General Care
Firstly, always buy the best quality that you can afford - some jewellery may seem to be a bargain, but on inspection may be poorly made.
Protection
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Always protect your jewellery from sharp blows, scratching, chemicals, sunlight and heat/cold. Ideally, keep gemstone and beaded jewellery flat and store in a soft lined box or pouch. Try to keep pieces apart, so that they don't rub together or tangle up.
- Wear jewellery for appropriate tasks, avoid wearing loose-fitting or elasticated bracelets when cleaning, gardening or performing sports activities....you could catch them on something and break them.
- Don't let your gemstones come into contact with nail polish removers, perfume and hairspray
- Never go swimming in your jewellery, chlorine in swimming pools can cause damage
Gemstone Tips
Gem stone hardness is based on a standard called the Mohs scale. The higher the Mohs scale number, the harder the stone is. When the Mohs scale was developed, early gemologists tried rubbing one stone against another to see which stone caused scratching on another. Quartz (the stone that makes up sand) is rated at 7 on the Mohs scale, and that is why any gemstone with a rating of less than 7 is easily scratched (such as coral, lapis lazuli, opal, pearl, and turquoise).
Also, some stones can be quite porous (such as opal, pearl, turquoise), that is why you shouldn't leave these kind of stones immersed in water for too long.
Common stones that are damaged in sunlight, these include:
Amethyst: becomes paler
Ametrine: may change colour
Aquamarine: becomes paler
Aventurine: translucent types often lose colour
Beryl: brown or orange types may change to pale pink
Citrine: may change colour
Kunzite: becomes pale or loses colour
Rose Quartz: becomes paler
Smoky Quartz: becomes paler