Rhinestone jewelry works hard. It performs under hot lights, travels in kits, gets pinned, packed, and worn on repeat, and it is expected to look brand new every single time. The good news is that handcrafted pieces are built to last, and a few simple habits will keep them shining for years. This is the care routine we give every customer, plus exactly what our lifetime repair warranty covers when life happens anyway. The pieces in our drag and pageant jewelry collection are handcrafted, with stones hand set in prong settings, and they reward being treated like the instruments they are.

After every wear: the two minute reset

When the show ends, give your jewelry two minutes before it goes back in the case. Wipe every stone and metal surface with a soft, dry cloth to lift off makeup, sweat, and stage dust before they have time to sit. Run a fingertip gently across the settings as you wipe. A stone that feels loose is a stone asking for a repair now instead of a loss later. Build this into your teardown routine and it stops feeling like care and starts feeling like packing.

Put it on last, take it off first

Perfume, hairspray, and setting spray are the quiet enemies of sparkle. Their residue lands on stones and dulls them a little more with every application, and alcohol based products are hard on finishes over time. The fix costs nothing: do your hair, makeup, and sprays first, let everything dry, and put your jewelry on as the final step. When the night ends, reverse it. Jewelry comes off before the wig glue remover and the makeup wipes come out.

Keep rhinestone jewelry dry

Water is not a cleaning shortcut for rhinestone jewelry. Don't shower in it, don't soak it, and don't run it through an ultrasonic cleaner. If a piece gets damp, pat it dry with a soft cloth and let it air completely before it goes into storage. Moisture trapped against metal and settings in a closed case is where tarnish and trouble start, so dry storage matters as much as dry wear.

Storage: flat, separate, and unhurried

Store each piece flat so drops, chains, and necklaces keep the shape they were made with. Store pieces separately, in a soft pouch or a lined box per piece, so stones never scratch against each other and prongs never snag on a neighbor. A pile of jewelry in a drawer is a slow accident. For travel, pouch each piece and pack it inside your kit where it cannot be crushed, never loose in a bag. The same rules protect the pieces in our pageant jewelry edit, which often travel more than any jewelry a person owns.

Handle the settings like settings

Prong settings hold stones the way fine jewelry does, which is exactly why our pieces sparkle the way they do and last the way they do. Treat them with the same respect: prongs can catch on lace, mesh, and wig fibers, so put jewelry on after delicate costume pieces when you can, and never force a snagged piece free. If a prong bends or a stone starts to move, do not bend it back with pliers at home. That is a repair, and repairs are what the warranty is for.

When something breaks: the warranty, worded plainly

Every piece we make carries a lifetime repair warranty. If you lose a stone or a piece breaks, we repair it, and you cover shipping only. One honest limit, stated the way we state it to everyone: a piece that has been completely destroyed may not be fixable, which is why the habits above are worth the two minutes they take. And if a repair turns into a bigger idea, a redesign or a matching piece that does not exist yet, that conversation starts on the custom route.

Care for it like it is part of the act, because it is. Two minutes after the show buys you years of shine.

Keep going: How to Keep Rhinestones From Falling Off Your Costumes is the costume side of the same habits.