Looking After Your Gemstone Jewellery

Gemstone jewellery is made to be worn and enjoyed, but it’s worth remembering that natural gemstones aren’t indestructible.

Different minerals have different levels of hardness, toughness and sensitivity. A stone that happily survives everyday wear might sit alongside another that can be scratched, chipped or damaged surprisingly easily.

The jewellery itself needs looking after too. Settings can loosen, chains can become tangled or damaged, and the elastic in stretchy bracelets will eventually deteriorate — particularly if it’s regularly stretched, pulled or exposed to water and chemicals.

A little care can make an enormous difference to how long your jewellery lasts.

Every Gemstone is Different

One of the most important things to remember is that there isn’t a single cleaning method that’s suitable for every gemstone.

Some stones can tolerate water reasonably well, while others are porous, soft or sensitive to moisture. Some can be affected by household chemicals, perfumes or cosmetics, and certain gemstones can even be damaged by prolonged exposure to heat or strong sunlight.

So before soaking, scrubbing or using a jewellery-cleaning solution on gemstone jewellery, find out what the stone actually is and how it should be treated.

If you’ve bought your jewellery from us and you’re unsure, please ask. We’re always happy to help.

Everyday Care Makes a Difference

A few simple habits can help protect gemstone jewellery:

• Put jewellery on after applying perfume, hairspray, creams and cosmetics.
• Remove it before showering, bathing, swimming or using household cleaning products.
• Take jewellery off before gardening, exercising or doing anything likely to knock or catch it.
• Store pieces separately where possible so harder gemstones and metals don’t scratch softer ones.
• Don’t pull stretchy bracelets over the hand by stretching one section of elastic. Gently roll them on and off instead.
• Check stone settings and clasps occasionally, particularly on pieces you wear regularly.

And perhaps most importantly, don’t assume that because something is called a crystal or gemstone, it must be hard and durable.

Some of the most beautiful minerals are surprisingly delicate.

Our Jewellery Care Guide

We give a jewellery care card with most of our gemstone jewellery because we’d much rather help you look after a piece than see something you love become unnecessarily damaged.

Here is the advice we give our customers:

For more information, take a look at this blog post… 

Gemstones That Need a Little Extra Care

Some gemstones are much more delicate than their appearance suggests. Knowing a little about the stone you’re wearing can help prevent accidental damage.

Opal
Opal deserves gentle treatment. It can be scratched relatively easily and sudden changes in temperature can sometimes cause cracking. Avoid harsh chemicals, ultrasonic cleaners and prolonged exposure to heat. A soft, slightly damp cloth is usually the safest approach for everyday cleaning.

Fluorite
Fluorite is beautiful but comparatively soft, measuring around 4 on the Mohs hardness scale. It can scratch and chip more easily than Quartz, so Fluorite jewellery is best protected from knocks and stored away from harder gemstones.

Malachite
Malachite is another relatively soft mineral and can be scratched or damaged by acids and harsh cleaning products. Avoid chemical jewellery cleaners and prolonged soaking. Gentle cleaning with a soft cloth is usually best.

Selenite and Satin Spar
These forms of gypsum are very soft — around 2 on the Mohs scale — and can be scratched even by a fingernail. They are also sensitive to prolonged contact with water, so they should be kept dry and handled gently.

Pearls
Pearls aren’t minerals in the same way as the other gemstones on this list; they’re organic gems. They’re particularly vulnerable to perfumes, cosmetics and chemicals. Put pearl jewellery on last when getting ready and wipe it gently after wearing.

Amber
Amber is also organic rather than a mineral. It’s relatively soft and can be affected by heat, chemicals and perfumes. Store it carefully and clean it gently without abrasive products.

What Does Gemstone Hardness Actually Mean?

You may have seen gemstones described using the Mohs scale of hardness, which runs from 1 to 10.

Diamond sits at 10, while talc is at 1.

But hardness specifically describes a mineral’s resistance to scratching. It doesn’t tell us whether a gemstone will survive being dropped or knocked.

This is where toughness comes in.

A gemstone can be hard but still susceptible to chipping or breaking. That’s why knowing that a stone is “hard” doesn’t mean you can treat a piece of jewellery roughly.

Jewellery also contains more than the gemstone itself. The stone may be perfectly fine after a knock while a claw, setting, chain or piece of elastic has been damaged.

When in Doubt, Keep it Gentle

You don’t need specialist equipment to look after most gemstone jewellery.

In fact, when you don’t know exactly how a particular stone should be cleaned, doing less is often safer than doing more.

Avoid automatically soaking gemstone jewellery, putting it into an ultrasonic cleaner or using chemical cleaning solutions unless you know they’re suitable for both the gemstone and the jewellery setting.

A soft cloth and gentle handling will often be all that’s required for everyday care.

And if you’re ever unsure about a piece you’ve bought from The Crystal Tree, just ask us. We’d much rather help you look after your jewellery so you can continue enjoying it for years to come.