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Cleaning a Diamond Ring 

Let’s face it, when it comes to jewellery, we all generally think of diamonds. There is nothing quite like having a freshly cleaned ring on your finger fresh from a Jeweller. The light bouncing off your diamond just right can make you feel like a million dollars. So it’s only normal to want to keep it looking nice and clean right? So I’ve put together some tips on cleaning a diamond ring or any diamond Jewellery. 

While Diamonds actually repel water they unfortunately do the complete opposite with grease and oil. Diamonds attract grease and oil more than most other Gemstones around. The natural oils from your skin, the hand lotion you might use before bed and even some soaps and perfumes can all get stuck to a diamond. 

So what to do if you find yourself in need of cleaning your Diamond? Well you could take it to an experienced Jeweller to get the best results, but you don’t need to every time. You can just as easily give your Diamond a clean at home using some simple techniques. 

So what to use?

Cleaning a diamond ring isn’t too hard, the best thing to use is Fairy liquid or a dish soap solution. In addition to this you could use a gentle shampoo like baby shampoo. Just avoid anything that contains a moisturiser, this will have the opposite effect on your jewellery and leave a film on the diamond. 

Get the tap running hot and fill up a bowl, add the washing up liquid or shampoo and give it a stir. Pop your Jewellery in the hot water and leave for around 20 – 30min. This will allow the dirt and grime on the back of the stones to start to break down. Gently use a soft tooth brush around the back of the stones to remove any dirt trapped and then rinse under WARM water. Then repeat if you need. Never go from hot water to cold water as this could damage your diamond or stones.

Cleaning like this should ideally be done once a week. Yep! Once a week! This will allow the build up of oil and grease to be kept at bay and will be easier to clean. I’d also recommend getting an experienced Jeweller to give it a once over to check the settings are all nice and tight and give it a professional clean and polish once a year. 

What you shouldn’t use to clean your Diamonds

This actually comes up a fair bit. Never use bleach to clean your Jewellery. You might think this is the ideal product to clean your Jewellery as it cleans your house so well.. its not, don’t use it. If you use bleach on your Jewellery you could potentially ruin it. Bleach is an extremely harsh chemical and can cause damage to some metals. Some solders can contain elements that will react with the bleach or chlorine and oxidise the solder. 

Other things to avoid would be toothpaste, thats meant for you teeth only! Also avoid baking soda. Toothpaste and baking soda are actually very abrasive and can cause scratches on your lovely Jewellery. 

Ultrasonic Machines

Now ultrasonic machines are great. Professional Jewellers use them all the time when cleaning Jewellery. I have one and its great… but….  these machines should really only be used by a Goldsmith who knows what they’re doing, especially if your item of Jewellery contains stones. I’m often asked about them and if I’d recommend people getting one. The machine works by blasting sound waves through a heated tank to dislodge any dirt and grime that builds up on the Jewellery.

They generally make a little noise and the liquid will slosh about. The problem is that if the item of Jewellery has any stones in, this can potentially lead to the stones coming out. This generally happens if the item of Jewellery hasn’t been serviced regularly, the piece is worn or the stones haven’t been set properly to begin with. A Goldsmith should check your item of Jewellery before and after its been in an Ultrasonic machine to check for loose stones and tighten any stones and settings that need attention. 

Servicing

Servicing your Jewellery (especially rings) is something I’d recommend every 12 – 18 months. The tips of claws can get damaged and worn over time so it’s well worth just taking a little time to make sure your diamonds or precious stones are secure. Checking over a ring and a full clean and polish can cost as little as £30. If your item of Jewellery needs work then I can give you a quote to restore it to a new condition. If you’d like a piece of Jewellery checked over and cleaned and polished get in touch and I’ll give you a quote based on your requirements. 

Thanks for reading 

Settings for engagement rings. 

