Care and Cleaning of Fine Jewelry
One of the most important aspects of maintaining the beauty of a piece of jewelry over its lifetime is the amount of care put into its preservation. It is a good idea to not wear rings while performing any strenuous work – including lifting weights, working on your home, gardening, sports, or any other heavy labor. Jewelry is made of small pieces of metal and tiny gems and is not made to withstand rough treatment. A ring may bend its prongs, stones could fall out, the ring itself can sustain damage, and precious gems could be be chipped or worse!
It is often thought that diamonds are so hard they are indestructible. It is true diamond is the hardest material on earth, but it is brittle and still runs the risk of being chipped: a hard blow to the girdle (its outer edge) or culet (the pointy bottom) may damage it. Also, its not a good idea to wear your ring while sleeping - due to the prongs potentially catching on the mattress fibers and either tearing the mattress or pulling a prong off.
As for storage, try to avoid pieces scratching each other, particularly diamond jewelry. A great way to prolong the life of fine jewelry is to store pieces individually in clear small plastic bags.
To detect a loose stone tap the piece of jewelry held up to your ear in a quiet room. You will hear a slight rattle. Get it fixed right away.
Cleaning most gemstones with ammonia- based products such as Windex or Scrubbing Bubbles works to dissolve grease which cuts down on the light reflected from a gem. Clean with a soft brush and use hot water to rinse. DO NOT use this on tanzanite, opal, pearls, or coral.
