What is best way to store fine jewelry ?

Hi!

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I am not knowledgeable about the information below and would like to know your opinion on jewelry storage and how you store your fine jewelry? Thank you.

When I looked into jewelry storage, I found out that if I don't store jewelry correctly I could risk damaging it--especially pearls.

Some experts said steer clear of plastics and for the lining stay away from chemicals and instead use raw silk or untreated cotton as per this jewelry website:
"https://shimansky.com/pages/10-rules-to-follow-when-storing-your-fine-jewelry"

Similarly, a woodworking website recommended velveteen made from silk, rayon,or cotton and flannel.
"https://cdn.woodsmith.com/files/issues/197/make-a-ring-holder.pdf"


When I looked at high-end jewelry boxes and jewelry trays most were made from mdf, fake leather, and the description would not state what the lining was made of-- just that it was soft.

Finally, I realized I was completely wrong about pearl storage after reading that pearls should never be stored in a sealed container or plastic bag, according to this website:
https://shimansky.com/pages/10-rules-to-follow-when-storing-your-fine-jewelry"


Again thank you for your time,

 

My fine jewellery is almost entirely rings, earrings, brooches & pendants, so small things not bracelets or tiaras. My first concern with how they are kept is with preventing them from getting scratched.

A lot of my earrings are in those little velveteen bags. Some of them are designed for earrings & have a satiny divider that keeps the 2 pieces apart. With other pairs I use 2 bags, putting one inside the other. Some are in little hard shell boxes with the insert that holds earring in place. Many of my smaller earrings are in the drawer of a jewellery chest that is really meant for rings. I put the posts down into the slots.

Most of my rings are in a box meant for a seller, with 4 or 5 rows of fuzzy furrows to hold the rings & a see-through lid. This is a way to hold quite a number of rings (don't ask) without having a pile of separate little boxes & still keep them protected.

The brooches & pendants are largely in individual boxes of various types. I'll spare you the special needs of shell cameos.

 

Thank you for explaining that it is important to keep jewelry separate so the pieces don't scratch each other. I wasn't really focused on that.
Do you think I am overly concerned about what the fuzzy lining is made of? For storing gold and silver jewelry, if the fuzzy lining is inferior quality-- is the worst thing that would happen is that it will tarnish?

For your seller boxes, is there a brand you recommend.

 

You really do not have to worry much about gold or gemstones. Scratching, denting & chipping are the dangers for them, so don't bang them around.

In addition to the considerations for the care of gold, silver is very reactive with the environment & tarnishes pretty easily. I would be interested to hear how others deal with silver. Polish to original look, leave in tarnished state, something in between? Anyone keep silver jewellery in an anti-tarnish bag of the type made for silver flatware?

Pearls obviously need to be guarded from harder materials that could scratch them. They also need to be protected from things like perfume.

I do think you are being overly concerned about the material used for fuzzy linings. I think sometimes people give exacting specifications for how to take care of things just to make themselves sound like experts.

The boxes I have are just ones that have come my way in years of collecting cameos. I imagine they are all made in China these days with little or no difference between brands.

 

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your informative response--so many good points. Thank you for telling me the main concern is scratching and chipping and not to focus on what the lining is made of.

You mentioned tarnishing

I did happen to read that the company Wolf makes a lining for jewelry storage called lusterloc that prevents tarnishing.

From Wolf's webpage "
https://my.wolf1834.com/knowledge-base/what-is-lusterloc/"

"LusterLoc™ is WOLF’s answer to jewellery tarnishing. Jewellery begins tarnishing with air contact immediately and our patented LusterLoc™ formula neutralizes this process. LusterLoc™ will keep your jewellery as new for up to 35 years! "

 

One of the reasons we value gold so highly is that it does not tarnish under most circumstances. But Lusterloc sounds like a good product if you have a lot of silver jewellery & don't enjoy polishing. Silver is sometimes deliberately patinated by the maker.

 

That fuzzy lining isn't good for plastics, pearls or opals, or anything which can react and absorb, even some metals such as copper - think how Cu reacts to the armosphere, the atoms are very free binding, unlike gold.

Acid free tissue is good to line with for pearls and opals. Or old clean white pure cotton sheets, washed but no fabric conditioner. I use boxes with lining designed for coins mostly, with said acid free on the pearl drawers.

I've also had the fuzzy lining on cheaper ring boxes react with the metal of a ring. Gold is pretty inert but the alloy material isn't. Such as copper.

Never ever plastic bags or boxes, the least bit of moisture trapped and you're doomed.

Silver doesn't seem to tarnish too much in this house, but I've used those 3M paper inserts.

 

Thank you for your informative reply. It is very helpful to know that the fuzzy lining can affect some jewelry. I am going to follow your excellent advice using acid free tissue or pure cotton sheets to store jewelry. Unfortunately, for a few pieces I had used a high-end jewelry roll-up bag with plastic holder inserts and put some jewelry in these closed plastic inserts. Now I realize this roll-up bag is not a good idea.

 

I think of a high end jewellery roll as one made entirely of silk, no plastic. I've never seen a jewellery roll from either end that had plastic pockets.

 

I was thinking of this type of portable storage--and I was wrong it is not a rollup--more of a fabric travel case.

 

I don't like those, even for travel.

 

I am just curious: what happened to the ring? Were you able to fix the issue

 

I used a Sunshine on the gold one, that helped. A base metal one is still discoloured, but it doesn't show when I wear it.

 

So far found--

I found this website selling undyed organic cotton sateen and other organic cotton fabric:"https://organiccottonplus.com/collections/undyed/Undyed"

Also, this website "https://www.organicfabriccompany.com/collections/white-off-white"