The Best Jewellery Care Practices to Energise your Gemstones
Each gemstone carries its own pulse and unique way of meeting the world.
Cleaning and polishing your gemstone necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets with intention preserves its beauty and strengthens its natural vitality.
This guide distills the elemental principles of gemstone care into modern rituals you can weave into your everyday life. Use it to elevate your jewellery care routine, honour your stones and keep their radiance alive.
Know Your Stones
Just as it’s important to know your metal when it comes to cleaning your gold jewellery, it’s equally important to understand the nature, structure and sensitivities of the gemstones your pieces are energised with.
The Moh's Hardness Scale, which ranks minerals from 1 (softest) to 10 (hardest), is a simple way to honour each gem’s natural boundaries.
But while hardness matters, it’s not the only factor you should consider. Hard stones like Emerald can still be sensitive, and softer stones like Turquoise may be more porous.
Porosity, inclusions, treatments, and natural cleavage all influence how a stone should be cleaned, worn and stored.
There’s no single ritual that suits every gem. Your care should always respond to the stone itself.
5 Ways to Keep Your Gemstones Powerful and Radiant
Gemstones respond to how you move, where you place them and how you let them rest. These simple, everyday practices will help your gemstone jewellery stay vibrant, strong and energetically clear.
1. Keep Them Out of the Ocean and Pool
Sea and chlorinated water can pull moisture from Opals, dull the glow of Pearls and seep into the ancient pores of Turquoise. Remove your gemstone jewellery before swimming.
2. Remove Before Exercise or Gardening
Movement, sweat, friction and impact can abrade and scratch gemstones, as well as loosen settings. Let your stones rest while your body works to preserve their strength and surface.
3. Apply Beauty First. Gemstones Last
Perfume, sunscreen, oils and skincare are designed for your skin, not your stones. Porous gems absorb these products easily which can lead to discolouration so let your beauty rituals settle before you adorn.
4. Avoid Exposure to Heat and Harsh Chemicals
Direct sunlight, hot cars, saunas and chemical exposure can stress or weaken delicate stones like Opal and Moonstone. Keep your gemstones cool and away from perfumes, cleaning agents and strong skincare.
5. Store Stones Separately
Harder stones can scratch softer stones. Storing your stones in a Kerry Rocks Box honours their form and protects their surfaces from harder companions.
Choose a Gentle Care Ritual for Your Gemstone Jewellery
While each gemstone calls for its own form of care, the guiding principle remains the same: care in a way that honours the stone’s natural structure.
Cleanse With Intention
Your cleansing ritual should respond to your stone’s hardness, structure, and sensitivity.
Most gemstones can withstand gentle, regular cleaning when it’s done properly and with care. Transparent and light-reflective stones can benefit from more frequent attention to maintain their lustre.
When in doubt, choose the gentlest approach: a soft, dry cloth and careful storage.
Stones That Respond Well to Gentle Cleansing
Diamond, Sapphire, Ruby, Citrine, Amethyst, Garnet, Smokey Quartz, Emerald, Blue Topaz, Peridot, Morganite, Moonstone, Labradorite, Aquamarine
These stones generally respond well to gentle, water-based cleaning. Stones that are naturally included, delicate, or treated may require a little extra care.
Gentle Cleansing Ritual
Prepare a small bowl of lukewarm (never hot) water.
Add a few drops of mild dish soap to create a gentle solution.
Soak briefly, then use a soft brush or cloth to remove residue.
Rinse in lukewarm water and dry completely with a soft cloth.
For stones such as Emerald, Moonstone, Labradorite, and Zircon, keep the soak very brief, avoid hot water and ultrasonic cleaners, and dry immediately.
Stones That Prefer A Softer Ritual
Pearl, Opal, Turquoise, Malachite, Lapis Lazuli
These stones are porous and absorb moisture and chemicals easily. They respond best to dry care.
Dry Touch Ritual
Do not soak or submerge.
Avoid soap, chemicals, heat, and ultrasonic cleaners.
Polish gently with a soft, dry cloth.
Ensure stones are completely dry before storing.
Store with Intention
Give each stone its own resting place. Store your gemstone jewellery in its own Kerry Rocks box or in separate compartments to protect surfaces from moisture and prevent contact between harder stones and softer stones.
