Frequently Asked Questions

Measuring for a Hawaiian Bangle: It is vital that your know the correct circumference of the "Hand" when ordering Custom-made Bangles to avoid costly alteration sizing adjustments you will incur. When SIZING FOR A HAWAIIAN BANGLE - Take a soft measuring tape and tightly measure the circumference of your very tightly clenched hand with your four fingers straight and your thumb turned in to touch your ring finger or pinky (this should make your hand's circumference the smallest size possible). Please measure over your knuckles (widest fist area) using inches. This would be your approximate hand size for a bangle. Please Remember that it is your "HAND" that is to be accurately measured, and NOT your "WRIST". A solid bangle must be able to squeeze on and off over your hand comfortably, yet rest nicely on your wrist and not easily slide off your hand. You may also go to your nearest jewelry store or any jewelry counter and ask them for your bangle size, if they have hand-sizers. Due to the custom details of personalized jewelry, all sales are final and we do not take responsibility for incorrect sizing of your jewelry ordered. Resizing Alterations are available, but very costly to adjust!

- How can I find an Item Quickly: Please Use the "Advanced Search" Feature located at the Top of our Store's Main Home Page. For an example, if you want to see All products available created with Woolly Mammoth Ivory, just leave the Category default as "All" and type in "mammoth" for the Keyword window, then click Seach to find all products made with Mammoth Ivory.

- What is the condition of the item? All items are in a brand new and unused condition unless otherwise specified.

- Do you combine shipping? Yes, we offer a FLAT Rate combined shipping on all items processed into one invoice transaction.

- When can I expect my order to arrive? Please understand we should not be held responsible for the delivery time, once your order has been accepted by our U.S. Post Office, as we are not the individuals delivering your package. Depending on when your order payment was completed, Please allow an additional 3-5 business days for processing before your order is shipped. We will best attempt our most efficient order processing during traditional or honoring observance holidays and the Christmas shopping season and strive to ship orders Daily during these peak periods of shopping. Currently, we only utilize the USPS for all U.S. and International shipments. NOTE: USPS Express Delivery is (2-Days Guaranteed) From Hawai`i for All U.S. Addresses.

- How much is the Shipping and Handling Charge? Please See Below or in the Customer Service Section explaining All Shipping Costs.

- Do you ship internationally? Yes, we ship to Canada, APO/FPO, and most all other International address locations. Please See Customer Service Section regarding all Shipping information.

- Do you offer international shipping? Yes, we ship worldwide except to the following list of countries: Africa, South America, Mexico, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Russian Federation, Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Ukraine, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan Republic, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, New Caledonia, Niue.

- What countries do you ship to? All United States and U.S. Territories, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and Germany, and most all countries within Europe and Asia.

- How much does it cost to ship to my country? We offer a Cost-effective, Flat Rate Shipping and Flat Rate Shipping Insurance Coverage for all U.S., Canadian and International locations on most all items. Regardless of the Unlimited Quantities you purchase, unless otherwise stated, FLAT Rate shipping only applies to All of our Mana Kahuna Kalai website “Jewelry” items. Please E-mail us if you require any assistance with your transaction or if requesting a invoice total and note if you want First Class, Priority, or Express Delivered Shipping and if you want to include shipping insurance. Completed items, paid separately by the Customer, cannot be combined "After-the-fact" and no refunds will be offered. Please ensure you wait until you have completed all of your shopping, before you process or request a FLAT Shipping Rate Invoice. One Gift Box Total, is included with every FLAT Rate Invoice, due to package size limitations (E-mail us, if you have a specific item requiring an additional gift box). All U.S. FLAT Rates are First Class $4.00, Priority $7.00, Express $20.00. All Canadian FLAT Rates are First Class $5.50, Priority $13.00, Express $28.00. All International FLAT Rates are First Class $6.50, Priority $15.00, Express $30.00. Requesting Shipping Insurance: Regardless of the Unlimited Quantities Purchased, FLAT Rate Shipping Insurance for $2.20 U.S. and $3.00 Canada/International will protect the entire cost value of all invoiced Item/s and is Available Upon Request via E-mail to Mana Kahuna Kalai, Before Completing Your Invoice Payment. Certain High-Value Items Will Have a Flat Rate Required Insurance. Required Shipping Insurance will protect item's cost value against shipping that is Lost, Stolen or Damaged by Others and is Already Included in the Flat Rate Shipping Cost. For all local customer's within Hawai`i (collectively, all eight major Hawaiian islands), please feel free to E-mail us requesting our local shipping discount.

