Heart Ring

We have a place on Lake Norman and I am in and out of the water every weekend from May on. This ring has been swimming, tubing, showering and sitting in a hot tub with me and the little hearts still have their shine. I was most worried about the grooves between each heart, because that is where water pools and where my other rings always go chalky white. There is nothing in there, no residue, no dull film, no discoloration. I rinse it under the tap when I get out of the lake and dry it on a towel and that is the entire maintenance routine. Four months and it still looks like a new ring.

Chunky plated rings usually start going brassy at the high points first, and with a heart pattern there are a lot of high points to go wrong. I have had this on almost every day since the middle of February, through lotion, perfume, dish soap and a lot of sweaty errand runs. The raised part of every heart is still the same gold as the recessed parts, which tells me the coating is even and thick rather than sprayed on. Nothing has gone coppery, nothing has gone dark in the valleys. My mother has an identical looking ring from a department store that went orange in a month.

A nine millimeter band covers a lot of skin, so if a ring is going to bother me this is the shape that does it. I have a nickel allergy that shows up as a raised itchy patch within about two days, and I have thrown out plenty of pretty rings because of it. I started with a few hours, then a workday, then a weekend, and now it is just on my hand. Two months in there is no rash, no itch, and no dry ring of skin underneath when I take it off to put lotion on. Even after sleeping in it and sweating in it the skin looks totally normal. I ended up ordering a second one for my sister who has the same problem.

It took closer to two weeks to reach me and I checked the tracking more times than I would like to admit. The ring itself is lovely and I have worn it constantly since it landed. Just order ahead if you have a date in mind.

The ring itself is elegant and the hearts shine exactly as shown. It arrived in a very simple box, which was a little underwhelming for a gift. I moved it into a pouch and it was fine.

Constant washing and sanitizer for five months. The finish has not lifted anywhere, not even along the edges where it rubs my other finger. That is more than I can say for the ring I wore before it.