GIA Gem Cleaning and Display Chart Offers Free Retailer Resource for Gemstone Care

Knowing which gemstones can survive an ultrasonic cleaner and which will emerge from one damaged is knowledge that separates a confident jeweler from a costly mistake. GIA's Gem Cleaning and Display Chart addresses exactly that gap, providing a concise reference covering recommended cleaning methods and care notes for a wide range of popular gemstones. It is freely downloadable from the GIA store at no charge.

The chart's practical value is visible even in its fragments. Zircon, rated 6 to 7½ on the Mohs scale with poor-to-fair stability in heat-treated form, carries a pointed warning: heated stones may revert to their original color when exposed to light. Tanzanite, the blue-violet zoisite that has become one of the most commercially significant colored stones of the past half-century, rates 6 to 7 on the Mohs scale and demands particular attention to temperature. The chart's instruction is unambiguous: avoid thermal shock. Porous stones carry their own caution, noting that skin oils, lotions, and perfumes may cause discoloration simply through handling.

GIA frames the chart's guidance carefully. "The information on this chart is intended to provide general guidelines for routine cleaning," the document states. "Outcomes can vary significantly depending on the manufacturer of your equipment; the type and strength of the solutions you use; and the intensity and frequency of their applications. Be sure to follow manufacturer guidelines and, if you're uncertain, avoid steam or ultrasonic." For retailers advising customers at the point of sale, that caveat is as important as any cleaning recommendation on the chart itself.

Deeper care information is available through the GIA Gem Encyclopedia at GIA.edu, which the chart cites as a companion resource for stones requiring more detailed study.

The Gem Cleaning and Display Chart is one piece of a considerably larger library of free retailer support materials GIA maintains. The GIA store offers downloadable resources including a Diamond Origin Retailer Brochure, a Diamond Origin Selling Pocket Guide, a Pearl Brochure, Emerald and Ruby and Sapphire Graphics, Gemstone Graphics, a GIA Continuous Hue Circle Chart, GIA Copy Blocks for Retailers, a Digital Pearl Chart, a Double-Sided Pearl Handout, a Downloadable 4Cs Poster, a Diamond Quality Factors Poster, and a brochure for distinguishing natural diamonds from laboratory-grown diamonds, among others. The 4Cs Brochure is available in 18 languages.

GIA's Retailer Support Program positions this suite of tools as instruments for building customer confidence: resources for explaining the 4Cs, diamond grading reports, interactive 4Cs scales, videos on diamond selection, and GIA images and logos cleared for use on retailer websites. Additional retailer support materials and the Retailer Lookup registration are accessible through retailer.GIA.edu. Gem image credits for the broader GIA gem content include contributions from Bill Larson, David A. Brackna, De Beers, the Dr. E. J. Gübelin Collection, Pala International, and Steve Walters, among others.

Current downloads from the GIA store ship free to U.S. addresses and select international destinations. A promotional offer with a May 1 deadline limits downloads to one transaction per customer; orders from other product categories are excluded from that offer's terms.

For any retailer who has ever hesitated before putting a customer's tanzanite bangle into a steam cleaner, the chart's direct warning against thermal shock is worth the download alone.