Martha Barette

To maintain your jewelry in their best condition, we recommend that you keep your jewelry in our airtight Pico bags when not in use. In this way you avoid your jewelry getting dark (tarnish/oxidize). Silver and gold-plated jewelry becomes dark from for example sweat, sulfur, chlorine and from the oxygen we breathe in. Therefore, avoid having them laying on the bedside table or having them hanging on a jewelry rack in the bathroom where the humidity is high.

Take off your jewelry when you bathe, swim and play sports. Your jewelry should be applied as the last thing in your daily attire. Therefore, avoid applying perfume or other cosmetic products directly to your jewelry as the surface can be damaged.  

How to clean your Pico Jewelry

-  Use jewelry cleaner to keep your jewelry neat and shiny. The liquid can help remove possible oxidation, which will occur quite naturally after use. The jewelry cleaner should preferably be a liquid that can be bought in a any big supermarket.

-  If you experience dirt on your jewelry, this can be removed by placing them in a bowl of lukewarm mild soapy water. Then gently use a soft toothbrush to remove the dirt. By following this guide, you can maintain your jewelry and their coating longer and it is part of the maintenance to clean the jewelry.

Materials

Pico jewelry is primarily made of 24 carat gold-plated brass, silver-plated brass, sterling silver and 24 carat gold-plated sterling silver.

Silver

Our silver is sterling silver, 925. 925 means that 92,5% is pure silver and the remaining part is copper. Silver is a soft material. Silver oxidizes/tarnishes over time when it is exposed to mixed other humidity. This problem can be solved by cleaning your jewelry with liquid jewelry cleaner.

Brass

We are using brass as a base material in many of our jewelry styles, after they have been gilded with 24 carat gold or fine silver. Brass is a mixture of copper and zinc. This metal is is very similar too silver which is why it is often used for larger jewelry, as it is cheaper to use, but still a pure material. Some people experience becoming “green” on their finger when they wears jewelry made of gold-plated or silver-plated brass. This can happen to the coating when the jewelry is been using over time and the skin comes in direct contact with the copper in the brass or if your PH value is high.

Silver Plating & Gold Plating

Silver plating and gold plating is a surface treatment that is often used for bijouteri. The advantage by using brass is, the gilding binds significantly better on brass than on other materials. Pico jewelry is silver plated with fine silver or 24 carat gold on the brass. The surface treatment will eventually fade off due wearing and the base material will appear.

The surface treatment will fade faster if you regularly use hand sanitizer or if your jewelry comes in contact with water and soap. Especially rings will often fade faster than earrings, necklaces or bracelets.

Allergies

Why do some people react when using jewelry?

All Picos jewelry is nickel free. However some people still reacts by wearing the jewelry. This may be because these individuals cannot tolerate metals such as; silver, brass, copper or gold. But as with all other allergies, you have to try it out as it is different for person to person. It can be compared to, among other things, food, dust and pollen.

If some experience that you become “green” on your finger, for example, by wearing a gold-plated or silver-plated brass ring, it is not due to an allergic reaction. On the other hand, it is a reaction that occurs when the silver-plating or gold-plating wears off and the brass (which is the basic material of the ring) is in direct contact with the skin or if your PH value is high.

If you experience that the earlobe or the hook of the ear turns black, this is also due to a natural reaction an most ofte occurs in people who have recently had holes made in their ears or if your PH value is high. However, it is important to have something in the ears so that the hole does not grow together. Failure to do so may result in the skin attempting to close the hole. It is this reaction that that attacks the metal and makes it black. It takes 2 years for a hole to heal.

Complaints

The base material of creoles such as Rainy Hoop, Sea Crystal Stud and Siri Crystal Stud is silver, which is a soft material. Over time and with regular use, these products will loose their shape if you are not careful. The rod will often move down slightly due to pressure when closed. This can result in the earring not opening and closing properly. This problem can be solved to lifting the rod a bit with your little finger until it can be opened and closed again. If you are unsure about doing this you are always welcome to stop by Pico’s workshop on Grønnegade and get help.

