5 Simple Tips for Cleaning and Curating Your Jewelry Box
Every treasure in your jewelry box should make your heart happy and make you feel good wearing it. This selection of one-of-a-kind and limited edition jewelry pieces by Michelle Pajak-Reynolds is perfectly suited for wearing every day and on special occasions. Photo credit: Michelle Pajak-Reynolds Studios
When the calendar flips to a new year, I like to think about more than just resolutions for health or home. I think about the treasures we wear close to us, our jewelry.
Jewelry boxes often sit untouched for years, but they hold so much. Stories, milestones, memories. Spending an afternoon with your jewelry is nothing like tackling an overstuffed closet. You get to hold each piece, remember where it came from, and think about how it will move forward with you.
1. Give Your Jewelry a Beautiful Home.
Let’s talk jewelry storage. If your pieces live in little dishes, tangled in drawers, or piled on top of your dresser, it’s time to give them a proper home. A good jewelry box keeps everything together and saves you from hunting for a missing earring or untangling necklaces that somehow knot themselves overnight.
Look for compartments of different sizes. Ring rolls, earring sections, hooks for chains, and flat spaces for pearls or silk-strung pieces. Those should always lie flat so the silk doesn’t stretch out.
If you already have a box, empty it completely. Dust and pet hair love to hide in there. I use a lint roller or a vacuum brush for velvet interiors, a little glass cleaner for mirrors, and a soft cloth for the outside. Your jewelry box should feel like a welcoming little home for your treasures.
Here are tips I use to help my clients refresh and care for their collections so their pieces stay beautiful and meaningful for generations to come.
A soft polishing cloth is the safest way to remove tarnish and keep your sterling silver jewelry sparkling. Photo credit: Michelle Pajak-Reynolds
2. Clean Your Jewelry
Once everything is out, give your jewelry a little spa day. A soft polishing cloth works wonders on silver, gold, platinum, and well-made costume pieces.
If a piece needs more than a polish, mix a drop of baby shampoo in warm water and use a soft toothbrush. Just remember, beads or pearls strung on silk should never go in water. The silk and thread can stretch when wet.
Be careful with ultrasonic cleaners. They can loosen stones. Early in my career, I put my grandmother’s ring in one without checking the stones first. A tiny diamond came loose and I never found it. Even after replacing it, it never felt the same and my heart is still broken about it.
Some gemstones like emeralds, pearls and opals, can be permanently damaged by ultrasonic cleaners. More information about how to care for and clean specific gemstones and birthstone jewelry is available on my Jewelry Care Tips page.
3. Sort and Check Your Jewelry
After everything is clean and sparkling, it’s time to sort your pieces. Make sure earrings have their backings and mates, and that clasps on bracelets, necklaces, and watches work properly. Try on your rings and make sure they fit comfortably.
Put aside any pieces that need repair or resizing and set a date to take them to your favorite local jeweler, ideally one with onsite repairs. If you know the designer who made your piece, reach out. They know their work and how to repair it best.
One of a kind jewelry pieces, such as this 14K Fairmined gold, red zircon and Songea sapphire necklace from Michelle Pajak-Reynolds’s Elementals Fire Collection, make any jewelry collection a special treasure for jewelry lovers. Photo credit: Julie Stanley/JuleImages
4. Edit Your Jewelry Collection
Once the pieces needing service are set aside, it’s time to evaluate your collection. Create three piles for each category:
LOVE IT – Pieces you live in, that make you smile just thinking about them.
Maybe – Pieces you feel attached to but don’t wear often. Keep these in a special place and think about how you might rotate them with your favorites.
Not me anymore – Pieces that no longer suit your style or life. Consider handing them down or redesigning them so they can become “LOVE IT” pieces again.
Don’t be hard on yourself. This is about creating a collection you truly love and enjoy wearing.
Statement jewelry isn’t only for special occasions. A bold yet neutral necklace, like Michelle Pajak-Reynolds’s Undina Collection Venus necklace, looks amazing worn with a nice t-shirt and jeans, suit, little black dress or formal occasion gown. Photo credit: Julie Stanley/JuleImages
5. Dream a Little: Curate Your Ideal Jewelry Collection
Now that your collection is full of pieces that make your heart do a little tap dance, it’s time to make a wish list. I like using the Rule of Three. For each category, aim for one casual piece, one statement piece, and one in-between piece.
Think about your long-term style, not trends. Are there gemstones or designers you have a lot of or are missing from your collection? Jewelry is part art collection and part autobiography. Well-made pieces last and can become treasured family heirlooms, carrying stories for generations.
Every piece doesn’t have to be extraordinary or unique. It should make your heart happy and feel good to wear.
Jewelry featuring raw gemstones like these 14K Fairmined gold, Umba sapphire and champagne zircon Taygeta dangle earrings from Michelle Pajak-Reynolds’s Pleiades Collection adds a pop of color and gorgeous texture to your jewelry wardrobe. Photo credit: Julie Stanley/JuleImages
