The “jewel” on an Xbox is the plastic circle with “Xbox” written in it that is glued to the top of the Xbox case. A common practice when customizing an Xbox is to clear the jewel — remove it, clean the green paint off of it, and then cut a hole through the top of the Xbox case so you can see through it with the clear jewel.

I mentioned the jewel is glued on — oh man is it ever. The most popular method for jewel removal at Xbox-Scene is to stick the top part of your case in the freezer for 30 minutes, then take it out and tap on the underside of it, directly beneath the jewel, until it “just pops off.” Yeah. Right. I even tried leaving the case lid in the freezer for much longer, but I simply could not get the jewel off (if you try to pry it without loosening the glue, it will crack). Finally, I grabbed some Goo-Gone and poured it into the crack between the edge of the jewel and the Xbox case. After letting it sit for a few minutes, I was able to get the tip of a butter knife under the edge of the jewel and pry upwards ever so slightly. I added more Goo-Gone so it would seep underneath the jewel, and after a few more minutes I was able to get it off. I then used the Goo-Gone to remove the nasty black rubbery stuff that was underneath the jewel.

Then I had to get the paint off of the jewel. This is where things got bad. The various methods for clearing the jewel include alcohol, nail polish remover, sanding, oven cleaner, and brasso. I had some brasso, so I decided to give that a go. You’re supposed to wear gloves with chemicals that strong, but of course, “I’m a man, I don’t need no cleaning gloves. This won’t take long, how tough can it be to rub some paint off of a 3-inch piece of plastic?”

An hour later…

Damn I wish I had worn gloves. I was in the downstairs bathroom with the window open and the fan going, so the fumes wouldn’t get to the rest of the apartment. They were getting to me though. So was the brasso itself. I was using a washcloth with one hand to rub the back of the jewel, and I was holding it with a rag in the other hand. My figertips were on fire from the chemicals soaking through the washcloth, and I had to start taking breaks and washing my hands. This, of course, hurt profusely. But I’m an idiot and didn’t bother to go buy some cleaning gloves, I just got a new rag. Eventually, with the help of an old toothbrush (because my fingers were getting cramped from squeezing the washcloth), I got all the paint off. What a pain. With all the breaks I had to take, it was probably close to two hours by the time I got the last of the paint off.
Now the jewel is clear; at least it looks good for all the suffering I went through. I plan on having a friend of Kevin’s sandblast the back of it so it gets a frosted look, which will diffuse the light from the LEDs better.