We use genuine sterling silver, copper and brass to make our jewelry. All of these metals are soft and will tarnish when exposed to air over time. If you do not like the "antique" look that tarnished metal gives your jewelry, you need to protect it by storing it in an airtight poly or plastic bag. (We package our jewelry in both poly bags and decorative organza or velveteen pouches before shipping it to you to help you protect your new purchase.) The only exception to this rule is pearls. They require different care.

If your jewelry does become tarnished, use an appropriate metal polish or a jewelry polishing cloth to return it to its original condition.  Polishing cloths are available at most jewelry stores. Make sure you read labels on metal polishes and jewelry cleaners carefully as these products are often designed for one specific metal and may actually damage others.  Many of these products also are harmful to semi-precious gemstones, Swarovski crystals and pearls, so always use them with the utmost care. Never clean your jewelry with bleach. Rather, clean semi-precious gemstones and Swarovski crystals with mild, soapy water or buff them with a soft, damp cloth or polishing cloth.

     As you may have noticed in our product descriptions, we string our necklaces and brcelets using strong nylon line.  We've found that nylon is very strong and more flexible than most other beading cord, which allows our necklaces to drape better.  Nylon also does not rot or fray and is much more difficult to break. You may notice that when you first take your necklace out of the pouch we pack in in that it looks a bit wavey. When heavier gemstone necklaces are coiled and put in their pouches, the nylon takes on the shape of the coil.  To remove these waves (they are just temporary), simply hang your necklace from a hool and after a short time the weight of the necklace will return the nylon to its original shape.  ACtually, simply wearing the necklace for a while will give you the same result. WARNING:Do not crease or fold jewelry strung on nylon as this will cause a permanent kink in the nylon which will affect how your necklace drapes when you wear it.  Kinks also become weak points that may cause the nylon to break eventually.

The Usual Causes of Breakage

All of our jewelry is handcrafted with care and tested before shipping to make certain that it is in perfect condition.  We try our best to ensure that all connections and links are strong enough to withstand everyday wear and tear. Sometimes though, despite all of our efforts and your own attention to care, jewelry breaks because it gets snagged on something which causes key links to become bent or broken.  This is especially true for bracelets which suffer from much more wear and tear when worn than necklaces or earrings.

The bead tips we use in our work are made from either sterling silver or copper, both soft metals.  We discontinued our use of brass beadtips because we found that they were too soft and fragile and broke much too easily. If you pull, tug or catch your necklace or bracelet on something with force, you may open up the link on the end of the bead tip.  In the photo to the right the copper bead tips connect the brass Art Deco triangle to the beaded strands of the necklace.  If the link on one of the beadtips opens up, eventually, if this link is not reclosed completely, it will release from the triangle and the piece will be broken. 

Easy Home Repairs

If your jewelry breaks in the manner just described, all is not lost. Many times you can repair a break that involves a bead tip if the tip has just opened up and has not broken apart.  All you need is a small pair of needle nose pliers, good eyesight and patience. Simply follow the instructions and illustrations below:

1. Open up the link on the end of the bead tip if it is not already open.
2. Slip the open bead tip link into the link of the chain or connector to which it was originally connected. You may need tweezers one link while you slip the other into it.
3. Pinch the open bead tip link closed into a complete circle with needlenose pliers.
4. Viola!  Your earring, bracelet or necklace is repaired.

This repair procedure also works at times for broken chain links if they are not too small.  Just insert the open link into it's closed neighbor, pinch the circle closed with needlenose pliers and it's reconnected!

If, however, a piece you have purchased from us breaks in a manner that cannot be repaired following the instructions above, please contact us immediately and we will do our best to meet your repair needs.  Under these circumstances, make sure you keep all of the components of the broken piece possible as we often use rare or unusual beads in our designs that cannot be replaced if lost. 

Our Commitment To Our Customers

High Quality Products and Services

At Le Chat Noir we are dedicated to putting the same care and attention to design and detail that we put into the handcrafted jewelry that we make for ourselves into the collection that we offer for sale to you.

At Discount Prices

Our highest priority is bringing you our jewelry and services at affordable prices.  We have eliminated the customary retail mark-up and offer free or reduced shipping for many orders and further price discounts for our return customers.

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AMB Black Cat, LLC

289 Huckleberry Ridge Road NE
Floyd, Virginia  24091

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