It is important to understand the proper way to shop for, wear and store fine jewelry, regardless of whether it is a newer piece or a cherished heirloom. This article is going to show you great ideas for getting the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to jewelry.
Keep your whole jewelry collection sparkling with a polishing cloth. This helps keep your jewelry shiny without the need for chemical cleansers, which can damage the pieces. You just have to polish each piece the same as you would polish glass using the two-sided cloth. Use a two-sided cloth to clean your jewelry, one for polishing, and the other for shining.
You should always store your jewelry very carefully. Jewelry should be stored in an organized way in a box, a jewelry holder or hung on hooks. Avoiding piling your nice jewelry pieces into one big heap in a box. Not only will your necklaces get all tangled up, you risk damaging all your fragile and fine jewelry pieces.
Precious Metals
Don’t keep your jewelry in open air or someplace with a lot of humidity. Ideally, you should keep them in drawstring bags or in a jewelry box. Air and humidity can cause the metals that the jewelry are made of to tarnish. You will be able to polish precious metals to remove tarnish, but non-precious metals may lose their coating, showing the copper metal beneath.
If you are shopping for sterling silver jewelry, you’ll need a magnet and an eye for the real thing. You can detect fake sterling silver with the magnet, since non-precious metals are drawn to magnets. If your silver is sterling, you will also notice a mark on the piece. This mark might state .925, sterling, or ster. Be wary of jewelery without any kind of hallmark, as often it is fake.
Know which kind of stone you are buying with your jewelry. Gems can be natural, imitation or synthetic. Synthetic stones are lab created jewels, while imitation stones are normally colored glass. While natural gems come out of mines, synthetic ones come out of laboratories.
Take the time to notice what kind of jewelry they already wear. For example, if they wear earrings, are they hoop or studs? Do they prefer white or yellow metals? Just paying attention to what they wear now will make buying for them much easier than asking a salesperson.
Before committing yourself to a piece, do research to determine which styles are hot and which are not. One of the few things that can enhance the appeal of a lovely piece of jewelry is knowing that it came at a great discount!
Keep your jewelry free of tarnish to make it look its best. For example, avoid taking your jewelry somewhere it can get wet. Metals will often tarnish or rust when in contact with water. If you want to give your jewelry a measure of protection from this element, coat it thinly with clear nail polish.
Jewelry that has been cared for properly retains its sentimental and economic value. If you know how to properly care for your jewelry, your memories and financial investments are also going to remain safe. There is more to it than what you’ve read here, and continuing to learn can help you mazimize the wear and value of all your jewelry pieces for years to come.