How to Care for Gemstone Jewelry

Jewelry has been worn since the beginning of time, loved by all no matter who you are. Jewelry always looks more attractive when clean. Most gold and silver jewelry can be cleaned easily but when your jewelry includes gemstones you must use care.

Not all gems and metals are cleaned the same way. We will cover Gold and Silver first.

Gold Jewelry

Gold has different metals form copper to silver which is normal but cleaning can be different. Use warm or room temperature water and wash in soapy dishwashing liquid. Use a toothbrush to remove any stubborn dirt.

Silver Jewelry

Silver does tarnish. When worn daily you usually don’t see tarnish but if you let your jewelry sit it is very common. Silver re-acts to moisture and will tarnish but is easily cleaned with baking soda. Line a small dish with aluminium foil, sprinkle baking soda on the jewelry and poor boiling water over the jewelry. Poor just enough water over the jewelry to submerge all pieces. Let sit for 10 minutes and rinse, this will dislodge all build up of tarnish.

Jewelry With Gemstones

Jewelry with gemstones are very different, you may choose to clean your jewelry with gem in a ultrasonic cleaner and professional cleaning fluid. These types of cleaners normally tell you how long to clean your jewelry inside the machine per gem type. Some gems cannot be cleaned in Ultrasonic cleaners what so ever.. so make sure you read the instructions for your cleaner if that is what you choose to use.

All gems can also be cleaned with normal dish detergent and a toothbrush as we advised for your gold jewelry. Even your soft opals can be cleaned this way. We will cover a variety of gems to better help you properly clean your gems. When buying gemstones , or jewelry made from gold, silver or precious metals and gems , you want to clean your purchased item immediately. This will allow your inspection of the item you purchase to be judged correctly.

You may look at a gem you buy on a auction site like Gem Rock auctions and think this does not look at pretty as the photo! but what you must consider is before you ever receive this gem in the mail multiple people have handled the gem or piece of jewelry. The item has been processes, photographed, packaged for storage in inventory, then packaged and shipped to you. The item you bought needs to be cleaned upon receipt. Then your initial inspection can begin.

When cleaning jewelry with gems you need to look at what type of gem your cleaning.and most transparent gems can be cleaned with dish soap, warm water and a toothbrush. . Opals are also very soft gems and should be cleaned the same way. Store your gemstones in separate jewelry bags to prevent future dirt build up and damage.

One special type of Jewelry that requires a special note is the Ancient Roman Glass Jewelry. The colors on this glass can be extremely fragile so it is important to be very careful when you clean this type of Jewelry.

Follow these basic steps for cleaning your gold, silver and gemstone jewelry. If you still want additional information ask the seller your working with on the seller you buy from will be happy to help you or can direct you to the gemstone advisory panel if needed. Both sites mentioned above offer sellers with accredited specialties in Gemstones, diamonds and Jewelry.

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