- How do I pay for my purchase? We accept USPS Money Orders and Personal Checks with a 10-day hold to clear payment, PayPal and most all major credit cards including, MC, Visa, AMEX, and Discover.

- Why do you have a 10% Restocking Fee for returned items?  Some businesses will use this charge as a deterrent for their customers to return back good items; It is absolutely not our intention to do this.  Other businesses charge this fee to prevent their customers from temporarily "borrowing" items, wearing them for a short-period, then returning them back for a refund.  Aside from this, the primary reason we have a Restocking Fee is to recoup the transaction fees we have already paid when you completed your order's transaction payment.  We understand customer service and the many valid reasons behind wanting to return items.  We do not intend to take this fee as any form of profit at all.  Again, we only intend to recoup the transaction fee assessed on us for your transaction.  If the 10% Restocking Fee on your returned item's costs exceeds the actual transaction fee we were assessed with, then only a lesser percentage fee would be charged.  For example, you want to return a $200.00 item for a refund and the transaction fee we were charged with was $7.60 and a 10% Restock Fee would be $20.00, we would only subtract the $7.60 from your refund amount and not the full 10% or $20.00 as other vendors tend to do.

- Can I pay with an eBay gift card or gift certificate? Sorry, we do not accept this form of payment. However, we will intermittently offer special promotion codes to our potential and/or registered customers with additional discounts towards their purchase/s.

- Do you offer Gift Card Services? Yes, we offer e-Gift Cards.  The link to purchase e-Gift Cards for family members or friends is located at the top of our main homepage in the thin, dark green strip, following the "About Us" link.  Cards can be purchased from $5.00 minimum up to $500.00 maximum and Do Not have any time limit expiration dates.  Any single e-Gift Card cannot be more than $500.00.  Each customer can purchase up to $500.00 in e-Gift Cards per month.

- How do I confirm that my promotion code was applied to my order? You will see the discount subtracted during your checkout process.

- What is your return policy and/or How do I return an item? Please See Customer Service Section explaining All Returns.

- What is your exchange/in-store credit policy? Please See Customer Service Section explaining All Exchanges.

- How is Hawaiian 2-Tone Silver Jewelry made? All 2-Tone Silver Hawaiian jewelry designs are created using 100% .925 Solid Sterling Silver pieces that are "Accented" (Plated) with areas using pure 14k Yellow or 14k Rose Gold to accentuate the design's overall appearance. Some Sterling Silver designs are entirely plated (front, back, inside and bail) with 14k Yellow or 14k Rose Gold, which are typically listed as "14k Yellow/Rose Gold Plated .925 Solid Sterling Silver".

- What is Rhodium? Rhodium Shares Similar Characteristics with Platinum; Both Platinum and Rhodium are Quite Expensive With Rhodium Being the Highest Costing Metal Element Traded in Today's Platinum Group Metals (PGM) Market. Historically, Traded Investing Has Shown a Buy/Sell Price Range of Between $2,000 to Over $10,000 For Just One Single Ounce of Pure Rhodium. Rhodium-Plating Also Gives Silver Jewelry the Expensive Look of Platinum or White Gold. Rhodium is a Silver-white Metallic Element Highly Resistant to Corrosion, and is Extremely Reflective. It is Used as a Finish for Jewelry, Mirrors, and Search Lights. South Africa is the Major Source Producer, Accounting for Almost 60% of the World's Rhodium Supply. Russia is the Second Largest Producer. Pure Rhodium is Used to Plate Fine Quality Silver Jewelry. Rhodium is the Most Tarnish-Resistant of the Platinum Group Metals. Hence, Silver Jewelry Finished with Rhodium is Regarded as Tarnish Resistant. The Rhodium Finish over Silver is Very Hard, which Enhances the Durability of the Silver Jewelry. Because Rhodium has a Greater Resistance to Scratching and Abrasion, it is Ideal for Use in Jewelry because it Keeps Silver Jewelry Looking New and Untarnished. Very Little Polishing is Required for Silver Jewelry Plated with Rhodium. On Occasion You May Want to Polish This With a Soft Cloth. It is Also Acceptable to Clean Rhodium-Plated Silver with Mild Dish Detergent in Warm Water. After Cleaning, Rinse Your Jewelry Thoroughly and Pat Dry. Do Not Use a Silver Liquid Dip as This Might Damage the Rhodium Finish or CZ Gemstones. It is not recommended to use Harsh Cleaners, Detergents, Soaps, Shampoos, Jewelry Cloths or Jewelry Liquid, Chemicals, Chlorine, Body or Tanning Lotions, Ultrasonic Cleaners, Showering, Swimming in Pools or Hot Tubs or the Ocean with Rhodium-Plated Silver Jewelry.

