If you’re a connoisseur of jewellery, you’ll likely have boxes and drawers overflowing with necklaces, bracelets, earrings and watches. While many people simply throw their trinkets into the nearest container at the end of a long day, it is worth noting that some jewellery is highly delicate; therefore, improper storage can significantly impact quality and durability. To help protect your precious and meaningful items, here are some storage tips to keep them safe and sparkling.
Temperature
To help prevent tarnishing and discolouration, it is always best to store your jewellery at room temperature with low humidity levels. If your house is prone to dampness during the colder months, it may be worth investing in a dehumidifier to protect the durability of your clothing and accessories.
Light Exposure
Minimising light exposure is vital to help prevent the deterioration of your jewellery. Prolonged exposure to UV light can cause discolouration to gemstones, so keep any items featuring stones regularly found in fine jewellery like emeralds, sapphires and kunzite away from natural light sources. UV light can also fade semi-precious stones such as amethyst, citrine and rose quartz, so it is vital to keep even your inexpensive pieces away from direct sunlight.
Keep It Clean And Dry
Whilst wearing jewellery out and about, it’s easy for your items to become damp and dirty due to weather conditions and general daily tasks. Even a build-up of soap and lotion can cause damage over time. You can avoid premature tarnishing and degradation by ensuring your prices are thoroughly clean and dry before you put them back into their boxes and drawers. You can clean your pieces using very mild dish soap diluted in lukewarm water, a soft-bristled toothbrush and a dry microfibre cloth.
Jewellery Boxes
One of the most common age-old methods of jewellery storage is a good old-fashioned jewellery box. Many modern jewellery boxes come with multiple compartments and drawers for excellent organisation. With such a wide range of size and design available, it’s easy to see why this storage method has stood the test of time. However, over-filled jewellery boxes can result in tangled necklaces and scratched gemstones, so use them with care.
Keep Them In The Box
One of the most straightforward ways to keep your jewellery safe and organised is to store your particularly high-value pieces in the boxes they arrived in upon purchase. For example, when stored neatly in an earring box, you will never again lose one of your beloved earrings. If you no longer have the individual protective display boxes for each of your items, you can purchase them from most storage and packaging companies as well as some department stores.
The Mohs Hardness Scale
Cluttered jewellery boxes where different stones and metals rub against one another can cause tarnishing and damage as they interact. While gold and silver items are unlikely to react chemically when stored together, many prefer to keep them separate as a precaution. However, it is vital to keep different gemstones separate.
The Mohs Hardness Scale is a qualitative ordinal scale to help identify minerals through a measure of relative resistance. Each mineral is classified by its hardness from one to ten. For example, with a hardness of ten, diamond is the hardest mineral used in jewellery-making. One of the softest minerals you might have in your collection is amber, with a hardness of two and a half. Ranking minerals from one to ten and separating them accordingly prevents stones from becoming scratched and damaged, so take a look at the Mohs Hardness Scale and reorganise your jewellery to keep your items looking good as new.
Jewellery Stands and Trinket Trays
A practical and aesthetically pleasing way to store items unlikely to become damaged by light exposure is to hang them on a jewellery stand. This method is best reserved for costume jewellery and pieces made from inexpensive metals and simulated stones. The beauty of a jewellery stand is you have your pieces on display, so you can see what you have available without having to rummage through boxes and drawers.
Trinket trays are excellent for storing inexpensive rings and earrings. Often available in various beautiful design choices, they look exceptionally attractive atop a dresser or bedside table.
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