Gemstone Jewelry Cleaning & Caring Guidelines

You have bought or received as a gift the most incredible piece of gemstone jewelry, now how to keep it that way! Caring for your gemstone jewelry is an essential necessity for any jewelry owner, as gemstones are a durable material, and they do require care, so that when handed down as heirlooms in the years to come, they are just as brilliantly remarkable as they are to you now, to be cherished forever.

Most transparent and hard gemstones can endure being cared for by simply cleaning the jewelry with mild nonabrasive hand detergent and a soft bristled toothbrush; then dried with a soft clean cloth. It is wise to place a soft washcloth in the sink covering the drain, as doing so will aid in preventing any gemstones from becoming chipped or falling down the drain while you are cleaning your jewelry.

Some would suggest using ultrasonic cleaners, while this may be the fastest method for cleaning your jewelry; it is also the quickest way to damage your gemstones. Be very careful when using an ultrasonic cleaner, make sure that your gemstones can withstand such cleaning before using this type of method.

Here are some suggestions for cleaning and caring for your gemstone jewelry.

·Use 2 cleaning bowls. One that has warm water plus the cleaning liquid and one that has only warm water to rinse.

Note: If you are using sinks, place a soft washcloth over the drains, this will help to keep stones from going down the drains and also help to prevent possible chipping.

·Use lukewarm water, never use hot water.

·Use a mild dishwashing liquid or mild jewelry cleaning solution. One that is safe for your specific jewelry gemstones and metals.

·Several soft, clean, dry cloths (1-for cleaning and 1-drying)

·Small, unused soft bristled toothbrush

The process is simple, fill your sink with warm water, add a little drop of mild dishwashing liquid and swish around to make bubbles. Carefully, place a few pieces at a time in the sink allowing them to soak a few minutes (don’t overload the sink as this may cause jewelry to hit against each other causing chips, cracks and/or damage). Then take each piece out and carefully clean with the soft bristled toothbrush.

Caution, you only need to use a toothbrush if you have a piece of jewelry that has tiny cracks, holes, and small places where dust and dirt can get in; otherwise, there is really no need to use a toothbrush. Rinse in a separate sink that only contains warm water. Place the jewelry on a soft cloth and carefully dry your jewelry pieces. As a side note, allow an hour or so for your jewelry to 'air dry' to make sure that all water is gone before placing back into their jewelry box or containers.

Cleaning your jewelry doesn’t have to be done often, but several times a year to protect your gemstones. As a rule of thumb and if in doubt, clean your gemstone jewelry with warm, soapy water. Avoid harsh chemicals or high heat which can cause gemstones to fade or crack. And try to store your gemstone jewelry in a clean jewelry case out of the reach of harsh light or sun to prevent fading and possible damage to your gemstones.

As a last note, it is also wise to have a jeweler check any gemstones that have been put in settings at least once a year. This is to make sure that the prongs are secure and your gems are safe. When in doubt, ask a professional jeweler about the care and cleaning of your new gemstone jewelry.

Spring & Summer Exotic Heart Traditional

Various pendants for spring and summer! Whatever your favorite; Southwest Turquoise, faceted rare and exotic Pink Peruvian Opal, and even a little puffy Lapis heart charmed with pearls.

Southwest Turquoise; handcrafted brass wire coils and bail

Exotic Pink Peruvian Opal; handcrafted brass wire bail

Puffy Heart of Lapis with charmed accenting Pearls

Timeless Designs is your place for Pendants and other gemstone jewelry.

Spring & Summer Part 2

Hot, classy and elegant are all wrapped into these new designs.

All in Copper - Apple Sponge Coral Freshwater Cultured Pearls Swarovski Crystals

All in Brass/Gold - Jade Freshwater Cultured Pearls Amazonite

All in Copper – Freshwater Cultured Pearls Mookanite

Visit Timeless Designs for these and other gemstone jewelry.

New For Spring

Fresh from the design board and studio, these new gemstone jewelry designs are classy, casual, flirty, and dressy. They will work with just about any style and fit any budget.

Flavors of yellow and blue in this necklace from Petsky Fossil Coral and blue Quartz between handcrafted wire links in non-tarnish brass.

Turquoise barrels scattered among antique gold spacers and beige seed beads.

Looking for a little spice, try this hot shades of red Coral in graduated gemstones shaped like peanuts and finished with dangle earrings.

A touch of class with this beauty made from freshwater cultured pearls among Kyanite and accented by a Lapis Luzli pendant and all in sterling silver.

Accents of red Coral hidden between nuggets and nuggets of Turquoise with all sterling silver; adding a touch of southwest to your collection.

Visit Timeless Designs for these and many other gemstone jewelry designs.