- Silver Jewelry Handling/Care: When Worn Continuously, Sterling Silver Will Naturally Develop a Subtle Yellowish Glow With Darkened Areas, Called Patina, This Typically Occurs Over an Extended Period of Time While Being Exposed to Gases in the Air Outdoors; It is the 7.5% Copper Content Used in All .925 Sterling Silver That Causes This Natural Patina. However, When .925 Sterling Silver Changes Appearance Overnight or Within a Few Short Days, The Silver Has Been Directly Exposed to a Much Harsher and Un-Natural External Substance Causing an Abrupt Coloration Change, Blackening, Dulling and/or Tarnishing, Rendering Your Once Beautiful Appearing Silver Piece Irreversibly Ruined and/or Extremely Difficult to Restore Back to its Original Shiny Appearance. The Following is a List of Precautions to Take/Avoid When Wearing Any .925 Sterling Silver. Exposing These Substances Onto All Types of Sterling Silver Jewelry Will Directly Affect its Appearance by Dulling the Surface Luster/Shine, Removing Part or All Portions of Any Gold-Plated or Rhodium-Plated Accents, Dulling Any Included CZ Gemstone Accents, and Removing Part or All of the Oxidization Process on Any Oxidized Design. It is Not Recommended to Use Harsh Cleaners, Detergents, Soaps, Shampoos, Jewelry Cloths or Jewelry Liquids, Chemicals, Chlorine, All Types of Make-up, Hairspray, Perfumes, Body or Tanning Lotions, Ultrasonic Cleaners, Tarnish Creams, Showering, Swimming in Pools or Hot Tubs or the Ocean. All of These Elements, Surroundings, and Substances Are Enemies of Sterling Silver and Will Virtually Destroy Your Silver Jewelry Item. Please Remember “LOFO” (Last On, First Off) as a Good Reminder With All Jewelry, Including Sterling Silver. Apply Your Make-up and Hairsprays First, Allow to Absorb, Then Put On Your Jewelry, Chains, etc. When Retiring for the Evening, Take Off Your Jewelry First Before Showering or Removing Your Make-up. Exposing Your Sterling Silver Jewelry to Any of The Above Will Render Your Return Policy Void. However, Please Feel Free to Email Us and We Might Be Able to Assist You to Possibly Reverse Some or All of the Damage That Has Been Created. 

- Will Silver Tarnish? We have been asked this several times, so will reply, however many websites will provide you with these details and can be found using a major search engine. Yes, silver as well as several other precious metals will tarnish, if not properly taken care of. However, Sterling Silver will naturally tarnish over a period of time and will display a natural patina (a natural, pale yellow appearance over the surface, over time). It is Not Recommended to Use Harsh Cleaners, Detergents, Soaps, Shampoos, Jewelry Cloths or Jewelry Liquids, Chemicals, Chlorine, Body or Tanning Lotions, Ultrasonic Cleaners, Tarnish Creams, Showering, Swimming in Pools or Hot Tubs or the Ocean With Sand-matte, 2-Tone, Gold-Plated or Rhodium-Plated Silver Jewelry as these are all mortal enemies of Silver metal and will ruin the design rendering it unrepairable.

- Do we have this particular item or a certain size that is not listed? At times, we have inventory that has not yet been listed in our website store. Feel free to ask questions regarding if we have more quantities or different sizes, etc. Just because you do not see the item in our store, it does not mean we cannot get it for you within a few days, or 1-2 weeks at the latest, depending on supplier inventory availability.

