Rose of Sharon Jewelry

Make your jewelry look its best with easy cleaning tips from handmade jewelry artist, Sharon of Rose of Sharon Jewelry. Learn how to make your prized jewelry sparkle and shine.

This series is dedicated to maximizing your jewelry investment. In part 2, I’ll share great tips and easy tricks to safely clean your jewelry before and AFTER each wearing. Whether you inherited Grandma’s pearls or made an impulse purchase at Macy’s, keeping each piece of jewelry in good shape means you’ll get more wear out of it!

Jewelry Cleaning Tips and Tricks

1. Learn what your jewelry is made from. This is especially important with precious and semi-precious stones and metals.  A stone’s hardness affects its wearability and cleaning methods. For example, softer stones can be damaged accidently with chemical cleaners and vigorous silver polishing can ruin antiqued silver components. Stones like turquoise just require a soft toothbrush and warm soapy water. With the out-of-sight price of gold and the rising price of silver, filled, plated and less costly substitutes are on the rise and quality can be unknown. Learn what you have to make the right cleaning choice.
   1. To learn more about specific stone hardness, see Antique Jewelry Investor and International Gem Society.
2. Buy a rouge cloth (a soft cloth impregnated with jewelers’ rouge paste) for removing oxidation (a dark surface resulting from oxygen slowly interacting). A quick buff before wearing will keep your pieces sparkling. BEWARE this cloth should not be used on low quality plated metal as you can erode the plating through abrasion.

1. Fire Mountain Gems and Beads sells an excellent rouge cloth.

Before wearing for the first time, gently swish your jewelry in warm water with a few drops of mild dish soap. Often beads are dyed  especially in less costly products. This is a common practice in the jewelry industry, but not all processes have the same quality results. If the water discolors during cleaning, rinse until clear to protect clothing and your skin. This process also clears out any hidden grit or grim accumulated from drilling beads and polishing metals.

Read the label before using any cleaning product on jewelry. Avoid ammonia (often found in glass cleaning products) which might be a good diamond cleaner but too harsh for pearls, soft stones and metal findings.

Use warm not hot water. Excessively hot water can damage some treated stones such as those with resin stabilizers.

More Jewelry Cleaning Tips and Tricks

In writing this post, I realized that I had too many great jewelry cleaning ideas for a single post. So I’ve divided the ideas into multiple posts for quicker reading. I will also be writing and sharing a free downloadable booklet on jewelry cleaning. Watch for the booklet release in April at the Rose of Sharon Jewelry blog , on Twitter @rosjewelry and at the Rose of Sharon Jewelry Facebook Fan Page

To learn more, be sure to subscribe to the Rose of Sharon Jewelry Blog via RSS feed or email updates. You can unsubscribe at any time.

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Time to spruce up your jewelry wardrobe for Spring. A great start is to clean out your jewelry box. These 5 tips will help you face the challenge. If you’re like most women your jewelry box has evolved into a jumbled collection of cheap impulse (yes – I do mean those Minnie Mouse earrings) items and if you’re luck an assortment of quality pieces. Tip #1  - Set up 4 sorting boxes. Over the newest few blog posts, I’ll discuss ideas and resources on what to do with jewelry in each box.

1. Keep – Classic jewelry pieces, mementos and jewelry that works with your current fashion sense and wardrobe.
2. Repair/Repurpose – “Valuable” jewelry worth the cost of repair, jewelry components that can be repurposed into other jewelry or crafts.
3. Donate – “Not your style” jewelry that in good condition can be passed on through thrift shop donations and other community charities.
4. Toss -  Seal the box so you’re not tempted and toss

Tip # 2 – Ask a good friend to help. Jewelry can stir up a lot of emotions making it hard to truly access it’s “value” in your life. A trusted friend can give you some clarity so you end up with a jewelry box worthy of all this effort. Tip # 3 – Take a good look at your wardrobe BEFORE you start cleaning out the jewelry box. Jewelry should accentuate your beauty and clothing. If that Hello Kitty necklace no longer fits  your fashion style or that bright orange floral pendant classes with your wardrobe colors – let it go! Tip # 4 – Set the 4 boxes aside for a few days before you finish your clean up project. This will give you time for your “jewelry” emotions to even out. Take a quick scan  (and I do mean quick or you’ll get lost in the feelings again)  of each box and then take action! Tip # 5 – Collect (buy or make) organizational components that fit into your jewelry box (or in my case boxes and drawers) for all the “keepers”. You’ll also need zipper style plastic bags, plastic twist ties and labels.

