Regarding the care and cleaning of gemstones and jewelry, careful consideration should be given to the maintenance and cleaning of your precious items.

Check for information that relates specifically to that particular item when it comes to cleaning. Generally, the safest method of cleaning of gemstones is warm water and mild soap, right???  WRONG!   In most instances, that is a safe method of cleaning, but not for everything!

The chemical(s) ammonia and in detergents and can damage certain gemstones and may also lead to the accumulation of deposits of residue on some very intricate pieces of jewelry, especially if a proper amount of rinsing does not follow the cleansing of the item.. Certain gemstones will have a negative reaction to the chemicals in soap or detergents and/or ammonia. For instance, turquois (and several other gemstones) will change color and lose some of that highly prized blue coloration when exposed to detergents, and ammonia will harm certain gemstones as well, so it pays off to do a little homework before cleaning your precious pieces of value to keep them that way!

Every gemstone has it's own specific recommendations of how it is to be cleaned and the superior method for each gemstones cleaning can be found in may, many sites. I can personally recommend looking to the folloowing sites: International Gem Society, Ganoskin, GIA, ICGA, Mondera and there are many, many other reputable sources to get this and other relavant gemstone information from. If I can personally be of help, please feel free to write me at gemnaturalcom and I will be glad to do my best to help you find the answer to any question relating to gemstones and jewelry.