The words of Leon (Re: Cleaning Pave)

[happysnowbunny]

This is a follow up to a recent string that I started regarding how to clean a Leon Mege micropave setting. I paid a visit to Leon this week and asked him ... he says under no circumstances, 100% do not use an ultrasonic cleaner as these cleaners can cause loose stones. I know some people say that this can be good b/c you then lose the stones in the cleaner and not on the street, but Leon says it can cause some to come loose and they fall out later, after being removed from the cleaner. He said that what I had been using (a liquid jewelry cleaner) was perfectly fine, but what he actually SUGGESTS... GET THIS... is LIQUID DISH DETERGENT with a soft toothbrush. Who knew!?

 

[sevens one]

Date: 8/13/2005 4:36:53 PM
Author:happysnowbunny
This is a follow up to a recent string that I started regarding how to clean a Leon Mege micropave setting. I paid a visit to Leon this week and asked him ... he says under no circumstances, 100% do not use an ultrasonic cleaner as these cleaners can cause loose stones. I know some people say that this can be good b/c you then lose the stones in the cleaner and not on the street, but Leon says it can cause some to come loose and they fall out later, after being removed from the cleaner. He said that what I had been using (a liquid jewelry cleaner) was perfectly fine, but what he actually SUGGESTS... GET THIS... is LIQUID DISH DETERGENT with a soft toothbrush. Who knew!?

I think this is what Cflutist does with her bling.

 

[sjz]

Date: 8/13/2005 4:41:44 PM
Author: sevens one

Date: 8/13/2005 4:36:53 PM
Author:happysnowbunny
This is a follow up to a recent string that I started regarding how to clean a Leon Mege micropave setting. I paid a visit to Leon this week and asked him ... he says under no circumstances, 100% do not use an ultrasonic cleaner as these cleaners can cause loose stones. I know some people say that this can be good b/c you then lose the stones in the cleaner and not on the street, but Leon says it can cause some to come loose and they fall out later, after being removed from the cleaner. He said that what I had been using (a liquid jewelry cleaner) was perfectly fine, but what he actually SUGGESTS... GET THIS... is LIQUID DISH DETERGENT with a soft toothbrush. Who knew!?

I think this is what Cflutist does with her bling.

I''ve heard that before, too. When I''m out of jewelry cleaner, I use a drop or two of baby shampoo in water and a soft toothbrush. Works great, and the diamonds stay really clean.

 

[sevens one]

I''m having an issue with my five stone prong set band.
While we were at the beach a very small Brown sand crystal got under the stone. I can''t get the sucker out and it''s driving me crazy. Any Advice?

 

[ame]

waterpick turned way up?

 

[sjz]

Date: 8/13/2005 5:38:55 PM
Author: sevens one
I''m having an issue with my five stone prong set band.
While we were at the beach a very small Brown sand crystal got under the stone. I can''t get the sucker out and it''s driving me crazy. Any Advice?

Oh, I had the same thing happen to me a few weeks ago! I took a large sewing needle, and with my loupe carefully stuck the point of the needle in between the prongs and slowly worked a little piece of grit out. Actually, I had two little pieces of grit or sand or whatever. One under a diamond, and one stuck between two of the baskets that hold the diamonds. I worked the piece of grit slowly down toward the culet of the diamond a little bit at a time until it came loose and fell out. I don''t think I scratched anything, I couldn''t see it if I did, even with a 30x loupe. And it''s amazing how HUGE a tiny piece of grit looks under magnification.

 

[ame]

Is that not wild! I have found that I like to look at things up close now. Just random crap too.

 

[sjz]

It is kinda cool...but I never have time for manicures, so I hate the way my cuticles look under the loupe...

 

[sevens one]

Thanks- I''ll have to try it. I did try picking at it- but I didn''t want to get too agressive.

 

[sjz]

You have to work very carefully and slowly. It took me a little time. I have a "touch" with a needle, though. Part nurse, part years of digging splinters out of my kids...lol.

 

[happysnowbunny]

Date: 8/13/2005 5:38:55 PM
Author: sevens one
I''m having an issue with my five stone prong set band.
While we were at the beach a very small Brown sand crystal got under the stone. I can''t get the sucker out and it''s driving me crazy. Any Advice?

