How to Clean Fine Jewelry: Care and Maintenance of Gemstones and Metals

Cleaning all of your fine jewelry can easily be accomplished at home with a few common household items. Before you tackle the task of polishing every piece of fine jewelry in your jewelry box, you need to understand that many gemstones require unique care and treatment to prevent damage.

You do not need to purchase expensive, store bought jewelry cleaner. Warm soapy water and a soft brush are very safe and often does the job. Charles Walker of Edward Petri Jewelry shared his secret for cleaning fine jewelry at home. All you need is a glass jar, soft toothbrush, Dawn dish soap and household ammonia. Mix 1 cup of water, 1 teaspoon of ammonia and 2 drops of Dawn dish soap together in the glass jar. Seal the jar and shake to mix. It is advised that you clean your jewelry on a table or counter so that you do not lose your jewelry down the sink. Place your fine jewelry in the jar of jewelry cleaner for a few minutes. Remove and use a soft toothbrush to gently clean your jewelry, taking extra care to clean the setting the behind the gemstone.

Do not soak your jewelry for more than 5 minutes in ammonia based cleaners. Do not use this homemade jewelry cleaner on opals, emeralds, turquoise, onyx or pearls. Read further for the care of those items. Do not allow any fine jewelry to come in contact with bleach.

Jewelry cleaning- Platinum, Gold & Silver

Platinum - Of all of the metals, platinum is the most resilient and requires the least amount of care to keep it sparkling. This is because platinum does not oxidize easily. To clean platinum jewelry, you can use the homemade jewelry cleaner. Polish with a chamois or fine jewelry cloth.

Gold - Yellow gold is a beautiful metal when clean and polished. White gold is essentially yellow gold with either nickel or silver added to change the color to white. White gold is more brittle because of this than yellow gold or platinum. Both white and yellow gold can oxidize, which is a naturally occurring process. The homemade jewelry cleanerwill effectively clean gold. However, the best way to prevent gold jewelry from oxidizing and remain sparkling is to wear it.

Silver - Silver is a softer metal than gold or platinum and if often paired with turquoise to create a stunning look. Silver is a metal which tarnishes easily. Wearing silver jewelry helps to prevent tarnishing. When not being worn, silver pieces should be stored in a polyethylene (not polyvinyl) zip lock bag or other airtight container. Tarnish should be removed with silver cleaner. Special silver cleaning cloths handle this job easily. Chlorine bleach is very harmful to silver and can cause a difficult to remove black tarnish. Silver jewelry should be removed before cleaning and swimming.

Jewelry cleaning- Gemstones

Most gemstones are easily cleaned in this homemade jewelry cleaner, with the exception of emeralds, opals, turquoise and pearls. Diamonds, sapphires, rubies, amethyst, topaz, jade and garnets set in platinum or gold can be safely cleaned in the homemade jewelry cleaner.The key to cleaning gems in fine jewelry settings is getting the pavilion or underside of the stone clean. Diamonds in particular need the pavilion to be clean to better reflect light upward. After cleaning, rinse in warm, soapy water and dry with a soft cloth.

Jewelry cleaning- Emeralds, Opals, Turquoise and Onyx

Emeralds, Opals, Turquoise and Onyx are more delicate and require special care. These stones are best cleaned with plain water and a very soft brush. Be sure to dry and polish with a soft jewelry polishing cloth. Contact a qualified fine jeweler for professional cleaning if you have any concerns. These stones are not recommended for wearing every day.

Jewelry cleaning - Pearls

You can soak pearls in warm water with a drop of dish soap. When you remove the pearls from the water, take care not to stretch the strand. Lay on a soft towel to dry. Pearls need to be restrung periodically.

Jewelry cleaning tip #1

Use ultrasonic cleaners with caution. Diamond, garnet, ruby and sapphire is generally safe in an ultrasonic. Most other stones should not be cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner.

Jewelry cleaning tip #2

Put on your jewelry after showering and applying lotion and perfume. Lotions, soaps and perfumes can build up on jewelry, causing beautiful jewelry to look dull and lifeless.

Jewelry cleaning tip #3

Fine jewelry is an investment and should be treated as such. Prongs which hold gemstones in place can be loosened and could easily cause you to lose your fine gem. Jewelry should be checked and cleaned annually by a qualified, professional jeweler. When you have your jewelry checked, make sure to ask if your appraisal is current.

Jewelry cleaning tip #4

It is wise to remove all jewelry before using household cleansers, gardening or playing sports. Removing jewelry before swimming is also wise as chlorine bleach is used to keep swimming pools sanitary.

Jewelry cleaning tip #5

Store every piece of jewelry individually, not touching other pieces. All jewelry can scratch; even diamonds can be scratched by other diamonds. Store your precious pieces carefully.

With a little special care, your fine jewelry will give you many years of enjoyment and even become an heirloom piece, passed down through generations. Treat your jewelry as an investment by keeping it clean, protecting it and having it checked regularly by an expert jeweler!

Source:

Charles Walker, Owner of Edward E. Petri Jewelry, Indianapolis, Indiana