Oxidation of jewelry is not a complaint, but part of the maintenance. When you experience that your jewelry gets dark, it is because they tarnish/oxidize, which is a natural reaction. This is always due to external influences such as sweat, sulfur or chlorine-containing surroundings, but also from the oxygen in the air.

A chain can “break” in several ways. One way may be because the eyelet or lock has opened slightly and the chain falls out and goes apart. If the chain is broken in the middle of the chain, it is most often due to the chain being slightly overloaded. This usually happens due to a lot of small pulls in the chain, or if the chain has got stuck in something.

 Picos workshop can in most cases help reassemble the chain by tying the chain together with silver wire or double wire. However, if the chain has been pulled too much, the joints will be porous and easily break again. In this case, the workshop assesses whether a repair can be carried out and last.

Pico has its own workshop, which is happy to help with complaints and repairs. The staff will receive these in Picos own shops and then pass them on to the workshop. 

At Pico, we do not take reservations for lost earrings, rings or other types of jewelry or hair accessories. We do not either take reservations for broken tooths on claws or if the claw has been squeezed, dropped or wear and tear. It is the customer’s own responsibility keep an eye on the maintenance of one’s jewelry and contact Picos store or webshop if problems arise that need to be repaired.

Stones & Pearls

Crystals

We work with Nanocrystals® in most of our jewelry. These crystals are man-made (made in a laboratody) and of very high quality. The advantage of these man-made crystals is the beautiful color palette. As used in our Rainy Hoops, Siri Hoops, Alphabet Stud and Pendants, Fruit Stud m.m. In some cases we also use Swarovski crystals, but due to the smaller color scale at Swarovski we prefer Nanocrystals®.

Freshwater Pearls

We use culture freshwater pearls, which are created and produced with the help of humans. Tissue or a plastic ball is inoculated into the freshwater mussel to irritate it. The mussel then tries to get rid of the irritation by isolating the mussel in a layer of mother of pearl and thereby forming the freshwater pearl. This process can take up to 2-3 years or longer. Used in Aubree Hoops, Aline Earring and Desiree Earring.

Fashion Pearls

This is a gem often used for fashion jewelry. This bead consists of a plastic ball, where the crushed mother of pearl is placed on the outside of the ball. The fashion pearls we use are of very high quality and specially made for jewelry.

Glass Beads

We use glass beads from the Czech Republic. These are in pressed glass and we get then made in the current colors we use in the collections. These are used in our Sweet Dream collection.

In our hand-sewn bracelet (Candycrush Bracelet, Flower Power Bracelet, Bubble Bracelet ect.) the glass beads and bracelets are made i India.

Materials - Pico Hair Accessories & Jewelry

Hair Accessories

Most of our hair claws and clips are made from cellulose acetate.

Cellulose acetate is an Eco-friendly and plant-based material which consists of plant cells, it is found in cotton and wood when mixed with acetic acid and we get the material, which appears similar to plastic, we can use for our products.

Unlike plastic, acetate is easy and environmentally friendly to decompose.

Our largest manufacturer is, as the only ones in China, ‘Global Recycled Material Certificate’ and Smeta certified, which ensures that the products are produced in recycled material under the best conditions to ensure environmentally friendly manufacturing and that we know that good working conditions are paramount.

Acetate is best known as the material used for spectacle frames because it is super strong, flexible and hypoallergenic. These benefits make acetate the perfect material to use in the manufacture of our hair accessories. Acetate is a more expensive material than plastic (acrylic), but it is in turn Eco-friendly and has an unsurpassed durability.

Jewelry

We make our jewelry in pure metals and we are members of FORCE Technology where we are registered as Pico. We use sterling silver and brass as a base for all our jewelry.

The jewelry components are produced in France, Thailand, India and China. They are then plated with 24-karat gold or fine silver in Denmark. Then all jewelry are being processed at our own jewelry workshop in Grønnegade in Copenhagen.

 It is important to us that our gold and silver plating of the jewelery is the best quality, therefore we choose to do it in Denmark where we know all requirements for an environmentally conscious process are met. Our gold and silver plating are ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified.

 All jewelry comes through our own in-house jewelry workshop. The jewelry are shaped, assembled and controlled before being packed and sent out to our stores and retailers in Denmark and around the world.