tips | caring for gemstones
General notes about gemstone care
Precious and semi-precious gemstones each have their unique characters. Here are a few tips on the care of the coloured gemstones and quartzes I feature in my jewellery.
Use a soft brush, such as the wire-free parts of those little mascara wands they give you at cosmetics counters, to clean larger facets and get into little crevices around prongs.
Swab a Q-tip into hard-to-reach corners to dry them.
Store them in a dark place; keep them out of sunlight. Sunlight is a natural bleaching agent and in some cases, could affect the hue of gemstone colours over time
As each gemstone has a specific hardness to it, be sure to store similar hardnesses (aquamarine with aquamarine, ruby with ruby, garnet with garnet) together – or, better yet, give each of your pieces their own home or baggie. Storing stones together may dull the surfaces of stones over time as they pick up minute scratches and wear
Hardness doesn’t equal toughness! Many crystals have a specific matrix and cleavage and are vulnerable to breaking along these lines
Look up care techniques specific to each stone – or ask Ingrid (in person, via the contact form, or by DM on Instagram)
To be safe, please avoid using ammonia-based chemicals to clean gemstones!
While many gemstones are tough, there are often abrasive particles in detergents that will damage and dull the surfaces of softer minerals; use a gentle soap or soapy solution for everyday care
While we’re at it — when was the last time you got the prongs on your jewellery checked? If you like that stone, you’re not going to want to lose it. Prong settings definitely have a bit of a lifespan — they wear down over time — so be sure to check them with a jeweller if you bought it secondhand or inherited the piece.