cleaning possible emeralds

[natascha]

Hi
Old time lurker that now hopes to gain advice from the experts here and not just drool over your pretties.

I have just bought a ring in an auction with green stones in the shank. I would like to clean it as soon as possible but am att loss over how to do so without having first confirmed what the stones are. I have one of those immersion cleaning solutions for jewlery but I guess this is a no no in case the stones are emeralds.
What do you recomend and what are the visible characteristics of emeralds?

Thank you for your help and please excuse my spelling.

 

[natascha]

I forgot to add the vendors foto

 

[breezing]

when in doubt, be conservative, i would use a super soft toothbrush and very mild detergent.

some additional info on emeralds for you http://www.gemologyproject.com/wiki/ind ... le=Emerald

 

[kelpie]

That is a very sweet ring! Even if they are synthetic, treat them very gently. I cracked an antique syn baguette in the ultra sonic. I asked my appraiser how to appropriately clean emeralds and he said soak in a mild water and ammonia solution and then scrub with baby toothbrush and rinse.

 

[serenitydiamonds]

Warm water and soap, anything else could remove the treatment. I would discourage the use of ammonia. You should test the RI of the stone to verify if it is an Emerald, you could use a Chelsea Filter as a rough test also. It won't tell you for sure that it is an Emerald, and definitely won't tell you if it's synthetic/natural, but it will tell you for sure if it is not. Naturally a lab or gemologist's inspection in person is required to determine for sure.

--Joshua

 

[kelpie]

Warm water and soap, anything else could remove the treatment. I would discourage the use of ammonia. You should test the RI of the stone to verify if it is an Emerald, you could use a Chelsea Filter as a rough test also. It won't tell you for sure that it is an Emerald, and definitely won't tell you if it's synthetic/natural, but it will tell you for sure if it is not. Naturally a lab or gemologist's inspection in person is required to determine for sure.

--Joshua

This is curious to me but good advice. I always figured the ability of dishsoap to dissolve oil would be damaging to the treatment. Are you using a special soap? I really want to keep my emerald clean since the diamonds around it have gotten filthy but I've been afraid to use anything. I haven't tried the ammonia method yet since my ring is locked away.

 

[kenny]

I just had to add that's a really beautiful ring!
I really like that style and era.

 

[serenitydiamonds]

The key is gentle washing and you should be ok with dish soap. I wouldn't use any of the harsh grease removing ones.

--Joshua

 

[natascha]

Thank you for the advice and the compliments. I guess I will have to be very gentle with this ring until I am sure of what the stones are.

The ring is probably from 1921, does this help in determining what the stones could be? I belive syntetic corundum existed then but thought syntetic emeralds were invented later. Of course they could be anything. When I louped them before bidding I only found minor imperfections exept one stone which is cracked. They do have that lovely sheen in them that I associate with emeralds when under stronger light but I feel the colour is too perfect and the lack of larger flaws make me believe it is improbable they are emeralds.

I just wish I could show how gorgeous this ring is, this vendors pictures are always pretty bad. In fact the only reason I got the ring was because the price was so low that I figured what the heck it might be worth it and went to see it half an hour before the auction. In reality the diamond is incredible although to white for my taste when it comes to old cuts. It is covered in engraving and milgrain although some is worn off. And the green stones just make the ring. I guess I prefer some colour in my rings.

 

[JewelFreak]

On the emeralds in my eternity ring I use Dawn dish detergent, warm water & no brush. I just rub it across gently w/my finger. We used to do emeralds that way at Tiffany when somebody asked us to clean a ring. Don't know if this was their "official" method (or if they had one -- never heard it) but the woman who ran that area at the store I worked at knew EVERYTHING & it was her suggestion.

=== Laurie

 

[T L]

On the emeralds in my eternity ring I use Dawn dish detergent, warm water & no brush. I just rub it across gently w/my finger. We used to do emeralds that way at Tiffany when somebody asked us to clean a ring. Don't know if this was their "official" method (or if they had one -- never heard it) but the woman who ran that area at the store I worked at knew EVERYTHING & it was her suggestion.

=== Laurie

I probably wouldn't advise that as Dawn and other harsh diswashing detergents as they remove grease and oil. Since emeralds are typically filled with oil, not a good idea. Honestly, I have heard, the less you clean an emerald, the better. They even thrive under being touched and handled by our natural skin oils. They are not stones that really are meant to sparkle, but instead, have a nice green color. If I had to clean one, I think a soft toothbrush and water (without soap) would suffice, and an occasional wipe down with a gem chamois.

 

[JewelFreak]

Good point, TL, except Dawn is as mild a dishwashing soap as is made, if you want to use soap. I dilute it in warm water. I know people who handle show dogs in the ring for a living who use it to bathe them, have done that myself with my own dogs. Have never used a brush on my only emerald band, it's so easy to scratch them, I'm a scaredy-cat.

--- Laurie

 

[serenitydiamonds]

Good point, TL, except Dawn is as mild a dishwashing soap as is made, if you want to use soap. I dilute it in warm water. I know people who handle show dogs in the ring for a living who use it to bathe them, have done that myself with my own dogs. Have never used a brush on my only emerald band, it's so easy to scratch them, I'm a scaredy-cat.

--- Laurie

You don't have to worry about scratching an Emerald with a brush, their hardness is higher than that of Quartz/Glass/etc, plastic will not be a problem.

--Joshua