Is my pearl ruined?

[packrat]

I have a pearl ring, and went to clean it one day, this was quite a while ago..before they put in the pearl forum here. Anyway, I cleaned it w/a toothbrush, which I saw later on here is a big fat no no, and noticed there was something around the base of the pearl. Not on the pearl, but at the bottom, on top of the ring itself. I couldn''t get it off and thought jeez this thing is filthy, what is it? I couldn''t scrape it off w/my nail, so I got a tweezers and pulled it off. When I dried the ring, I was looking at it b/c the setting is bent (it''s 2 whale tails coming up to hold the pearl so I catch it on stuff) and I noticed that at the bottom of the pearl on both sides, there are little ridges, like part of the outside peeled off in two little spots. Is it ruined now? It''s not noticeable since it''s on the bottom, so you only can see it if you put it right up by your face and look. I just wondered if I did it by using the toothbrush?? I feel bad b/c the ring was a gift from my parents!

 

[pearlie]

As long as it isn''t noticeable face up, I wouldn''t worry about this for now.

Maybe you did it trying to clean the ring, maybe not. Regardless, please don''t EVER put a toothbrush to pearls again. Clean jewelry with pearls using only warm soapy water. If you were to soak the ring long enough, whatever ''gunk'' is on there will loosen and wash off.

Pearls are rather soft and can scratch easily, cleaning with a toothbrush will destroy the nacre and kill any luster in a pearl. It sounds as if pieces of nacre have chipped off. Eventually the pearl may fall off the ring base (if it''s only held on by glue and a post) and at that time you can easily replace the pearl.

Just continue to wear and enjoy the ring. Whale tails and pearls sounds cool.

julie.

 

[Indylady]

In the future, you could chose to replace the pearl altogether. While pearls are fairly durable, chipping isn''t uncommon, especially if you''ve used some kind of abrasive force.