How To Clean Pearls
and Keep Them Beautiful

Few gems are more highly prized than pearls, and learning how to clean pearls and care for them is very important.

A favorite of royalty, pearls were once important financial assets, comparable in price to real estate.

Extremely rare in nature, pearls years ago were created only by chance, and thousands of oysters had to be searched for one good pearl. These beautiful gemstones are now widely available thanks to cultured pearls.

Pearls are considered an organic gemstone and are less durable than most gems, with a hardness rating of 2.5 out of 10. They are sensitive to acids, dryness and extreme humidity, and should be cared for accordingly...

How to Clean Pearls

How to Keep Pearls Beautiful

• Avoiding Damage
  
• Storing Pearls
  

Why are some pearls so cheap, and some so expensive?

How to Clean Pearls

When taking off your pearls, wipe them with a dry, lint-free cloth. The calcium carbonate in pearls dissolves in human sweat or oil from the skin, and this will diminish the pearls' luster.



If your pearls need a good cleaning, do so with warm soapy water (never an ultrasonic cleaner), taking care not to get water into the drill hole as the pearl may discolor. If you are concerned about how to clean pearls properly, ask your local jeweler to do it for you.



Dry your pearls flat on an absorbent, soft (and preferably lint-free) towel.



How to clean pearls with tarnished silver? The very best way is with a Silver Puff. This is soft enough for pearls, but will clean sterling quickly.



Once cleaned, store pearl and sterling jewelry on Silver Saver Paper. Line your jewelry box with this, and it will keep silver from tarnishing. (Replace every 6 months.)

How to Keep Pearls Beautiful

Avoiding Damage

If you wear cosmetics, perfume or hair spray, apply them before putting on your pearl jewelry. Remember: pearls go on last, and come off first.



If you wear your pearls frequently, have them restrung annually. Experts suggest using silk thread, and have the pearls individually knotted. This prevents wear on the pearls and prevents a disaster should the silk cord break.



Storing Pearls



Be sure pearls don't get exposed to direct sunlight for a long time. This turns the pearls yellow.



Store them away from contact with metals or harder stones that might damage them. Pearls are best kept in a soft cloth or padded jewelry box. Don't store them in plastic, as it will seal out air, thereby accelerating deterioration.

Don't just leave your pearls in a drawer — wear them at least once a month, as the mild humidity from your skin is good for them.

The quality of a pearl is determined by four things: size, shape, color and nacre. The size of a pearl is pretty self explanatory, but the shape, color and nacre have some very surprising variations!

Shape

Descriptions are interesting: round, potato (or nearly round), buttons, rice, stick and even rice crispy!



Color

Natural (undyed) pearls come in white, cream, pink and peach. The color is determined by how far beneath the surface the mollusk is submerged (optimum for white pearls is about 10”). Most pearls have some sort of color variation in them. Pure white is unusual. (White pearls are often bleached.)



Nacre

This refers to the beautiful sheen on the surface of a pearl. It can be coating the whole pearl evenly, or it could cover half the pearl in a big lump, and the other half might have no nacre at all.

The odds are pretty small of having a nice sized pearl that is 1) perfectly round, 2) has uniform color across the whole pearl, and 3) is evenly coated with a smooth nacre. The odds of having a perfectly matched string of pearls are even smaller, and the price increases in proportion.

If you have pearls, I recommend you Pearls are particular, and it's important to remember how to clean pearls properly.

If you’d like more information on pearls, including how to tell if a pearl is real or fake, the International Colored Gemstone Association’s website is excellent (a new window will open).

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