Collecting and Caring for Your Vintage Costume Jewelry

Collecting vintage jewelry can be very rewarding especially when you get those complements while wearing that piece or pieces out to dinner or even to the grocery store.

Art Deco Diamond Platinum Choker $10,500.00

[Hat Tip to Langs Antiques for Pix]

 Art Deco Weiss Austrian Crystal Rhodium Plated $89.95

Whether you like a certain period like Art Deco or you collect from all periods maintain and caring for your costume jewelry is not like your fine jewelry. Fine jewelry is made from gold, silver or platinum with fine gemstones and are very robust to being able to clean them with off the shelf cleaners, not so much with your costume jewelry.

Vintage costume jewelry was likely made from a base metal covered with rhodium plating or a gold wash. These treatments are very sensitive to jewelry cleaners.

Things not to do is to soak your jewelry in any solution even soap and water. If your piece has glued crystals or rhinestones more than likely the liquid will loosen the stones and the will release from the mounting. Also, a lot of costume jewelry stones are foil backed and can be damaged by cleaners if soaked.

How we clean our finds is using Isopropyl alcohol which cleans and evaporates quickly and using a soft bristle tooth brush lightly rub the areas where body oils have built up on the base or stones. If there is some fabric or hair stuck in the piece you can use a wooden tooth pick or tweezers to remove these items.

Finally do not shower, bath or swim with your vintage jewelry on!

See all our latest vintage jewelry.