Ultrasonic Jewelry Cleaners are the best things to use for
Cleaning your Jewelry and Gemstones! Umm, let me revise that statement...
For Cleaning SOME Jewelry and SOME Gems!
Ultrasonic Cleaners really do an awesome job on making your Diamonds and Gold sparkle. I highly recommend them. (Read: Are Jewelry Cleaners Worth Buying?) One topic that I'd like to go into detail more on is Gemstone Care and Cleaning! Mainly, what Gemstones you Should NOT put in Ultrasonic Cleaners!
Yes, there are Jewelry items and plenty of Gemstones that should not be inserted into Ultrasonic Cleaners. Why? Because Ultrasonic Cleaners can actually harm, break, crack, fracture or dissolve your Gemstones!
Doesn't seem possible, does it? I mean, it's just heated water, a little dish soap and high frequency sound waves. What harm could it do? Right?
WRONG! There are lots of Gemstones that you should NOT put into Ultrasonic Jewelry Cleaners. Let's look at the list:
- Opals
- Pearls
- Emeralds
- Tanzanites
- Tourmalines
- Peridot
- Malachite
- Agates
- Onyx
- Black or Dyed Pearls
- Chocolate Pearls
- Fracture Filled Diamonds
- Synthetic Stones
- Black Opals
- Mosaic Opals
| - Marcasite
- Turquoise
- Jade
- Amber
- Lapis
- Mother of Pearl
- Coral
- Colored Diamonds
- Malachite
- Fresh Water Pearls
- Costume Jewelry
- Diamonds with lots of Inclusions
- Copper Plated Jewelry
- Opal Doublets or Triplets
- Tungsten
|
So now that you see the Gemstones that should NOT be put in Ultrasonic Cleaners, let's take a closer look at them. Starting with...
Opals: Opals are brittle Gemstones that fracture easily to begin with. You have to be extremely careful when dealing with Opals. Black Opals are the same way. And Some Opals are what they call "Doublets" or "Triplets", where slices of Opal (And maybe Onyx) are glued together to enhance Color and Vibrance. The same with Mosaic Opals. (See Picture) Mosaics should be cleaned gently by hand. Those little Opal Pieces are glued together into interesting stained glass window designs and could crumble in the Cleaner! Avoid it!
Opals have delicate fracture planes that run through the stone and are too delicate for the sound waves or the heat put out by Ultrasonic Cleaners. Plus many Opals are glued together, and the heat would dissolve the glue and break apart your Opal!
Next up, the incredible dissolving Pearl! Read on...
