Jewelry is always fun to buy and own, whether it be for yourself or someone you love. It is beneficial to inform yourself about purchasing, cleaning and maintaining fine jewels, no matter what form they come in. This article aims to answer a few of the most common questions people have about jewelry.
Use a soft cloth on your jewelry as often as you want. A polishing cloth is a very gentle way to get a good shine on all your pieces. Use the dual-sided cloth to gently buff your jewelry as you would a delicate glass. First use the polishing side, and finish with the other side to make it shine.
Don’t clean your jewelry in harsh household chemicals like ammonia, bleach or turpentine. This can cause the stones to lose their luster in addition to eating away the enamel on any of the pieces.
Precious Metals
Keep your jewelry in a relatively air-tight container, and minimize its exposure to humidity. Ideally, you should keep them in drawstring bags or in a jewelry box. Humidity and air tends to cause precious and non-precious metals to tarnish. Precious metals are capable of being polished until they are like new, while non-precious metals will not be able to be saved. This is because the non-precious metals are simple copper metal coated with the covering of precious metals, and when polished, they will allow the copper to show through.
A magnet is a useful tool when shopping for jewelry in sterling silver. 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. Another way to tell if a metal is sterling silver is to check for a hallmark stamp, for example .sterling, .ster, or .925. If the piece is not hallmarked in any way, be leery of its authenticity because oftentimes it is a sign of a fake.
Every piece of jewelry should last you a life-time. When choosing jewelry, you should always buy from a reputable store or dealer, in order to ensure you only get high-quality pieces. Jewelry should display exemplary craftsmanship and be well-made. Make sure the jeweler is able to tell you the history of the piece, including who created it and where any stones come from. Put effort into your choice, so you can be sure that the piece will last generations.
When shopping for diamonds, it’s best to comparison shop. Make a close-range examination of stones you find appealing, and contrast them with other likely purchases. There are deceptive tricks that can be used to enhance a diamond, so you need to be on the lookout.
Everyone can get confused about jewelry from time to time. Use the tips in this article so next time you find yourself in a jewelry dilemma, you will know just what to do.