How to care for fine jewelry

Fine jewelry lasts for generations when it is cleaned now and then, stored apart, kept away from a few chemicals, and checked once a year. The routine is short. This guide gives it by material, lists what to avoid, and says when a piece should come to the bench.

The basic clean

For diamonds, sapphires, rubies and plain gold or platinum:

1. Fill a bowl with warm water and a few drops of mild dish soap. Close the drain if you use the sink.
2. Soak the piece for a few minutes.
3. Brush gently with a soft toothbrush, behind the stone as well as in front. The underside is where lotion, soap and skin collect, and it is what makes a diamond look dull.
4. Rinse in warm water and dry with a soft lint-free cloth. Let a chain dry flat.

Skip toothpaste, baking soda and powdered cleaners; they scratch gold. Skip bleach and chlorine; they attack gold alloys and can pit the metal.

Care by material

Diamonds

Diamond is the hardest material in jewelry and takes any cleaning: soap and water, an ultrasonic cleaner or steam. The metal and the prongs are what wear, so the yearly check matters more than the clean.

Gold

Yellow and rose gold need only soap and water and an occasional polish at the bench. White gold is plated with rhodium, which wears through over time; replating restores the white, and white gold rings bought at Geraci get free rhodium plating, up to once a year, for life. The ring metals guide explains why.

Platinum

Soap and water. Platinum develops a soft satin patina from small scratches; a polish at the bench brings it back to bright when you want it.

Sterling silver

Silver tarnishes in air. Wipe it with a silver polishing cloth, store it in an anti-tarnish pouch or a closed bag, and wear it often; skin contact slows tarnish.

Sapphires and rubies

Both are corundum, 9 on the Mohs scale, and take soap and water, ultrasonic and steam cleaning unless the stone is fracture-filled. Heat-treated stones, which is most of them, are no different to care for.

Emeralds

Emerald is hard but usually included and often oiled or resin-filled, so no ultrasonic and no steam. Warm water, mild soap and a soft brush only.

Pearls

Pearls are soft and are damaged by acids, perfume and hairspray. Put them on last, wipe them with a soft damp cloth after wearing, and store them flat in cloth, never in a plastic bag. Have the strand restrung when the silk stretches or discolors.

Opals, turquoise, tanzanite and other soft stones

Opal and turquoise are porous; keep them away from water, chemicals and ultrasonic cleaners, and wipe with a soft cloth. Tanzanite chips easily and should be cleaned with soap and water only. Garnet, amethyst, topaz and aquamarine take soap and water and should be stored apart from diamonds, which scratch them.

Clean behind the stone. The underside of a ring is where the dullness lives.

What to avoid

• Chlorine: pools, hot tubs and bleach. It attacks gold alloys.
• Hard knocks: the gym, weights, gardening, moving furniture. Prongs bend and stones chip.
• Lotion, sunscreen and hairspray on the stones. Put jewelry on last.
• Ultrasonic cleaners on pearls, opals, emeralds, tanzanite and any loose stone.
• Sleeping in long earrings, charm bracelets and thin chains, which bend and tangle.

Storage

Store pieces apart. Diamonds scratch everything, including other diamonds, so each piece gets its own pouch or compartment. Chains hang or lie flat and fastened so they do not knot. Pearls and opals keep a little humidity; a sealed plastic bag dries them out. Silver goes in an anti-tarnish pouch.

Travel and everyday habits

Put jewelry on after lotion, perfume and hairspray, and take it off before swimming. On a trip, carry pieces in a lined roll or a small box with separate compartments, never loose in a bag together. A ring that is off the hand should go in the same place every time; most rings are lost on a sink edge or a hotel nightstand, not from the finger.

Have a chain checked before a long trip and the clasp on a bracelet tested with a tug. A piece you wear every day is easiest to forget and easiest to check, so pair the yearly inspection with something you already do, such as a birthday or an anniversary.

When to bring it in

• A stone that moves when you touch it with a fingernail, or a prong that catches on fabric. Stop wearing the piece until it is checked.
• A clasp that no longer snaps firmly, or a chain with a stretched link.
• White gold that has gone warm: time for rhodium.
• Once a year, for a ring worn daily, even when nothing seems wrong. The yearly check is how a diamond is not lost.

Cleaning and inspection are free for life on jewelry bought at Geraci. For any piece, from any store, bring it to 9212 Colerain Avenue: estimates are free and often done while you wait, most repairs are completed on-site within a week, depending on the repair, and we call or text when it is ready. The repairs page has the details.

The Geraci Guarantee

Jewelry bought at Geraci Fine Jewelry comes with lifetime cleaning and inspection, your first ring sizing free, free rhodium plating on white gold rings up to once a year, and an appraisal with free updates on diamond and gemstone pieces. Bring the piece in whenever you are nearby.