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Opal is both beautiful and rare and you should therefore look
after it as a precious possession and treat it as you would any fine jewellery.
Protect your opal from heavy blows, abrasive materials and chemicals as well as
extreme temperatures or very low humidity conditions and don't subject it to
rapid thermal changes. With reasonable care your opal should last forever.
Some tips: Store each opal and piece of opal jewellery in its own padded cloth
bag. Remove your opal ring from your finger before dishwashing or gardening etc.
CLEANING SOLID OPALS
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If you wish to clean your solid opal or opal jewelry quickly rinse it
off with some water at first. This will remove most of the dust that
could scratch the surface during rubbing. Then rub it clean with a wet
tissue. Afterwards wipe off the water and rub your opal dry with a new
tissue. If it is not possible to remove all dirt this way you may use
some mild soapy water or soak your solid opal in warm water for a few
minutes.
To clean all opal products do not use any harsh abrasives, detergents,
bleach or other chemicals and never use ultrasonic cleaners or steamers. |
DOUBLETS, TRIPLETS AND INLAY
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You should avoid prolonged immersing of
opal doublets,
opal triplets and inlay jewelry in water and particularly
detergent, as the glue holding the layers together could deteriorate,
dulling the appearance of the assembled stones and inlay as the layers
start to separate. |
STORING OPALS
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If you need to store an opal or opal jewelry for a long period in a
safe or safety deposit box, you should put your opals together with a
wet sponge in an air-tight plastic box. This way your opals are stored
in a well humidified atmosphere since safes usually are a very low
humidity environment and are unnaturally drying. Such extremely dry
conditions could have an adverse effect on opal which naturally contains
some water.
Never store your opals in any kind of liquid like oil, glycerine etc. |
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