JEWELRY CARE GUIDE
Here at GGC, we only make jewelry out of high quality materials that we love and wear ourselves. We take pride in using gold filled, hypoallergenic and tarnish resistant materials that are designed to be worn daily and stand the test of time. All of our jewelry is crafted with love and care and we hope you treat it the same! With proper care your jewelry will continue to sparkle!
One of the most common questions we get is: Can I wear it in the shower? The answer is, yes, you can, but you probably shouldn't. Here's why: Regardless of what other companies might claim, the only truly waterproof gold jewelry is solid gold. Gold plated, gold vermeil, and yes, even gold filled jewelry carries a risk of shine reduction while wearing during swimming, showering, and exercising.
GENERAL JEWELRY CARE
We want you to be able to wear your jewelry for a lifetime! Follow these simple steps to ensure your jewelry stays looking as sparkly as the day you got it!
- Store in a separate jewelry bag, box, or airtight container when you aren’t wearing
- Keep away from water- remove jewelry when bathing, showering, or swimming
- Remove before exercise
- Polish with a jewelry cloth to keep it shiny
OUR MATERIALS
14k Gold Fill
Gold fill is a thick layer of gold that has been heated and pressure bonded to a base metal. It is a popular alternative to solid gold, as its more durable and versatile for different lifestyles and activities while costing you a fraction of the price of solid gold. We believe that everyone should have access to jewelry that makes them feel beautiful and gold fill allows us to do that while still producing high quality jewelry that lasts.
Gold Plated
Gold plated is similar to gold fill however it has a thinner layer of gold bonded onto either a jeweler’s brass or copper. While most of our jewelry is gold filled, we do have a few select pieces that are plated. Gold plated jewelry can tarnish over time however we do make sure all of our gold plated jewelry is tarnish resistant and nickel free. We do recommend you take extra special care of your gold plated jewelry by following the tips below in our General Jewelry Care Guide so you can continue to wear and enjoy it.
Surgical Grade Stainless Steel
All of our studs are made with surgical grade stainless steel posts. Surgical grade stainless steel is hypoallergenic and extremely durable. Rated a harder metal than regular stainless steel, it can easily stand up to daily abuse without bending, scratching, denting or rusting. It is also one of the most common materials you can get pierced with as most people don’t have any reactions to it.
Brass
The only brass products we carry are our hand-stamped brass bracelets from our talented collective artist, Brandy. Brass is an alloy made up of roughly half copper and half zinc, which gives it a nice bright-gold appearance. It’s a relatively inexpensive and durable material which has been used to make jewelry for millennia. Because of brass’ natural components (copper and zinc), it is much more reactive to elements and can tarnish quickly if not cared for properly. The good news is that brass can be very easily cleaned to maintain its gold luster. Please see our Brass Care and Cleaning Guide below on how to properly care for your brass pieces.