So you’re looking to propose to your loved one, you head out to the high street or fire up the Mac to start looking and all of a sudden theres more than one type of Engagement ring available with just about any shape of diamond you can think of. Not only that, once you’ve made your mind up on a shape of diamond you have a choice of settings to go with that particular stone. The choices that lie before you can sometimes be a bit overwhelming! 

Fear not! I am here to help and give you some things to think about.  

Every stone needs a seat. 

So you know what shape stone / diamond you want to go for and now you need a ring for it. The first thing you need to decide is the setting. This is the part of the ring that holds the stone / diamond in place. This is without question the most important part of any ring. Get the setting style right and the stone you’ve chosen will be shown off to its very best. Get it wrong and it could jeopardise the stones beautiful sparkle. 

Light

A diamond (or any stone for that matter) is as only as good as the light around it. After all, you cant see a diamond in the dark, no matter how expensive it might be. If the setting is big and bulky, you’re going to be hiding that stone from all the lovely light that could be bouncing its way through the diamond and around the facets (little flats around a stone to help reflect light).

Strength. 

The setting (or collet as its sometimes known) has to be strong. After all, you don’t want that expensive stone popping out on an idle Tuesday afternoon while you’re shopping.. because your never find it no matter how hard you try. 

Light vs Strength.

More light into a diamond means less metal round the diamond. However less metal can sometimes mean less strong.. but it doesn’t have to!

My advise, try and get a bit of both. Something that shows off the diamond but wont fall apart when you least expect it. Having a Setting thats handmade instead of cast will instantly make the setting stronger. If there are four claws on a Round stone, look at bottom of the claws not just the top where the stone sits. Most settings get their strength from the base of the collet, where everything meets together and attaches to the ring. 

Most importantly ask questions. Google is a great tool for finding inspiration and seeing what might work well. Ask your Goldsmith to give you some advise on settings and see if they could do a drawing if they can to see what fits. 

Process of elimination. 

I see many clients thinking they have no idea what they want or where to start. You have to start somewhere so my advise would be to get stuck in. It’s fairy easy to work out what you don’t like and work from there. I like to think in stages. Stage one might be the Diamond, finding the right shape and quality to suite your budget. Each stage leads on from the last so there’s no point thinking about the rest of the ring until you have the first stage cracked. 

Hopefully this has helped in a small way. If you’d like any advise on Engagements rings or any rings in general don’t hesitate to contact me! 

A Little History Of Sapphires 

Sapphires are one of my favourite gemstones, they’re quite hard, they come in various different colours and each colour comes in different shades and quality. My favourite shade has to be blue, especially when it sits next to a diamond. A vibrant Ceylon Sapphire can really be a beautiful stone. I made such a ring recently, a three stone ring set with 2 lovely quality diamonds and a beautiful Ceylon Sapphire in the centre.

Ancient Persians

It was once believed by the Ancient Persians that the stone sapphire was the pedestal on which the world perched, thus giving the sky its colour blue. 

Greece and Rome

Ancient Greece and Rome, kings and queens were convinced that blue sapphires protected their owners from envy and harm. During the Middle Ages, the clergy wore blue sapphires to symbolize Heaven, and ordinary folks thought the gem attracted heavenly blessings.

Sapphires are comprised of the blue variety of the mineral Corundum. They are also valued highly for their vivid hue, with violet shades being particularly sought after. This beautiful gemstone can come in other colours too such as yellow and pink, although blue is the most common of these precious gems.

Colour

An orangy pink sapphire is called padparadscha. This means “lotus flower” in Sinhalese. The language spoken in Sri Lanka. Stones from Sri Lanka were initially the only ones labeled with this marketable name. There’s no telling how many padparadschas have been sifted from the Sri Lankan river gravel throughout history. Sri Lankans have a special affection for the color that’s traditionally been linked with their country.

Caring for a Sapphire

Sapphires are actually fairy hard compared to other gemstones like Emeralds and Tanzanites.  This however doesn’t mean they will withstand anything you throw at them. Typically on rings there will be more wear on a sapphire where the facets meet the table of the stone. This is caused by day to day wear if you never take the ring off.

