In the world of buying or selling jewelry, there are plenty of great resources available to both new and experienced people in the market. This set of tips contains some of the best advice for helping you buy or sell jewelry.
Vintage jewelry can actually make great fashion accessories. It doesn’t have to be your granny’s jewelry any longer. Make a statement piece by displaying a vintage necklace or a pair of vintage earrings. Vintage seems to be all the new rage and almost every store out there seems to be selling vintage inspired pieces. Why buy “inspired pieces” when you can buy the real thing for a fraction of the cost?
To wear jewelry without feeling uncomfortable, choose looser fitting pieces. While more restricting pieces like tight bracelets or chokers may look great, you won’t be able to look your best if you’re not comfortable. Light, loose necklaces are totally on trend and can be worn all day without causing you to experience discomfort.
Clean your turquoise jewelry with warm water and a soft toothbrush. Never use chemicals on turquoise, as it is very susceptible to damage. Simply lightly scrubbing it and drying it with a soft dry cloth can keep your turquoise clean and undamaged, allowing it to last much longer than if you were to use any solutions.
Use a cloth dampened with a solution of water and a few drops of dish-washing liquid to clean your pearls. Lightly rub each pearl with the cloth, and allow them to air-dry. Never soak pearls, as doing so can cause massive damage to the integrity of the gem. Keeping your pearls clean ensures a long life for them.
Know the jewelry terms. Understanding what cut, carat, color, and clarity mean can help you to make a quality purchase for the best price. A salesperson will be much more able to explain the differences in the stones you are interested in if you have a clear understanding of the terms.
If you plan on selling jewelry online, you should make sure you know the materials. All jewelry sellers should know about the Federal Trade Commission’s Guides for both the Jewelry and Precious Metal Industries. If you don’t know all the rules, a customer could file a misrepresentation claim against you, which you do not want happening to you.
Beware of wearing hemp jewelry if you plan on swimming. Though hemp jewelry can be very beautiful and appealing when you are dry, you can quickly find yourself in dire straights. Hemp shrinks when wet and can quickly become too tight for you. Be especially wary of hemp choker style necklaces.
When making a jewelry purchase, make sure that you educate yourself about it. It is especially important when you are buying any types of gems and especially diamonds. By educating yourself, you will be able to understand what the jeweler is telling you and you will be able to make a decision based on your knowledge and not what the jeweler tells you is best.
To keep jewelry safe, avoid putting it all in a jewelry box that sits out as a decorative piece in your home. Nothing says, “Come grab me, I am filled with expensive stuff!”� to thieves quite like a displayed jewelry box. If you want more access to your jewelry than a safety deposit box allows, and a professionally installed wall safe isn’t an option, get creative and hide your jewelry within objects not likely to even be touched by thieves. Air-tight containers can be be tucked inside plant pots or diaper pails, hollow out a book to form a secret compartment, or stash a small case at the bottom of a box of tampons! You need to think like a thief to avoid being taken advantage by a thief.
When buying turquoise jewelry, make sure you’re getting the real thing. Some of the things you can check for are that the color is uniform throughout and that the stone tends more toward opaque than clear. Also, the presence of veins or splotches, ranging from white to black, are a good indication of a real turquoise rather than a fake one. Most important, buy from a reputable dealer and ask for written authentication of the value. Unfortunately, with all the enhancements done to fake turquoise stones, sometimes it’s hard to tell the real thing from an imitation.
If you have pearl jewelry, you need to make sure that you keep your jewelry away from blow dryers. Blow dryers will quickly pull moisture out of your pearls, which will in turn cause them to become dry and brittle. This will cause them to lose their natural luster and sheen.
When it comes to taking care of your jewelry be sure that you take it off before taking care of your laundry. This is important because not only do you run the risk of losing it in your laundry, but you also may expose it to harmful cleaning chemicals.
Avoid storing multiple bracelets and/or multiple necklaces together, especially if they’re thin. They can easily tangle and outright tear while you’re trying to get them untangled. If you’re storing them in the same box, pick up some small bags to keep them in separately. A little time to separate could save you some big money.
If your crystal jewelry is losing it’s luster, try simply wiping it with a soft cloth soaked in warm water. If the jewelry is very dirty or grimy, you may need to soak it in warm water, mixed with a small amount of dish soap. A soft toothbrush can the be used to brush away the dirt.
After reading these tips, you can begin to understand what it takes to become a more informed buyer or seller of jewelry. There is a lot of information to be had and you need to know how to apply it. With this in mind, you can refine your own methods and strategies so that you can either buy that perfect piece or you can sell more pieces to make bigger profits.
