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As a symbol of love and marriage, a wedding ring is one of the most valued possessions after a wedding. To help it shine forever, it's important to take good care of it. How can you best care for your wedding and engagement rings?

Remove Them

Most of the time, the best place to protect your rings is on your finger in plain view. However, this may not be the case in special circumstances. In some situations, you do better to remember to remove your ring before doing things like:

• House Cleaning. You can lose or damage your ring with the work required to clean, wash dishes and sort through items. Harsh chemicals can also damage stones or even the band. 
• Sports and Working Out. Once again, a ring can become loose while you're sweating, losing weight or playing sports. Some sports equipment -- like tennis rackets -- are hard on the actual bands as well. 
• Gardening. It goes without saying that you don't want to lose your ring in a mountain of dirt or a pile of leaves. Heavy lifting or using outdoor tools can also chip the stones if you're not careful. 
• Swimming. It's best to leave your ring at home when enjoying a swim. While you might be able to find it again if you lose it in a pool, it's next to impossible to retrieve a lost ring from a lack, river or ocean.  
• Cooking. Getting your hands dirty with baking or mixing is fun for you, but bad for your ring. Mixes, sauces and dough could leave goop in your setting that's hard to get out. 

Check the Settings

Once or twice a year, have your setting checked by a qualified jeweler. Stones can become loose or chipped with day-to-day activity, so you want to ensure everything is secure long before there's a big enough problem for the casual wearer to see.  

Clean Them Regularly

If your jewelry store offers free cleaning, be sure to use the service. If it doesn't, you can clean rings at home with some basic products. Gentle dish detergent and a soft toothbrush can remove dirt, creams and beauty products from the band and setting. Diamonds may be cleaned with a tiny amount of all-purpose cleaner (such as Formula 409) mixed with large amounts of water and well rinsed. For extra shine, use a mixture of 3 cups water and 1 cup ammonia. Rinse well after cleaning with anythings besides water, and allow the ring to dry on a soft cloth.  

Avoid Products

Before piling on beauty products, be sure to make a habit of removing your ring. Things like lotions, creams, sunblock and even perfume may have damaging ingredients. Even if they are "safe" for jewelry, old layers of products can build up and gum up your setting.

Insure Them

While you may try to do everything you can to protect and maintain your ring, you can't prevent all disasters. So it's best to know you can replace the rings if the worst does happen. Start by documenting the jewelry and talking with your homeowner's insurance broker to make sure it's all appropriately covered by your policy.  

Protecting your wedding and engagement rings is worth a little extra care and effort. It will save money and worry in the long run. For further assistance, contact a local dealer, such as http://www.jewelrybuyersbeverlyhills.com.