If you own a sapphire ring then I’d highly recommend removing it when you’re at the Gym or doing the gardening because of the wear than can take. Diamonds will take this kind of punishment but sapphires are a little less forgiving.

Cleaning

Cleaning a sapphire is pretty simple really. Warm water, washing up liquid and a soft tooth brush works wonders. Never go from hot to cold water, this can cause serious damage to the stone. Keep the temperature the same throughout your time cleaning your jewellery and dry off with a clean towel.

You could also use a polishing cloth with impregnated polish to bring up a great shine. These cloths are available to purchase at Jason Keith Jewellery.

Thanks for reading!

The FIFA World Cup Trophy.

As its the world cup, I thought i’d share a little information on the trophy that is presented to the winning team. I wanted to write a post that would share the information that I found out while researching the Trophies themselves.

So we’ll start from the beginning. 

Back in 1929, Jules Rimet whom was FIFA’s president at the time, passed a vote to initiate a World Tournament. A tournament of countries to battle against each other to Win the notoriety of being the worlds greatest country at the Game of Football. In 1930 the very first World Cup was held in Uruguay and the host team won against Argentina 4-2 in front of a crowd of more than 68000 people! They won the very first cup and it was called “Victory”

It was designed by Abel Lafleur who was a very talented French sculptor. The cup is made of Gold Plated Sterling Silver. The base itself was made of White and Yellow Marble. The base was later replaced with a much higher base made of Lapis Lazuli. It was 35 centimetres tall and weighed 3.8 kilograms. It comprised a decagonal cup, supported by a winged figure representing the greek goddess of victory. The cup was later renamed “The Jules Rimet” Trophy to honour the FIFA president.

In 1966 England hosts the World Cup. 

It was the 20th March, four months before the start of the FIFA World Cup in England and the trophy was stolen during a public exhibition at Westminster Central Hall. Incredibly it was found just seven days later wrapped in news paper at the end of a garden in South London by a dog named Pickles!

As a security measure The football association secretly manufactured a replica of the trophy for use in exhibitions rather than using the original. In 1970, it was the next world cup and the original trophy had to be returned to FIFA for the next Tournament. FIFA had explicitly said no to The Football Association to make a replica Trophy so the replica had to disappear from public view. It was held with its creator for many years under there bed. Incredibly the replica was sold for £254,000 in 1997 when it was purchased by FIFA themselves because they thought it might actually have been the original. It was later identified as the the replica anyway.

Brazil won the World Cup in 1970 for the third time meaning they could then keep the Trophy indefinitely as it was stipulated by Jules Rimet in 1930. In December 1983 the Original Trophy was stolen again, four men were tried and convicted but sadly the Trophy has never been recovered. It is widely thought to have been melted down and sold. Only the original base of the Jules Rimet Trophy has ever been recovered. 

The New Trophy. 

In 1970, FIFA commissioned a new trophy to be made for the next World Cup in 1974. Over Fifty submissions were received from sculptors from seven different countries to design it. Silvio Gazzaniga’s Design was chosen. Gazzaniga was a very talented designer and sculptor and worked as Creative Director for “Bertoni, Milano” a trophy and medal manufacture in Milan, Italy. He tucked himself away for a week while he designed it. This is the same one used today and is engraved underneath the base with the year and winning country. The new Trophy stands 36.5 centimetres tall and is made of 5kg of 18ct Gold. It is thought to be worth approximately $150,000 and has a base made of two layers of Green Malachite. The making of the cup involved and extremely elaborate process of plasticine, plaster and wax casting. The trophy weighs 6.1 kilograms in total and depicts two human figures holding up the earth. Gazzaniga was very modest and down-to-earth, he described his emotions at the time as nothing more than “Happy and Proud” but admits he was a little overwhelmed when he saw his Trophy on the worlds stage for the first time in 1974.

Thanks for reading!