We all know May’s birthstone Emerald, as the gemstone of ROYALTY. Each one of us would love to keep that royal sparkle shining for as long as possible.
But, if you are thinking that keeping it in a good storage box, will do all the justice, then you are mistaken. Proper care and cleaning, with all the knowledge of do’s and don'ts, is essential to extend your gemstone’s lifespan.
Cleopatra’s Emerald jewelry of 40 BC, is still shining in Swiss bank. This proves, how well Emeralds can withstand the test of time if properly cared for.
So, let's learn how to treasure these valuables.
Little About Emerald Gemstone Jewelry
Emerald is truly an investment for a lifetime. These vibrant gemstones symbolizing hope, spring, romance, and love belong to the mineral family Beryl. Authentic high-quality gemstones are deep-green to bluish-green in color. Whether adorning your fingers with emerald solitaire rings or gracing your ears with emerald studs, they are sure to enhance your regal charm and make you shine like a queen.
For more information about emerald jewelry you can also read our blog : May Birthstone Emerald: Everything You Must Know
How to Clean Emerald Jewelry?
Regular cleaning of emerald jewelry is essential, as dirt and grim accumulate, along the prongs and settings. For this, you can take the help of professionals and even do it yourself at home.
Just follow these steps to take care of your emerald jewelry. But, before that gather all these things, which you need: a bowl of warm water, mild soap (a mild detergent or hand soap), a soft toothbrush, and a soft microfiber cloth.
Step 1: Take a clean bowl half filled with warm water, now mix mild soap in it. No abrasive ingredients should be added to this cleaning solution. Soak your emerald jewelry in this solution and allow it to rest for a few minutes.
Step 2: A soft-bristled toothbrush should be used for scrubbing the oil, dirt, and grime accumulated on the jewel piece. Clean the hard-to-reach areas thoroughly. What you should not do: Don’t brush the top of the emerald gemstone.
Step 3: The next step is transferring the jewel piece to another bowl filled with clean lukewarm water. Rinse the piece thoroughly, so that no soapy mix is left on the emerald piece. If rinsing under tap water, use a strainer and keep the water pressure minimum.
Step 4: With a soft microfiber cloth, wipe the emerald jewelry dry. Before storing it make sure that it is air dry completely.
Where to keep it?
Storage plays a great role in maintaining the shining and long life of emeralds. So you should choose a safe and secure place for storing them.
Like your other valuable pieces, you should keep your emerald jewelry safe in a lock box. To protect it from scratches each piece of the jewelry should be stored in separate pouches or boxes. Boxes lined with soft linen or velvet cloth should be chosen.
Emerald jewelry should not be kept with other gemstones or jewelry pieces. To prevent moisture damage, store it in a dry environment.
What to do before storing?
Before storing emeralds, you should keep a check that:
The emerald piece is clean: As discussed above, about cleaning emeralds, make sure that your piece is clean and repeat it periodically too. If you have recently cleaned it, then just remove dirt and oil with a soft cloth.
There are no loose settings or damages: Carefully check the emerald gemstone for any loose settings or damages. In case you find any cracks, chips, or loose prongs, it would be better to get them repaired by experts before storing them.
The Emerald piece is Moisture-free: Keep a check that the jewel piece is completely free from any water residue. Moisture can damage the stone with time.
How to keep it Long-lasting?
For the long life of your emerald jewelry cleaning and storage as discussed are important and besides that, you should:
Wear Emerald Jewelry with Care
Although emeralds are quite durable, you need to take care while wearing them. To minimize chances of wear and tear, emerald pieces should be opted for special occasions. And if you want to carry them daily, then look for pieces with protective settings.
Schedule Regular Check-ups with Experts
Professional maintenance and regular checkups are essential for ensuring the long life of your jewelry piece. Experts have the expertise to inspect loose settings, mounts, and clasps, which we may not be able to detect ourselves. In addition, their deep cleaning procedures can remove accumulated grime from corners that our brushes cannot reach. Such meticulous care can prevent heavy losses resulting from loose settings.
How to Protect it from Harmful Elements?
Protection from harmful elements is an important part of emerald jewelry care. These simple things can protect your gemstone from wear and tear.