PERSONALLY... if it was really stuck and I feared harming my ring in any way, I would just take it to a professional. Take it to either your jeweler or one of those department stores that cleans for free! Why risk it?!

 

[Sundial]

Thanks for the info on cleaning micropave Happysnowbunny! I don''t have a Leon ring, but my three stone ring, a pair of hoop earrings, and a heart pendant all have pave. I will keep them out of the ultra sonic cleaner from now on.

 

[sjz]

Date: 8/13/2005 7:10:50 PM
Author: happysnowbunny

Date: 8/13/2005 5:38:55 PM
Author: sevens one
I''m having an issue with my five stone prong set band.
While we were at the beach a very small Brown sand crystal got under the stone. I can''t get the sucker out and it''s driving me crazy. Any Advice?

PERSONALLY... if it was really stuck and I feared harming my ring in any way, I would just take it to a professional. Take it to either your jeweler or one of those department stores that cleans for free! Why risk it?!

If she''s going to take it to someone, a jeweler would be best. Most of the department stores don''t have any kind of guarantee against damage to your stone if they clean it for free. I had a friend once who was just "browsing" in the jewelery dept. of an upscale department store. They offered to clean her rings while she was looking around, so she was like "OK, that''s nice". The salesgirl took her rings behind the counter, where presumably they had a steam cleaner or something. Anyway, she came back a few minutes later and gave my friend''s rings back to her. Later that day, my friend noticed that one of the stones was loose. Turns out a prong was bent while the sales girl was cleaning the ring. My friend went back to the deptarment store, and complained to the manager. She was told that the store had no responsibility fo rany damage to the jewelry. The fine jewelry department was not in fact owned by the store, but was a separate company that rented the space in their store. My friend ended up taking her ring back to the jeweler where it came from originally and they had to fix the prong. Her jeweler recommended that she NEVER let someone other than a qualified jeweler or assistant clean or handle her jewelry. If the stone had fallen out of her ring, her warranty would have been nullified!

. Since my friend told me about that episode, I never let anyone clean or do anything to my jewelry other than the jeweler. It just isn''t worth the risk. Besides, I am a paranoid person at heart, and I would hate to think that some unscrupulous person in a department store would take the opportunity to "swap out" my diamond for a lesser diamond or a CZ. I know that''s supposed to be something that rarely, if ever, happens, but it''s my thinking that a reputable jeweler isn''t going to take the risk, while someone else might.

 

[cute330xigrl]

i use the soap idea too.

for deep cleansing:

- soak in efferdent for 15minutes - (no joke! gets in those crevices (sp?))
- scrub w/ tooth brush
- rinse off w/ tooth brush
- clean w/ dish detergent
- rinse again
- final shine w/ 2 sprays of window cleaner and wipe w/ microfiber

am i nuts?

 

[sevens one]

Yes I''m going to have to take it somewhere.
I had a go at it and that sucker is really wedged in there good. (darn

)
It even affects the color of the stone- since the spec is black.

 

[Jennifer5973]

Date: 8/13/2005 4:36:53 PM
Author:happysnowbunny
This is a follow up to a recent string that I started regarding how to clean a Leon Mege micropave setting. I paid a visit to Leon this week and asked him ... he says under no circumstances, 100% do not use an ultrasonic cleaner as these cleaners can cause loose stones. I know some people say that this can be good b/c you then lose the stones in the cleaner and not on the street, but Leon says it can cause some to come loose and they fall out later, after being removed from the cleaner. He said that what I had been using (a liquid jewelry cleaner) was perfectly fine, but what he actually SUGGESTS... GET THIS... is LIQUID DISH DETERGENT with a soft toothbrush. Who knew!?

Didn''t cflutist suggest this a long time ago?????

 

[sjz]

Date: 8/13/2005 11:31:20 PM
Author: cute330xigrl
i use the soap idea too.

for deep cleansing:

- soak in efferdent for 15minutes - (no joke! gets in those crevices (sp?))
- scrub w/ tooth brush
- rinse off w/ tooth brush
- clean w/ dish detergent
- rinse again
- final shine w/ 2 sprays of window cleaner and wipe w/ microfiber

am i nuts?

