There are plenty of ways to store jewelry, but did you know that some of them might harmful for the pieces? The best way to store jewelry depends on a few factors like the materials used, the type of jewelry, and how much the jewelry is worth.
We know that how you store jewelry is a personal choice. Do you prefer to see your jewelry on display or have it out of sight? Do you take your jewelry off in your bathroom or the bedroom? Regardless of your preferences, there are some tips you should consider to protect your jewelry.
1. Separate your jewelry by metal
First, do an inventory of your jewelry. Make a few piles that separate fine jewelry, costume jewelry, and silver jewelry. You should keep costume jewelry away from silver and fine jewelry, and you should keep silver jewelry away from fine jewelry. This separation helps prevent the metals from tarnishing when they interact with one another.
2. Keep them clean and dry
Before any jewelry is stored, make sure that it is clean and dry. Moisture can cause the metal to tarnish or degrade much quicker. For instance, if you wore a silver necklace in a rainstorm, be sure to dry it off before putting it back.
We recommend removing tarnish from jewelry that will be in storage for more than a week. Storing dirty jewelry for a prolonged period (no matter what type of jewelry) can cause issues with premature and excessive tarnishing. Also, storing tarnished jewelry with untarnished jewelry can cause both pieces to tarnish faster.
3. Store silver jewelry in a dark dry location
Silver jewelry does best when it’s stored in a jewelry box lined. The felt helps absorb excess moisture and prevent premature tarnishing. For some large pieces, it might be best to keep them stored separately inside a felt pouch or wrapped in a silver polishing cloth to limit exposure to the air. In this case, you’ll have to remember what you have and make a conscious choice to wear it. Even with proper storage, silver jewelry will require regular polishing at least twice a year to remove tarnish.
If the piece has .925 (also written as 925.) stamped on it, this means that it is a silver alloy. Because pure silver is too soft to be used by itself in the making of jewelry, it is often mixed with other metals to be more durable and lustrous. 925 means that the metal is 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals (often copper and nickel).
So why does my gold jewelry has 925 on it?
You will often see gold jewelry stamped with this hallmark. This simply means that the piece of jewelry is silver that’s been plated in gold. The hallmark is stating the purity of the underlying metal and not of the gold plating.
Gold is commonly classified according to karatage, with the most popular karat being 18K, 14K, 12K, 10K and 9K. This states the amount of gold purity in each piece, with 24 being the maximum number of karats.
So, this means:
So what are Mel & Alecrim pieces made of?
Whenever you see a gold piece that says on the description "Sterling Silver" this means that the base of the piece is in fact 925 silver. On top of that, our jewelry is 18k gold plated, meaning the gold we use for the platting is 75% pure.
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