people who NEVER take off or wash their rings!

[phoenixgirl]

My sister-in-law is the only person in the family who shares my jewelry addiction. She has some honking diamond studs that her parents gave her, but she hasn't worn them much since having children.

I am pretty sure my brother got the worst bargain of the century because he couldn't tell me anything about the color, clarity, or cut of her stone. She has an oval. "Oh, it isn't even 2 carats" she said once, so I'm guessing 1.75 and probably high color and clarity (my guess would be D-F, VS1 based on their ignorance of diamonds and desire to have "the best"). Her band is maybe five 0.12 carat stones bar set in platinum. The bands are really, really thick, both in width and in depth (if that makes sense).

Anyway, she can't get her rings off anymore after having children. She was admiring my new band and tried my engagement ring on next to her rings. Now my ring is an heirloom and isn't a great cut as far as I know, but you should have seen how sparkly mine was and how dull hers was. It was like hers was glass. She then realized how icky her rings were, but was surprised since when she washes her hands she's sure to soap up her rings to clean them.

A few years ago I gave her the little travel jewelry cleaner brush with the goop (you know, the red container that they sell at Bed Bath and Beyond? I forgot who makes it), so she did run off and use that as best she could.

Wouldn't you hate it if you could never take your rings off to clean them??? I suggested she try to wriggle them off and get them sized up, but she expressed concern that the engraving would be messed up. The engraving that no one, including her, will ever see because the rings will be stuck on her finger for eternity? And what, it's better for the engraving to cut the bands off one day rather than to have them resized? It looked like if she really, really tried and maybe used some kind of grease, she could get them off (they came up to her knuckles).

This is why my rings are loose! I'm probably really a 5 and 3/4, but I wear a 6. If I shake my hand the right way, I can fling my rings off. I don't like to feel the rings tight on my fingers and I know I'll just get fatter or arthritic one day.

 

[kcoursolle]

I''ve never understood this either, but I think you are describing the majority of people. I don''t think most people take off their rings or clean them...more often then once a year or so. I don''t use an ultrasonic because my rings have pave, but I do clean it with the red stuff every day or so and I can still say that I have the cleanest rings of everyone I know!! I know many people that had to have their rings cut off because they couldn''t take them off after years. My dad hasn''t taken off his wedding ring since they got married almost 30 years ago. I take mine off every night to go to bed, I couldn''t stand to sleep with it on.

 

[Christa]

I''m like you phoenixgirl--I can''t stand tight rings, either the way they feel or the way they make your fingers look like sausages. I''m "officially" a size 5.5, but I wear a 6. I''d rather have loose rings in the winter than tight any time. And don''t get me started on how gross and what a waste of diamonds it is to never clean them!

 

[Kaleigh]

I wear my rings on the loose side as well. I can''t stand when rings are tight. I also don''t get people who can live with them too tight. That would drive me insane, and you can''t take them off to clean them?? That would never be an option for me. I love cleaning my rings, and want them to look great. And I love cleaning my friends rings, they love my US.

 

[ladykemma]

uh, looking at toes, i am a reformed dirty diamond person. i didn't clean it or take it off for ten years. ewww.

now i have an ultrasonic. i think we are worse than reformed smokers.

i notice that my co-workers all have clean diamonds now. they looked at mine and then looked at theirs...

 

[sumbride]

My future Sis-in-law saw my ring for the first time today. I cleaned it just before meeting up with her for that reason... when I put my very sparkly oval next to her very dirty oval, the difference was night and day. She was actually embarrassed, I could tell... kept making excuses about sunscreen and how long it''s been since she cleaned it... she has two small children, so I know a clean diamond isn''t her priority, but I bet she cleaned it as soon as she got home today. I know she has a nice stone, I''ve seen it sparkle, but today it just looked like gray glass. I don''t want mine to ever look like hers!!! Can''t wait for my SI US to show up this week!

 

[Mara]

my mother hardly ever cleans her ring, it drives me nuts. every time she comes over i make her give it to me and it gets a US bath. it''s a beautiful ring and the stones are super sparkly when clean but when dirty it''s just a cloudy white line of 5 diamonds. even my sister who is 15 and not even really into jewely is always telling her that her diamonds look cloudy and frosty when dirty and getting on her case to clean the ring more. it''s amazing what a cleaning can do!!!