Protection from Wear and Tear
You need to understand when to wear it and when to take your emerald off. Here we can check.
During Work-outs: While exercising in the gym or lifting weights, it is quite obvious that your jewel gets chipped or damaged. Body sweat affects the brilliance of the stone, so it is better to take them off, during these activities.
Engaging in Any type of Labor Work: Any activity that involves labor work like gardening, cleaning, mopping, etc can harm your gemstone. You are inviting more dust to accumulate on your gemstone. Besides this there is a risk too, as if the jewel piece drops in the soil, there are chances that you lose it, as it is difficult to find. Gloves can harm the jewel piece, as prongs are caught in it.
Playing Sports: Sports like cricket, football, volleyball, etc which involve hitting can damage your gemstone jewels leaving scratches and bents. So it's better you don't carry them.
Sleeping: Allow your emerald piece to sleep by your side, don't take them to bed. A number of reasons account for it like it can get caught in your bedding. It affects its setting badly. Sometimes the shape of the stone gets changed, due to pressure caused by the sleeping postures.
Avoid Exposure to Harsh Chemicals
You should keep a check that you are not wearing emerald jewelry, while in contact with harsh chemicals and detergents. Here is when you should avoid wearing emerald jewelry.
Swimming and Showering: The chlorinated water of pools can harm your emerald jewelry. The surface of the stone is damaged by these chemicals. It is noticed that finger size shrinks, when our body is in cold water for a considerable time, this can lead to the ring slipping off. Besides that, a film is created by the seawater that harms the stone. So it would be better that you don't wear them in pools or at beaches.
Applying Beauty Products: Oil-based ingredients in Sunscreen and lotions create a film-like cover over the stone which can be harmful.
Washing Utensils and Doing Cleanups: Floor cleaners or washing soaps contain chemicals that are harmful to jewel pieces. While doing any type of clean-up at home or outside, don’t forget to remove them.
Avoid Ultrasonic Cleaners
Ultrasonic cleaners can damage your stones leading to fractures. So don't use ultrasonic cleaners for cleaning them. Even commercial jewelry cleaners are also harsh on emeralds, they can weaken the stone by affecting the oils and fillers of the stone. A mild soapy solution is the best cleaner.
What can damage an emerald?
Extreme temperatures can crack your emerald gemstone, so keep them away from such conditions where sudden changes in temperatures can be expected. Don't wear them in hot tubs or traveling to places with extreme temperatures.
Excessive heat extends the existing fractures in the gemstone, leading to damage. Besides that, it can also change its physical and chemical composition.
Although emeralds are hard, they are not like diamonds. If subjected to strong impacts they can crack. They can be easily scratched by other gemstones.
Which oil is best for emeralds?
Oil treatment is no doubt the best way to enhance the clarity of your emerald gemstone jewelry. It’s a simple step that helps in filling the fissures and fractures of the gemstone. Emerald is immersed in an oil, which shares near about similar refractive index. Some of the best oils for this process are:
Cedarwood Oil: It helps in improving clarity and enhancing color of the emerald gemstones.
Colorless Oils: Helps preserve stones' natural color without affecting their appearance.
Synthetic oils: They are known to offer long-term stability to gemstones, but don’t enhance emerald’s clarity much.
Do emeralds need to be re-oiled?
Yes, re-oiling is required for maintaining the brilliance and overall appearance of the gemstone. Inclusions, cracks, and fissures are common in emeralds. To make these flaws less visible emeralds should be re-oiled.
With time, on exposure to heat or other processes, oil seeps out of the emerald stone. So re-oiling is required and oil treatment processes are unstable too.
This simple process involves cleaning the gemstone and placing it immersed in cedar oil in a heated cylinder. Oil penetrates the fissures after melting due to provided heat and pressure.
Wrapping Up
Although Emeralds are considerably durable, if not properly cared for, they can be prone to breakage. So proper cleaning and storage are necessary for maintaining the long-term value of your emerald jewelry. Knowing proper storage and protection tips can help in safeguarding the gemstone against wear and tear. A good understanding of when to take your emerald jewelry off can enhance its life span.