Gemstone Care: The Ultimate Guide
If you would like to enjoy the true beauty of your gemstone for a longer period of time, cleaning and gemstone care is undoubtedly important. While some of colorful gems require little attention, many demand significantly more due to their natural characteristics.
We’ve put together a guide for you to understand the durability, toughness and stability of a gemstone and how to care for your precious gemstone studded jewelry.
Diamonds:
Diamond is the hardest of all gems and is ranked at 10 on the Mohs scale of hardness.
• Can survive minor tossing in a drawer or even bumps when set in a ring without scratching.
• Although durable, these gems attract a lot of dirt. Regular washing with soapy warm water is the best solution to maintaining the allure of these gems.
• Unaffected by the heat from a jewelers torch during resizing
Rubies, Sapphires, Pinks, Blues, Padparadschas, Yellow, Oranges, White, Greens and Star Sapphires:
With a hardness of 9, these gems have a good durability.
• Often used in rings as these gems can withstand daily wear and tear.
• Regular cleaning with warm soapy water helps clear away dirt and grime that could collect on the stone
• Can be altered by heat from a jewelers torch, affecting inclusions or even causing filled stones to bleed out
Pearl:
An organic gemstone that is formed by an oyster, these gems have a soft appealing luster.
• Can loose its shimmer or rainbow color when subjected to constant contact with rough materials like wool.
• Perfumes tend to dull the shine of a pearl and must never be used with pearl jewelry
• Easiest to clean pearls with warm soapy water when very unclean
• Pearl jewelry must never be worn in the swimming pool, as chlorine tends to erode the gem.