Professional cleaning

[agapitor]

One of the many issues DH had with buying a ring online is the cleaning. He was concerned that when a ring is purchased online the cost of getting it professionally cleaned would add up as opposed to having it cleaned for free by the local jeweler who made the ring. So, my question is for those of you who purchased your rings online, particularly those of you who have platinum rings and would have to get it polished every so often to remove the patina. Do you have to pay for professional cleaning? I believe my jewelry purchasing is far from over I've also enjoyed my online purchases so far and actually prefer this method, but would like to have this information for future reference.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Any reputable jeweler will clean your ring free of charge. You can do a lot of cleaning yourself to make sure that gunk never builds up in the first place. What they can do better than you is steam cleaning but I've had many jewelers steam clean my rings. I didn't buy mine online but would never drive to their shop (1 hr.) just to have my ring cleaned.

As far as getting someone to polish the ring, you would probably incur a small fee to have this done but again, not something that you would have done that frequently.

If that's his only problem with online purchasing, you should be good to go. No reason to let a good vendor and excellent prices go by the wayside!

 

[agapitor]

Any reputable jeweler will clean your ring free of charge. You can do a lot of cleaning yourself to make sure that gunk never builds up in the first place. What they can do better than you is steam cleaning but I've had many jewelers steam clean my rings. I didn't buy mine online but would never drive to their shop (1 hr.) just to have my ring cleaned.

As far as getting someone to polish the ring, you would probably incur a small fee to have this done but again, not something that you would have done that frequently.

If that's his only problem with online purchasing, you should be good to go. No reason to let a good vendor and excellent prices go by the wayside!

thanks MissGotRocks.. this was a minor issue for DH and the main issue was the usual weariness of buying something online and sizing issues. But because our BGD stone purchase went well and I still had sizing issues despite having the setting done by a local jeweler I think he's more supportive of buying the setting online.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Cleaning is a non-issue. You can have any jeweler put it in their ultrasonic for free. Remember that may people do not remain in the city where they purchase the ring for the rest of their lives! Polishing might cost a few dollars, but you shouldn't have to do that very often if you take care of the rings. I am very careful to get platinum alloyed with ruthenium because it is harder and does not scratch as much as a softer alloy such as 95 plat/5 iridium. Tiffany and Leon Mege use the plat/ruthenium combination. Another idea is to get the wedding band locally if you want a relationship with a local jeweler. Just don't tell them you got a great deal on your e-ring online as a few people around here have gotten negative reactions!

 

[ValentinesJewelryDesign]

Cleaning is a non-issue. You can have any jeweler put it in their ultrasonic for free. Remember that may people do not remain in the city where they purchase the ring for the rest of their lives! Polishing might cost a few dollars, but you shouldn't have to do that very often if you take care of the rings. I am very careful to get platinum alloyed with ruthenium because it is harder and does not scratch as much as a softer alloy such as 95 plat/5 iridium. Tiffany and Leon Mege use the plat/ruthenium combination. Another idea is to get the wedding band locally if you want a relationship with a local jeweler. Just don't tell them you got a great deal on your e-ring online as a few people around here have gotten negative reactions!
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The 900plat/100 IRridium alloy has a vickers hardness of 110. 950plat/50 ruthenium has a hardness of 130. The best is actually 950plat/50 Cobalt. Vickers of 135 and not as hard to cast as the ruthenium. PLUS, Ruthenium oxide fumes are toxic so it's a hazrd to many jewelers who may not know what they're doing. Cobalt is my favorite, but I've worked with Irridium as well and it's more than suitable as well.

Matt