By now, you are on your way to owning a vintage jewelry collection that would make even the most accomplished celebrity stylists envious.  Unfortunately, there is more to having a fabulous, drool-worthy collection than just shopping and buying those one-of-a-kind pieces,  That is the easy part! You also have to have to right knowledge to successfully maintain your collection, so that you may enjoy it for years to come.  Plus – there is nothing worse than attempting to put on a piece of jewelry that perfectly matches your sheik ensemble and realizing that the clasp is broken, a stone is missing, or the earring is bent in a crazy shape!  Here are a few things you can do to avoid a fashion fiasco and preserve the value of your collection.

Storing your Vintage Jewelry

*  Invest in a nice, big jewelry box.  I cannot stress this enough.  If you are going to start a vintage jewelry collection, you must have a jewelry box large enough to accommodate your ever-growing collection.  Jewelry is too easy to mangle, break, and lose, ladies!  I will be the first to admit that when I get home from a long day (or night), I am guilty of taking my jewelry off and carelessly tossing in the box.  I have suffered the consequence of a discovering I have few missing or broken pieces, too.  It isn’t worth it!  Check out http://www.jewelryboxes.com/ and http://www.jewelryboxdirect.com/ to get an idea of all the different sizes and shapes of jewelry boxes out there.  You won’t be sorry that you spent a few extra bucks on a nice place to keep your collection, I promise!

* Store your jewelry in a cool, dry, smoke-free, and dust-free environment.  Make sure that your jewelry box isn’t stored in a garage or exposed to extreme temperatures or dust.  Dust and environmental elements can deteriorate your pieces faster than you can say “vintage Cartier bangle!”  You can even keep your jewels in individual soft-fabric bags to ensure that they will stay protected.  JewelrySupply.com makes a great and inexpensive assortment of jewelry pouches.  Click here to check them out: http://www.jewelrysupply.com/jewelry_boxes/pouches_satin.html

Cleaning your Vintage Jewelry

Eventually, you are going to want to bring those authentic 1940’s-era cameo earrings out for a night on the town!  Chances are, they aren’t going to stay in the condition they were in when you purchased them forever.  Here are a few tips of keeping your tiny treasures in mint condition.

*  When it comes to rhinestone jewelry, use soapy water or Windex to clean your pieces.  Do no submerge the jewelry in the soapy water (or in any other liquid for that matter).  Rhinestones often have a foil backing that gives them their signature sparkle.  Submerging the jewels puts them in danger of losing their foil backing, which would be a disaster!  Spray the Windex on a soft cloth or soak (and ring out) a corner of the soft cloth in the soapy water and clean gently.  To get in those hard to reach crevices, use a soft toothbrush or a q-tip.  Make sure that the toothbrush bristles are extra soft, however, because stiff ones may scratch the delicate stones.

*  Once you have cleaned your jewelry, leave them out for an hour or so until they are completely dry.  Putting them back in the jewelry box or in their individual pouches while they are still wet creates moisture, which will destroy your prized pieces.  Never leave your jewelry in a humid or moist place!

*  Get yourself a good polishing cloth for your silver pieces.  I would recommend the Sunshine polishing cloth.  It only costs about $7 and works very well.  A little rubbing and you will have that vintage piece shining like new!  When the cloth begins to get dirty, throw it away.  If you try and hold onto it too long, you will just end up polishing dirt right back onto your jewelry!  For gold jewelry, use jewelry cleaner that is safe and gentle on gold.  Remember:  do not submerge stones!  Polish the jewelry with a soft cloth dampened with the cleaner first and then warm water after to remove the chemicals from the jewelry.

Tune in next week for more tips on valuing collection!  Check the iTaggit blogs for updates!

Don’t forget to protect your ever-growing vintage jewelry collection by digitizing it on iTaggit!  Sign up today!