Your stone has already been done
Every piece leaves us rinsed, left overnight in daylight, and packed in a cloth pouch. Whatever your view on charging, there's nothing you have to do on day one. Put it on, or put it down somewhere you'll see it. That's the whole instruction.
The short version
Once a month is plenty. If the stone can take water, rinse it under the tap and dry it properly with a soft cloth. If it can't, wipe it down dry. Put it somewhere it catches the light for a day. That's it — no schedule to keep, no equipment to buy.
In practice, most people do this when the stone starts looking dull, which is roughly the same interval and a better trigger than a calendar.
Which stones can get wet
This is the part that actually matters, because the wrong answer damages the stone rather than just disappointing you.
| Stone | Water |
|---|---|
| Clear quartz, amethyst, citrine, smoky quartz, rose quartz | Fine — quick rinse, then dry |
| Obsidian, garnet, blue lace agate | Fine — quick rinse, then dry |
| Labradorite, moonstone | Damp cloth only — don't soak |
| Pyrite | Keep dry — it rusts |
| Green fluorite | Keep dry — water dulls the surface |
The pattern behind the table is hardness and chemistry. Quartz sits at 7 on the Mohs scale and doesn't care about water. Fluorite is a 4 and scratches if you look at it wrong. Pyrite is iron sulfide, so water starts it rusting. When in doubt, a damp cloth is always safe.
Sunlight: good for a day, bad for a year
Daylight is the easiest way to charge a stone, and it's what we use. But a few stones will slowly lose their colour if they live on a sunny windowsill for months — amethyst, rose quartz, citrine and smoky quartz are the ones to watch.
A shelf out of direct sun is fine. It's the all-day direct beam, day after day, that does the fading. If your piece is one of the four above and you love its colour, don't leave it in the window.
Storage: the most common way a stone gets damaged
Not drops, not water — other stones. Loose pieces in a bowl or a jewellery box knock against each other, and over a year the harder one wins. A quartz point will scratch a fluorite tower that's been sitting against it since spring.
Keep them separately, ideally in the pouch they arrived in. If you like them out on display, leave a little space between pieces rather than stacking them.
What's folklore
Plenty of the advice you'll find online isn't harmful, it just isn't required. None of the following will hurt your stone, and none of it is necessary:
- Timing to the moon phase. A full moon is a lovely excuse to put a stone on the windowsill. It isn't a deadline.
- Salt. Skip it. Salt is abrasive and can pit softer stones — the opposite of what you want.
- Smoke and sound. Fine if you enjoy the ritual, no effect on the stone itself.
- "Your stone will tell you when it needs cleansing." If it looks dull, clean it. That's the signal.
We'd rather you did the version you'll actually keep up with than the elaborate one you abandon after three weeks.
Keeping the metal looking new
Warm water, a drop of mild soap, a soft cloth. No ultrasonic cleaners and no jewellery dips — both are hard on porous stones and on the bond in gold-filled metal.
Take your pieces off before a chlorinated pool or the sea. Chlorine dulls gold-filled settings over time and salt water is rough on cotton cord. Showers are fine. And dry anything that gets wet rather than leaving it damp in a dish.
When to send it back instead
If a cord stretches or a clasp stops closing, get in touch rather than reaching for a pliers. We re-string and repair our own pieces at no charge within the first year, and we'll quote you after that. There's more in the FAQ.