A: Most likely no, it has not been switched. Diamond-swapping is very uncommon but not unheard of (unfortunately). My grandfather used to say "I've never seen a diamond worth switching." That's because a reputable jeweler knows she or he will have to move the whole family to an island and never be seen again if they try something so horribly stupid. It is more likely that you use well water. Well water contains minerals that affix to diamond and will not come off with anything you have at home. Your jeweler can use a light acid bath commonly called a "pickle" to remove these deposits. You may have to leave it overnight as some of these deposits are stubborn. Pickling twice a year will battle this yellowing and will do no harm to your diamond.

Jewelry is made from mostly soft and delicate materials. Your new diamond engagement ring set in gold will not last to see your 10th anniversary unless you treat it properly. Diamonds DO chip and crack and get dirty! Gold and even platinum is soft enough to mold into all those beautiful things we love. That means it's also soft enough to bend and scratch while doing the laundry, dishes, even typing on the computer. 

I find I cannot be terribly nice about this. I have seen jewelry with things LIVING in it. So allow me to be frank about this topic because it will keep your jewelry at it's best.

In the morning: Do not wear perfume on areas where your jewelry comes into contact with your skin. That perfume will still be on your jewelry tomorrow and, trust me, it will not smell the same. Put your hairspray on before your jewelry. You may as well just wear cubic zirconias rather than diamond stud earrings because diamonds look dull with a coat of hairspray. Put your jewelry on last. This will keep it out of contact with your cosmetics as much as possible.

During the day: Do not put hand lotion on without first taking off your rings. This is the #1 reason your rings look dirty. And TRUST ME, under a microscope they ARE. Hand lotion, dead skin, and dirt builds up under the space between your finger and ring and gets crammed under the prongs. This build up can actually lead to skin dermatitus that causes your finger to become red and raw. Keeping dirty jewelry on is not only bad for the jewelry it is also not hygenic. Don't prepare food with your rings on. Don't do the dishes or the laundry either.  Diamonds LOVE grease. That's why they use grease belts to mine them. Diamonds will hold onto grease until you give them a good soak and scrub.

In the evening: Get into the habit of taking off your jewelry as soon as you walk in the door. Put it in the same place every time to avoid losing it. The less you wear your jewelry the longer it will last. And yes, I do mean your wedding ring too! A band can be left on as long as it is thick, solid, and has no stones. But take it off once a week to soak it well and clean your finger. Your wedding ring with diamonds is like a germ and grime trap. Being sentimental by never taking it off is not sweet, it's gross. And you are not doing your jewelry any favors by leaving it on all the time.

If you follow my advice, however unpopular it may be, you will avoid much of the usual wear and tear including damaged or missing gems, bent and broken prongs and precious metal wear. Have your jewelry professionally checked and cleaned at least twice a year. Many jewelrs will do this for free and it's worth stopping in to have done.Wear your jewelry and enjoy it but treat it with care and respect!

For more on cleaning your jewelry there are some helpful tips in my previous blog about Patina on Vintage/Antique Jewelry.

Thanks to Wendy for her excellent question:

Q: Will removing patina on antique jewelry lower the value?

A: Patina is a good thing as long as you are collecting furniture. Antique and vintage jewelry maintains it's best value when it is closest to it's original appearance. Unless you're dealing with the crown jewels or a museum-quality Mayan gold headress it's pretty safe to assume that a properly cleaned piece of jewelry is more beautiful and thus more valuable than it's counterpart that is caked with old hand lotion and body powder. Think about it this way: You have a solid silver service set that hasn't been polished in 100 years. You brush away the patina with a bit of Semichrome (excellent product for jewelry too) and WOW you've got a gorgeous set of spoons, forks etc. that you can actually use and that will exact a higher selling price. On the other hand, say you've got a set of plated silver service items that needs some cleaning. You dip it in Tarnex and...ooops, you've just removed half the plating and now you have a service set that looks as if it's been for a spin in the garbage disposal. Now you have an ugly, unusable service set that will cost you several hundred dollars to replate.

It's the same with jewelry. The lesson is; clean what needs to be cleaned and only using the proper method. First, know what materials you are dealing with and how to clean them. Here are some examples of materials and how to clean them:

Solid gold: Soak in jewelry cleaner for a few minutes, or if you want to save some cash, mix an ammonia-based all-purpose cleaner (I use Mr.Clean) and mix it with water 1:4 (1 part cleaner, 4 parts water). Brush with the little brush that comes with the jewelry cleaner or use a soft toothbrush. Follow up with a jewelry-buffing cloth. These cloths have a small amount of the polish used by jewelers with a buffing machine. These cloths are usually available at your local jeweler. My absolute favorite is the one made by Stuller. They are a bit more expensive but last longer and don't dry out like traditional cloths. By using light cleaning and buffing you will remove tarnish and general gunk without harm.

