A water pick comes in handy while cleaning jewelry. Dry it with a soft cloth that does not shed lint. Be careful when allowing a jeweler to clean a piece of jewelry in an ultrasonic cleaner. Ultrasonic cleaning can shake stones out of their setting. The solution and the high speed vibrating can damage some stones.
Many gemstones are fragile and can split or crack if bumped or hit.
Storing your jewelry is often only thought of in terms of protecting from theft, but storage is an important factor in preserving them as well. Jewelry needs to be stored in individual soft cloth bags in a jewelry box. If you pile jewelry on other jewelry or carelessly throw them together they can scratch or dent each other. Since jewelry boxes are where burglars look first for jewelry you might want to put the cloth bags of your more precious jewelry in a more concealed spot or a safe deposit box. Other precautions for jewelry are not to wear them while gardening, housework, auto repairs or playing sports.