Vintage Jewelry: Care and Cleaning

Investment Piece, fashion, blogger, vintage, belts, high fashion, necklaces, CA, TX

Loves, we’ve spent a month chatting about vintage jewelry. Brands I love (Monet), stores I love (Platt Boutique) and ways to wear vintage pieces Belts as necklaces). But now that we’ve been treated and have our vintage jewelry, how do we care for it? How do we clean it? Loves, I wouldn’t leave you hanging! Get my best tips for care and cleaning your vintage jewelry below!

Care
Put it how you will: “Offense is the best Defense”, “A Pound of Prevention is worth an ounce of cure”, or “A penny saved is a penny earned”; the best way to care for your jewelry (vintage or modern) is to store it properly. What does this mean? Everyone has a different system, my grandma wrapped her necklaces seperately in tissue, I have a friend who collects vintage ring boxes; the point is your jewelry should be stored in a dry place where it can’t get tangled or scratched.

Don’t sleep in your jewelry. Simple and seemingly straight forward, during sleep your jewelry can get twisted, hit, or dirty, and is best off your body. Loves, I admit that I have a bad habit of sleeping my necklaces, but I’m trying to get better at this!

If you’re wearing perfume or hairspray apply it, and make sure it dries, before putting on your jewelry. Oils in these products can damage or discolor your jewelry, and we don’t want that!

Inspect your jewelry regularly. If a stone is loose, or anything is broken, take it to a jeweler.

Investment Piece, fashion, blogger, vintage, belts, necklaces, high fashion, CA, TX

Cleaning

Loves, here’s the thing. Depending on the stone and medal of your piece, the cleaning instructions can vary. Gold and platinum can usually be rinsed with soapy water. Silver needs to be polished. No chemicals at all should be used on pearls, in fact, only wipe them with a soft cloth. If you have costume jewelry with foil back, be aware that water will ruin the piece. Also, various stones require various cleaners, or can have senstiivities to various cleansers. There are many basic jewelry cleaners on the market, and if you follow the instructions they can be great. My advice? Take any jewelry that you’re not sure how to clean to a jeweler. Not only should they be able to let you know the best way to care for your piece, many jewelry stores offer free cleaning. In fact, some of the best jewelry care advice I have gotten is for any repair or care concern to seek out the jewelry store with the best reputation in your area–even if it’s Tiffany’s. The professionals there will not risk the store’s name and can be trusted to give you the best advice they can. And of course, you don’t have to see out a Tiffany’s, several smaller jewelers (like my friends Platt) are fantastic with amazing reputations! A great resource when looking for a jeweler to trust is the American Gem Society (you can find their listing of jewelers here).

I’d love to know: how do you store your jewelry? What are some of your cleaning tips?

XO RA

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RachelAdelicia

Actress, avid shopper, and a lover of fashion. Hoping to make the world a better place one pair of shoes at a time.