Okay, that sounds silly, but it’s not. I got this tip from a rhinestone vendor, and once he mentioned it, it made total sense.

Rhinestones are beautiful and sparkly and the precise, faceted ones are just gorgeous – take a look at these two-jewel charms, aren’t they pretty?

Rhinestones (and vintage glass jewels) are beautiful. Just remember to use sensible care and caution when you work with them all the time.

Quality rhinestones – whether Swarovski (yum!), or vintage glass, are usually made of leaded glass or crystal. The relevant word here is “leaded”. Lead is bad for you. You don’t want to ingest it. You definitely don’t want your kids to ingest it (and please note, now and in future, that jewelry supplies are NOT TOYS. They aren’t meant for small children. They can scratch and be swallowed).

But right now, we’re talking about us, the women and men who design and build jewelry. It’s easy, when you’re working with small components, and trying to do six things at once, and you really need three hands anyway, to lick your finger and pick up the pretty sparkly rhinestone, to steady it and secure it and get ready to use it.

Don’t do it. Get in the habit of keeping a moistened paper or cloth towel at your workspace. When you need to moisten your finger so you can pick up that tiny little rhinestone and have it stay on your finger – touch the moist towelette. Don’t lick your finger.

No, nothing terrible will happen from touching a rhinestone! Don’t get me wrong, they are not dangerous. But they come from a factory where there is dust, and the dust probably contained lead. And they contain lead. You don’t want to get any of that inside you.

So – use them with love, and admire their beauty, and share them with your friends – and customers! Just clean them well, and polish them to make them even more beautiful – and stop licking your fingers.