Sign up for the Rose of Sharon Jewelry blog via email or RSS Feed  to learn more about getting your jewelry ready for Spring. This series will run for next 4 blog posts!

Couldn't resist posting another beautiful design from Sylvia Jewelry. I need to get into the studio this weekend as this really makes my creative juices flow!

Even though I am a handmade jewelry designer, I'm always shopping around for the beautiful work of other designers. This caught my eye on Flickr this morning. Flickr is a great one-stop site to explore all types of handmade jewelry. Every type of technique is proudly displayed from talented artisans from around the globe. See what I mean with this beauty?

I love sharing the art jewelry I find online with my readers. Today I found handmade metal jewelry by Nathalie Girard, Metalsmith on Etsy. Her shop Canadian Rockies Art has some wonderful oxidized silver earrings. Her designs are modern without being too far out for those of us who love classic designs. Stop by and see her great work.

Mea culpa - I copied a photo from her Etsy store so you could drool over her work, too.

Fashion's universal color is black. Always in style - black handmade jewelry amps up your looks as it captures and reflects the light on your hair, eyes and skin. Bedazzled is a new 2-piece necklace set hand beaded by Betty and available now in the Rose of Sharon Jewelry store.

Every woman should own at least one fabulous black necklace for "after 5" events. This is my personal favorite to Bedazzle 'em.

This evening I've been busy joining a variety of handmade communities online. This gives me an opportunity to promote Rose of Sharon Jewelry, A.F.F. Jewelry and New Life Jewelry Art to people who appreciate the creativity, uniqueness and economic power of buying handmade.

There are lots of places to promote your handmade jewelry business online and even more communities that cover anything you might hand make.

You'll find us on PlumDrop now (see the box in the right column), JewelryGeeks and Buyhand.me. I just love sharing the photos I took recently - cannot just let those little digital images go stale in my laptop!

Here is a lovely Violetta by Sandra Lee. It will be in the store next week.If you cannot wait, drop me a line to reserve.

If you love jewelry, but have never purchased a handmade piece - you are a "handmade jewelry virgin". But don't fret I can help you solve that problem and I won't tell anyone!

So why lose your virginity? Because wearing great jewelry is your announcement to the world that you are an extraordinary woman. Wearing a necklace where every stone was hand selected and carefully strung is like wearing a crown. Adorning ourselves with jewelry is one of the oldest ways of expressing ourselves and making ourselves more desirable. Choosing handmade jewelry means you take extra care in creating a unique persona. Wearing bold handcrafted designs announces your confidence.

This post is the first in a series of tips on what to look for when selecting handmade jewelry. Don't forget to bookmark this site so you don't miss a single installment.

Today's Tip: Look for quality, high-end clasps. Ornate and durable clasps can be a costly addition to a handcrafted bracelet or necklace so mass-produced and low-end designers typically opt for the less expensive circle/ring or lobster clasp. These clasps can be more difficult to manipulate and often fail especially when used with heavier designs. The clasp should be of significant size to handle the weight of stone beads and multiple strands. In high-end artisan jewelry, the clasp is more than a security element - it is a design enhancement. The clasp should match or coordinate with the primary metal used in the jewelry design. For example: Shiny silver pendant = shiny silver clasp. Casual designs should have a casual looking connecting clasp.

Great looking clasps are a trademark feature in necklaces and bracelets created by Rose of Sharon Jewelry artists.

What's your favorite type of clasp? Leave a comment and tell us your thoughts on clasps.