Sounds good to me. Especially the microfiber cloth. My jeweler told me NEVER use terry cloth, as you can pull a prong if it gets caught on the loops in the terry. I try to be very careful with my jewelry. I''ve never heard of the efferdent before. Is it expensive? I know my grandma used to use it on her teeth (after she took ''em out of her mouth, of course...lol) She always had clean sparkly looking teeth

 

[sevens one]

Date: 8/13/2005 11:45:39 PM
Author: Jennifer5973

Date: 8/13/2005 4:36:53 PM
Author:happysnowbunny
This is a follow up to a recent string that I started regarding how to clean a Leon Mege micropave setting. I paid a visit to Leon this week and asked him ... he says under no circumstances, 100% do not use an ultrasonic cleaner as these cleaners can cause loose stones. I know some people say that this can be good b/c you then lose the stones in the cleaner and not on the street, but Leon says it can cause some to come loose and they fall out later, after being removed from the cleaner. He said that what I had been using (a liquid jewelry cleaner) was perfectly fine, but what he actually SUGGESTS... GET THIS... is LIQUID DISH DETERGENT with a soft toothbrush. Who knew!?

Didn''t cflutist suggest this a long time ago?????

I said the same thing earlier Jenn. I thought I had seen her post that before. That''s how she keeps her rocks shining!

 

[sjz]

Date: 8/13/2005 11:40:09 PM
Author: sevens one
Yes I''m going to have to take it somewhere.
I had a go at it and that sucker is really wedged in there good. (darn

)
It even affects the color of the stone- since the spec is black.

Yikes! There is a little space beneath the culet of each diamond in my ring, and they are in a basket setting, so I was able to get the needle in there and had a little room to maneuver around and work the grit out. You must either have pretty tight settings for your stones (which is good...means you have big rocks

, or you have a really nice sized hunk of stuff in there. I hope they don''t have to take the stone out to get the thing out of there! I guess you learned a lesson, don''t wear your rings to the beach! Sand is murder on jewelry. Sorry this happened to you.

 

[sevens one]

this is how the bottom of my ring looks so there isn''t much room for me to work with.

 

[cute330xigrl]

Date: 8/13/2005 11:40:09 PM
Author: sevens one
Yes I''m going to have to take it somewhere.
I had a go at it and that sucker is really wedged in there good. (darn

)
It even affects the color of the stone- since the spec is black.

that sucks!! i have this image that efferdent would work and eat at that "sucker" . imagine that. i think the box is about $7 and if u use 1 p/month, it should last a year.

Dang 7''s, thats annoying. Would drive me nuts too.

Cant think of anything small enuff to scrap it out. Mybe one of those metal teeth tar-tar scrapper thingys? $2?

 

[sjz]

Date: 8/13/2005 11:58:20 PM
Author: sevens one

this is how the bottom of my ring looks so there isn''t much room for me to work with.

Yeah, I can see how it would be difficult to get in there if something was wedged. My setting is much more open than that, and I had a little more space to work the tip of the needle around. It might eventually work itsself out. Do you have an ultrasonic cleaner at home? That might vibrate the booger loose enough so that it falls out on it''s own.

 

[coconut]

Oh yah... that''s how I''ve been cleaning my pave wedding band..

No solutions or fancy steam kits..

I just scrubbed using soap/dish detergent for 10 sec. and all my rings come out sparkly!!!

EVEN MY CZ e-ring!!
the CZ comes back to life! Bling Bling!

 

[sevens one]

Date: 8/14/2005 12:02:32 AM
Author: sjz

Date: 8/13/2005 11:58:20 PM
Author: sevens one

this is how the bottom of my ring looks so there isn''t much room for me to work with.

Yeah, I can see how it would be difficult to get in there if something was wedged. My setting is much more open than that, and I had a little more space to work the tip of the needle around. It might eventually work itsself out. Do you have an ultrasonic cleaner at home? That might vibrate the booger loose enough so that it falls out on it''s own.

I don''t have one of those cleaners.

 

[strmrdr]

I use zest.
Build up a lather on your hands and put it on the ring.
It really eats the grime and does not leave any film on the ring like other soaps can.

 

[GoveyMaru]

Thanks so much Snowbunny! And to think the answer was right next to the sink!