Safe & Effective Diamond Cleaning Methods: What You Need to Know

Question
Hi Jonathan,
I was getting my nails done a couple days ago and the guy doing them offered to clean my diamond ring for me. I have been going to him for quite some time and trusted him to do this. He brought my diamond back to me sparkling clean. I assumed he had used an ultrasonic but he told me that he had placed the platinum and diamond ring in a bowl of water and dish soap and placed the bowl with the ring in it in the microwave for a minute, just until the water was steaming then removed it and cleaned it with a brush. He told me his friend that is a jeweler taught him this technique. I didn't think much of it until I came home and researched this method on the Internet. Now I am worried sick that my ring could be damaged. There is no damage that I notice, but like I said, I am worried sick that something could've happened to it. Could this cause the diamond to crack or damage in any way? It is a very good quality diamond  needless to say, i learned the hard way to never let anyone but a jeweler touch my ring!Thank you!
Allison Von Kaenel

Answer
Hi Alli. First off let me say that you do not need any special equipment to clean your diamond. All you need is some warm water and soap to clean off the dirt and oil that has accumulated on the surface of your diamond, because these are the only things which make your diamond lose its shine.

You can also use a commercial cleaning solutions but I wouldn't recommend putting the diamond in the microwave or even in an ultrasonic cleaner. Basically, anything you put in the microwave gets heated up from the inside and not from the surface and although diamonds may be one of the hardest materials on earth but are certainly not indestructible.

Here's a page that you may find especially helpful: http://www.brilliance.com/diamond-jewelry-care