You will never have enough information about jewelery. Even a seemingly trivial mistake could cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Here are a couple of intelligent tips on this particular subject. This information will help you choose and take care of your jewelry pieces and avoid some of the more common mistakes.
Jewelry should be stored in an air-tight and humid free area. It’s best to store it in a closed box, like a jewelry box, or a drawstring bag. Continued exposure to humidity extremes or air causes metals typically used in jewelry to tarnish. While precious metals can be polished back to their original luster, non-precious metals are only coated in which case polishing causes the copper metal underneath to show through.
To distinguish between real and fake, bring a magnet when you shop for sterling silver jewelry. If an item of jewelry is attracted by a magnet, it is not sterling silver! Only non-precious metals can be drawn to a magnet. True sterling silver will also have a mark on it to indicate its quality, such as “.925” or “ster”. If a particular piece is not stamped, you should be cautious of its authenticity.
Knowing what type of jewel you are buying when you purchase jewelry is very important. The three types are imitation, synthetic and natural. While both natural and synthetic stones are still real, imitation is just glass or plastic made to look like the natural stone. Natural stones are found underground and synthetic gems are created in a lab.
When you’re considering a diamond purchase, plan on shopping around and making comparisons. Find a few reference pieces that you like, and see if other diamonds can do better. With diamonds, you need to have a keen eye because of the many tricks people will use to enhance it.
Well, it’s easy when you know how. This article has just touched on a few of things that you should know about this very rewarding hobby. There is much to learn, but at least you’ve now got a few good ideas to put to work.