I've been playing drums professionally for over 40 years now and I've played a huge variety
of styles requiring a lot of different sounds coming from my set. (Cymbals as well as drums)
            That being said, here's some useful information about the care and cleaning of Zildjian Cymbals.
There is much talk about the need for cymbal cleaning and how to do it and what to use.
Don't be misinformed. Go to the source. People on EBay may or may not have the expertise
to give you the true story and just give you what they have heard over the years or something
they may have read that their favorite drummer wrote in an article.
            If you have Zildjian cymbals, my personal choice...I recommend going to the Zildjian website
...http://www.zildjian.com/EN-US... and hearing what the people who have been making these quality
cymbals for the past 300+  years have to say about maintenance and care of their products.
          Join the Z Club (just answer a few questions about your  name, email address / it's free) and you
will have access to a section called "ASK ZILDJIAN" where they answer all kinds of questions
about their cymbals (and other products ). The fine people at Zildjian are unbelievably good at answering
questions in a very short amount of time and they know what they are talking about !
 This is the most useful spot I have found to get a serious answer to ALL the Zildjian questions you can come up with.
        That being said...the Zildjian cymbal cleaner leaves it's own protective coating when used on brilliant
cymbals to replace the coating it removes. It will never be as good as the original coating, but that's
a trade-off you make when you decide to go with a brilliant cymbal.
I, myself, have 31 Zildjian cymbals at present that I use for different types of music and different venues.
About 9 of these these are brilliant. I wipe them clean with a soft towel after use and if they get wet, but as far
as I'm concerned, if and when they crack or rust, it's time for a new cymbal.
I simply prefer not to change anything about the cymbal I bought :)
Concerning my "Avedis", "CIE", "K", "K Custom", "Constantinople", "K Custom Session" cymbals and
even the "Z" & "Z Custom" they will never be cleaned either, only wiped with a soft towel. . But this is
my own personal choice. I have cymbals that I have had for 40 years now and it's my opinion that they
sound even better now than they did when I first bought them.  Zildjian produces the best cymbals on the
planet as far as I'm concerned and if you don't abuse them, they should last you a lifetime.
        The bottom line is: Cymbal cleaning is a personal choice for each drummer. I prefer not to change the
patina or tonal qualities of cymbals that I picked for their tonal qualities to begin with. If I bought cymbals for
their  looks....I might as well just hang colored lights on them. 
It's all about the sound, fellow musicians, it's all about the sound.
I hope you got something from this and will visit the Zildjian website to become a better informed musician.
Regards,
Ray
Addendum :
There are 2 minor points to keep in mind when on the Zildjian website.
1) Zildjian recommends a LOT of cleaning with their Zildjian Cymbal Polish.
Keep in mind they are selling the products. (Both cymbal cleaner & cymbals)
2) Zildjian states that older cymbals are only worth 1/3 their original selling price to buy today.
Anyone who has tried to purchase older K cymbals or Constantinoples or Istanbuls from
K Zildjian in Turkey will quickly tell you that that these are hard to come by these days and
any unique cymbals by Zildjian will demand a high price. Zildjian cymbal supply and demand
states that the harder it is to come by, the more people will pay to own it.
So ends the mystery of the 13' hi-hat cymbal selling at $300 !
Happy drumming :)