Category: Jewelry

Whether you buy costume jewelry for your own collection, for investment or for resale, its important to know when to repair a piece that has damage or missing stones, and when to walk away. Whether you intend to wear it, or plan to sell it as is will determine the wisdom of repairing it. If you plan to repair the piece and then sell it, be sure to factor in the cost of repairs to see if its worth fixing.

If you have a piece of costume jewelry that youd like to wear, but has loose or missing stones, or has other condition issues, what are the best ways to repair it so you can safely enjoy wearing it?

Ive found that some issues are easy to address, others require more time, patience and money, and still others benefit from the attention of a professional.

If youd like to repair your jewelry yourself, there are a few things you should invest in. If you dont already have a jewelers loupe, or strong magnifying glass, you should get one. I have two one stays on my desk, and the other stays in my purse, so I always have one handy, whether Im working at home or out shopping for jewelry. Another handy magnifier is one that straps on your head, leaving your hands free.

The most common problem I see in costume jewelry is with the stones rhinestones, crystal, glass or plastic, they may come out of their settings, be loose, or crack or dull. Older pieces may be set with glue that has dried and let the stone fall out. Its important to use the right kind of adhesive, and to not use too much. Krazy Glue or Super Glue is not recommended, as it may break down when attached to glass. Super Glue may be especially damaging to vintage pieces a film may develop if it reacts to old metal and plating. If you get it on the surface of the stone, its difficult to remove. Never use hot glue it can expand and contract with temperature changes and may crack the jewelry or loosen the stone. The best adhesive to use would be one designed specifically for jewelry, which can be found in craft stores and on jewelry supply web sites.

Be careful not to use too much glue when replacing stones. The glue will not dry properly, and the adhesive will flow out around the stone and onto the metal. I use a toothpick dipped in a little pool of glue to drop minute bits of glue into the setting, a drop at a time, using as little as possible.

Putting the stone back into the setting is a delicate process you can wet the tip of your finger to make the stone stick and then carefully drop it into the setting.

Save your old broken jewelry, or any unmatched earrings for their stones. You might find broken pieces at flea markets, yard sales and antique shops. Its hard to exactly match a missing stone, but if you build up a collection of orphan pieces, the right size and color just might be available. You can also access jewelry suppliers for stones. Keep in mind that whatever you purchase for repairs should be factored into the price if the piece is for resale.

One way to make old jewelry look new again is replating. Replating can be costly, and should only be done if you are keeping the piece for yourself to wear. Replating may diminish the value of vintage jewelry, just as refinishing antique furniture would decrease its value. An Internet search should provide the names of jewelry restorers in your area.

Now, what about that green stuff that you sometimes see on vintage jewelry? Some jewelry collectors simply pass on pieces that have green verdigris on them, as it can indicate corrosion that cant be cleaned off. You can try to clean it with a cotton swab dipped in vinegar, but if the metal is heavily coated and degraded, you may need to gently chip the green away, taking care to not damage the metal beneath. Wipe the piece with a damp cloth and let it air dry completely. You can also try the same process with ammonia. Be careful to never immerse the piece of jewelry in liquid, as the stones may loosen or discolor due to water getting into the setting.

Costume jewelry is made to be worn and enjoyed. Replacing missing stones and cleaning the metal will give your vintage jewelry sparkle and glow and many more years of wear.

After purchasing your new hand stamped jewelry in silver or gold, you will want to keep it looking as beautiful as the day you purchase it. Here are a few tips and tricks.

Silver oxidizes naturally when exposed to the air, therefore keep your silver hand stamped jewelry in an air-tight container when not in use. You can purchase mini oxidization retardation paper that you place in your jewelry box; it will help neutralize any oxidization that would occur. Be sure to keep a fresh piece of paper in your jewelry box, and change when you notice oxidization occurring. Gold-filled can be treated just like gold; it does not oxidize, or oxidizes very minimally.

When getting dressed, put on your hand stamped jewelry after you are done with hair and make-up. The chemicals and ingredients in most hair, make-up, perfumes and colognes can build up on your silver and gold jewelry and cause it to look dull and dirty. So be sure your jewelry is the last item you put on before you head out the door.

After taking off your hand stamped jewelry, be sure to wipe with a cotton cloth to remove body oils, residues and sweat. These can build up over time and cause the finish to become dull and lackluster.

