Hand Trades

Eve M. Kahn: I wanted to bring my own jewelry boxes to show you — the one filled with all the pieces I wear, and the other jammed with everything else, but I didn’t want to horrify you. How much am I doing wrong?

Earl Kahn (no relation to Eve): A lot. There are basic rules for storing jewelry that I’m always surprised people don’t know. Keep each piece separate. Gold or silver, they all scratch each other, and the stones and enamel can chip when they bang into each other, especially soft stones such as emeralds, opals, and aquamarines. Costume jewelry is even more fragile. Keep everything in its box, ideally the original custom-fitted box from the store. Or if boxes take up too much room for you, use tissue paper or fabric drawstring pouches. Or just buy little MiniGrip Recloseable clear bags; we get them wholesale, but anybody could order a case of a thousand for $30 or so from chiswick.com. Just split them up with your friends. For any beads that are strung, don’t seal the plastic bags, and don’t use an airtight safe, or else the silk will gradually dry out.

Should I keep all my jewelry in a particular kind of box?

It doesn’t matter — a dresser drawer is fine. But if you do get a fancy box or safe, make sure it isn’t lined in suede. The tannic acid used to cure suede can react with exposed gold and cause a horrendous rust-colored stain that only comes off with professional cleaning. We can take something completely stained and banged up and make the metal and stones sparkle like new again.

What’s the best way to clean my jewelry at home?

Don’t use the commercial solutions that a lot of stores sell — they can leave a film. At home, mix boiling water in a pot with ammonia (two cups of water per capful of ammonia). Make sure it’s clear ammonia, because the sudsy kind leaves that nasty film. Brush the jewelry with a soft toothbrush dipped in the solution and then rinse very, very well with clean warm water — you don’t want to shock the piece with a drastic change in temperature. But use only cold or lukewarm water when cleaning emeralds, aquamarines, and opals — they’re heat-sensitive. And don’t put anything strung in the water, or else the silk will rot. Pearls should only be cleaned when they’re being restrung and are off the silk.

How often should pearls be restrung, anyway? Is there a hard-and-fast rule?

Get them restrung as soon as you notice any signs of wear on the silk: fraying, stretching — which means you can see spaces between a pearl and the knot — or any darkening where the silk meets the clasp, that dirt will rot right through the silk. Once a year, if the luster on your pearls seems a little sleepy, you can put a dot of baby oil on your thumb and index finger and run that over the strand. But I mean just a dot; do not oil your pearls.

I keep seeing vibrating or ultrasonic machines for cleaning jewelry. Are they safe?

The vibrating ones can damage jewelry, so we never recommend them. If you really want an ultrasonic, buy a small commercial unit through a jewelry store that is familiar with the equipment and can train you how to use it. L&R is a good brand, but there are a million others. They’re really meant for women who go to events in their important jewelry very often, and need it to always have glitter and zing.

What about watches. Do they require some special treatment at home?

Don’t ever attempt to clean a watch yourself, no matter how water-resistant it’s supposed to be. The band or bracelet can be cleaned separately when you have the watch serviced. Don’t store a watch anywhere damp, for obvious reasons. And the original box is especially important for watches — it gives you the provenance and maintains the resale value.

Are there any tricks to keeping jewelry safe while wearing it, to protect it in daily life?

Don’t wear your rings to the gym. It’s not safe for your hands, and it abuses the jewelry. Don’t expose your pearls to any chemical with an alcohol base that could take off the luster permanently. Let your perfume and hair spray dry completely before you put on any pearls. Don’t wear jewelry or watches to the beach. Saltwater is corrosive, and anything that falls into the sand is history. And suntan oil is the worst — it’s the enemy of jewelry, it leaves film and schmutz.

Earl Kahn, owner, Murreys Jewelers, 1395 Third Avenue, New York, NY; 212-879-3690.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/07/16/hearstmagfashion201940.DTL

Filed under: How To....