{"id":121,"date":"2015-11-18T02:48:36","date_gmt":"2015-11-18T02:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myjewelrysource.com\/gemstone-jewelry\/?p=121"},"modified":"2018-04-05T16:09:36","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T23:09:36","slug":"gemstone-hardness-and-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myjewelrysource.com\/gemstone-jewelry\/uncategorized\/gemstone-hardness-and-care.html","title":{"rendered":"The Role of Gemstone Hardness in Selecting a Proper Cleaning Method"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 290px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.myjewelrysource.com\/blue-sapphire\/gr5249-cushion-sapphire-ring.htm\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"1.92 ctw Princess Cut Blue Sapphire and White Sapphire Ring in 14k white gold\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myjewelrysource.com\/images\/sapphire_engagement\/gr5249-2a_small.jpg\" alt=\"1.92 ctw Princess Cut Blue Sapphire and White Sapphire Ring in 14k white gold\" width=\"280\" height=\"176\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">With a hardness rating of 9, sapphires make an excellent choice for engagement rings or rings intended for everyday wear. Sapphires can be cleaned using most cleaning methods since they are tough and durable.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The hardness of the gemstones plays a role in what cleaning methods are appropriate for that gem. The <a title=\"An Introduction to Gemstones- Part 3- Durability\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myjewelrysource.com\/gemstone-jewelry\/index.php\/uncategorized\/an-introduction-to-gemstones-part-3-durability.html\" target=\"_blank\">Mohs scale of hardness <\/a>will  give you a lot of the information you need. Diamonds are the hardest  gem with a Moh\u2019s hardness rating of 10, followed by ruby and sapphire  (hardness of 9), then topaz (hardness of 8), followed by aquamarine,  tourmaline, emerald, and garnet (hardness of ~7.5), and then amethyst,  citrine, iolite and zircon (hardness of 7). These gems are good choices  for every day wear in terms of hardness, which is resistance to  scratches. Extra care should be taken with gemstones with have a  hardness rating under 7.0 since more every day items can scratch them.   Gemstones that fall into this category are peridot, tanzanite, kunzite,  and opaque gems like malachite, lapis lazuli, turquoise, opal and  pearls.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Household dust generally has a hardness of 7<\/strong>, so if  you were to use a cleaning cloth that had dust on it to clean your  peridot, you could cause of light surface scratching. Metals such as <strong>gold and platinum have a hardness in the 3-4 range<\/strong>,  and so they too can be scratched by a dusty cleaning cloth. Ever wonder  why when you go to a jewelry store, they often show the jewelry on a  soft pad? Besides the fact that it looks professional, it\u2019s also because  the glass countertop can actually scratch the softer gems like pearls.<\/p>\n<p>Another issue that you may not have considered is that since gold and  platinum are softer than most gemstones, a loose stone in a setting can  actually slowly wear away at a prongs. So it is important to check your  jewelry regularly to make sure the settings are secure.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Gemstone Jewelry, Specializing in sapphire rings and gemstone engagement rings.\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myjewelrysource.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">MyJewelrySource.com <\/a>recommends  using lukewarm water and a soft toothbrush to clean your gemstones. You  may also add a detergent-free soap as well. To clean out under the  stones well, you can also use a pulsed water dental cleaning appliance.  Finally, you can also use a lint\/dust-free jewelry cleaning cloth to  spruce up the metal mountings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The hardness of the gemstones plays a role in what cleaning methods are appropriate for that gem. The Mohs scale of hardness will give you a lot of the information you need. Diamonds are the hardest gem with a Moh\u2019s hardness rating of 10, followed by ruby and sapphire (hardness of 9), then topaz (hardness [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[40],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myjewelrysource.com\/gemstone-jewelry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myjewelrysource.com\/gemstone-jewelry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myjewelrysource.com\/gemstone-jewelry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myjewelrysource.com\/gemstone-jewelry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myjewelrysource.com\/gemstone-jewelry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/myjewelrysource.com\/gemstone-jewelry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":643,"href":"https:\/\/myjewelrysource.com\/gemstone-jewelry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions\/643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myjewelrysource.com\/gemstone-jewelry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myjewelrysource.com\/gemstone-jewelry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myjewelrysource.com\/gemstone-jewelry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}