- KOA WOOD INLAID TITANIUM RINGS RETURN POLICY AND WARRANTY: We Standby This Product With a 3-Day Resize Correction Return, 30-Day Return Policy, and Lifetime Sizing Adjustments and Replacement Deductible Warranty. This Ring Includes a 3-Day Resize Inspection Review to Return Any Ring You Might Have Incorrectly Ordered for Size and to Exchange Only to Another Requested Size. Please Know, All of Our Rings Are Accurately Quality Control Checked and Measured at Least Twice to Ensure Rings Center on a Ring Measurement Stick For the Size Ordered Before Shipping. A Checkmark on the Ring’s Packet is Our Guarantee That Your Ring Was Accurately Measured for the Size Ordered. Please Ensure Your Ring Size is Ordered Correctly; All 3-day Resize Exchange Requests Will Incur a $10 Service and Handling Charge to Cover Shipping Back Your Newly Exchanged Ring via Priority Insured Delivery. This Ring Also Includes a 30-Day Return Policy. If You Are Not Completely Satisfied With Your Titanium Koa Ring Purchase, Return the Ring in its Original Condition Upon Receiving Your Package Within 30-days After Delivery Date for an Exchange, Credit, or Refund of the Item’s Cost (Less All Shipping and Insurance Costs To/From You and 10% Restocking Fee). Additionally, Your Titanium Koa Ring Has a Lifetime Sizing and Replacement Warranty Against Manufactured Workmanship in the Unlikely Event Your Ring Splits, Chips, or Breaks. The Lifetime Warranty Will Also Cover Future Resizing Adjustments, Scratches, Polish, and Texture for Life. If Your Titanium Koa Ring Ever Needs to Be Exchanged For a Different Size, Repolished, Retextured, or Replaced Because of Chipping or Breakage, All That is Required is a Copy of Your Original Invoice Receipt, the Ring, and a $40.00 Deductible, Which Includes the Cost of Reprocessing, Handling and Return Shipping. To Ensure Your Satisfaction and the Fact That We Stand by Our Titanium Koa Rings During Everyday Use, We Believe the Deductible Charge for This Lifetime Reliability Replacement/Resize Warranty is a Much More Cost-Effective Solution for Our Customers. We Could Offer Free Worldwide Shipping, or Typical 2-Year, 5-Year, or Even Lifetime Warranties for Free, as Our Other Competitors Do and List This Ring at a Much Higher Cost, But We Believe This Creates an Initial Unnecessary and Unwarranted Higher Added Cost-Basis for Our Customers and We Believe the Ring’s Design Will Integrally Maintain Itself for Many Years to Come, As Such, This is Reflected in the Item’s Listed Lower Price. Titanium Koa Rings Are Not Indestructible. Therefore, This Lifetime Warranty Will Become Null and Void if a Ring is Altered in Any Way, Including Engraving, Abnormal Usage, Sizing, Drilling, Stone Setting, Polishing, Boiling, Cleaning With Harsh Chemicals, Soldering, Burning or Showing Any Evidence of Obvious Repeated Physical Abuse, Such as Striking With a Heavy Object or Tool.

