Do you have a collection of fine cubic zirconia jewelry? These incredible and affordable gemstones have soared in popularity since the 1970s and are available in a variety of cuts, sizes, colors and qualities. If you’ve purchased high-end cubic zirconia (CZ) like the Russian Formula CZ Birkat Elyon carries, then you want to take care of it.
After all that effort by you or your special someone to pick out the perfect piece of CZ jewelry, you don’t want to see it suffer from wear and tear and lose its luster. It’s important, then, that you know how to properly care for CZ jewelry. If you take care of your collection, it can stay beautiful and vibrant for many years to come, but exposing cubic zirconia to certain elements and not caring for it can harm your gemstone. Let’s start by taking a look at what you should avoid.
How Can CZ Be Damaged?
Cubic zirconia is an extremely hard synthetic gem – yes, diamonds are harder, but CZ stones are still rated near the top of the hardness scale – which means that while it is durable it can suffer from nicks and chips if you’re not careful with it. The first thing you should do is always be aware of your CZ when you’re wearing it. Think about your surroundings and take care not to bang your stone into walls, doors, railings or other hard surfaces that could scratch or mark the gem.
Another danger is a dimming of your stone’s wonderful shine. There are certain everyday household and beauty products that you should keep away from your CZ. While these items won’t damage your CZ, they can potentially dirty it, requiring a good cleaning to make it look brilliant again:
- Perfume
- Household sprays
- Cleaning solutions
- Body lotions
- Hairspray
- Soap films
In order to keep your jewelry clean, the best practice is to remove your ring while washing your hands with soap or taking a shower. This way your jewelry stays clean, and the CZ would look brilliant.
How to Clean Your CZ
Not damaging your CZ is great, but there’s a difference between just taking precautions and actually taking care of your gemstones. You should be cleaning your cubic zirconia every now and then in order to help maintain its brilliant shine. You have a few different options for doing this, but let’s start with the basic method. Follow these six steps:
- Once in a while, inspect your CZ for damaged prongs or other defects. If your stone is loose or the prongs are damaged, the stone could fall out or the prongs could break during the cleaning process. Obviously those are scenarios you’re going to want to avoid. So if you find that there is any potential damage like that, hold off on cleaning and head to a jeweler to see if you need repairs first.
- Let’s assume that your piece(s) is in great shape, though. You’ll need to make some cleaning solution. Mix a quart of warm water with a teaspoon of mild dish detergent in a clean bowl until small bubbles float up to the surface. With that done, put your jewelry into the solution you’ve created and let it soak in there for about 10 to 20 minutes. To be safe, set a timer to remind yourself to take it out after it’s had time to soak.
- Rinse your jewelry in a bowl of warm water or in the sink. Just make sure to plug the sink up first to be safe. You’d definitely rather be safe than sorry here.
- Use a soft towel or jewelry polishing cloth to pat your piece dry,especially the stone itself. When finished, lay the jewelry down on the cloth to soak up any leftover moisture.
- Still not satisfied? Start over from step one and do everything again to get any remaining grime off. You may need to go through this process a few times if your jewelry is particularly dirty.
- With it newly cleaned, store your CZ in a lined jewelry box in order to keep it cleaner longer. Don’t stack jewels on top of one another and make sure the box’s lining is soft and protective.
Ultrasonic Cleaning
Want the best cleaning possible without all that manual effort? Then you’ll want to get yourself a Sparkle Spa Pro Ultrasonic Cleaner. These cleaners are the best of the best when it comes to cleaning jewelry. Powerful ultrasonic sound waves will scrub your fine jewelry and keeps it always looking its absolute best, as if it just came out of the showroom. You can even purchase pre-mixed cleaning solution for it, which means there’s no need to mix, measure or waste.
Simple, convenient and effective, the Sparkle Spa Pro Ultrasonic Cleaner is the jewelry cleaning accessory of choice for discerning owners.