Whether your purchase jewelry for friends, inherit valuable pieces or receive jewelry as a gift, it is important that you are aware of the best buying, selling and cleaning jewelry practices. This article will provide you with some key tips on how to best shop for jewelry.
Clean all of your jewelry with a polishing cloth. This method ensures your jewelry stays shiny without having to use any chemical cleansers or solvents. Use the dual-sided cloth on your jewelry just as you would clean a glass. The first side is designed to polish, while the other is for adding shine.
Harsh Chemicals
Try to avoid cleaning it with harsh chemicals like ammonia or turpentine. Harsh chemicals will dull your stones and dissolve the enamel on your jewelry.
Take care to store your jewelry safely. Use a box that has several different compartments and hooks to keep your pieces apart. Do not ever just throw them in a pile. Fragile jewelry could easily be damaged by doing this, not to mention the nuisance of having to untangle necklace chains that could get caught together.
Precious Metals
Your jewlery needs to be kept in a place where it is protected from air and humidity. A jewelry box or drawstring bag out of a humid area is ideal. Humid air affects the metals in jewelry and causes tarnishing. 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.
Arm yourself with a magnet and a magnifying glass when shopping for sterling silver jewelry. Magnets attract non-precious metals, and you can use this fact to detect fakes. True sterling silver will also have a mark on it to indicate its quality, such as “.925” or “ster”. If there is no hallmark, watch its authenticity since it may be fake.
When you purchase jewelery ensure you know what you are buying. Natural gems and imitation gems have been joined recently by synthetic gems, making three main categories. Natural and synthetic gemstones are both actual gemstones, while an imitation gemstone is just a plastic mold made to look like a gemstone. Natural stones are found underground and synthetic gems are created in a lab.
When shopping for diamonds, it’s best to comparison shop. Take a good look at all the pieces that you like, examining them and comparing them to each other. There are deceptive tricks that can be used to enhance a diamond, so you need to be on the lookout.
Before you think about picking up new jewelry, check into what the latest trends are to get a sense of what’s of value. 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 pieces looking beautiful by protecting them from tarnish. Never wear your jewelry when you are going to be near water. Water can dull and rust some types of metal if it is exposed to it too often. Apply clear nail polish to your jewelery as an added protection.
Give the jewelry a test-run by wearing it for a day. Does it feel comfortable and hang properly? You will also find out if your creation is durable enough.
Keep your jewelry unsoiled by only putting it on after all of your makeup has been applied. The dust, oils and particles from makeup rub off on jewelry; putting on jewels first means they will get dingy and dull with a film of makeup over them. This tip is especially important when it comes to earrings and necklaces.
Gems are given chemical treatments in the process of cutting, polishing and setting. When you are thinking of buying, ask what treatment a stone was given. It is important to understand the varying treatment processes because each one requires a specific care regimen. Some cleaning solutions that work perfectly well on untreated gems can strip off treatments, and even damage stones, if you use them on treated gems.
If you are selling jewelry on the Internet, you should present these pieces as attractively as possible. This is very important since customers cannot handle the jewelry in an online transaction. Make sure the background behind the jewelry in the photograph is bland and boring, so as not to distract the viewer’s attention away from the piece itself.
Jewelry is extremely valuable, economically and sentimentally. By learning what you need to treat your jewelry, you can protect the money and memories invested in it. There is a wealth of information out there; utilize every resource at your disposal to maximize your investment.
