Diamonds can become smudged and dirty throughout every wear even if you are careful about what you do when you wear your jewel. The natural oil in skin, soaps, lotions and other materials can cause a film to develop on a diamond. As a film develops, the jewelry will not sparkle naturally and will become a bit dull. Diamonds even collect dust when you’re not wearing them, so the time comes at one point or other that you will need to clean your jewel.

In order to keep the shine and natural brilliance that is associated with a beautifully cut diamond, you will need to clean it once or twice a year at least. Many people resort to taking their jewelry to a store where they can leave their piece for a professional cleaning. Some settings may require this depending on what type of metal and what type of dullness has occurred. For example, if your stone is set in silver, it may be best to have a professional clean it with a special silver cleaner that will provide a deep clean of the metal as well as the setting area.

Another method of cleaning is to soak your diamond in a solution of half ammonia and half water for 30 minutes. After soaking, gently brush the setting with a soft brush. Dry carefully with a soft cloth. If you don’t want to mix your own solutions, there are jewelry cleaning kits found at many department and jewelry stores that will provide you with maximum and safe cleaning ability. All the materials you need to clean your jewelry is included in the kit.

Then of course, there is one easy way to clean diamonds and settings that is used by jewelry professionals which may seen too easy but it really works well. Buy some Windex and simply spray on your ring or other jewelry. Use a soft, jewelry cloth to dry the setting and diamond. This is actually one method that professionals use to clean diamond jewelry depending on how dirty the settings actually are.

Buying Platinum jewelry can be fun, exciting and confusing. Whether you’re considering a gift of Platinum jewelry for someone special or as a treat for yourself, take some time to learn the terms used in the industry. Here’s some information to help you get the best quality Platinum jewelry for your money, whether you’re shopping in a traditional brick and mortar store or online.

Platinum is a precious metal that costs more than gold. It usually is mixed with other similar metals, known as the platinum group metals: iridium, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium and osmium.

Different markings are used on platinum jewelry as compared with gold jewelry, based on the amount of pure platinum in the piece. The quality markings for platinum are based on parts per thousand. For example, the marking 900 Platinum means that 900 out of 1000 are pure platinum, or in other words, the item is 90% platinum and 10% other metals. The abbreviations for platinum – Plat. or Pt. – also can be used in marking jewelry.

Items that contain at least 950 parts per thousand pure platinum can be marked simply platinum. Items that have at least 850 parts per thousand pure platinum can be marked with the amount of pure platinum and the word platinum or an abbreviation (for example, 950 platinum, 900 Plat. or 850 Pt.). Jewelry that contains less than 850 parts per thousand pure platinum, but has a total of 950 parts per thousand of platinum group metals (of which at least 500 parts is pure platinum), may be marked with both the amount of pure platinum and the amount of the other platinum group metals in the piece. For example, the marking 600 Plat. 350 Irid. means that the item has 600 parts per thousand (60%0 platinum, and 350 parts per thousand (35%) iridium, totaling 950 parts per thousand of platinum group metals, and 50 parts per thousand (5%) other metals.