Magnesite Ivoryite Howlite Turquoise

In the lapidary and gemstone world, Magnestie, Ivoryite, Howlite and Turquoise are all natural gemstones in their own right. But how does one tell the difference and know which is which, since there are so many different stones with the same type of names and looks. For a lesson in geology and lapidary, I posed the questions to my resident Gemologist for clarification.

Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is ahudrous phosphate of copper and aliminium. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue. In recent times turquoise, like most other opaque gems, has been devalued by the introduction of treatments, imitations, and synthetics onto the market, some difficult to detect even by experts. The substance has been known by many names, but the word turquoise was derived around the 16th century from the French Language either from the word for Turkish (Turquois) or dark-blue stone (pierre turquin). This may have arisen from a misconception: turquoise does not occur in Turkey, but was traded at Turkish bazaars to Venetian merchants who brought it to Europe. It originated in China. Turquoise has a hardness of 5 to 6 on the Moh's scale. Tuerquoise is found throughout the American Southwest and Mexico; in Virginia and Pennsylvania, USA; throughout the Middle East except for Turkey and Iraq, China and Western Australia.

Magnesite is magnesium carbonate. Dolomite is almost indistinguishable from magnesite. Magnesite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic rocks, serpentinite and other magnesium rich rock types in both contact and regional metamorphic terranes. These magnesites often are cryptocrystalline and contain silica as opal or chert. Magnesite is also present within the regolith above ultramafic rocks as a secondary carbonate within soil and subsoil, where it is deposited as a consequence of dissolution of magnesium-bearing minerals by carbon dioxide within groundwaters. Magnesite can be used as a slag former in steelmaking furnaces. Magnesite also forms within a crystal group that have the rhombic habit. Magnesite is usually associated with calcite, dolomite, aragonite, strontianite and serpentine. Magnesite is 3 to 4-1/2 on the Moh's scale. Magnesite in of itself does not ordinarily form good crystals, or solid pieces of rock, but can make up a substantial portion of some rock types. If it does form crystals or hard stones, it is about a 7 on the Moh’s scale. Stones hard enough for lapidary and jewelry purposes are found in Bisbee, Warren District Mule Mine, Cochise Co, AZ: Bangge Xainza, Nagchu Prefecture, Tibet: Jianchanling Mine, Western Qinling Tibet: Jianchaling Mine, Lueyang Co, Shaanxi Province, China: and Saertuohai, Tuoli Tacheng Prefecture, Xinjiang, China.

Ivoryite is a great substitute for ivory. Ivoryite is a synthetic material made to look and feel like Ivory, an animal friendly alternative! A substance called Ivoryite, which is a Misnomer, is a sedimentary precipitate of magnesium, calcium and silica. It is 5 to 5-1/2 on the Moh's scale, which makes it slightly harder than ivory. Ivoryite can be worked with metal tools, but cuts effortlessly with diamond tools. Polishes well with diamond, tin oxide, cerium oxide or white rouge. Excellent material for inlay, cabochons and small carvings. There is actually no specific mineral named Ivoryite, it is a misnomer given to harder varieties of Magnesite. Found all the same locations as Magnesite or Howlite.

Howlite is a calcium borosilicate hydroxide is a silicate mineral found in evaporite deposites. Howlite was discovered at Tick Canyon, California in 1868 by Henry How (1828 - 1879), a Canadian chemist, geologist, and mineralogist. In appearance, it is white with fine grey or black veins in an erratic, often web-like pattern, and is opaque with a sub-vitreous luster. Its structure is monoclinic with a Moh’s hardness of 3.5 and lacks regular cleavage. Howlite is commonly used to make decorative objects such as small carvings or jewelry components. Because of its porous texture, howlite can be easily dyed to imitate other minerals, especially turquoise because of the superficial similarity of the veining patterns. The dyed howlite (better known as Ivoryite or Magnesite) is marketed as turquenite. Howlite is also sold in its natural state, sometimes under the misleading trade names of "white turquoise" or "white buffalo turquoise", or the derived name "white buffalo stone". Noe “sacred White Buffalo Turquoise does exist in one mine in Nevada). Howlite is found in its natural state only in the Southwestern United States; Nova Scotia, Canada; Germany and Turkey. A accepted misnomer for a variety of Magnesite.

Appaloosa Stone or Wild Horse Magnesite is a natural Gemstone from a single source on an Indian Reservation near Bisbee, AZ. There is much discussion over this material, because it is too hard to be a magnesite (ivoryite or howlite), so most lapardists consider it to be a jasper deposit mixed in with the turquoise. A standard explanation of this material is “Wild Horse, often called Appaloosa Jasper or Magnesite, is a one source stone. The Navajos like using this unusual stone in their Jewelry. It has shadow hues in it, along with lots of lined matrix, and lots of white, all giving it an striking effect. Wild Horse “stone” completely captivate whoever gazes upon it!“