Posted by Alicia E. Staz on July 19th, 2008 — Posted in Crystals
Ruby is the birthstone for July and the 15th and 40th wedding anniversary stone.
Historically, the ruby is associated with royalty, love and vividness, passion and power. Thirteenth century medical literature from India tells us that a ruby could cure digestive disorders. In the Bible, only wisdom and a virtuous woman are more valuable than rubies (Proverbs 8:11 & 31:10).
An extremely rare flawless ruby is actually more valuable than a diamond, the true emperor of gemstones. In 1550, the finest 1-carat ruby cost eight times more than a comparable quality 1-carat diamond. Wow! By 1894, this is dropped to a 2:1 ratio in favor of the ruby, but it is still incredible. I don’t know about you, but I generally think of the diamond as the most expensive gem stone available.
Some famous rubies include:
The Edwardes Ruby, a 167-carat ruby, donated to the British Museum of Natural History in 1887.
The Rosser Reeves Ruby, a 137-carat ruby, displayed at The Smithsonian.
The Edith Haggin de Long Ruby, a 100-carat ruby, displayed at The American Museum of Natural History.
Rubies are made of the mineral corundum, one of the most durable minerals, a crystalline form of aluminum oxide. Corundum has a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale and is extremely tough - Diamonds are a 10.
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Posted by Alicia E. Staz on July 19th, 2008 — Posted in Jewelry Care
1. “Store your silver jewelry in a cool, dry place.” Sterling silver will tarnish; it is a fact of life. You can, however, slow down the process by wearing it and storing it properly. Huh? Wearing your jewelry on a regular basis will actually coat the silver with oils from your skin and slow down the oxidation. Storing it in a cool, dry place will minimize the moisture available to react with the silver when it is not being worn.
2. “Remove your jewelry while cleaning, swimming, or taking a shower.” We have discussed that sterling silver will tarnish. There is no faster way to speed the process than to wear it while swimming or cleaning with chemicals. Strong chemicals (especially chlorine) reacts with the silver and causes immediate oxidation. In fact, it oxidizes so fast that it pits the surface and can’t be cleaned or buffed back to its original luster.
3. “Remove jewelry while sleeping.” Most of my jewelry is strung on a wire. It is the highest quality wire available and has a 40 pound test strength. But like anything else, it will wear out over time. The more pulling and tugging it receives, the faster it will wear out. It is best to leave your jewelry in a cool, dry place while sleeping to avoid this unnecessary strain.
4. “Periodically clean jewelry with warm soapy water and a SOFT toothbrush. Rinse thoroughly and dry completely.” Warm soapy water will usually remove the light layer of tarnish that causes your jewelry to look less than new. A soft toothbrush is more than sufficient to buff the surface. Make sure you dry it completely after cleaning. Water left inside the beads could begin to corrode the wire. Simply shake your jewelry inside a towel to remove the droplets remain behind.
5. “Never use a silver polishing cloth on Swarovski crystals (our Sunshine Polishing Cloth is gentle enough to use on all our jewelry).” A silver polishing cloth has tiny abrasives that buff the tarnish off silver making it look like new. However, those same abrasives will scratch the surface of our Swarovski crystals causing them to look dull. Our Sunshine Polishing Cloth is, however, gentle enough to use on the crystals and tough enough to remove tarnish with 1-2 swipes.
6. “Never let your jewelry soak in water.” See item 4 above. Leaving water inside the beads for a long period of time will corrode the wire.
7. “Never use any kind of jewelry cleaners or dips.” Never and any are the operative words here - not even “sterling silver cleaners” should be used. Jewelry cleaners and dips contain chemicals that could remove the dark areas (oxidation) on letter beads and Bali beads. They could also cause the same pitting mentioned above with chlorine and household cleaners. PLEASE don’t take matters into your own hands. If you feel you need to take drastic measures to clean your jewelry, contact me, and I will do my best to help.
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Posted by Alicia E. Staz on July 15th, 2008 — Posted in Jewelry Care
Hmm, sterling silver cleaner sounds like something I should be able to use on my sterling silver jewelry, right? Wrong. A customer called and said that a bracelet she received as a Christmas gift had tarnished and so she cleaned it with sterling silver cleaner. Now it was more tarnished and the oxidation on the letter beads was gone. She said I should replace the bracelet because it was worthless and ruined…her daughter had wasted her money on a gift she couldn’t wear. She implied that I had a sub-standard product and I would be a bad business person if I didn’t do as she asked. Huh?
The care card that comes with each bracelet includes the following instruction: “Never use any kind of jewelry cleaner or dip.” She said that sterling silver cleaner was not a “jewelry cleaner” and that I should have specified that “sterling silver cleaner” was not permitted. I thought I was being pretty clear when I said “never” and “any”, but I guess she misunderstood.
I offered to use my knowledge and experience to clean her bracelet, but told her I could not replace it. Please, please follow the care instructions for your jewelry - they are there for a reason. If you have questions, just ask!
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