Caring for diamonds Keeping the sparkle alive

It is important to learn about the care and cleaning of a diamond to insure its brilliance and sparkle.

Customers often question why their jewelry looks different from when they first received it. The answer is simple, ask yourself how often do you clean a shirt or blouse? Now ask yourself, how often do you have your jewelry cleaned? There you have the answer.

Jewelry accumulates dirt through everyday wear, but it’s not difficult to clean. Jewelry should be cleaned often, but the wait between cleanings can vary depending on the individuals everyday lifestyle.

A visit to your jeweler a minimum of once a year is highly recommended. Professional cleaning is the best option and it’s important to have your jewelry checked occasionally to make sure prongs haven’t bent or weakened. In fact most insurance companies require an annual inspection of jewelry that is insured.

Storage and care for your jewelry

Since a diamond is the hardest substance known to man, a diamond will scratch another diamond when thrown into a jewelry box together. Therefore, jewelry should be stored in a fabric-lined case, which has sections and compartments. This will protect the jewelry from being scratched. Also, diamond jewelry should never be worn while doing heavy work.

Self-cleaning at home

You can and should clean your jewelry at home between visits to your jeweler. Use a brand name liquid detergent or even vodka and a toothbrush. Prepare a small bowl of warm sudsy water with the detergent or vodka and gently brush the diamond jewelry with a soft toothbrush. Try to get under the stones and in between the prongs. Then rinse each piece under warm running water, while you rinse use the toothbrush again to get any extra dirt that might be stuck on the stones. Then dry it with a lint free cloth. Be sure that the sink has its stopper in place.

It’s best for a consumer to not put diamond jewelry in a pot of boiling water, as is suggested by some jewelers. The reason being, that the consumer can cause damage to the diamonds if the boiling is not done properly. The temperature might be too hot, they may not use enough liquid or the consumer might cool it down improperly, any of these cases may cause damage to the diamonds.

For a professional inspection and cleaning of your diamond jewelry please feel free to call us and we can schedule a professional cleaning. If you would like to receive a complimentary jewelry brochure or a “Guide to buying Diamonds” please call or email us.