CARE OF JEWELS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17348, 13 May 1924, Page 9

CARE OF JEWELS.

Certain care must be bestowed on jewels and trinkets if they are to look their best; jewels that are dirty lose -some of their attractiveness. Cleanliness heightens the beauty of gems and, .moreover, preserves that oeauty. Pearls should be polished with a chamois but never in watqr. They should be worn often, for contact witii the flesh is their preservative. Diamonds are frequently kept in jeweller’s sawdust, and are dried there after being brushed with soapsuds. They mav be rins.ed in cologne water, and it Kelps their brilliance to be shaken in a bag of bran. A piece of clean white blotting paper may be used as a dryer if the sawdust or bran is not available. Amber Is rubbed with pulverised chalk slightly moistened with water. The beads or other ornaments are then laid upon a flannel cloth, rubbed with olive oil, and lastly, a dry woollen cloth, until the polish returns. The opal is rubbed with mastic (putty)* spread on a chamois, and slightly moistened, then polished with powdered chalk, followed by a washing in water and a dry rub. Filigree silver and chased silver or gold ornaments may be cleaned with a little ammonia in the water. Absorb the moisture in jeweller’s sawdust, and when not in use keep the ornaments wrapped in paper or cotton, for these pieces tarnisfi quickly, especially where gas is used. Polish with chamois or a small piece of carpet with a high pile. Discoloured gold ornaments can bo boiled in a thick soapsuds and then polished with a brush and powdered chalk or magnesia. Ivory ornaments can he whitened with peroxide and the solution rubbed on with a cloth. As a cleanser, ordinary baking soda dissolved in warm water is very good. Old cut steel-ornaments that are rusty and discoloured should be soaked in kerosene for some time, washed in soapsuds, and polished with very fine emery powder.