4 Summer Activities that Shouldn't Include Jewelry
Summer is here. There are so many fun things to do around the U.P. in the summer, but not all of them are jewelry friendly. You should consider taking your jewelry off while doing the following activities:
Chlorinated Pools
A dip in the pool is so refreshing on a hot day! But did you know that chlorine reacts with most metals and can cause corrosion a pitting? This can lead to chains breaking and prongs dissolving. It will also eat way any plating, including rhodium and lacquer, which will discolor your piece. Below is a ring we had to rebuild because it spent about 20 minutes in a hot tub.
Hiking, Camping, Rock Climbing, etc.
Although diamonds are extremely hard, they have a fracture point. If you are out in the woods and hit your ring against a rock at the correct angle, it could crack or possibly even shatter. You could also bend your prongs or scratch a softer stone. Although it’s tempting, when out in the woods, it’s best to not wear jewelry.
The Beach
Spending a warm day soaking up the sun on the shores of Lake Superior sounds like the perfect summer day. Although it’s tempting to accessorize your beach style, stay away from any jewelry with prongs, especially jewelry with pave set diamonds. Sand can wear away the prongs, leading to losing your stone. Pictured is a ring worn while building a sandcastle at the beach. There were 8 diamonds missing and the sapphire and larger diamond wiggled when touched (see the video here).
Fishing
I love fishing. Being out in the boat, surrounded by water, is one of my favorite places to be. The only bad thing is, if your watch happens to come unclasped, your ring slides off your finger or your earring back pops off, your jewelry is going down to the bottom of the river, lake or stream. Now, I’ve heard stories of handy fishermen using underwater cameras to find jewelry that fell in, but this defiantly isn’t the way you want to spend your fishing trip.
These are just a few scenarios where you should really consider taking off your jewelry. We love working on jewelry, but hate to see preventable injuries coming into the shop. For more information on getting your jewelry fixed, visit our Repair page.
Chris Wattsson is the co-owner and bench jeweler at Wattsson & Wattsson Jewelers. Jewelry shown are actual pieces that have been fixed by our jewelers. Photos are published with customers' permission.