How to Clean and Care for Your Ring

A ring worn daily collects soap, skin oils and grit. Regular gentle cleaning keeps stones bright and helps you notice a loose setting before a stone is lost.

The basic home method

Soak the ring for fifteen minutes in warm water with a drop of mild washing-up liquid. Brush gently with a soft toothbrush, paying attention to the underside of the setting where dirt collects and blocks light from reaching the stone. Rinse in clean water — over a bowl, never over an open drain — and dry with a lint-free cloth.

This is safe for diamonds, sapphires, rubies and all the common precious metals.

What to avoid

• Bleach, chlorine and ammonia, which attack gold alloys and can pit the metal.
• Toothpaste and baking soda, which are abrasive enough to scratch soft metals and polished stones.
• Ultrasonic cleaners for emeralds, opals, pearls, tanzanite, turquoise and any fracture-filled or treated stone. The vibration can widen existing inclusions.
• Hot tubs and swimming pools, where chlorine degrades white gold alloys over time.

Softer stones

Pearls and opals should never be soaked. Wipe them with a barely damp cloth and dry immediately. Pearls in particular are damaged by perfume, hairspray and acids, so the old advice holds: last thing on, first thing off.

Everyday habits that help

Remove rings before gardening, weight training, cleaning with chemicals and applying hand cream. Store rings separately in soft pouches, because a diamond will happily scratch every other ring in the box.

When to see a jeweller

Have any stone-set ring checked annually. A jeweller will inspect the claws under magnification, tighten any that have worn, check the shank for thinning and re-polish or re-rhodium as needed. This is inexpensive and prevents the single most expensive failure — a lost centre stone.

Watch for size changes

Rings wear thinner at the base over years, and a ring that starts spinning may have worn rather than your finger having shrunk. Measure your finger again and compare with the ring's current inside diameter using the converter. If the ring reads larger than it used to, the shank has stretched and should be inspected before it cracks.

Insurance

Keep the valuation certificate, photograph the ring from several angles and record the inside diameter in millimetres. If a replacement is ever needed, that measurement makes reordering the correct size straightforward.