shape
carat
color
clarity

How Clean Are Your Rings?

Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.

lillei

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 1, 2006
Messages
79
The first month I had my e-ring I became disabled....I wouldn''t use my left hand for ANYTHING. My FI thought it was quite funny, but to me, it became personally exhausting seeing as it took me twice as long to do anything; after all, I only had one hand!
21.gif


Since I suffer from serious jewelry attachment, I was horrified by how many people were telling me that I shouldn''t wear my ring often or it will get damaged. Pretty much, everyone was saying that it''s "home" should be my jewelry box, and that I should only wear it out for special occasions. By jewelry attachment, I mean that I absolutely love wearing pieces that are special to me 24/7...Metaphorically, I kinda view some pieces as my "friends" that are there for me always...to celebrate my good times, and suffer through my bad. I look down at some of the pieces that I never take off, (except to clean) and see memories...and boy, me and my "buddies" have been through a lot!

Luckily, my FI was just as passionate that I always wear my ring. His view was that if I wasn''t going to wear it, he might as well never have bought it. I was soooo relieved he felt that way! I''ve seen many guys get so protective over their girl''s rings. One actually got nervous that the stones would fall out when she was shaking her hand around in the air to test the fit of the ring!! hehe..

I praise my lucky stars that my FI had my career in mind when he picked out my ring. The ring is a cathedral set solitaire, and is SOLID. I''m a cardiac RN, and as much as I love multi-stone settings, and "sky-high" settings, I would be crushed that I''d never be able to wear a ring like that at my job, as it would surely induce a cut on someone, or easily tear through my gloves.

To sum up, I do wear my ring constantly, except when showering. I clean it every morning, and sometimes again in the evening if I''ve had a rough day. I can''t believe how many filthy diamonds I see on a daily basis...if I''m near jewelry cleaner, you can bet that I''m always offering a free cleaning job to those neglected beauties! After all, what''s the use of all that sparkle if it can''t shine through?
 

Jensia

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Messages
175
I am the same way when I see other peoples dirty rings. It drives me crazy! Why wear something so nice and let it look like that. Its like wearing a white shirt with a big katsup stain on it. I went to my moms last week, her rings were sitting out.
The bottom of her diamond was completly caked. I tried to clean it, it was so bad I could not get the gunk off. Ugg I dont get that.
 

lillei

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 1, 2006
Messages
79
Jensia,
Nicely put with the whole white T-shirt thing...glad to hear that someone else agrees.

My grandparents were over a couple of weeks ago, and it took about a half hour of scrubbing to get the gunk out of my gram''s ring. Afterwards, I cleaned my grandfather''s...it was so sparkly, but he wasn''t too happy. He said that the ring felt too loose without all the caked up dirt, and now he''d have to do a bunch of dirty gardening work in order to "resize" his ring again. Needless to say, I''m still cringing....
 

dani13

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 12, 2004
Messages
6,183
Lisa- I agree with you, sometimes I also feel my ring is confining- I only wear my ring and other jewelry when I go out, and as soon as I get home I take everything off. I clean and cook at home, and dont want to be bothered worrying about my jewelry. I also dont wear my ring to work- I am also a nurse, but am way too PARANOID about damaging my ring while I am there....I know it is insured, but I never want to replace it either. In fact, I dont wear any jewelry to work except for a pair of stud earrings...I hate even wearing my RHR- hate the feeling of soap and water under my rings, getting a rash, etc. My jewelry is safer at home in its special place....
 

Mara

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
31,003
haha omg tawn, greg does the same thing to me!!! he knows that a big pet peeve of mine is when people go to see your ring and put their big oily thumb smack dab on your table to turn the ring from side to side.
20.gif


i also am a serial stone toucher on my own stone, sometimes i sit there and push on it with my finger and roll it from side to side. but it''s my finger so it''s okay plus i only do that if we''re at home for the night or something and i''m going to clean it in the morning anyhow!

YEP girls i dig in the dirt with my rings on. usually it''s just because i forget i have them on and then its like well whatever, it''s too late. diamonds are hard and the metal is durable. i typically have not been too paranoid, but now that i know that i am upgrading soon...i definitely have been a little more careful with my center stone, aka if i knock it around (which i do sometimes on my car window or the granite island here in the kitchen) i always check it because it''s $$ towards the new stone and i don''t want anything to happen to it!! with the new larger stone i am definitely doing a 6 prong head because i think i would be tweaking constantly at the thought of that much more exposed girdle in a 4 prong! so i do have my own mental safety moments but for the most part...i know my rings are well made and have the head checked and prongs checked etc every few months...i have had them for 2-3.5 years now (ering longer!) and they have withstood everything i put them through (knock on wood), plus i am really not the fussy type about stuff like that. if i was not able to wear them to do whatever then i probably wouldn''t want to wear them at all. i hate taking jewelry off and putting it back on, period.

plus then it''s just another great reason to use the US!!
11.gif
 

Mara

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
31,003
oh and re caked rings, i know all about it too! my boss has one and i spent 10 minutes one day trying to get all the gunk out (i wasn''t at home or else it would have spent an hour in the US...) and i only got about 70% of the crud out..!! she was like yeah whatever..it''s fine! my mom also doesn''t clean hers as much as she should so she also gets crud stuck in it, but whenever i get my hands on it, i clean it for her. i dont understand why you''d have something valuable either mentally or monetary and not make sure it''s always looking it''s darn best!
 

sanfranciscoellen

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Feb 1, 2006
Messages
1,030
Our appraiser said that when rings get that bad (like when she gets estate jewelry in that has never ever been cleaned) she has to boil it!

