A wedding band that has lost its shine after a decade on the finger, an inherited diamond ring with grime trapped in the gallery, a pearl strand returning from storage, a silver locket darkened with tarnish — our London workshop cleans, polishes and restores the pieces clients bring in, with a method matched to the metal and the setting rather than a single protocol applied to everything.
Every piece is examined under magnification before any solution touches it. Diamonds and sapphires go through heated ultrasonic; pearls and opals are hand-cleaned with a soft brush; watch cases see steam and a gentle polish. The finished work returns photographed, gem-inspected and packed for safe travel home, with care guidance written for the piece you brought us.
No two pieces should be cleaned the same way. The metal, the setting, the stones and the age of the work all change what is safe and what is most effective. We use three core methods at the bench, and we decide between them after the piece has been inspected — not before.
The piece is suspended in a heated cleaning solution while ultrasonic transducers send tens of thousands of micro-vibrations per second through the liquid. The cavitation lifts grime out of claw recesses, gallery wires, channel-set stone undersides and engraved letters — places no brush can reach. This is the workhorse method for diamond, sapphire, ruby and most synthetic-stone pieces, and the right starting point for any sound, modern setting.
A directed jet of pressurised steam removes loose film, residual solution and surface lotion from cleaned pieces, and acts on its own as a quick refresh for jewellery that does not need a full ultrasonic cycle. Steam reaches the underside of pavé stones and the inside of fine link chains without immersion, which makes it the safer finishing pass on pieces with delicate solder joints or recent settings.
Bench-side work with rotary mops, graded polishing compounds and a fine touch — used to restore shoulder brilliance on worn wedding bands, smooth out daily-wear scratches, refresh brushed and satin finishes to their original direction, and re-rhodium white gold pieces where the bright plating has worn through. The method that brings a tired piece back to first-day appearance.
From everyday wedding bands to inherited pearl strands, vintage signets to modern diamond pieces — each category receives its own assessment and its own cleaning protocol at the Martin Oliva bench.
Four stages from the moment a piece arrives at the bench to the moment it leaves us — each one signed off before the next begins, with before-and-after photographs kept on record for every commission.
Every piece is examined under 10x magnification before any solution touches it. We check claw integrity, solder joint condition, hallmark legibility, the condition of porous stones, the state of any rhodium plating, and any pre-existing damage that needs to be noted. A written condition report and reference photographs are produced and shared with the client before cleaning begins — no surprises after the fact.
The method is matched to the piece: ultrasonic for sound diamond and sapphire settings, steam for finishing and for fragile-jointed work, hand-clean only for pearls, opals, coral and amber. Temperature and chemistry are chosen for the metal and stones present, and pieces with rhodium plating in poor condition are queued for replating after cleaning rather than risking further wear.
Light bench polish where the wear pattern allows it, brushed and satin finishes restored to their original direction, white gold pieces re-rhodium plated where the bright finish has worn through. Claws and settings are checked a second time post-clean, and any movement in the work is reported back to the client with a separate quote before any restoration is committed.
A final gem inspection under magnification confirms every stone is secure and every cleaned surface is to standard. Before-and-after photographs are filed, the piece is packed in a Martin Oliva presentation box and returned by insured tracked courier, or held at the workshop for collection by appointment. Care guidance specific to the piece you brought us is included with every return.
Indicative pricing for the most common cleaning and polishing commissions. A free inspection precedes every quote — fragile pieces, vintage work and any restoration involving stone resetting are quoted separately after the piece has been examined at the bench.
Prices include VAT. Insured tracked return shipping within the United Kingdom is included on every commission over £45. Walk-in cleaning while you wait is available for most single pieces by appointment at the workshop.
Daily handling matters more than the annual professional clean. These are the habits we recommend to clients after every commission, drawn from forty years of watching pieces come back for restoration that simple care could have avoided.
Each piece in its own pouch or lined compartment. Diamonds scratch every other stone — never let pieces rest against each other in a single drawer.