Be careful not to scratch, ding or dent your hand stamped jewelry. Silver and gold are fairly soft materials and mar easily. Use caution when performing physically exhaustive activities such as heavy housework, working in the garage, participating in sports or any activity with sudden movements.

It is also best to keep your hand stamped jewelry out of water, sunlight and extreme weather elements. Both hard and soft tap water contain chemicals and minerals that can build up on jewelry over time. After exposing your jewelry to water, be sure to clean and polish with a pre-treated polishing cloth to remove any residue.

Every few weeks or so, clean all your hand stamped jewelry with a pre-treated polishing cloth, or a mild silver polish. This will keep tarnish at bay and retain the wonderful luster and shine as the day you bought it!

Unique Design Could Highlight the Character of Silver. Silver itself is soft material and quite plastic which are beneficial to the birth of a specially designed silver jewelry and could better able to meet the individual pursuit of young people nowadays. Even identical design, it could create different kinds of styles after wear in different part.

Actually, the wearing of silver jewelry can do as one pleases, such as if one people choose two “leaf” pendants, he could hang one on neck to seem more fashion and the other leaf could hang on the phone which add bright in simple style.

In young people’s opinion, silver jewelry don’t like gold jewelry and diamond jewelry, it just show a simple fashion in the stars, feathers, butterflies, leaves, dolphins, etc., to grasp the changes in lines. Besides, silver jewelry is comparative cheaper than gold, diamond or other metal jewelry that is also the reason why silver more attractive among young people. The people who like costume match usually have several types of necklaces, bracelets or earrings and so on. Choose the jewelry depend on the needs of clothing or the changes of mood and let them speak out your feeling.

And now, the silver jewelry are gradually to the public and the designs becomes more close to elegant, and the consumer group is not limited to youth but more other people after the emergence of exquisite silver jewelry boutique.

Currently, the “925 silver jewelry” is one of the best selling for its beautiful design and careful work. Some brands silver jewelry among 925 silver are tend to streamlined, general, sexy in graceful and do not exaggerated national characteristics, rough lines. They just reveal light of wisdom within the low-key feeling.

Silver jewelry are worthy for people to own and they will become the necessary decoration in people’s jewelry box. Present to family or friends will be appropriate and reasonable for everyone.

Abstract: This year, whether the big or small jewelry store are almost marked by variety of silver jewelry, like silver pendants, silver rings, silver earrings, silver necklaces…even the silver on the Roadside markets are good selling and every young people will stop and buy at least one type.

Forecast of the industry in general, the jewelry spend sum of Chinese and Indian market is expected to catch up to U.S.A market by 2015. China will become the worlds biggest and the great developing potential of jewelry consumer market.But, China jewelry industry is still not mature, the whole industrial concentration is very low, in general, a huge market demand but a mess supply chains, and market split phenomenon is obvious. Outlook 2011, how the China jewelry industry movements? In this regard, the industry has said that jewelry enterprises will hasten to expand network sale market, the next 3 to 5 years, the share of network of sales will accounted for 20% of China jewelry industry; the e-commerce of China jewelry industry will appear and develop rapidly.

Statistics of Gemmological Association of China show that, China has become the world’s second largest jewelry consumer market, but the construction of social faith system needs a process, formation of the habit to buy jewelry online still takes some time.That makes the share of network of sales just accounted for less than 5%, it has great room for growth. The industry is expected, jewelry marketing will enhance greatly in 2011, and network of sales is expected to 21.7 billion, and will grow 155% on year. The next 3 to 5 years, the share of network of sales will accounted for 20% of China Jewelry industry.

The sale share of jewelry e-commerce is increasing these years, however, some jewelry e-commerce enterprises are struggling to survive. The gross profit of the industry leader, like Diamond Bird, Devine, the Nine, looks not good in recent years. There are not many jewelry e- commerce enterprises can highlight oneself value, more than that are making price war, just to be another new channel of commodity circulation. An industry Mr. Huang said that malicious competition of price caused online stores had started to die constantly during 2008 and 2010.Concerned expert expresses jewelry e-commerce industry represents a new way of the global jewelry industry, there will be many China jewelry e-commerce enterprises get rid of the burden of operating loss, begin to realize gain in 2011. In the year of expect to usher in a new stage of development, China e-commerce will may be appear a blockbuster development.