Cleaning tension settings

[Raven_Pixie]

I just got my white gold diamond tension set eternity ring today and i love it. I want to keep it look bright and shiny and am just wondering the best way to clean it. I was told not to use a tooth brush on the gold as it could scratch it and jsut to soak it in hot water with a little detergent, is this ok? I did read somewhere that a baby toothbrush is good for diamonds. There are minute spaces between my diamonds and the band is tension set. Do I need to be more careful when clean tension set diamonds? I will be having it cleaned and replated annually but I jusdt want to know a good way to clean it at home. Also, any tips to keep it looking good would be much appreciated.

 

[kenny]

We have 3 tension-set diamonds that I keep super clean.
Tension settings show so much of the diamond that they seem to scream in pain when they are dirty.

Toothpaste might scratch a highly polish metal finish, but without the paste the plastic bristles of a tooth brush will not.
Metal is harder than plastic, and something softer cannot scratch something harder.
That said, I like to rinse off the ring under the tap to remove any abrasive grime prior to brushing.

Here's how I clean our tension settings:

Rinse under tap.
Use a tooth brush and isopropyl alcohol to clean all sides of diamond.
Brush vigorously enough so most of the alcohol (which is contaminated with gunk) splatters away.
Reload the brush with fresh clean alcohol.
After 4 or 5 reloads the liquid that splatters away will be very clean.

Dry with new Q-tips, or better yet blow away liquid with a can of compressed air.

This process takes half a minute and when I loupe the stone it is absolutely 100% residue free, even next to the metal.
I'm positive that even the fanciest most expensive professional cleaners could not get the stone any cleaner.
If I had a setting with intricate carvings, nooks and crannies or prongs I'd consider an ultrasonic, but a simple tooth brush gets everywhere with a tension setting.

Tension settings are soooo easy to keep clean.