Care for your Opals and Pearls

Opals and pearls are beautiful gems, but they can be fussy. Luckily, you can take simple steps to keep you and your jewelry happy for many years.

Storage Recommendations

• Store your pearl and opal jewelry separately from other jewellery to minimize accidental contact or scratches.
• Opals will craze (develop cracks on the surface) and lose their play of color if their water evaporates. Storing your opal jewelry pieces wrapped in soft, moist cotton may prolong their life.
• Don't store your opal pieces in oil or glycerin. This won't help protect them and will make cleaning more tedious and messier.
• Keep your pearls and opals away from sources of heat or cold, like fireplaces or open windows.

Wearing Your Opals and Pearls

• Be especially careful about taking opal jewelry straight from the comfortable temperatures of your home into a frigid night or scorching summer day. If you can't avoid taking your opal jewelry from one temperature extreme to another, keep the pieces under your clothes if at all possible to help minimize the change.
• Apply your perfumes, colognes, and hairsprays before you put on any gemstone jewelry, but be particularly cautious with your pearl and opal jewelry because they react very poorly to acids and alcohols.
• Avoid doing household or outdoor chores while wearing pearls or opals.

How To Clean Opal and Pearl Jewelry

Never clean opal or pearl jewelry in mechanical cleaning systems, such as ultrasonic, steam, or boiling. Use only the methods recommended below.

Most opal jewelry and pearls in earrings or other pieces without drill holes can be cleaned with warm water, mild soap, and soft brush, just like many other gemstone jewelry pieces. Make sure you use mild soap only (e.g. Sparkle Bright Jewelry Cleaner) and a soft brush (not a toothbrush).

Dirt Can Scratch Your Opals and Pearls

You might be tempted to simply wipe a bit of dirt off your opal or pearl jewelry. Don't do it. In terms of hardness, pearls range from 2.5 to 4. Opals range from 5.5 to 6.5. Most household dust is a 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale. That dirt could scratch your opal or pearl. Clean them as recommended below, instead.

Cleaning Your Assembled Opal Jewelry

Like pearl necklaces, doublet or triplet opals (thin layers of opal glued to other gemstone layers) should never be soaked in soapy water. This might dissolve the glue holding the layers together. Clean opal doublets and triplets with a mesh rag dipped in warm, soapy water. Keep in mind that opals are sensitive to changes in temperature so keep the water close to room temperature.

Cleaning Your Pearl Necklace: A Step-by-Step Guide

To avoid getting excess moisture in the drill holes, never immerse your necklace in the soap and water mixture. Follow these instructions.

• Wet a thin mesh rag with the soap and warm water mixture and carefully wipe the pearls.
• Inspect each pearl and knot with a magnifying loupe. If dirt or grime remains, use a soft brush to remove as much residue as you can.
• If you have particularly stubborn grime on a knot, use a sharpened toothpick to dislodge it.
• Be sure to clean the clasp, too.
• Dry your pearl necklace with a lint-free cloth. Daub at the moisture buildup in the knots.
• Blow briskly on the knots and drill holes to help dry off any excess moisture.
• Lay your necklace on a Turkish towel to help absorb moisture.
• Never use a hair dryer or any heat producing appliance to dry pearls.
• If you wear your pearl necklace against your skin, clean it before storing it. Pearls are sensitive to the acids in perspiration.