Solid silver: Never assume it's safe to use a dip product like Tarnex or silver jewelry dip. It's best to use the method above. Having said that, I admit to using dip all the time! When you have as much silver to deal with as I do it is simply too time consuming to hand polish everything. The results depend on the item. If you insist on being lazy like me, understand that you may sometimes have poor results. Dip the item into the cleaner and check it after 10 seconds. If it's starting to look duller pull it out and rinse immediately. If it's looking better, leave in in for another 20 seconds and rinse. You may have to repeat this several times before the serious grime is gone. After a good rinse, use a polishing cloth to remove any remnants and bring up a nice polish. If you have a newer silver item it may be plated with rhodium to prevent tarnishing. If you dip a rhodium-plated piece it will eat off the rhodium and leave it looking dull and, well, pretty ugly. Polish it with a polishing cloth until the shine comes back. Most jewelers can re-rhodium silver (or gold; rhodium is used on almost all new white gold to make it look more white than white gold actually is) but it can be expensive because of the cost of rhodium (more than platinum costs in pure form!).

Diamonds and Gemstones: Diamonds can be cleaned in jewelry cleaner no matter what the age. Emeralds, sapphires, rubies, cubic zirconia, and most semi-precious stones (aquamarine, garnet, amethyst, topaz etc.) can be cleaned in the same manner but DO NOT soak them in cleaner. It's best to give them a quick dip, a gentle scrub, and a good rinse. DO NOT EVER soak pearls, opals, anything glued into the item, any item that has antiquing (the dark recessed areas), mother of pearl, other shell, coral, ivory, fake pearl, ivory etc., or foil-back rhinestones. There are "delicate" jewelry cleaners on the market for pearls, opals, and such but I never use them and never recommend them. Pearl and opal are porous like sponges. Pearls have an outer coating that is very delicate and can easily be worn or chipped off. You may soak pearls in mineral water and buff them clean and dry with a soft cloth (no polishing cloths!) but understand that this will break down the silk that they are strung on or the adhesive used to mount them. I do not soak pearls unless I am about to restring them. Pearls love your natural body oil. When you wear them you should avoid putting lotion or perfume near where they fall on your neck. Opals are made of silica and the areas between the silica molecules will wick up moisture and expand. So keep your opal ring out of the shower and sink. If you have an item with these NO-SOAK materials that really needs cleaning just take your time and protect those materials. Keep them safe from cleaners and away from polishing cloths by covering them with a bit of that super-sticky saran wrap. Or just avoid making contact with those areas alltogether. I can't stress enough the importance of the polishing cloth. They are gentle and easy to keep away from delicate areas.

If you have an item I have not mentioned, just ask!

Upon reviewing my last blog I realized I would end up writing chapters in a book and that the book would be excruicatingly boring; for me to write and probably for you to read. So I thought about maybe just having an open Q & A called "Ask the Jeweler". This will be a lot more fun for me and likely most helpful for anyone interested. That way I can answer specific questions rather than blather on about things you may not be specifically interested in. So...break out grandmas jewelry and that thing you picked up at a garage sale and start asking your unanswered questions about your own jewelry or anything else. I will try to answer within 24 hours. Ask away...

Wow! I never knew there are so many people wanting to know more about their jewelry! Thanks for all your e-mail's and comments! What I would like to do is start an organized blog about jewelry evaluation. It will be based on a systematic approach that I use when appraising jewelry for insurance purposes. I will talk about subjects of interest including environmental and social aspects of jewelry. I will also discuss different forms and value and when you should have an item appraised for insurance purposes. Here are some topics that I will include:

Metals- Kinds of metals, metal stampings, metal testing, metal values.

Diamonds- More on this complicated topic including the history of diamond mining and cutting, use in jewelry, those 4 C's, prices, branded diamonds, conflict diamonds, laboratory reports, and other topics as they arrise.

Gemstones- mining, cutting, treatments, laboratory reports, pricing, etc.

Valuation- different values, appraising, insurance.

More to come! Thanks again!

Sincerely,

Nikki Hart

As a continuation from a comment recieved I am discussing the identification of small gemstones and materials in vintage/antique jewelry; specifically where found in stick pins (see 1st blog post, and comments). The most common materials used in stick pin decor are mother of pearl, seed pearl, glass, and synthetic gemstones, and semi-precious stones such as garnet and amethyst. It is a lucky find if you come across a piece with genuine ruby, diamond, emerald, sapphire, etc. The first thing to do when identifying an item is determining the metal type (see comment 2 for specifics). Whether by metal mark or acid testing, the metal type will be your first clue in the identification of the remaining materials. If you item is gold plated, silver, or silver plated it is VERY unlikely the stones in the piece are either genuine or are of high value as in diamonds or precious gemstones. Do not assume though that there is little value in the piece if the metal or stones are not in and of themselves of high value. Always remember that the value of any jewelry item is based more on the psycological value rather than inherent material value. Any pin may have significant value based on it's collectability value rather than material value. Certain makers and styles have higher value because they are sought after by collectors. And never forget the simplest of values: Is it beautiful? A really remarkable or unusual item will have higher value than it's ugly and undesireable counterpart! If you determine that the metal is  precious (ie. platinum, gold) you have a better chance at also having genuine gemstones in your item. Let's talk about diamonds first.

