Jewelry is not only beautiful but a wise investment. When buying jewelry there are many things you must consider to ensure you are getting the right piece, as well as the best quality and value. The following tips can help you to make wise choices when it comes to the purchase and care of jewelry.
Try adding a special personal touch to your pieces by getting them professionally engraved. You can add just about anything and it makes it a more special and memorable piece to you or somebody you care about. You can get names, initials, small messages, symbols, etc. finely carved into your pieces to truly make them one-of-a-kind.
Native American jewelry has a rich history in American culture. The colorful beads and designs tell stories of generations past. Jewelry was an important part of most Native Americans heritage, with beautiful pieces dating back thousands of years. These same styles and designs are still popular and in high-demand today.
Jewelry consignment stores are a great place to sell your jewelry. Consignment stores will sell your jewelry for whatever you think is a fair price, and they take a certain percentage of the sales when the item sells. They will usually display it for about 3 months and then you have the option of either picking it up or selling it to the store. Occasionally the store will keep it on display for longer if you ask.
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.
Cure the green skin of copper jewelry easily. When you wear jewelry that has a copper base you may soon find yourself turning into a martian. The green is caused by the metal oxidizing. Stop it in its tracks by applying clear nail polish to any jewelry surface that will be touching your bare skin.
When selling a piece of jewelry online, you should aim to present the stone in the best way you can. You need to be very creative to sell the piece. If there’s any unique feature, be sure to include that feature. However, you must make sure that any metaphysical claims you make are not claimed to be scientific facts.
To remove tarnish from your silver jewelry without harsh chemicals, line the inside of a pot with aluminum foil, and add four cups of water and an eighth of a cup each of baking soda, salt and dish soap. Gently place all of your pieces into the liquid, counting them as you go. Bring the mixture up to a simmer for a couple of minutes, then turn off the burner and allow it to soak. Pour everything gently through a colander, then place the pieces on a towel to dry, counting them as you go.
When you purchase jewelry to give as a gift, make sure you select pieces that are appropriate to the relationship you have to the recipient. The cost, style and material of gift jewelry all say a lot about the way the giver feels about the receiver. Be sure that your gift does not imply a relationship that does not exist.
When it comes to purchasing jewelry, listen to your gut feeling if you are having trouble making decisions. This is important because you may regret not going with that first item that jumped out at you – there is definitely a reason that it caught your eye in the first place.
Making hemp jewelry can be fun for you and your friends. Sometimes the hemp can get a little fuzzy when stored for a long time. A good way to combat the fuzzy look of hemp is to melt a wee bit of wax and smear it over the hemp before you tie it.
Hematite is a popular choice for modern jewelry. It is a silvery gray stone with lots of almost metallic-appearing sparkle, but doesn’t have the disadvantage of corrosion or easy denting. Look for it in rings as the primary component as well as the central stone of pendants, rings, and earrings.
When shopping for jewelry, keep in mind the “cost per use” factor. If you will only wear those gorgeous, dangly diamond earrings a handful of times, calculate how much money you are paying for each time you wear them. Pieces that you wear daily — like your wedding ring — are worth spending more money on, because your cost per use will be lower, and they will see more wear and tear.
If you have a penchant for vintage jewelry, and authenticity is important to you, then knowing where to shop can make all the difference. Many manufacturers today make new versions of old styles, making it difficult to know whether the pieces you are holding in your hand are genuinely from the flower-power sixties or the the swinging seventies. Find vintage stores in larger cities that separate clothing and jewelry into decades, and inquire ahead of time if they sell any items that are new. Most authentic vintage stores do not.
When searching for antique jewelry to invest in, make sure you know what defines a piece as being an “antique.” Generally, an item is deemed to be an antique if it is 100 years or older. This can be difficult to ascertain, so you will need to either shop at a reputable antique store or do extensive research on your own. Details to look for include clasps, hooks, engravings and hinges.
In the end, a jewelry purchase is a matter of personal style combined with an adherence to sensible advice. You can put the facts in this article to good use and still find (and maintain) a piece that fits in with your taste. Hopefully whatever you buy will also turn out to be a good investment.