Is Woolly Mammoth Ivory Legal?: The sales of mammoth ivory (prehistoric, fossilized, petrified ivory), is NOT ILLEGAL or regulated anywhere on this planet. All of our ivory carvings offered are 100% legal to own, buy, sell and ship within the United States and abroad. The current use of mammoth ivory totally complies with C.I.T.E.S. and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Because of this, Mammoth Ivory is 100% legal internationally without any C.I.T.E.S. permits or other import/export paperwork. This piece of ivory carving being offered is from the woolly mammoth, or "prehistoric ivory." This type of ivory is exempt from the endangered Species Act since there are no living examples and no concerns as to how it was obtained. Mammoth or Mastodon Ivory is fossilized from an extinct mammal similar to that of an Elephant (but larger). The Woolly Mammoth has been extinct for at least 10,000 years. They originated in Alaska and Russia. Their now fossilized Ivory tusks are a very rare and precious material, buried deep within the permafrost. The Mammoth's ivory has a rich historical and antique value. There is nothing like, these 10,000 year old extinct mammoth ivory pieces. The ivory of the Woolly Mammoth has never truly been a rare choice for necessity and even artworks, but the extinct Mammoth ivory is looked at more today, and is now personally and financially more desired than that of ever before in the world of natural material art crafting works. Comparisons of Elephant Ivory versus Mammoth and Mastodon Ivory: One of the most common materials used to scrimshaw on or carve out from is ivory. Ivory comes in many forms. Ivory is a generic term that includes the teeth or tusks of any animal. Certain forms of ivory are abundant and completely legal. Other forms are rarer, but monitored and legal with proper documentation. Ivory from certain endangered animals is prohibited and regulated under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Woolly mammoth ivory has a distinctive triangular cross hair pattern when viewed in a cross section. This distinctive pattern allows Customs and Wildlife inspectors to easily see what type of ivory it is. The ivory component of the incisor tusks of mammoth have similar characteristics that differ from those of all other ivories. Ivory from woolly mammoth, and these animals only, have "Schreger lines" (aka cross-hatchings, or stacked chevrons) so their presence is a diagnostic characteristic that distinguishes mammoth ivories from other animals. The pattern of these lines manifest on transverse sections by a pattern of intersecting arcs that roughly resembles "engine turnings" or herringbone patterns, also serve to distinguish elephant ivory from mammoth ivory. In example, the angles pointing toward the center of the tusks of elephants measure 100 degrees or greater whereas the corresponding angles of mammoth and mastodon tusks are commonly less than 90 degrees. In addition, the tusks of these animals are large, slightly curved, nearly round in cross-section, hollow at the large end, have roughly parallel wavy lines along their lengths and a nerve root that extends from the end of the hollow to the tip of the tusk and looks like a black round dot in cross-section. About Mammoth Ivory: The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), also called the tundra mammoth, is an extinct species of mammoth. This animal is known from bones and frozen carcasses from northern North America and northern Eurasia with the best preserved carcasses in Siberia. This mammoth species was first recorded in (possibly 150,000 years old) deposits of the second last glaciation in Eurasia. They were derived from steppe mammoths (Mammuthus trogontherii). It disappeared from most of its range at the end of the Pleistocene, with a dwarfed race still living on Wrangel Island until roughly 1700 BCE. Woolly mammoths lived in two groups (maybe subspecies). One group stayed in the middle of the high Arctic, while the other group had a much wider range. Woolly mammoths had a number of adaptations to the cold, most famously the thick layer of shaggy hair, up to to 3 feet in length with a fine underwool, for which the woolly mammoth is named. The coats were similar to those of Muskoxen and it is likely Mammoths moulted in summer. They also had far smaller ears than modern elephants; the largest mammoth ear found so far was only 12in long, compared to 71in for an African elephant. Other characteristic features included a high, peaked head that appears knob-like in many cave paintings and a high shoulder hump resulting from long spines on the neck vertebrae that probably carried fat deposits. Another feature at times found in cave paintings was confirmed by the discovery of the nearly intact remains of a baby Mammoth named "Dima". Unlike the trunk lobes of living elephants, Dima's upper lip at the tip of the trunk had a broad lobe feature, while the lower lip had a broad, squarish flap. Their teeth were also adapted to their diet of coarse tundra grasses, with more plates and a higher crown than their southern relatives. Their skin was no thicker than that of present-day elephants, but unlike elephants they had numerous sebaceous glands in their skin which secreted greasy fat into their hair, improving its insulating qualities. They had a layer of fat up to 3.1in thick under the skin which, like the blubber of whales, helped to keep them warm. Woolly mammoths had extremely long tusks, up to 16ft long, which were markedly curved, to a much greater extent than those of elephants. It is not clear whether the tusks were a specific adaptation to their environment, but it has been suggested that mammoths may have used their tusks as shovels to clear snow from the ground and reach the vegetation buried below. This is evidenced by flat sections on the ventral surface of some tusks. It has also been observed in many specimens that there may be an amount of wear on top of the tusk that would suggests some animals had a preference as to which tusk it rested its trunk on. Most woolly mammoths died out at the end of the Pleistocene, as a result of climate change. In 2008, a study in Spain determined that warming temperatures had reduced mammoth habitat to only a fraction of what it once was, putting the woolly mammoth population in sharp decline before the introduction of humans into the territory. The woolly mammoth is a common member in the fossil record, but unlike many others are often not