Diamonds: The easy way. In vintage and antique pieces you should not have to worry about the diamond substitutes that plague identification in contempory items. Once you know what you are looking for, you can easily distinguish between glass, crystal, rhinestone, etc. and diamonds. The easiest possible way to do this is to buy a diamond tester; a handheld, rechargable device that measures how well the stone in question conducts heat. Only diamonds or contemporary diamond substitutes will conduct heat in the same manner. Since we are dealing with antique items, the diamond tester is an excellent and quick way to determine the genuine article from the rest, particularly when dealing with small diamonds (often erroneously refered to as "chips", these diamonds are virtually always faceted in some manner though not in the way you might expect of diamond. I will talk more about various cutting methods over time in another blog if any one is interested). But what to do if you don't want to invest in a tester? I have spent years in GIA training to determine this but I will keep this to specifically small antique items. Take your loope, your light, your microscope, or whatever you use and start by looking at the cut of the "diamond". You will not see the many (57,58+) facets you see in contemporary diamonds unless you are dealing with a larger diamond cut after the mid-1930's. What you will likely see is a gem cut deeper and with fewer actual facets and less "brilliance" than what you are used to. These can be Old European cuts, Mine cuts, Transitional cuts, Single cuts (still common in contemporary pieces) etc. While these cuts stand out from each other to the trained eye, they will all look similar to most people. The top (table) of the diamond will usually be quite small and sometimes look off-center. The sides of the diamond will have a high angle (crown) and the bottom (pavillion) will have a shallow angle. Where the pavillion facets come together there will often be a circular shaped facet (culet) that will be visible when you are looking through the table and will give the overall effect of an eyeball look. In most cases you should be able to see clarity characteristics (inclusions). These will appear as dots of black (erroneously referred to as "carbon spots", all diamonds are nothing BUT compressed carbon), breaks (feathers, the most common inclusion), dots (pinpoints), or cluster-like formations (included crystals, the result of other mineral formations growing within the diamond, often simply another diamond formation; a diamond growing within a diamond). Don't be surporised to see a bit of red in one of these cluster formations; garnet crystals are fairly common and can add value to the diamond). Mostly you will see things that looks like breaks and areas of black bits inside the diamond. If the diamond looks a little yellow or brownish, this too is common. The most common colors of diamonds are not the colorless beauties used in high-end jewelry. Even those little side stones on your wedding ring are likely in the near-colorless (G-I sometimes J) or light yellow category rather than the colorless range (D-F). Confused yet? Go to www.gia.edu for great, unbiased information on diamonds straight from the organization that developed the international system for diamond grading. Or buy yourself a tester. Or find a good indpendant jeweler who will take one second to determine it for free for you. If you are dealing with a very high-end item you may see clear, beautifully cut diamonds with inclusions so small that you will not see them. Better to take that item to an experienced diamond grader than chance it yourself if you are buying/selling/insuring.

Gemstones, etc: As above, you will often see mother of pearl and seed pearls. Mother of pearl isn't really worth making synthetic so it's usually safe to assume that it is shell. Seed pearls are popular in period items and are usually genuine as well. A good way to determine genuine vs fake pearls is to run them across the enamel of your teeth. Genuine pearls will have an uneven, sandy feel, while synthetics are totally smooth. Try it out first on known pieces to train yourself on the difference. Emeralds, sapphires, and rubies are all common components of high-end items. If you are dealing with a precious metal and/or genuine diamonds, you are more likely to be dealing with genuine gems as well. Look for color variations (uneven coloring) in these gems along with feather-like or break-like inclusions. The golden rule is this: "IF IT LOOKS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS".  But again, if there are other indications that you may have a rare beauty, don't leave it to chance. When in doubt, find an expert. Do not assume though that you have genuine gems just because the item is old. The use of glass and other materials in jewelry stems back further in history than you might think. If a "gem" has bubbles in it upon close inspection, it is likely glass. Amethyst, garnet, and other semi-precious stones can be harder to determine. They are used in both precious and semi-precious metal creations but are also commonly synthetic or glass as well. Again, if it looks to good to be true....

What about cameos? If you have a pin with genuine cameo you may have some real value. Cameos are so often reproduced, vary in materials and age etc., that you may want to get a good book on them if you have these goodies in your collection. One major indicator of value in shell cameo is fusion. The cameo should be cut out of one piece of shell. If you look closely between the head of the cameo (commonly off-white or light pink) and the base of the shell (commonly pink/coral color) you should not see a very distinct line between the carved figure and the base shell. If there is a perfectly distinct line between the two or you see a shiny line near the base of the carving, you've got a cameo carved from two seperate mateials and fused together with glue or other adhesive substance. The world of cameos has an extensive, complex, and facinating history. If you have any interest in cameos it is best to self-educate, as only experts in antique/vintage jewelry are well-versed in cameos.

I realize this has gone on forever. I hope you found some usefull information here and as always, I welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions.

Sincerely,

Nikki Hart