Properly Storing Your Vintage Costume Jewelry

Having your hands on some vintage jewelry is tricky. You don’t know it yet, but you might be sitting on top of precious pieces that are worth a fortune. And knowing how to properly store them is key to maintaining their value as vintage pieces over time. Hence, you do not want to leave them vulnerable to tangling and damage. After all, once you repair a piece of vintage jewelry, its value will definitely decrease, so you want to avoid that at all costs. 

Careless jewelry storage happens when jewelry pieces are tossed together into a box without any regard for how they will land and end up. They could settle on top of or between various pieces, turning into a huge tangled mess. You would not want to go through the hassle of pawing through such heaps of clutter while in search of your vintage costume jewelry from Las Vegas to go with your outfit. Unfortunately, many of us have had to go through exactly that because of carelessness in storing our jewelry pieces. More often than not, one earring would end up on the side of your jewelry box, while the matching piece is lost somewhere under a random pile of tangled chains. 

The Basics of Proper Storage for Vintage Costume Jewelry

To fully prevent damage, there are a few rules you should follow for storing your vintage costume jewelry. These rules do not involve neatness or your personal sense of organization. Instead, they have everything to do with preventing damage that can decrease the value of your jewelry. They also keep your pieces from being totaled into worthless, unwearable junk. 

It is important to remember that retro art deco jewelry pieces, as well as jewelry with enamel, vintage glass, and plastic, can easily get scratched by even the slightest contact with other items. To avoid damage, prioritize storing each piece of your vintage jewelry separately, no matter the kind and style. If you have a jewelry box, use one compartment for just one item unless each piece has enough space to be at a distance from another piece. 

Also, damp, moist air can leave your strings delicate and prone to disintegration. Moist air can also cause precious stone settings to deteriorate and develop some verdigris. If your storage box does not form a tight closure to protect its contents from the air, then you are putting your jewelry’s quality at risk. Replace them now with an air-tight container.

Moreover, the form that your jewelry takes while you store them can really affect the effectiveness of your storage. Imagine using a state-of-the-art jewelry box that has velvet lining and closes tightly, then placing your vintage chain in a ball. For some reason, the next time you take your chain out, it will surely be in a bunch, crimped and tangled up. This is because the links on vintage jewelry chains are delicate, so they should be stored flat only. If you have its original box or ouch, put your item inside to keep it free from moisture. 

Lastly, not everybody knows this, but plastic has the ability to discolor gemstones, especially rhinestones. And since most vintage costume jewelry owes its glamour to statement-sized pieces of rhinestones, you want to keep your pieces separate and away from plastic. You can wrap them each in a thin layer of tissue paper or cotton to do so. Of course, it will always be acceptable if you want to put your pieces in their soft cloth pouch or velvet bag.