Lady Prospects

If you own precious jewelry such as diamond earrings, pendants, diamond rings, or other fine jewelry products, you can keep these items for a lifetime if you take care of them. Proper cleaning and storage will help your diamond jewelry stay beautiful for years to come.

Why Cleaning is Necessary

Diamond jewelry accumulates dirt and oil buildup after a while. This buildup comes from hand lotions, hair styling products, dust, and even perspiration. If you never clean your diamond jewelry, the buildup will only get worse and will finally turn into gunk on the back of your jewelry or stone. The buildup is usually not noticeable for a while, but before you know it, your diamond looks dull and dirty. You can clean jewelry at home or have a jeweler clean it for you.

How to Clean Diamond Jewelry

To clean diamond jewelry, create a solution using warm water and mild liquid dish detergent such as Ivory detergent. Ammonia solution or water solution may be used for fracture-filled diamonds. If other gemstones are included with your diamond, be extremely careful not to damage these during cleaning. There are also jewelry cleaning solutions available in the marketplace, but you can use the household remedy above to save time and money.

Soak the jewelry in the solution for a while and then use a soft brush to remove dirt and gunk from the jewelry. Never use a brush with hard or stiff bristles because this could scratch any metal areas of your jewelry. After cleaning with the brush, swish the jewelry around a few times in the solution. Then, rinse the jewelry in warm water. Always cover or close your drain before rinsing diamond jewelry over a sink. Small pieces may fall down the drain if you drop them.

Imagine walking into a restaurant and having all eyes on you. Like most women, I love attention, but recently I got more attention and compliments than I knew how to handle.

During a casual dinner with friends, my sparkling white gold two-carat Moissanite earrings stole the show.

One dinner companion whispered, “Those are the most beautiful diamond earrings I’ve ever seen.” I explained they weren’t diamonds but a new jewel: Moissanite.

Before I knew it, I was the talk of the table. People had questions and comments like “What is Moissanite?” “They’re so brilliant, they must have cost a fortune!” “Are they rare?” and “I have to have them.”

Well ladies, if you want to know my secret, read on.

Moissanite is giving women the opportunity to own quality, eye-catching jewelry at affordable prices.

What is the story behind this jewel? In 1893, Dr. Henri Moissan, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist began studying fragments of a 50,000-year-old meteorite. In these fragments, Moissan believed he discovered diamonds from space possessing superior fire and brilliance. After extensive research, it was concluded that Moissan discovered a new mineral. In 1905, it was named Moissanite in his honor.

During the late 1980s, inspired by Moissan’s discovery and by the fact that natural Moissanite is incredibly rare, Charles & Colvard (Nasdaq: CTHR) developed a proprietary process for producing large crystals of Moissanite.

By 1995, Charles & Colvard were the sole source for Moissanite jewels, possessing two worldwide patents.

“Moissanite’s superior diamond-like appearance is incredible,” said Nat Hyman, president of Landau, the nation’s largest accessory boutique with more than 70 stores. “The customer is getting so much more for the money.”