Jewelry Basics

How do we get most of our jewelry: personal purchases or gifts?  With a few exceptions (Ivanka Trump would be one…), over 85% of women get their jewelry through personal purchases.  Blueprint has put together a few tips on how to go about jewelry hunting, what to look for, where to go, and how to make it work.

• First….is your jewelry purchase about accenting an outfit or adding to your collection?  The answer to this question tells us whether we can go online or in-store
• Any precious stone or jewelry that you hope to have for ‘years to come’ needs to be purchased in person
• If you love silver (like I do), consider jewelry like David Yurman that emphasizes silver but mixes designs with gold and semi-precious stones — this creates more flexibility in your selection long-term
• The lighter or more delicate your jewelry is in appearance, the easier it is to go from day to night
• Invest in a jewelry cleaner for silver and gold jewelry…at minimum, grab a cleaning cloth that can wipe away surface tarnish!
• The air we breathe…the perfume we wear….the lotions we use all speed up the tarnishing process but, storing your jewelry properly helps to protect it.  Get a jewelry box or case!
• (We hope this isn’t news to anyone) Have diamond jewelry and likes appraised and insured!
• Tips: (1) elongate your neck or emphasize your decolletage by wearing v-necks and necklaces that rest on the breastbone — (2) the larger your hand or wrist, the heavier your jewelry should be to avoid ‘getting lost’ on your hand — (3) to remain professional, studs are always the best alternative — (4) if you are making noise as you move, consider other adornment options — (5) watches and earrings can be the two pieces that change the least as they are typically your biggest investment pieces — (6) depending on what part of your outfit you want to highlight, don’t wear jewelry that distracts — (7) one statement piece is plenty
• Golden rule: max out at seven pieces of jewelry…earrings count as one (put on what you like and then take off one…Coco Chanel reminds us that simplicity is always best)
• Work jewelry: stick with the workhorses or classics…. with diamonds and pearls, you can never go wrong (even the artist formerly known as Prince sang about it)!
• Current trends: multi-strand necklaces, mixing metalware, combining textures,
• Websites to remember: etsy.com (handmade jewelry), charmandchain.com (new designers(, shopmosaiconline.com (high-end handcrafted jewelry), ylang23.com (special-priced designer jewels), yoox.com (eclectic pieces), madejewelry.com (inexpensive handmade jewelry using reclaimed metal)