UUUGGGGGHHHHHHH!

But she said it works. You put the ring in room temp water and slowly bring it to a boil and let it go until the crud turns to soup....
14.gif
14.gif
14.gif
 

Lynn B

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 9, 2004
Messages
5,609
Ha Ha, love these old threads, too!

I''m with Demelza... unless I am working out, I am wearing my rings. (Although, unlike Mara, I don''t garden in them, though!)
2.gif
I love and enjoy them and wearing them makes me happy. So I figure, "Why not?!"

I have the cleanest rings of anyone I know. I clean my diamond daily, inspect it monthly (or so) with the loupe, and that''s about it. My sister has a gorgeous 2 carat oval which she never cleans! I am with her right now, and I expect to wrestle it off of her finger any minunte now and give it a good scrub!!! What''s the point of dirty diamonds??! DDDS (Dirty Diamonds Don''t Sparkle), right?!

I had to laugh when Tawn said about her husband touching her diamond. Owning this diamond has sort of re-vamped how DH and I hold hands. "Don''t touch the diamond, buddy!"
2.gif
1.gif
[:bigsmile;] Sometimes he''ll tease me about it, and pretend to smear it up... but in reality, he knows better!
 

Jensia

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Messages
175
I think, In my opinion , most people on here are perfectionists. I know I am. So there are people who are not and do not care
if their rings are caked, but it would drive me madd! lol I want my diamond to look its best, I want my house to look it best , etc it goes on,lol As much as I clean my ring, my husband thinks Im a slave to my diamond,lol :)
 

Modified Brilliant

Brilliant_Rock
Trade
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
1,529
Date: 3/18/2006 2:19:08 PM
Author: Jensia
I think, In my opinion , most people on here are perfectionists. I know I am. So there are people who are not and do not care
if their rings are caked, but it would drive me madd! lol I want my diamond to look its best, I want my house to look it best , etc it goes on,lol As much as I clean my ring, my husband thinks Im a slave to my diamond,lol :)
I''m thrilled when a client cleans their ring before their appraisal appointment. It''s thoughtful and I can spend my time appraising and not cleaning. I''ll always happily clean your ring...so not to worry! Believe it or not, some folks pull their diamond earrings out of their ears and hand them to me to appraise
38.gif
An occupational hazard that we must endure
26.gif
And about Grandma Gert''s estate jewelry...well that''s another story...you can often tell that she was a great cook.

www.metrojewelryappraisers.com
 

Lynn B

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 9, 2004
Messages
5,609
Date: 3/18/2006 7:48:00 PM
Author: Modified Brilliant

...Believe it or not, some folks pull their diamond earrings out of their ears and hand them to me to appraise
38.gif
An occupational hazard that we must endure
26.gif
And about Grandma Gert''s estate jewelry...well that''s another story...you can often tell that she was a great cook.

23.gif
1.gif
9.gif
 

koko

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Oct 2, 2005
Messages
315
Date: 3/18/2006 1:30:19 PM
Author: wallermama
Our appraiser said that when rings get that bad (like when she gets estate jewelry in that has never ever been cleaned) she has to boil it!

UUUGGGGGHHHHHHH!

But she said it works. You put the ring in room temp water and slowly bring it to a boil and let it go until the crud turns to soup....
14.gif
14.gif
14.gif
I''ve heard you should never boil diamonds because they can crack, especially if there is an existing feather/inclusion. Also, straight ammonia is too harsh on gold.....should be mixed with three parts water (?)......I''ve had good results using my ultra sonic with a capful of windex & a drop of Dawn dishwashing detergent added to the water. I''ve also attempted to "steam" my ring by holding it to the tea kettle spout (not such great results) & I often brush my rings once a day with a tiny dab of toothpaste (which is fine, mild enough for your mouth) on a baby toothbrush. This works well because the bristles of the toothbrush get up around the stone. My diamond is EC so it dulls easily & has to be cleaned daily one way or another......
1.gif
 

Modified Brilliant

Brilliant_Rock
Trade
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
1,529
I often brush my rings once a day with a tiny dab of toothpaste (which is fine, mild enough for your mouth) on a baby toothbrush. This works well because the bristles of the toothbrush get up around the stone.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actually, toothpaste works well on polishing silver if commercial silver cleaner is unavailable. I would stick with a mild soapy ammonia based cleaner as opposed to toothpaste for cleaning diamond jewelry. But using a toothbrush is always a great way to reach those "hard to clean places." Thanks for sharing.
2.gif


www.metrojewelryappraisers.com
 
Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top