Scrub a Dub Dub

It has been said that cleanliness is next to godliness, and that is something I agree with whole heartedly. As a kid in the 60’s my mom was a stay-at-home mom with seven kids. Her idea of housekeeping was in another dimension of sight and cleanliness, a true dyed in the wool clean freak, much to the chagrin of my siblings (namely my five sisters). We had a saying in the house, it isn’t clean unless it’s “Corinne Clean”.  I remember we had a central vacuum system in our house - a pretty cool household thing at the time (1970s). In a five-year period my dad had to replace the central motor like three times. Ma and my sisters wore that thing out. I swear the vacuum ran twelve hours straight a day. She was so precise in her cleaning regime she even had my sisters clean the electrical wall socket outlets with Q-Tips!

Ok, enough about my traumatized childhood. Through it all I did learn a few things from a meticulous mother, my experiences in the U.S. Navy and handling small articles and tiny diamonds for a living. It’s important to be clean and organized.

In the wonderful world of jewelry, clean is also king; there is nothing pretty about dirty diamonds or anything else you place on your body having to do with personal adornment. It makes sense that most of us don’t wear the same clothes day after day, and if you do, the amount of friends you have will certainly begin to dwindle. Jewelry is no exception - it gets dirty and has to be cleaned every now and then. Certain kinds of dirt or chemicals we all come across on a near daily basis can seriously affect the jewelry or gemstones you are wearing. Certain caustic household cleaners, chlorinated pools, and bromine treated spas are big factors in damaging silver and gold jewelry.  

There is an art to cleaning jewelry, but more importantly, knowing how to clean jewelry properly is a major part of the business. Improper cleaning methods can do more damage than good. If you are not sure, ask a professional!

*Warning… The following paragraphs are not to be read if you are of a faint heart or intending on consuming a meal in the next hour or so.

On any giving day, we have a take-in procedure concerning replacement of watch batteries. This simple process has, on more than one occasion, required surgical gloves (or some tongs and a Haz-mat suit!). Just handling the watch because it was layered with dirt and crud that smelled so rank it was beyond belief - someone was wearing this petri dish experiment on their wrist and handed it to my staff or me! After many minutes of scrubbing it with hot soapy water, a stiff bristle brush, and elbow grease - not to mention a few well directed blasts of steam - only then was I able to locate the back cover of the watch so I could remove it and replace the battery. Hopefully without contracting some unknown, incurable bacteria laden virus or flesh-eating disease!  

Folks! For the love of Mike before you leave your watch for a battery replacement, check it out the day before you bring it in so you aren’t handing the poor sods a contagious health hazard!  Some soapy water and an old toothbrush should do the trick! Thank you in advance!

Jewelry we accept for repair can also be an experience. “Clean jewelry is happy jewelry!” I once slid out of a repair envelope what I thought was a large lock of hair. On closer inspection there was a slight trace of a broken gold chain in the tangle of human (?) hair. Rings requiring service are another matter to be reckoned with. I also love it when a customer shoves their finger half way down their throat to “wet the ring” so they can get it easily off their finger and calmly hand it to you for inspection. First of all you just totally grossed me out; I was about to offer you some Windex, where you could have sanitarily and diplomatically sprayed some on your digit, sparing both of us the awkward faux pas you just performed.  

A dirty ring nearly had me wind up in a courtroom once. I remember many years ago when I worked in the well-to-do suburbs of Boston a customer pulled up in front of the shop complete with limo and driver. She was a very wealthy, elegant elderly lady who was escorted into the shop via wheelchair to have a very expensive diamond ring resized to fit her shrinking fingers. She was reluctant to leave the priceless heirloom, expecting it to be done while she waited. My boss at the time was able to point out to her that the ring had other issues that also required attention such as missing prongs and stress cracks but not to worry - the jeweler will stay the night to complete the work so you can have it first thing in the morning. It will be locked up in our safe overnight.

(I will, what?) 

Later that night when I slid that six-carat marquise cut rock out the envelope the diamond was so encrusted with soap, dirt and who knows what… caviar? Needless to say I had to boil it clean for over an hour before I could work on it. I finally completed the work a little before midnight, the ring looked magnificent! I locked it in the safe, and I was told I could take the morning off.

When I arrived at noon the next day the store was all abuzz, the sales ladies warned me the boss was on the warpath looking for me because of “The Ring” (meaning the ring I spent all night working on). She called me in her office screaming “What the heck did you do to her ring?” What are you talking about? The ring came out perfect! “Mrs. Big Bucks says the ring is not the one she left here and she was livid and has called her lawyer!” 

I told Carol she left a filthy, dirty six-carat diamond ring that had not been cleaned since Eisenhower was president; the ring has been sized, re-pronged, cracks repaired, cleaned, polished and refinished like new. She hasn’t seen it like this in decades! 

The woman obviously did not recognize her own ring in pristine condition! 

I called the lawyer and told him this was a huge misunderstanding and asked if the diamond had any papers such as appraisals or certificates. A stone of that value and magnitude had to have paperwork! He said he would get back to me.

He called several hours later. The ring had an extensive appraisal that was done several years back, complete with exact measurements, color, clarity, cut…everything. I instructed him to bring the appraisal and diamond ring to a registered gemologist to reassure both his client and himself that is the same damn diamond she left the shop with.

Two days later it was affirmed there was no wrongdoing on the shop’s or my behalf, the diamond was without a glimmer of a doubt her diamond. Good Lord, all this drama… without so much as an apology! And folks wonder why I don’t do rush work!  SO FOLKS KEEP IT CLEAN!

There is never a charge in my 27 years on the island to come in and have your ring cleaned and checked! Have a great summer! 

Shop will be closed Sept. 1st through 17th for our well-deserved annual vacation period.