How to Take Care of Antique Jewelry

As a proud owner of a beautiful collection of vintage or antique jewelry, you know that your collection is the shine of your eye, your light at the end of the tunnel, and you would do everything to protect it, and store it so that it stays that way, right? I mean, I know I would….  Our text is devoted to giving you advice for cleaning, taking care of, and holding on to your precious jewelry.

I will have to share a few things that will help you every time  you think that  you need to take care for your vintage and antique jewelry collection. Here is what you must have in mind:

Scratched Antique Jewelry – No one Wants that!

When storing your precious antique jewelry, make sure that you haven’t placed it so that the pieces rub against each other.  The “Best” thing that can happen in this case is that your pieces will just get out scratched, but the worse case scenario is a stone loss! Make some room for every piece, and if you want extra protection, you can wrap them with a piece of cloth.

Temperature Affects Antique Jewelry

Have in mind that any sudden jumps or drops of temperature can cause the glue in your antique jewelry to either soften down, or to become fragile in the case of sudden temperature drop. In both cases, the stone might fall off without you even noticing on time… So, when storing it, make sure that the box is properly isolated.

The Biggest Enemy – The Moisture

Just  like with the straighten curly locks, the biggest enemy of your precious collection is exactly the moisture. It’s the strongest ally to rust, as well as for losing the foil backing off your rhinestone, and their luster…  This is exactly why you need to leave your jewelry in a safe place for most of the time, and use it for very special occasions. Because, places like a sauna or a beach, or even a plain old rainy day, are not the occasions when your precious jewelry should be  exposed to harsh weather conditions. However, sometimes the circumstances cannot be predicted, and in you end up in a bad weather, just make sure that all your jewelry is properly dried off after.

Forget About “Bling Bling” Household Jobs

No, really, you can seriously forget about those movie scenes where the hot housewife is doing the chores around the house shining like she is on the red carpet… In reality, you should never wear your precious jewelry around the house. Why? Well, during the simple house chore like using chemicals for your kitchen or the bathroom, the chemicals found in  the air during the cleaning, can damage your precious pieces! So can working in the garden, or some heavy lifting chores. So, when you decide that you have a date with the house, make sure that your jewels are in the safe place.

How to Store Your Jewels

Most think that a container is the best solution for storing your jewelry, and that any kind of container is good enough. Well, the truth is completely opposite! It turns out that not all containers are equally good for jewelry storage. For example, Oak cabinets are not good for silver nor gold, because they tend to give off fumes, which are dangerous for metals and cause them to corrode. One might think that the original package boxes for each piece is a good enough container, but the truth is that most of them contain sulfur, which can in the long run harm your jewelry.

So? What is the solution?  As I already mentioned earlier, cloths around your piece, and a soft pouch is the best solution. Also, another great trick is to keep your jewelry in plastic or metal containers and zip lock bags. The second option includes keeping your rhinestone close by, in the case it falls out. If you have a huge collection and you really want to keep it safe, the best choice would be a curio cabinet.

What Every Antique Jewelry Owner Should Know

When you decide that you want to take good care of your precious pieces you need to know that the pieces need to be kept separate from each other. So, once again, forget about those movie scenes where a woman stands in front of a mirror with an opened jewelry box that is overcrowded with jewelry… That scenario leads only to losing your collection really fast. Instead, separate the, put your beaded jewelry at the bottom, flat, because the string (especially silk) tends to stretch in time if it is under tension. Also, make sure that your jewels are away from heat vents and direct sunlight.

There you go, now you know how to keep your precious jewels safe. I hope that you enjoyed reading this text and that you learned something new. Feel free to leave a comment in the section below, and if you are looking for some jewelry style tips, you can also check our “Easy Steps to Matching Jewelry with Your Face Shape” article, and maybe learn some new tricks.