Gem polishing equipment will help you bring a shine to your jewelery, whether you're selling new gems or trying to clean and resell used jewels. Gem polishing abrasive materials clean and polish jewelery by using abrasive chemicals that are hard enough to clean gems but soft enough not to hurt your stones.

Different gem polishing compounds work on different types of stones. When you buy gem polishing tools or abrasives, be sure they will clean the specific type of jewelery you have. An abrasive that cleans an amethyst gem may not be appropriate for a diamond.

Gem polishing equipment is supplied in a variety of ways. Know your options before searching for gem polishing tools online:

1. Buy polishing abrasives and compounds.
2. Find gem polishing pads for hand or machine polishing.
3. Purchase jewel steamers, gem polishing tools that clean jewelery with the power of water.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find gem polishing abrasives to clean your jewels

The first step to cleaning your gems is finding the right gem polishing compounds or abrasives for the job. You can then use these abrasives for polishing by machine or hand.

I recommend: Cratex has an online catalog of rubberized abrasives useful for sanding gemstones. When ordering an abrasive, specify the size of the abrasive grain you desire. For gem polishing concentrate, see National Jewelers Supplies for GemOro Super Cleaning Solution, as well as other jewelery products. Mix with water to create a consistency appropriate for the type of gem cleaning you're doing.

Buy gem polishing cloths, wipes and abrasives

For a softer polishing touch, gem polishing supplies such as cloths and abrasive wipes offer a means to finish a gem by hand. After using harsher abrasives to clean the bulk of dirty material, use a cloth to buff the stone to a fine finish.

I recommend: NancySilver.com sells a variety of jewelery cloths and wipes. Buy a full polishing cloth set, or buy polishing cloth by the yard to keep your business supplied far into the future. Buy Fabulustre polishing cloths to keep your hands clean when polishing gems with rouge.

Buy gem polisher machines

Besides gem polishing abrasive materials, gems may also be cleaned with jewelery steamers, gem polishers that use the power of water to clean your stones. Find the right steam machine to clean your gems without harsher abrasives.

I recommend: Find a number of jewel-steaming machines from National Jewelers Supplies, including the Hoffman Jel 3, Jewel Jet Steam Machine, GemOro XSteam, and others. For a full wet polishing kit, see Barranca's lapidary polishing equipment.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Suppliers of gem polishing abrasives often sell polishing materials for any fine goods or jewelery made of silver or gold. Look to the same vendors for any other polishing materials you need.