Holiday Jewelry Cleaning and Care Tips
It seems like a lot of our clients evaluate their jewelry collections pretty intently at this time of year, which results in a sudden urge to get their favorite jewelry items polished and cleaned, so that they will look amazing for the holiday season… unfortunately from a perspective of timing, it is often difficult to find a jeweler who has the bench time available to inspect, polish, and clean every piece of jewelry that you might want to wear, because bench time is at a premium due to the increased demand for jewelry during the holidays.
How Often Should Jewelry Be Cleaned & Polished?
We recommend that our clients have their jewelry cleaned and inspected by a qualified jeweler at least twice per year, to ensure that the prongs or bezel which hold their diamonds and colored gems in place are tight and secure, and to check for unforeseen risks such as metal stress.
While we would like for our clients to bring their fine jewelry items to us twice per year for inspection and cleaning, we realize that people get busy and they forget because so many other obligations are competing for their time.
An easy way to remember when to bring your jewelry in for repair, is to simply schedule an appointment for an inspection with your jewelry whenever the time changes for daylight savings time… this is advice which we began providing our clients with years ago, and it seems easy for them to remember.
Holiday Jewelry Care and Maintenance Tips:
Obviously telling you that the best time to have your jewelry inspected and cleaned is during the time change enacted as part of daylight savings, during the holiday season when you most want it to look amazing, is not all that helpful… so in the event that your local jeweler can’t accommodate your need to have your ring cleaned and polished, here is a quick and easy method for cleaning your gold, platinum and diamond jewelry:
Whip up a mixture consisting of 50% warm water and 50% regular household ammonia in something like a small bowl or coffee mug, place your jewelry in a snap-close wire mesh tea strainer, and allow it to soak in the warm solution of liquid for 5 – 10 minutes.
Remove the jewelry from the strainer, and then scrub lightly around the prongs with a child’s soft bristle toothbrush, then place the item back in the wire mesh strainer, rinse it clean under warm running water, and pat dry with a soft, lint free cloth.
Note that this method of cleaning should only be used for jewelry items which are made of 14k – 18k gold or platinum, with or without diamonds, but not for any colored gems other than rubies or sapphires, because the ammonia could destroy other gems which are soft or porous.
This method of cleaning should only be used if the items are in good condition and have been regularly maintained by a qualified jeweler, it’s always a good idea to ask your jeweler if this method of cleaning is safe for the specific jewelry item which you want cleaned.
What Should I Do If I Think My Center Stone Is Loose?
It is not uncommon for people to discover that their center stone, or accent diamonds within their setting have become loose during normal wear, and this often becomes apparent during the cleaning process because this might be the first time you’ve really focused on all the minor details of your ring in awhile...
If you suspect that the center stone in your ring has become loose, he first thing to do is fight the urge to twist the center stone to determine whether it is loose, because doing so will most certainly cause it to become loosened and spin in the seat which has been cut for it in the prongs which hold it in place!
A more effective approach is to hold the ring from the side, between your thumb and index finger, and then bring the ring up to your ear, and lightly tap it from the side using the index finger from your other hand.
If the center stone is loose, you will hear a slight clicking noise when you tap the ring, note that it will sound like click, click, click, and is not the same as the sound that will be made by the soft pad of your fingertip tapping on the side of the ring.
If you suspect that the center stone in your ring is loose, you should take it off and stop wearing it right away. Place it in a secure container, such as a zip lock bag, and arrange to have your jeweler tighten the stone as soon as possible.
This might also be a good time to schedule a time to have the appraisal on your jewelry updated if the appraisal document is two years old or older, because most insurance companies require that jewelry items be appraised and accessed with an updated value every two years.
