How to Care for a Tennis Necklace: Clean, Store, Check – Mapple Gems

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Fine Jewelry · Care

How to Care for a Tennis Necklace: Cleaning, Storage and Spotting Trouble Early

A tennis necklace is a hundred or more stones in individual settings, moving every time you do. A few simple habits keep every one of them bright and secure.

Written by the Mapple Gems workshop, Surat · Updated 23 September 2026

Short answer

Clean a tennis necklace with warm soapy water and a soft brush from underneath, then dry it laid flat. Store it straight or loosely coiled in its own pouch, never tangled with other chains. Put it on after perfume and lotion, remove it for sleep and exercise, check the clasp and safety catch monthly, and have the settings checked once a year.

Tennis necklaces are tougher than they look — the stones themselves are hard, and moissanite at Mohs 9.25 resists everyday scratching. What needs care is the structure: the links that let it flex, the settings holding each stone, and the clasp that holds it all on.

The care routine

How often	What to do
Every wear	On after perfume and lotion; off before sleep, showers and exercise
Every few weeks	Warm soapy soak, soft brush from underneath, rinse, dry flat
Monthly	Check the clasp closes firmly and the safety catch engages
Yearly	Professional check of settings, links and clasp

From the bench in Surat

There's a simple home test we suggest for any piece with many stones: hold the necklace close to your ear over a soft surface and move it gently. A secure stone is silent; a loose one gives a faint click or rattle in its setting. If you hear it, stop wearing the necklace and have it checked — a loose stone found at home is a quick fix, while one lost on the street is gone. The other early warning is a stone that looks slightly tilted compared with its neighbours: it has usually lifted because a setting has worn.

Cleaning without damage

Use warm water with a drop of mild washing-up liquid. Soak for a few minutes, then brush gently from underneath with a soft toothbrush — the dullness people notice is almost always a film of lotion and soap on the back of the stones. Rinse over a closed plug or a bowl, never an open drain. Dry by laying it flat on a soft cloth. Avoid harsh chemicals and chlorine, which can harm the metal.

Storing it properly

Store the necklace laid straight or in a loose coil in its own soft pouch, with the clasp closed. Tennis necklaces tangle easily with other chains, and a tangle pulled apart strains exactly the links that let it flex. See our jewelry storage guide and, for how multi-stone pieces wear, how tennis bracelets fail.