 

[fire&ice]

I''ve always said the most important "C'' is cleanliness. You could have the most perfect diamond in the world & it will look like crap if mucky gucked w/ stuff.

Even if she can''t get if off her hand she can still get a little toothbruch under to clean it.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

The dirty rings aren''t the part of the story I find the most disturbing, its that she can''t get them off!!!! That would drive me crazy!

 

[pearcrazy]

My mom is like Mara's. Her rings are filthy and the only time they get taken off and cleaned is when she comes to visit me and I shame her into it. I am always amazed at the dirty gook underneath the prongs. I also made her get a new 6 prong setting when I discovered that she'd worn through one of the prongs and that the metal underneath had worn through and the halves of the circle underneath didn't even meet anymore. That was the original setting from 45 years ago. The jeweler who re-set her diamond in the new setting said 3 of the 6 prong heads were broken off and he didn't know how her diamond had stayed in. She's lucky she didn't lose it. When I told her what he said, she just shrugged and laughed.

 

[Odilia]

I think the first time my mom took off her ring to have it cleaned in >45 years was when I got engaged. She has a small emerald cut solitaire, which she never takes off. 45 years of cooking, cleaning, hand lotion, raising 6 children... When I got engaged and had jewelry cleaner, I had her take it off and I cleaned it. It helped a lot, but I would so love to get it ultrasonic or steam cleaned! And the thing is, she sort of protests like it doesn't need it. (I think maybe when I went to do it a few months later, and she figured I had just done it recently.) It looks pretty when clean, and I might have even considered an EC, except I've never really admired hers over the years, probably because I never saw much sparkle. I'd also love to get it rhodium plated for her. You can still tell in person that it's white gold rather than yellow gold, but I took a picture of it once wearing it next to my YG wedding band, and it's amazing how yellow it looks in that picture.


ETA: {{{{{The dirty rings aren't the part of the story I find the most disturbing, its that she can't get them off!!!! That would drive me crazy! }}}}}

I agree! It would almost give me a panic like claustrophobia!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

OFG- I think you really need to keep ECs clean because of the step cutting! Mine gets smudges so easily.

 

[EdSkinner]

I have seen alot of rings that grandma put on at her wedding and were taken off grandma's finger before they put her in the box. These rings are so incredibly filthy that it could take acouple of hours in a ultrasonic with safety pins to get all the gunk out so you could grade the stone. In honor of the old automatic toilet cleaner, 100,000 flushes (or something simular to that ilk) we refer to these rings as 50,000 wipes. Figuring that over the course of a life time, this is how many times granny used the toilet and did the paperwork with the hand that her ring was on. Sort of gives you the willies doesn't it.

 

[anchor31]

My mother never cleans her ring, and she leaves it in places that freak me out like windowsill, counters, etc. It''s a very small diamond (.15ct, I think), not a very good cut or very white but at least it''s eye-clean, and I would think she''d like to get as much sparkle as she can out of it and keep it clean! One of the six prongs is crooked too and it has a huge scratch on the bottom of the band, but she won''t get it fixed. It would drive me insane!

I clean mine once or twice a day with an old soft toothbrush and clean it up with soap a bit every time I wash my hands... I desparately need a US cleaner! I''m obsessed about keeping my diamonds clean.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 9/7/2006 9:29:01 AM
Author: Basset Hound
I have seen alot of rings that grandma put on at her wedding and were taken off grandma''s finger before they put her in the box. These rings are so incredibly filthy that it could take acouple of hours in a ultrasonic with safety pins to get all the gunk out so you could grade the stone. In honor of the old automatic toilet cleaner, 100,000 flushes (or something simular to that ilk) we refer to these rings as 50,000 wipes. Figuring that over the course of a life time, this is how many times granny used the toilet and did the paperwork with the hand that her ring was on. Sort of gives you the willies doesn''t it.

Wow. Thanks fer sharing.


lol