Our designs at SMJ are plated with high-quality metals and will not tarnish the same way Sterling Silver does, however, overtime dark spots may appear if you do not take steps to protect your jewelry against the acidity found in your skin and in certain body products that you may be wearing. Here are a few of our recommendations...

Ways to prolong the life of your jewelry:   

1. The best way to keep any metal from spotting is to put it in a closed container (a small plastic bag or a CLOSED jewelry box) after you have worn it, to prevent air circulation. If a piece is not worn for a long time and it sits with body oils or lotions on it, a chemical reaction with circulate with air can cause spotting on your pieces over time. Our suggestion is to wipe your jewelry after every wear with a clean sunglass/glasses polishing cloth to prevent the accumulation of impurities on the surface of your jewelry. Do not use solvents to clean plated metal as this may cause damage to the surface. SMJ does not offer re-plating services at this time.
2. Please avoid spraying hair products or perfume onto your jewelry, as this may affect the surface look of the finish, some lotions and body cleaners may also deteriorate the look of your pieces over time.
3. Please remove jewelry before swimming or bathing, as water and salt water may damage the finish. 
4. Be careful when removing your clothing and heavy knits (including scarves), latches/jump rings & connectors can catch, pull and break if you do not take care, try to remove jewelry before clothing, and before you go to sleep.
5. Some earrings come with small rubber backings, these are provided to ensure you do not lose an earring while wearing them.

Sarah Mulder Jewelry is plated with high-end finishes on a refined brass. The Italian brass that we use is the highest quality brass on the market for plating, and is a very pale golden-silver tone. Plating on brass allows us to design larger pieces within a certain price point for our customers, which otherwise may be too costly for us to develop out of sterling silver or gold.

Our Pendants are 24k gold-plated or Rhodium plated. Our chain is either 14k vermeil, sterling silver, gold-filled or plated rhodium (please see individual listings for specific product information).

We use sterling silver ear posts and all of our products are nickel free.

We generally recommend against showering, sleeping or swimming with the products, as this can strip the plating down over time and leaves your pieces susceptible to damage and misplacement.

Our most common responses from customer that we hear from about showering, sleeping or swimming in their jewelry are that they lost an earring, broke an ear post, stones were lost, damage to their chain etc. We want you to be able to wear your pieces for years, when avoidable its best to remove your jewelry.

Sweat and pH levels in your skin have certain chemical reactions to different metals that can leave a green trace. Typically this happens with metals that are low-quality and are mixed with a metal alloy that is inexpensive to produce, or raw brass (brass without plating). Some people also have this reaction to sterling silver, and are more susceptible to a temporary darkening or green-hue on their skin.

SMJ has no way of guaranteeing this won't happen to you, however because our products are plated with refined high-end materials and we plate with a thicker micron of gold and rhodium, we rarely run into this issue with our customers.

SMJ is nickel free which is the main allergen for most people who are allergic to metals. We suggest that if you can only wear solid gold jewelry, SMJ may not be the right fit for you. If you find that you can wear sterling silver without a strong reaction, then our product is generally okay for people with sensitivities to metals.

We want you to remember that you know your body the best and suggest that you stay within your comfort zone. We are happy to help further by email, please reach out to us with specific questions.  

info@sarahmulder.com

Don’t panic! SMJ will help you replace your earring if we are able to. Do to the process of our jewelry, if the design has been retired we usually can't help with a replacement, however sometimes we can!

SMJ charges 50% of the retail cost to replace a single earring + shipping and applicable taxes.

Kindly email info@sarahmulder.com with a photo of the earring you still have.

All chains that are gold or rhodium plated can be custom cut to any length. Please email info@sarahmulder.com with your desired length and we will respond with a quote.

Please be advised that box chains cannot be custom cut, however, the pendants from any of our necklaces can be transferred to a gold/ rhodium chain.

Due to the process of making our jewelry in batches, it is difficult for us to replace stones. SMJ often has similar pieces in the studio and we are sometimes able to help you replace a full piece of jewelry. Depending on the situation of the stone coming loose on your piece, there may be a fee associated with the replacement, this is case by case.

Please contact us with a photo and description of your jewelry, and we will do our best to help.

info@sarahmulder.com