Jewellery goes on after perfume, hairspray and lotion have dried, and comes off before bathing, swimming and sleep. Daily contact with water and chemistry accelerates every wear pattern.
Warm water, a drop of mild washing-up liquid, a soft toothbrush behind the diamond gallery, rinse and pat dry on a lint-free cloth. Avoid this routine for pearls, opals and amber.
Sterling silver stored with an anti-tarnish strip or in a sealed pouch stays bright between wears. Open-air storage in a humid bathroom is the fastest route to a black piece.
Pearls and porous stones lose lustre when stored for years untouched. Wear them in rotation and wipe with a soft cloth after each use — body oils condition the surface.
Domestic ultrasonic baths cannot tell the difference between a sound setting and one already coming loose. Stones lost in a kitchen sink rarely come back. Leave ultrasonic to the bench.
Bring engagement rings and daily-worn diamond pieces in twice a year for a free claw inspection. Caught early, a loose setting is a five-minute fix at the bench rather than a lost stone.
A small zipped pouch in a carry-on, never in checked luggage. Pearl strands rolled rather than coiled. Watches with leather straps face-up away from chains and rings.
Daily-worn diamond engagement rings benefit from a professional clean every six months — that is also the natural interval for a claw and setting check, which catches loose stones before they are lost. Pieces worn less often can be cleaned annually, and seasonal jewellery seen only at events needs little more than the occasional refresh. Pearls and porous stones live by a different rule: wipe after every wear, never deep-clean, and bring them to the bench only when the lustre has begun to flatten.
Yes — for surface cleaning. Warm water, a single drop of mild washing-up liquid, a soft toothbrush gently passed behind the diamond gallery, then rinse and pat dry on a lint-free cloth. What you cannot do at home is verify that the claws are still secure after years of wear, or that grime trapped behind the stone is genuinely gone. We see rings come in looking clean to the eye that release a startling amount of residue in the first ultrasonic cycle.
No. Pearls and opals are porous and will absorb the cleaning solution; ultrasonic vibration can also fracture the layered structure of an opal. Emeralds are typically fracture-filled with oils that the heat and vibration will dissolve, leaving the natural inclusions visible. Coral, amber, turquoise, malachite and any glued setting also stay out of the ultrasonic. We hand-clean everything in this category with a soft brush, a mild solution and the patience the piece deserves.
A genuine bench polish removes a microscopically thin layer of metal — measured in microns. A wedding band polished once every few years will still be wearable in fifty years. We polish only where the wear pattern warrants it, and the polish stops as soon as the brilliance returns. Pieces with hallmarks, engraving or pavé settings are polished selectively to protect the detail. Over-polishing is something we actively avoid, not a service we sell.
It is quoted separately because not every white gold piece needs replating at every visit. Rhodium plating typically lasts between one and three years on a daily-worn ring, depending on the underlying alloy and the wearer's skin chemistry. We inspect under magnification at intake; if the plating is still sound, we clean only. If the original white gold is showing through warm where the rhodium has worn off, we recommend and quote the replate at that point.
Both. Walk-in cleaning while you wait is available for most single pieces at the workshop by appointment — most cleans take under an hour at the bench. For postal commissions we recommend Royal Mail Special Delivery or any insured tracked service to our central London address; the insured return shipping within the UK is included with every commission over £45. International clients should contact us in advance for customs guidance.
Most single-piece cleans and polishes are completed the same day or within twenty-four hours. White gold rhodium replating adds two to three days for the plating cycle and curing time. Pearl restringing takes three to five days depending on strand length. Vintage restoration and any work involving stone resetting is quoted with its own timeline after the piece has been inspected — typically one to two weeks.
Yes — the majority of pieces we clean were bought elsewhere, including high-street, vintage and inherited pieces. Hallmarked or otherwise, every commission is welcome, and every piece is treated to the same standard. Items with structural concerns — loose claws, fractured solder joints, hairline cracks under the bezel — are flagged before any cleaning begins, with a separate quote for the restoration work if you choose to commission it.
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