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How to care for your Pico jewellery

To keep your jewellery in the best condition, we recommend storing it in our airtight Pico bags when not in use. This helps prevent tarnishing and oxidation. Silver and gold-plated jewellery darkens with exposure to sweat, sulphur, chlorine and even the oxygen in the air, so avoid leaving pieces on the bedside table or hanging on a jewellery rack in the bathroom where humidity is high.

Take your jewellery off when you bathe, swim or play sports. Put it on as the last step of getting dressed, and avoid applying perfume or cosmetic products directly to it, as the surface can be damaged.

How to clean your Pico jewellery

Use a jewellery cleaner to keep your pieces neat and shiny. The liquid helps remove oxidation, which occurs naturally with use. A standard liquid jewellery cleaner from any large supermarket works well.

If your jewellery is dirty, place it in a bowl of lukewarm, mild soapy water and gently use a soft toothbrush to lift the dirt. Regular cleaning is part of maintaining your jewellery and its coating.

Materials

Pico jewellery 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 — meaning 92.5% pure silver, with the remainder copper. Silver is a soft material and tarnishes over time when exposed to humidity and other elements. Cleaning with a liquid jewellery cleaner restores the shine.

Brass

We use brass as a base material in many of our styles, then gild it with 24-carat gold or fine silver. Brass is a mixture of copper and zinc, very similar to silver, which is why it's often used for larger pieces — it's more affordable while still being a pure material.

Some people notice their finger turning green when wearing gold-plated or silver-plated brass. This can happen when the coating wears down over time and the skin comes into direct contact with the copper in the brass, or if the wearer's pH value is high.

Silver plating and gold plating

Silver and gold plating is a surface treatment often used in bijouterie. Brass is an ideal base because the gilding binds significantly better to it than to other materials. Pico jewellery is plated with fine silver or 24-carat gold on brass.

The surface treatment fades gradually with wear, and eventually the base material shows through. Plating fades faster with regular exposure to hand sanitiser, water and soap. Rings tend to fade faster than earrings, necklaces or bracelets.

Stones and pearls

Crystals. We work with Nanocrystals® in most of our jewellery. These are man-made crystals of very high quality, chosen for their beautiful colour palette. Used in Rainy Hoops, Siri Hoops, Alphabet Studs and Pendants, Fruit Studs and more. In some cases we also use Swarovski crystals, but the smaller colour range means we favour Nanocrystals®.

Freshwater pearls. We use cultured freshwater pearls, produced with human assistance. Tissue or a plastic ball is introduced into a freshwater mussel, which then isolates the irritation in layers of mother-of-pearl to form the pearl. The process can take two to three years or more. Used in Aubree Hoops, Aline Earring and Desiree Earring.

Fashion pearls. A gem often used in fashion jewellery. It consists of a plastic ball coated with crushed mother-of-pearl on the outside. The fashion pearls we use are of very high quality and specially made for jewellery.

Glass beads. We use pressed glass beads from the Czech Republic, made to order in the colours we're using each season. Used in our Sweet Dream collection. For our hand-sewn bracelets (Candycrush Bracelet, Flower Power Bracelet, Bubble Bracelet, etc.), the glass beads and bracelets are made in India.

Hair accessories

Most of our hair claws and clips are made from cellulose acetate — a plant-based material derived from cotton and wood cells mixed with acetic acid. The result resembles plastic and is what we use for our accessories.

Our largest manufacturer is the only supplier in China with both Global Recycled Material Certificate and Smeta certification, ensuring the products are made from recycled material under good working conditions.

Acetate is best known as the material used for spectacle frames, because it is strong, flexible and hypoallergenic. These qualities make it ideal for our hair accessories. It is more expensive than plastic (acrylic) and has unmatched durability.

Where we make your Pico jewellery

We make our jewellery from pure metals and are members of FORCE Technology, where we are registered as Pico. Sterling silver and brass are the base for all our jewellery.

Components are produced in France, Thailand, India and China, then plated with 24-carat gold or fine silver in Denmark. All jewellery is finished at our own workshop in Grønnegade, Copenhagen.

We plate in Denmark because it's important to us that the process meets the highest environmental standards. Our gold and silver plating is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified.

Every piece passes through our in-house workshop, where it's shaped, assembled and quality-checked before being packed and sent to our stores and retailers in Denmark and around the world.

Allergies

All Pico jewellery is nickel-free. Even so, some people react to wearing jewellery — this may be because they cannot tolerate metals such as silver, brass, copper or gold. As with all allergies, sensitivity varies from person to person.

If you notice your finger turning green when wearing a gold-plated or silver-plated brass ring, this is not an allergic reaction. It's a reaction that occurs when the plating wears off and the brass base is in direct contact with the skin, or if your pH value is high.

If your earlobe or the hook of the earring turns black, this is also a natural reaction. It most often occurs in people who have recently had their ears pierced, or if the pH value is high. It's important to keep something in the ears so the hole doesn't grow shut — otherwise the skin attempts to close it, and this reaction attacks the metal and turns it black. It takes around two years for a piercing to fully 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 pieces will lose their shape if not handled carefully. The rod often moves down slightly under pressure when closed, which can prevent the earring from opening and closing properly. This can usually be solved by gently lifting the rod with your little finger. If you're unsure about doing this, you're welcome to stop by Pico's workshop on Grønnegade for help.

Oxidation is not grounds for a complaint — it's part of maintaining your jewellery. Darkening happens because pieces tarnish or oxidise naturally, in response to sweat, sulphur, chlorine and the oxygen in the air.

A chain can break in several ways. Sometimes the eyelet or clasp opens slightly and the chain falls out. If a chain breaks in the middle, it's usually because it has been overloaded — often through many small pulls, or because it has caught on something.

In most cases, Pico's workshop can help by reassembling the chain with silver or double wire. However, if a chain has been pulled too hard, the joints can become porous and prone to breaking again. The workshop will assess whether a repair will hold.

Pico has its own workshop, which is happy to help with complaints and repairs. Our store staff receive items and pass them on to the workshop.

Pico does not accept liability for lost earrings, rings or other jewellery and hair accessories. We also do not accept liability for broken teeth on hair clips, or for clips that have been crushed, dropped or damaged through use. The same applies to our knitwear: during wear, small pulls, pilling or loose threads may occur — this is normal for knitwear and not covered by warranty. If a thread breaks, the piece may run, so it is the customer's responsibility to handle and care for it carefully.

It is the customer's responsibility to maintain their jewellery, hair accessories and knitwear, and to contact a Pico store or the webshop if any issues arise that require repair.