The best ways to take care of antique jewelry
Most of the antique jewelry has a sentimental memory for the owner, whether it was passed down to him by his family, or it reminds him of a certain time or place. Antique jewelry, whether it’s a ring, a bracelet, or a necklace can often be delicate and requires special care when cleaning and storing. To prevent pieces from wearing on each other and scratching, follow these steps explained below.
Caring for antique jewelry:
Properly store your jewelry: you have to be more careful with your antique jewelry as they are sensitive and expensive. To prevent pieces from wearing on each other and scratching, you need to store them in a cotton-lined box at a moderate temperature, because some materials in jewelry are sensitive to cold and heat. Jewelry boxes are also helpful in the sense of providing slots to securely hold your expensive jewelry, as well as separating them and keep them from scratching.
Regularly clean your antique jewelry: you shouldn’t neglect your antique jewelry, you need to regularly clean them. There is no general rule of thumb. If it is a piece that you wear often, you could clean it every week or two. If it is a special piece that is used only occasionally, you might just clean it right before wearing it, or when putting it away again for storage. There are many products available to clean vintage jewelry. Make sure that the one you choose does not contain alcohol, acids or ammonia. If you decide to use a product designed for cleaning jewelry, please read the label and make sure that the product matches the piece. You can also scrub diamonds and gold rings with a brush in warm soapy water, however some other stones such as pearls can be easily damaged when using the same operation.
Anti-tarnish jewelry box for sterling silver jewelry: Silver jewelry is as popular as it’s been. Storing your silver jewelry and how to care for these pieces can be daunting. Anti-tarnish jewelry boxes are lined with chemically treated fabric that moderates the procedure of oxidation. It might not be enough; you will still need to clean your jewelry, but at least not as frequent when you store them in an ordinary jewelry box.
Wearing your antique jewelry: First of all, you should not wear your jewelry when you’re bathing, house-cleaning, gardening and exercising, because those are perfect opportunities to lose or damage your jewelry. Some jewelry could benefit from being worn often such as, opals, and gemstones, it prevents them from drying out.