THE SAVVY SHOPPER: silver

Showing posts with label silver. Show all posts

Monday, April 8, 2024

A Cheatsheet: How To Clean Fine Jewelry

Photos: Macy's except where marked

If jewelry is your luxury of choice, a Savvy Shopper selects classic pieces she'll wear time and again. Keeping fine jewelry in a box is a complete waste of money! Wear it daily and enjoy it.

Take off your jewelry before showering, washing dishes, or cleaning around the house to prevent scratching the metal or damaging any gemstones. Only when traveling do I wear my jewelry to bed (so I don't accidentally leave a piece behind). At home, I remove my necklaces, rings, or earrings before bed so nothing breaks. Put them away in a safe place. Also at home, I remove my rings before washing my hands with soap.

Periodically it's important to clean jewelry so it continues to sparkle. Here's a ...

Cheatsheet on how to properly clean your fine jewelry:

For gold:

To clean gold, a mixture of soap and warm water is recommended. Soak the pieces first if you wish. Gold jewelry without gemstones can also be cleaned with rubbing alcohol and then raised with water, but soap and water are all you really need. Buff the precious metal dry with a soft cloth.

For silver: Silver is softer than gold. Clean silver with soap and warm water or a silver polishing cloth. You can also safely use a professional silver cleaner like Tarn-x. Don't use paper towels or tissues to clean silver. They are too abrasive and might scratch the silver.

Gemstones

For amethyst, aquamarine, citrine, diamond, garnet, morganite, quartz, certified ruby, sapphire, tanzanite, and topaz: Clean with warm soapy water and a soft toothbrush.

For emeralds, jade, onyx, opals, peridot, and turquoise: Clean with a damp cloth and a soft toothbrush. Avoid soaking in water and sudden temperature changes. Heat can damage emeralds, opals, and peridots. (Heat will also lighten sapphires.) Emeralds commonly have jardins (which are inclusions such as cracks or air bubbles). Opals can have from 6% - 10% of water content.

For pearls: Drop a soft cloth in warm water and mild dishwashing soap to wipe the pearls. Follow with a wipe of clean water. Do not soak the pearls in a soapy solution. Pearls are soft (a 4 on the Moh's Scale of Hardness) and are sometimes strung on a silk thread, so soaking can damage them.

For all of your gemstones, here are some final tips: Avoid rapid temperature changes, steaming machines, and ultrasonic devices. Trust only a trained jeweler to deep clean your gemstones. Avoid direct sunlight, chlorine, perfume, hairspray, and harsh chemicals.

Fine jewelry is too costly to take unnecessary risks. Take care of your precious metals and gemstones by cleaning them gently and safely.

Thursday, January 4, 2024

Diamond Accent Flower Studs

A YouTube luxury influencer, Sophie Shohet, whom I sometimes watch, showed a pair of diamond accent flower stud earrings on her channel that looks familiar. I also own a pair in the same style. Her diamond accent flower studs are ruby stones and likely 18K gold. My studs are sapphires in 14K gold. Hers were designed by her jeweler. I got my earrings at Macy's Herald Square in the mid-1980s. In fact, I'm wearing the earrings in the small blogger photo over on the sidebar.👉

I bought sapphire diamond accent flower studs on an entry-level salary and over the years, I have really gotten my money's worth wearing the classic style of earrings (sometimes daily). IMHO they are as beautiful and elegant as diamond stud earrings, with an ample effect for less moola. ↖Over to the right is a similar pair sold by Macy's today.

I'm glad I bought my earrings years ago as they cost 4 times more now (because the price of gold went up) and as much as I love them the price is (arguably too?) steep now! I'd wait for one of Macy's best sales to lower the cost, or I'd consider buying the earrings in sterling silver (still a precious metal) with the choice of ruby or sapphire stones.

Jewelry was always a splurge but sadly it's getting harder to find substantial gold pieces worthy of the much higher price tag of today.

Thursday, June 2, 2022

Italo Jewelry Is an Exquisite Find

Italo Pear Design Created White Sapphire Tennis Necklace

Italo Jewelry is an exquisite fine jewelry find! Why would you buy expensive Chanel fashion (a/k/a costume) jewelry made of steel and rhinestones for thousands of dollars when you can step it up to low and reasonably priced fine jewelry made of real precious metal and genuine gemstones for much less? The pieces are well-made and gorgeous!

