For most women, the engagement ring is their most prized piece of jewelry. Here are some tips to make sure it remains shiny and new throughout the years:

Halo Set in White Gold

1) Keep it away from household chemicals.

Many women wear their engagement rings throughout their everyday life without any second thoughts. A problem that comes along with this is the potential damage that chemicals can have once they come into contact with the ring. Substances like hair spray, hair dye, chlorine, furniture polishes and bleach can cause lasting damage and discoloration to the mounting of your ring and to your gold or platinum wedding band. To avoid this, take off the ring or wear protective gloves when you come into contact with these chemicals.

2) Don’t touch the stones.

As beautiful as they are, try your hardest not to play with the stones on the ring and remember to grasp the ring by band when putting it on or taking it off. Touching the stones gets grease on them, decreasing the brilliance of the diamonds. Constant touching over time may also loosen the setting and result in the tragic loss of a diamond.

3) Clean the ring.

There’s many ways to clean and polish your engagement ring by using everyday household objects. Our personal favorite is the cheap and easy to use baking soda method: Just mix baking soda with water until it forms a paste, rub the paste around the stone and setting with your fingers or a toothbrush, rinse with water and rub dry with a lint-free cloth. If you want an extreme clean, soak the ring using Ammonia: with three parts water to one part ammonia, soak the ring for 5 minutes and see the polished result!

3) Watch for scratches.

Most engagement rings are made out of gold or platinum which, luckily, never tarnish. They are, however, prone to scratching over time. Try not to wear your rings while doing any type of rough work such as heave cleaning, gardening, or sports such as mountain climbing. Though diamonds are one of the hardest materials on earth, even they can be chipped or broken by a hard blow in certain directions. Because gold is softer than platinum, it is easier to repair the scratches by cleaning polishing the ring, but a jeweler can take out any scratches, no matter how deep.

5) Visit your jeweler.

Much like a doctor or dentist, you should have a checkup at the local dealer around every 18 months. There, you can have a reliable jeweler check your ring to make sure the setting is secure, especially the prongs. They can also do a professional ring cleaning to keep the ring looking the same as it was on the day you said ‘yes’.

For more information about caring for all types of jewelry, visit our Jewelry Care section in our Szul Jewelry Guide.