It can be great fun to go jewelry shopping, but the price tags can be stressful. There are lots of different things used when making jewelry, which are all worth different amounts of money. An inexperienced jewelry shopper might end up paying too much. Use this advice to make the most of your next jewelry purchase.
Polishing Cloth
Try using a polishing cloth on all of the jewelry in a collection. A polishing cloth is a very gentle way to get a good shine on all your pieces. Use the dual-sided cloth on your jewelry just as you would clean a glass. One side is designed to polish, and the other is used to make the piece shine.
Keep your jewelery in a space that is dry and doesn’t have any air flow. Keep them stored safely in a closed, dark area, like a jewelry box or drawstring bag. Humidity quickly tarnishes both precious and non-precious metal. 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.
If you are shopping for sterling silver jewelry, you’ll need a magnet and an eye for the real thing. Take the magnet with you to find fake pieces of jewelery, sterling silver will not stick to the magnet. True sterling sliver always has some sort of hallmark stamp on it, such as .925, sterling or ster. If you cannot find a stamp, you might be looking at a cheap imitation.
Do some price comparisons before you commit to buying a piece of diamond jewelry. Look at what you like close up, and compare them to other pieces you have seen. Some diamond sellers use misleading practices to try to increase the apparent quality of their merchandise, so you should be wary of these tactics.
Do they prefer to wear over-sized pieces or more delicate styles? Yellow gold or silver? This is a great place to start when picking out that special item.
Make sure that you learn about the jeweler’s insurance policy prior to making any purchases. If something happened to your jewelery, you can take it back and see if they will fix it! Some stores even insure jewelry against loss or theft.
For a special and personalized gift, have a jewelry piece custom made for your recipient. A unique piece to match their personality shows thoughtfulness and creativity, which is exactly what you want to express to a person you care enough about to buy jewelry for.
Have a use in mind for every piece of jewelry you buy. It is not beneficial to have a large box full of jewelry that you will not wear. When making a selection, remember your outfits, clothing and accessories.
When selling jewelry via the Internet, be sure to develop attractive and persuasive imagery of the pieces. This is extremely important because the potential buyer can not handle the item that is being sold. Be sure your photographs show good details of the jewelry and few, if any, details of the surroundings.
Necklaces often get tangled, so consider buying stylish robe hooks with embellishments to hang them and keep them untangled. Put these small hooks along a bedroom wall or even on a closet door to organize and hang your necklaces from. If done right, this will have a nice appearance and prevent the jewelry box tangles necklaces are prone to.
When you are purchasing expensive jewelry, you should remind yourself that this is an investment that you will want to wear for many years. Most expensive pieces are of good quality so you don’t have to worry too much about that. You should keep the style in mind, however. Although something may be in style now, it may seem tacky after a few years. Be on the lookout for something timeless and classic.
Unfortunately, if you are dead set on real gold jewelry, you will run into the problem of high prices. You can save some money, though. You just need to be a little flexible about the number of karats you will accept. An 18 karat gold piece is made up of at least 75 percent pure gold, which has been considered the best combination of price and quality.
Onyx and crystal, for example, can be especially striking and make a strong impression. Be kinder to your wallet and you’ll probably like the results.
Now that you have read this, you will know how to purchase all types of jewelry wisely. Keep this advice in mind in order to save both time and money when buying jewelry.