Here's how the company keeps its prices down. Customers buy directly from Italo, therefore it's one-stop jewelry shopping minus the middle man. Expert designers and craftsmen use lab-grown white sapphires set in 925 sterling silver dipped in rhodium, yellow, or rose gold. In some rings, necklaces, etc., white sapphires are colored blue, red, green, or yellow employing the latest technology. A sapphire is a corundum, 2nd only to diamonds (carbon) in hardness.

Careful attention is placed on beautiful design, outstanding craftsmanship, and superior quality. The huge inventory of pieces ranges in styles from classic to unique to contemporary to vintage, and they are all stunning! Moreover, Italo jewelry will not tarnish or turn your skin green, and nickel is omitted in the alloy since some people are allergic to the metal. Italo jewelry only looks expensive while costing thousands less. Stellar design, quality control, and durability are a must!

I love big blingy stones that can still be worn every day ... stones that shimmer, sparkle, and yet can be seen without a magnifying glass.

A bigger carat 22" line (tennis) necklace costs the same as an automobile.

Although I can't speak for others, I like jewelry because of its shine, design, and especially its connection to Mother Earth. Silver and white sapphires are both elements of nature. But I'm also a fan of affordable laboratory-grown [synthetic] gemstones -- they are chemically and physically identical to the gemstones created by nature.😍 Still the bigger lab-grown stones are expensive too!

Usually, descent carat sizes are far from affordable. Enter Italo jewelry, a worthy and beautiful compromise with a decent reputation in customer care.*

Furthermore, I think it's the perfect (no insurance needed) travel jewelry! I mean, you're still going to be unhappy knowing a brazen thief stole your jewelry but at least you won't cry your eyes out because you can afford to replace it.

So be savvy! Leave the heirlooms at home ... and better yet, don't mortgage your house to buy truly expensive-looking fine jewelry.

Italo jewelry offers the design, sparkle, sterling silver, and white sapphires in sizes we can love without breaking the bank.

Frankly, it's one of THE SAVVY SHOPPER's most exciting finds! Scattered throughout today's blog are a few of my favorite pieces from the jeweler's website. What are some of yours?

I bought a 4-carat (center stone) ring. A 4-carat diamond would cost about $36,000+
a real budget buster for ordinary folks. The ring gives me the effect and fun for much less, and to an untrained eye, it's a diamond! :)

Ordering Tips: 1) Take an extra beat to get your order right before placing it since the Italian jeweler's factory is located in China, so undoubtedly ordering is less of a hassle and expense than making returns or exchanges. The retailer's policy offers returns and exchanges and Palpay will ensure you don't lose your money -- but you pay for return shipping if you simply change your mind, which savvy shoppers try to avoid.

2) There are always promotions of 15% - 30% off so be sure to find them before ordering.

3) Smaller stones will look more like diamonds than bigger carats (if it matters to you?) as you start to see the differences in larger stones.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Treat Yourself To One Nice Thing

I don't wear costume jewelry. I'd much rather own a few good pieces of the real thing — even if it's just inexpensive sterling silver, or a simple gold chain — over having a dresser drawer full of designer, sometimes more costly costume jewelry.

And I hope everybody has the experience of receiving classic jewelry like 14k gold earrings for a 21st birthday, or a bracelet with precious stones to celebrate a graduation, given to you by someone who matters in your life. That's why it's the worst feeling in the world to lose a piece of jewelry. Often there's a story and sentimental value behind that neckless, so it can't easily be replaced.

Once in a while I'm even good to myself. I notice that with jewelry I'm a more modest spender and not quite as generous with myself, as I am when buying for another person. But it all works out, because that's how special people in my life are with me also.

I have a pair of cultured pearl earrings that I bought on sale at Macy's department store for $80. They may not be flawless Akoya pearls, but they are nice. They are classic ... real ... and a thing of beauty. They dress up any outfit -- and with care, they will last for decades.

So here's a pearl of wisdom. Every so often when you reach a milestone, or overcome a hardship, let yourself have one nice thing. Reward yourself for meeting a challenge with a strength and resilience you didn't know you had. It doesn't have to be a top of the line purchase, necessarily; just factor into your budget a little something you are hankering to buy. Make sure it's something that brings you happiness ... and enjoy it, because the reality is, it doesn't take long to live a life.

THE SAVVY SHOPPER