled is waterproof, it is not chemical proof, so be mindful of what it is coming in contact with.

2. Body chemistry: Hormones obviously vary from person to person, everyone is different. While it might be an issue for one person, it might not really make a difference for another. This is a hard one to understand because there really is no way to know if it will effect you or not until it does, but for the most part, this is really only an issue with less than 10% of people. Unless you’ve had experience with how 14k gold reacts with your skin, theres only one way to find out and that’s to try!

3. Sweat: Consistent exposure to all the salt and chemicals in your sweat can really be rough on your jewelry. It’s best to try to remember to remove your jewelry before working out.

4. Hair products, lotions, sunscreen, etc: This can vary from product to product, but in general, the less mild a product is, the harsher it will be to your jewelry. A rule of thumb is to simply try to remember to put on your jewelry after you’ve applied any products such as lotions, perfumes, makeup, etc. and if you are sunbathing with sunscreen on, it’s best to simply remove your jewelry for the duration of your activity. Sunscreen is probably one of the worst culprits in this category.

Personal experience: I’ve been wearing some of my 14k gold filled pieces for over 5 years now and they are still in great shape. I’m not super fantastic about taking care of my jewelry, I’ll be honest. I will sometimes take them off before I sleep, and sometimes I will take them off before I shower (note: I always use very mild soaps when showering. If you don’t know how mild your shampoos and body soaps are, I would suggest taking the jewelry off before showering, just in case), but I always dry them off thoroughly when I hop out of the shower or after washing my hands.

Some things that I never do though: I never wear jewelry when I’m wearing/applying sunscreen. I never wear my jewelry when getting into a hot tub, pool, sauna, or steam room. Lastly, if I knew I was going to be out and about in a very humid and hot environment and probably sweating much more than normal, I would probably skip the jewelry for the day. The combination of humidity, sweat, and salt, over extended periods of time would undoubtedly start tarnishing your jewelry. As a final note on extended wear, in general I would say that my gold filled jewelry is at 90% shine and sparkle as it was when it was brand new. Although it's not perfectly identical to how it looked when I first made it, it's so unbelievably close that I wouldn’t be able to notice while wearing it. I only notice it a bit when comparing old vs new on a bright white background while photographing for instance.

Cleaning (and how often):

Daily maintenance, to keep your piece in the best shape, would simply include wiping the piece down with a soft cloth after each use. If you know that it has been exposed to a bit more that day than normal (ex: skincare/hair products, sweat, etc), I would suggest rinsing it off with some warm water and drying thoroughly with a soft cloth. Making sure you take your jewelry off before you sleep will also help it last a lot longer.

If you know that your piece has been exposed to EVEN more than normal (ex: sunscreen, extra humidity, chlorinated pools, salt water, etc.) or it's just been a while since you’ve last cleaned it, you can do a deeper clean by following the steps below:

1. Prepare a bowl of warm water with just a tiny squeeze of a mild, clear dish soap (I have personally used Palmolive Pure + Clear, and Seventh Generation CLEAN, in the past, but mild, clear dish soap should work just fine).

2. Let your piece soak for 5-10 minutes.

3. Gently wipe your piece off with a soft cloth, or use a very soft toothbrush if you need to get into areas with a lot of detail.

4. Rinse thoroughly, several times if necessary, to make sure all of the soap is off.

5. Dry off the piece completely before wearing or storing your jewelry.

If your piece has developed a darker tarnish or needs a little more TLC than the above bath can provide, you can clean your piece chemically in a couple different ways.

Polishing Cloths: These are soft cloths that have a polishing compound already in them. Our favorite here in the studio are Sunshine Cloths, but any that say they are compatible with gold should be fine. The less abrasive the better. Remember, be gentle, you shouldn’t have to buff aggressively. Harsh and/or excessive polishing can be damaging over time. Firm, but gentle, and only use as needed. You will know the polishing cloth is working when it starts turning black. Side note: the black on the polish pad is not all from the dirt/tarnish from the jewelry, it is simply the cloth being activated.

Polishing Liquids or Creams: There are many different types of liquid and cream jewelry cleaners. Make sure to choose one that is meant for the type of jewelry you will be cleaning (ex: gold cleaner for gold jewelry, sterling silver cleaner for sterling silver jewelry).

Please Note: Always check before chemically cleaning a piece with gemstones or pearls in it. It is usually safe to gently go over pearls and stones with the polishing cloths (rinse them with gentle soap and warm water afterwards to make sure you remove any remaining chemicals), but never submerge jewelry with gems or pearls into a liquid or cream cleaner without checking compatibility first. Some gemstones and almost all pearls can be damaged by strong liquid jewelry cleaners.

Storage Tips

To properly store your gold filled jewelry when not in use, you’ll want to place it in an airtight container or bag (such as a small ziplock) after you’ve completed the daily cleaning of the piece (make sure it is completely dry - never put a damp or wet piece into a sealed bag - this will cause rapid tarnish). Here’s the deal though… I know remembering to put your jewelry in little containers every night is asking a lot, and to be honest, I rarely do it. However, if you really want to maximize the life of your piece, this is a great step to take.

Note: It does become much more important if you live in a high humidity area. Excessive humidity can cause accelerated tarnish, so storing it in an airtight, low humid space becomes considerably more vital. I live in a very dry area and regularly leave my jewelry out without any immediate issues, but people living in humid areas should take this extra step if possible.

Sterling Silver

While sterling silver is not a chemically reactive metals itself, it is easily attacked by common environmental compounds. In a lot of cases, it will tarnish quicker and darker than gold filled would, but it is also easier to clean. If your sterling silver begins to look dull, or starts to turn yellowish or black, its time for a quick polish!

There are several home recipe/DIY silver cleaning methods. Feel free to google them and find the best one for you! Please note I am not responsible for any damage that may occur if you try DIY cleaning methods. Do your research before trying, and feel free to contact us if you’d like suggestions or would like to know if we’ve personally tried a method before.

Our favorite, and the easiest method in our opinion, is to use a polishing cloth or a sterling silver liquid jewelry cleaner.

Polishing Cloths: These are very soft cloths that have a polishing compound already in them. Our favorite here in the studio are Sunshine Cloths, but any that say they are compatible with silver should be fine. The less abrasive the better. Remember, be gentle, you shouldn’t have to buff aggressively. Harsh and/or excessive polishing can be damaging over time. Firm, but gentle, and only use as needed. You will know the polishing cloth is working when it starts turning black. Side note: the black on the polish pad is not all from the dirt/tarnish from the jewelry, it is simply the cloth being activated.

Note: While polishing cloths are great in general, if your piece has tarnish in small areas such as chain links that are hard to reach with a cloth, I would definitely recommend a polishing liquid.

Polishing Liquids or Creams: There are many different types of liquid and cream jewelry cleaners. Make sure to choose one that is meant for sterling silver jewelry.

As far as daily care and storage of your sterling silver pieces, the same suggestions I made above for gold filled jewelry also applies to sterling silver jewelry. The only little difference being: it’s harder to permanently damage sterling silver vs. gold filled. Repetitive forgetfulness or accidents pertaining to the care of your piece are a little more irreparable with gold filled versus sterling silver.

If you still have questions, please feel free to reach out to us at hello@noliajewelry.com and we'll be happy to help! Please note that our studio hours are M-F 9AM-4PM MST.