You need to have knowledge of jewelry care regardless of how you acquire it; you should also maintain a basic familiarity with buying and selling trends so you make the best choices with the pieces you have or are considering purchasing. Some handy hints are right here to help you optimize the cost of purchasing jewelry, and the effort you need to go to so as to find the right piece.
Don’t use acetone, bleach, ammonia or turpentine to clean copper. This will result in damage to both the stones and the metal of the piece.
You can keep the jewelry in your collection sparkling by using a special polishing cloth. It will allow you to make your jewelry look as good as new without the use of chemicals. Use a two-sided cloth to simply polish your jewelry as if it were composed of glass. Use one side of the cloth for polishing, and the reverse to make it sparkle.
Take care to store your jewelry safely. Using boxes, hooks, holders, and compartments is very effective for ensuring the pieces stay separated. Avoid just throwing them into a box in an unorganized manner. This not only harms the fragile pieces, but it can also cause items, such as necklaces, to get badly tangled up with the other pieces of jewelry.
Jewelry should be stored in an air-tight and humid free area. A jewelry box or drawstring bag out of a humid area is ideal. Continued exposure to humidity extremes or air causes metals typically used in jewelry to tarnish. It is possible to polish precious metals, but polishing non-precious metals will damage the coating, which makes the copper that metal was covering show.
If you are looking to purchase sterling silver jewelry make sure that you have a magnet with you and a good eye. If an item of jewelry is attracted by a magnet, it is not sterling silver! Only non-precious metals can be drawn to a magnet. True sterling silver will also have a mark on it to indicate its quality, such as “0.925” or “ster”. If the piece of presumed silver is not marked, be skeptical that is real silver. It could very well be a fake.
Synthetic Gems
Before you make a final jewelry-buying decision, take a look at what’s new and trendy. It is one thing to get a gorgeous bauble, but it is another to get it on sale!
Make sure you know what kind of gem you are getting when you are buying jewelry. There are three unique types of stones: imitation, synthetic and natural. Natural and synthetic gems are real stones, but imitation is just plastic colored to look like the real thing. Natural stones are found underground and synthetic gems are created in a lab.
Ask about any insurance a jeweler may offer when you are buying jewelry. Insurance policies allow you to bring a defective or broken piece into the jewelry store for repair. There are even some jewelers that will cover the replacement if the piece has been lost or stolen.
When shopping for a diamond, it’s crucial that you do comparisons. Take a look at the diamonds up close, then put it next to other pieces you are interested in. However, be mindful that there are fraudulent ways to make the diamond look better than it is.
You want to ensure that your jewelry always looks its best so do everything you can to stop it from tarnishing. Do not wear jewelery around water. Metals will often tarnish or rust when in contact with water. For added protection for your jewelry, try adding a thin coating of clear nail polish.
Before you buy a new piece of jewelry, look at what the current trends are. It is one thing to get a gorgeous bauble, but it is another to get it on sale!
As a collector of costume jewelry, you should investigate the condition of the pieces that you want to add to your collection Even though it is not as expensive as its precious counterpart, costume jewelry represents a significant investment, one that can be lost if the pieces are allowed to get worn and broken. Compare pieces for quality, because good ones stay high or even grow in value over time.
Before purchasing a piece of jewelry, be sure to ask the jeweler about insurance policies. Many stores offer a policy where you can bring broken or damaged jewelry back to the original jeweler for repair at little to no cost. There are jewelers who offer insurance for misplaced or lost jewelry, too.
Your belt will get a little pizzazz if you accent it with a brooch like this. Either put it near your hip or near the middle of your waist.
Jewelry that is cared for properly is very valuable, not just in economic terms, but also in sentimental value. If you know how to properly care for your jewelery, you will be taking care of memories you will have for many years. There is much more information available, too; if you continue educating yourself you will learn how to get even more from your jewelry.
One way to ensure that your jewelry stays clean is to put it only after you have applied your make-up and it has had time to set. Your jewelry attracts dust and particles from cosmetics; if you apply makeup after you put on your jewelry, the particles will make it look dull. It is especially important to keep this in mind when putting on earrings and necklaces.