Pearls should always be completely dry before storing away to prevent mould.
Keep all pieces away from prolonged exposure to direct sunlight, heat, and humidity.
Check Regularly
Each gemstone responds to care in its own way, shaped by inclusions, treatments, age, and setting.
Return to your stones once a month, in clear natural light, for a considered inspection.
Observe the gemstone’s surface and inner radiance for any changes beyond its natural inclusions.
Notice how the stone is held. The setting and prongs should remain secure, balanced, and unchanged.
New signs of cracking, chipping, or fracture suggest the stone may need professional care from a trusted jeweller.
Regular attention supports the stone’s natural balance.
Ritual Care for Softer Stones
Opal: Protecting the Fire Within
OPAL NEEDS EQUILIBRIUM.
Its internal structure (Mohs 5.5–6.5) is sensitive to heat, cold, moisture and abrasion. Too much heat dries its fire. Too much water disrupts its harmony.
Solid opals are cut from a single body of stone, while doublets and triplets are formed in layers and ask for greater protection from moisture.
Some opals, including Ethiopian Opal, are naturally hydrophane, meaning they absorb moisture easily. When this occurs, their play of colour may temporarily fade, but will return once the stone has fully dried again.
Ritual Care for Opal
PROTECT ITS INNER FLAME
Keep Opal away from hot cars, saunas, direct sunlight and rapid temperature changes. Sudden extremes can disturb its delicate internal balance.
CLEANSE WITH SOFTNESS
Solid (single) Australian Opal, Mexican Fire Opal: Wipe with a soft, slightly damp cloth. Avoid chemicals and ultrasonic cleaners.
Doublets: Must remain completely dry. Do not soak, swim, shower or submerge. Polish gently with a dry or barely damp cloth only.
Ethiopian Opal: Avoid contact with water wherever possible. If exposed to moisture, allow the stone to dry naturally in a cool, shaded place until its fire fully returns.
HONOUR ITS NEED FOR PROTECTION
Store separately in a Kerry Rocks box, in a cool, shaded place where its fire can rest.
Pearl: Preserving the Glow
PEARL NEEDS SOFTNESS AND STILLNESS
Organic and deeply receptive, with a Mohs hardness of ~2.5, holds light gently and must be tended the same way to protect her luminous nacre.
Ritual Care for Pearl
LET YOUR BEAUTY SETTLE FIRST
Pearls absorb fragrance, oils and SPF. Let your skincare and scent rituals finish before adornment: “Last on, first off.”
GUARD ITS BOUNDARIES
Pearl does not swim. Avoid pools, oceans, showers and steam. Moisture weakens both the gem and its silk thread.
RESTORE HER GLOW AFTER WEAR
Wipe gently with a soft, dry cloth to revive her natural lustre.
LET HER REST IN SOFTNESS
Store flat, supported and separate. A Kerry Rocks box or lined compartment keeps her nacre smooth and her thread strong.
Turquoise: Keeping Earth’s Stone Grounded
TURQUOISE NEEDS CLARITY AND PROTECTION.
Porous, ancient and grounding, with a Mohs hardness of 5–6, it absorbs what it meets. Dryness and separation from chemicals keep its cerulean calm intact.
Ritual Care for Turquoise
KEEP WATER AT A DISTANCE
Turquoise drinks in the world around it. Moisture, steam and salt all shift its tone and cloud its protective energy. Keep it away from water, humidity, chlorine and the ocean’s pull.
ADORN ONCE BEAUTY HAS FULLY ABSORBED
Perfume, oils, lotions and sunscreen can settle into Turquoise’s surface and dim its blue light. Let your beauty rituals settle before wearing this sacred stone.
REFRESH WITH A DRY TOUCH
No soaking. No sprays. No ultrasonic cleaners. A soft, dry cloth with slow, grounding strokes is all Turquoise needs.
LET THE STONE REST IN SHADE
Store Turquoise in a Kerry Rocks box, separate from harder stones, far from heat or sun.
Caring for your gemstones becomes a quiet act of devotion, a way of honouring the stones you wear and the energy they awaken in you.
Choose your stone. Choose your moment. Choose your care.
