The Bristish summer has started the holiday season off in style this year with soaring tempertures and blue skies, getting everyone in the mood for a holiday. Whether you are planning a relaxing poolside holiday somewhere hot and tropical or an adventurous road trip here in the UK don't forget your accessories! We have some great tips and handy facts about travaling with your precious jewellery and watches.

Holiday

Swimming in Jewellery. 

Silver is a great metal, but depending on the levels of chlorine in the pool it can cause silver to tarnish and appear almost black. If this does happen, do not worry, it is an oxidisation to the surface and can easily be cleaned and polished, we have a fantastic range of connoisseur jewellery cleaning products, some in perfect pocket size packets which could easily be taken on holiday.
Most platinum and golds will be fine to wear in the pool. Hard gemstones such as diamond, sapphire and ruby will also be ok to wear.
More delicate, porous gemstones such as emeralds, pearls and opals we would advise against going in any water, even salt water can permanently damage and discolour the stone. These gemstones should also be avoided wearing on the beach to as the sand can scratch the surface of the gemstone.
Sun screen coats jewellery making a once sparkly and bright stone look dull and discoloured, avoid getting sun screen on any jewellery, take jewellery off before applying and make sure it is fully absorbed into the skin before putting jewellery back on.

Swimming with a watch.

Water can be very destructive to a watch, so you want to know when you jump into that pool on holiday that your watch can withstand the pressure as much as you can!
If a watch is water resistant it will have it written on the front or back of the watch.
Water resistant means it can with stand humidity, sweat and some water splashes from everyday like like raindrops and washing your hands but it cannot withstand showers, swimming or diving.
Some watches may display water resistance with a bar/meter/atmospheres, for example 200m/200ATM/20Bar, with these watches you can have peace of mind that you can go swimming in the pool or sea and your watch will be absolutely spot on at telling you when it's cocktail time! There are certain things that can prevent it from being water resistant, make sure the crown (button) on the side of the watch is tightly screwed down and when you have the battery changed you have a battery and pressure test, this will guarantee water resistance and without this you cannot be 100% sure that it can withstand being submerged in water.

Heres an easy, simple guide to watch water resistance:
No rating - No water contact.
Water resistant-30/50m - Rain, splashes from everyday life like washing hands.
50m-100m - Rain, splashes from everyday life like washing hands.
100m-200m - Rain, splashes from everyday life like washing hands, light poolside swimming, showering/bathing, snorkelling.
200m-500m - Rain, splashes from everyday life like washing hands, swimming, showering/bathing, snorkelling, impacted water sports and scuba diving.
500m-1000m - Rain, splashes from everyday life like washing hands, swimming, showering/bathing, snorkelling, impacted water sports and scuba diving, deep sea water diving.

Protect your jewellery!

Our best advise is to read through your policy thoroughly. There is often a per item limit as well as maximum pay out per household which may not cover your jewellery. It is worth also checking your home insurance policy as this may cover your jewellery when travelling abroad but do read through thoroughly. Higher value items of jewellery often need to be individually itemised on your insurance so it is important that you have an up to date insurance valuation done - we advise have an updated insurance valuation done every 3 years.

When you purchase jewellery from us in store up to the value of £5000.00, we offer insurance that provides cover anywhere in the UK and up to 30 consecutive days worldwide (if the customer is flying the jewellery must be either worn or carried in hand luggage). You pay for this insurance with one single payment at the till when you purchase your item and you will be covered for either 1 or 3 years. You are covered from the moment the certificate is handed to you and if you are on holiday and unfortunately lose or damage your jewellery there is just one single claim form to fill in.
It's always good to check whether your accommodation has a safe in your room and advise you use it to store your jewellery when you're not wearing it.

Wearing your engagement and wedding ring on holiday.

Most people never take off their engagment and wedding ring at all so it's a big decision to make but it depends on your destination, the style of holiday you are going for and the activities. We would advise it is often best to leave you engagement ring at home and wear a more subtle wedding band. If your wedding band is equally as sparkly and valuable as your engagment ring you might want to consider swapping it for a less expensive alternative (you can always make this ring more meaningful with engraving of your wedding date on the inside.) We have a few different brands that offer a range of silver rings set with cubic zirconia that make less expensive, great holiday alternatives.

Don't get your jewellery in a tangle!

We all know what it's like when you're excitedly packing for your holiday, you always pack more outfits than you could possibly need and every outfit needs different jewellery to be worn with it.
We have some great tips to packing your jewellery without it getting tangled.
If you travel often you can get some brilliant jewellery travel organisers for all your jewellery needs.
Alternatively, a pill box is fantastic to store rings, earrings and some smaller bracelets and necklaces, keeping them tangle free and all together.
A straw is another great tip, simply thread the necklace through and do up the clasp, the straw can be cut to length for different length necklaces or bracelets, making them small and easy to pack. You could use a toliet-roll tube or kitchen towel tube for chunky necklaces.
Lastly if you are flying always make sure you pack your jewellery in your hand luggage if you are not wearing it. It is less likely to get lost or stolen and is more likely to be covered by your travel insurance.

We hope you all have a relaxing, exciting, wonderful holiday season this year!