Now you know what I was referring to above. They get out dirt that you don't even know is there.

 

You have some "interesting" hobbies....or friends with interesting hobbies....or something....

 

A word of warning, for anyone offering to clean their nearest and dearest's jewels.

Any gemstone with an inclusion is at risk of breakage as the vibration can extend the flaw. Also stones can pop out of settings because the jewelry is old, or weak. (Usually poorly made to start with).

Some dealers will put loose diamonds in, (I won't) and never, ever, ever put an emerald in - it will come out a cracked white veined piece of rubbish.

I use a cheap ultrasound on my watch parts all the time.

 

Yes a very good point - you want to be very careful with gems. For example never put an opal in an ultrasonic cleaner.

I have a friend who is a goldsmith/jeweler and he is constantly pulling diamonds that fall out of cheap settings people bring to him for modifications (sizing rings, etc.) from his ultrasonic tank. Use with caution.

 

Clean gemstones with a steam cleaner. Or bring them to your local jeweler who will usually clean them for free while you browse.

 

Diamonds yes.

Not other gems - they react to the localized heat, sometimes to no harm, but I wouldn't do it.

An emerald will loose all its oil.

An opal loose its colour play.

 

A solid Australian opal (white, black, crystal, boulder) won't lose it's colour play in an ultrasonic tank. The colour is in the structure of the stone, and how the spheres of silica are arranged and reflect light based on their size. But opals will crack and break apart in an ultrasonic tank, so they should not be put into the tank at all IMO.

If you are talking about a doublet or triplet, you should not get them wet in any way - they are small slices of opal glued together with a backing (in the case of a doublet) or a back and front (in the case of a triplet) and will come apart with water exposure.

It's certainly possible that a treated opal, like Andamooka matrix, might loose it's colour in an ultrasonic tank, but genuine solid opal will not. I can't say if Mexican fire opal would loose it's colour or not, but again if it's solid I doubt it. Also possibly the South African opals, which are treated, may lose their colour, but a proper Australian "solid" will not.

Yes, opals are my thing...have been to Coober Pedy once and to Lightning Ridge on buying trips a couple of times...I love them...a few shots just because I like looking at them...

White:



Boulder:



Boulder I'm wearing right now:



Crystal:



Black:



And my prized possession - a "Chinese writing" pattern black opal - very rare:

 

Plated metals are also at high risk in a proper working ultra sonic cleaner.

 

Above posts are interesting. I cleaned my Speedmaster 3570 Bracelet in my Ultra sonic tank, and noticed that 3 of the "Bracelet Pins" had "vibrated?" 4mm to 10mm out from their set positions. Amazing the force really. They were situated in a basket, side up, not resting flat.

Today was hot and humid, I was working hard, and for the first time, in a long time, there was no residue on my wrist what so ever, That's proof enough for me!

We revisited Lightening Ridge late last year.. A far cry from my first visit in the late 70's, where you could find nice "Green and Blue' colour laying around, virtually everywhere. Once the Opal dried up, and the "Reds" disappeared, the "Blue's and Green's" became worthy of cutting.. Oh well, that's life...

"The Ridge" and "The Grawin" are still some of the most interesting places in Australia to visit and chat to the locals..

 

Yes a very interesting place, and a felt much safer there than in Coober Pedy. Besides, they serve a great schnitzel at the lawn bowling club in The Ridge!

The first time we went there we did the tour of the mining areas. Since it was just my wife and I on the bus, our tour guide, who was also a miner, took us into his own mine. I used the jackhammer to dig out some rock...didn't find any opal there though...

But we did spend time noodling at the dump (not the garbage dump for everyone else reading, but the dump where they take the excess rock from the mines) and my wife found a nice blue green there:



Not sure it was worth standing out in the sun in 40 degrees for an hour digging through rocks, but it was an experience for sure.

Even though the best stones are all mined out, they still occasionally dig up some nice opals there - this one was 80 carats, and $120k:



And if you have been to the Club in the Scrub and seen their golf course, you are in a select group - it's not everyday you see someone who has taken the time to go to The Ridge.

Did you take the bus from Dubbo? That is a long ride with "interesting" people...



Speaking of Dubbo, how can I resist Australia's best pies:



Of course I've eaten at about 6 places that have Australia's best pies...

Cheers, Al