Steaming jewelry on the stove...

[kkeen15]

OMG, I just tried to steam all of my jewelry, for the first time, on a stove. My kitchen equipment is provided by my employer (in Korea), and its not the best.

Anyway, I forgot about it! And I didn''t notice until I smelled the lining of the pot burning in the bedroom, twelve yards away. And to add to this, the loss of the weight of the water caused the pot to tip, so what I saw as I entered the kitchen was my new ring (platinum), two sets of gold earrings, and a gold necklace sitting in the flame of a gas stove. I about s**t myself.

All I really cared about was the ring. I turned off the heat, took the steamer off the pot, and used a fork to get the ring out. I could tell the metal was fine, but I wanted to make sure the diamond was all right. Now, after it cooled down, I think it is the same as it was before. Would any damage in a situation like this be obvious? Because I can''t see any, and my diamond seems to sparkle the same as before.

My gold jewelry is another story...three of the earrings are almost black now. I think this is because the steaming didn''t clean them at all, so when they were in the flame for God knows how long, the dirt burned and left ash all over them.

I tried this b/c I thought I remembered somebody mentioning steaming jewelry on their stove here before. Who does this? How the h**l do you do it??? I think it didn''t work anyway. And regardless, I don''t think I''ll try it again. I was closer to a heart attack than any 23 year old should be.

Thanks!

 

[chialea]

your diamond should be fine, no worries. the only thing that should happen to it is possibly get some dirt baked on, and it sounds fine.

people here have said they steam-cleaned by setting up a kettle to boil, then holding the ring in the steam that's coming out... I don't believe they steam them like vegetables or anything (though it would probably work just as well). I'm not sure how they HOLD the rings there without cooking off small bits of their fingers, but depending on how directional your kettle spout is, it might not be an issue, or you might want to use a fork or some tongs.

 

[kkeen15]

Thanks, chialea! I was really worried there for a minute.

That was kind of a hasty post...I just read several old posts about cleaning rings. I see how people generally steam their rings at home - with 50/50 ammonia and water.

Several people use household cleaners to clean their rings, but some people recommended not to use them with gold. Do household cleaners like Windex damage yellow gold?

 

[diamondlil]

Oh my!!!!

I hope your gold is okay. I steam my diamond ring over the spout of my teapot. I hold it with tongs in the steam and then dry it with a soft cloth. I think it works pretty well. Of course I also clean my rings in my ultrasonic several times a week. I just do the steam thing when I'm making tea.

DiamondLil

 

[sumi]

I tried steaming my jewelery once by holding it over a kettle. I used wooden chopsticks to hold the jewelery. I feel like you get more control with chopsticks than tongs. Plus, it's not metal and won't risk scratching anything.

 

[WinkHPD]

You can go to gemcareproducts.com and order their jewelry cleaning kit, it does a great job of cleaning jewelry, removes tarnish etc. You can also contact your local jewelers, Roseco now makes a small steamer for home use that sells for about $119.

I "suspect" that various pricescope dealers could order the steamers for you too at a lower price...

Wink

 

[Dancing Fire]

kkeen15,
i usually like my diamonds medium rare, not well done. but seriously, i don't think there's any damange done to the diamond. maybe the setting is a different story.

 

[Shay37]

I keep from burning my fingers by using the tweezers that came with my diamond to dangle my ring over the steaming opening of my tea kettle. They are very long and save my fingers. The flame (open gas flame) does do a number on my forearm though. Oh, well, my diamond looks beautiful. I also have 18k yellow gold setting, and Windex does no harm to mine (so far). I just use it for a quick fix every morning before I leave the house. Quick spritz and a scrub with an extra soft toothbrush, rinse, dry and go.

Shay

 

[Shay37]

Oh my goodness, I so need to apologize to you. I just realized that I misspelled your name in a previous post. (possibly more) I think I addressed you as kkleen. What a dope I am. I would like to plead my eyes were playing tricks, but it's still no excuse for me being careless.

Please forgive me.

Shay

 

[kkeen15]

vtigger, lol...I actually like my diamonds rare! But as you might have guessed, I'm not worth much in the kitchen.

Shay, don't worry about it. I noticed somebody had addressed me as kkleen, but I just figured my screen name doesn't make sense anyway so it was to be expected

but actually, my screenname is part of my name and my old soccer number.