Organizing your Precious Jewelry

So you are a big fan of jewelry, you may not have anything that cost you a fortune exactly but apart from money value there is often tremendous emotional value attached to these pieces. There is your first pair of sterling silver ear hoops your mother bought you for your 13^th birthday, the exquisite vintage Mexican onyx pendant you saved up for ages to buy so you could wear it to your prom, or perhaps the handcrafted silver bracelet set with Malachite your husband gave you when you were first dating. It doesn’t matter what a broker would give for the trinkets you have. For you it’s a treasure that makes you feel richer than the Queen of England.

The question arises: how do you organize all these pieces so they don’t get damaged and to make sure you have no problem finding them when in a hurry? This is what I am going to help you out with in this article. Read on below for some great tips on how to organize your jewelry:

Tip No. 1: Put all the jewelry on a table and carefully look through it. Are there any pieces that are broken? Anything that is mismatched or belong in a museum? Get rid of it.

Tip No. 2: The pieces that can still be redeemed despite being broken or damaged, fix them!

Tip No. 3: Clean the sterling silver jewelry with a silver polish. Another amazing way of cleaning it is to rub it with toothpaste. Do it the old fashioned way using a toothbrush. Reach into all the cracks and details. When you are satisfied, rinse and dry.

Tip No. 4: If you own any gold or platinum jewelry, clean it by diluting 2 tablets of Alka-Seltzer in approximately 250 ml water (a glassful I should say). Dip the jewelry in this solution for 2 minutes.

Tip No. 5: Again, for gold or platinum jewelry, you can make a solution of warm water and dishwashing liquid and soak it. After several minutes, take out the jewelry and rinse it. Dry with a lint-free cloth.

Tip No. 6: Like items must be stored together. You can keep especially expensive or fragile items in their original packing. It is best to keep silver jewelry in jewelry pouches or in jewelry boxes that have thick felt lining.

Tip No. 7: Invest in a small but nice looking jewelry box that you can store everyday jewelry pieces in. Like your rings and small studs and hoops in. It would also make for an excellent ornament for your dresser.

Tip No. 8: To store your gold, copper, platinum or silver chains run them through a straw ensuring you fasten the clasp. This will prevent any knots from forming.

Tip No. 9: Get a mug tree for hanging your sterling silver necklaces putting the longer ones on the top-most branches.

Tip No. 10:  If you are looking for a really cheap but safe way of storing your  jewelry, specially silver jewelry, since it can be scratched easily, and it can tarnish very quickly, get ziplock bags. Buy really small ones to separate the different pieces and you’ll still be able to see what’s inside giving you easy access.