actually converted to stone, but are actually preserved since their deaths. This is in part because of their massive size and partially because of the persistence of the frozen climate in which they had lived and, therefore, died. In one location, by the Berelekh River in Yakutia in Siberia, more than 9,000 bones from at least 156 individual mammoths have been found in a single spot, apparently having been swept there by the current. To date, thirty-nine preserved bodies have been found, but only four of them are complete. In addition to frozen carcasses, large amounts of mammoth ivory have been found in Siberia. Mammoth tusks have been articles of trade for at least 2,000 years. They have been and are still a highly prized commodity. While Ice Age ivory has been carved in Siberia since the 17th century, it was further helped by the international ban on the elephant ivory trade in the late 1980s. Russian exports of mammoth ivory, the only type of ivory legally imported into the United States, reached 40 tons in 2007, up from just 2 tons in 1989. While prices vary, leading dealers in Moscow usually ask $300 to $400 a kilogram for average grade ivory. By the time it reaches Western markets, the same ivory can sell for as much as $1,600 a kilogram, dealers say. The sources are varied, though reindeer herders, oil and gas workers, and professional ivory hunters provide the bulk of the supply. While mammoth tusks may not be as valuable as Russia's deposits of oil and natural gas, they are almost as plentiful. The Siberian permafrost blankets millions of square kilometers, ranging in depth from a meter to more than a kilometer and resembling frozen spinach. Hidden in one of the upper layers of this mass, corresponding to the Pleistocene epoch, are the remains of an estimated 150 million mammoths. Some are frozen whole, as if in suspended animation, others in bits and pieces of bone, tusk, tissue and wool. The tusks emerge with the spring thaw or after heavy rains, or along the eroding banks of rivers. Fresh from the permafrost, mammoth ivory is nearly pristine, though with a characteristic green patina. But if left outside and exposed to the elements, it will disintegrate within three years into worthless splinters. That is another point in favor of the mammoth ivory trade. It encourages the gathering of tusks that would otherwise be lost. In fact, it is estimated vastly more mammoth ivory is destroyed in this natural cycle in Russia than is ever found and sold, perhaps nearing hundreds of tons a year. The fresh arrival of newly excavated Mammoth Ivory comes directly into the United States through a handful of main American seaports. Only the best legitimate Mammoth Ivory pieces will be allowed through. The two main sourcing locations supporting the Woolly Mammoth Ivory Trade are the state of Alaska and the country of Siberia. Mammoth ivory has been buried in the frozen tundra of the north. It can acquire color and blemishes from the minerals in the surrounding soil, adding character and detail to a piece. Mammoth ivory is an excellent material to work as it is a porous material, with a fine grain, able to hold inks well. The ivory ages over time and can take on a very golden hue. Mammoth ivory ages like wine, it richly matures and becomes more appealing in the antique sense. Mammoth Ivory Care and Cleaning: The following causes of undesired changes in ivory should be kept in mind. Ivory is porous, permeable and hygroscopic. Consequently, excessive water moisture can move in and out of it. This excessive moisture can eventually lead to a premature yellowing, development of a dull luster and/or alternate swelling and shrinkage and/or warping and cracking. Over prolonged periods, such movement of excessive moisture may cause virtually complete deterioration. As such, it is not recommended to swim, shower, bath, or hot tub with ivory material on. Enjoy wearing your ivory artwork, but simply remember to take it off before you shower, hot tub, Jacuzzi, swim or sunbathe. Also, all acid-based solutions, skin and suntan lotions, cleaning liquids, chemicals and detergents should be avoided as they tend to promote harmful changes over a shorter period of time. Typical cleaning methods used to clean jewelry should not be used to clean ivory. Two other precautions are prolonged exposures to sunlight may lead to bleaching and/or making the ivory brittle, and sudden changes in temperature should be avoided. Mammoth ivory is semi-sensitive to temperature and humidity and will adjust to weather conditions as it breathes. However, harsh fluctuations and extreme conditions will have an adverse effect on the ivory as it expands and contracts. In very excessive situations, the ivory can crack or split as the result of stress. In these rare cases regarding deleterious effects caused by weather and temperature conditions, every effort has been taken to select only the finest grade "A" or better ivory materials, free of imperfections and only using ivory that has been properly cured, preserved and acclimatized for at least 5-7 years out of the ground to ensure its integrity. The best method to routinely clean your ivory piece is to use a dry lint-free cloth material. Just buff dry to remove skin oils and dirt. For excessive buildups, moisten the cloth with cold water, wring-out the cloth completely, and perform a quick buffing followed by completely drying the piece off using a dry area of the same cloth material used. For protection, it is recommended twice a year to lightly use mineral oil rubbed onto the ivory to replenish its oils. If your ivory needs its protective polished shine renewed, the use of Renaissance Wax may be useful. Renaissance Wax is a brand of microcrystalline wax polish that is widely encountered in antique restoration and museum curation. Although not appropriate for all materials, it is known to be used by almost every collection. It is widely recognized this substance is more protective and longer lasting than any available preserving oils. To quote a typical commercial supplier of conservation materials, it is used, to revive and protect valuable furniture, leather, paintings, metals, marble, onyx, and ivory by freshening colors and imparting a soft sheen. Use an even and light application over the surface, then lightly buff with a smooth, lint-free cloth to give a sheen. Where any shape/s of the item requires, a soft bristle brush may be used instead.

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