Diamond care

So you have chosen and finally purchase, your precious stone. How do you give it the best care and attention to make sure it stays beautiful forever? There are a few simple rules to follow.

Diamonds will not abrade or chip as do other stones and they respond well to care and attention. Remember, diamonds are great grease collectors. natural oils from the skin, hand creams, suntan lotions and the like will adhere to the surface of the stone and prevent the proper refraction of light. This, in turn will cause even a superb gem to look dull and lifeless. The safest cleaning combination is warm soapy water and a tooth brush. soak int eh war,m soapy water and clean the top and under surface with a soft toothbrush.

The gold setting of diamond can also become dull without proper care. Clean it regularly with a chamois cloth. Don't clean your gem rings with alcohol or chemicals. Leave any chemical treatment to the experts. Diamonds set with emeralds, rubies or sapphires need extra care and are best left to a professional jeweler to clean.

Emeralds are very sensitive and fracture easily; also the color is often unstable due to exposed flaws which occur int eh cutting. soaking in alcohol or chemicals can cause the color to leach out. Rubies and sapphires are more durable an respond well to cleaning care. Remember harsh chemicals will affect the setting of any stone.

If you are a swimmer, beware. Swimming in chlorinated pools every day will cause erosion of gold resulting in the weakening of a ring setting or the eroding of the gold links in a chain. So leave the gold and precious stones at home when going on a sun-fun holiday. If you have a good jewelery and enjoy wearing it, one of you best investments in the purchase of a good quality jewelery box. Moore damage is done to jewelery lying loose in unlined boxes than is ever done through constant wear on the hand.

A diamond is tough. Lying loose it can badly scratch other softer stones and pearls. So a jewelery box with several drawers lined with silk or velvet is a must. It might also have a drawer with a ring roll so rings can stand upright, a drawer for chains and necklets to be laid flat and a thickly padded drawer for brooches to be pinned safely. A thing of beauty IS a joy forever if you work at it.