Caring for vintage jewellery
The single most useful rule with vintage jewellery is that water is the enemy of anything glued, foiled or strung. Sterling silver can be polished, gold can be washed, and almost everything else should be cleaned dry. Most pieces that arrive ruined were ruined by an owner being helpful with an ultrasonic cleaner.
Silver that has gone dark
A polishing cloth impregnated with rouge, and patience. Work the flat surfaces and leave the recesses alone — that darkening is what makes the design readable, and stripping it flattens the piece visually. Dip solutions work fast and are the reason a lot of vintage silver looks oddly dead: they remove everything, including the intentional oxidation.
Foil-backed stones: never water
Rhinestones from the 1920s to the 1960s are usually foil-backed — a mirror layer behind the stone that produces the fire. Water gets behind the setting, lifts the foil, and the stone goes permanently grey and blind. There is no fixing it. Clean around the stones with a dry cotton bud, and a barely damp one only on the metal.
Pearls and strung pieces
Wipe with a soft dry cloth after wearing; skin acids dull the nacre over years. Never soak a strung piece — the thread is usually silk and it rots and stretches wet. If a strand has visible slack between the beads it wants restringing, which is cheap and doubles how long it survives.
Storage, which matters more than cleaning
Dry, dark, and each piece separate so nothing scratches anything. Avoid wool, felt and rubber bands: all three release sulphur and will blacken silver from across a drawer. A closed bag or a box with a lid slows tarnish enormously — air is the mechanism, so cutting off the air is the whole job.
What wear is, and what damage is
Wear is a softened plating edge, a slightly rubbed high point, a warm patina in a recess. It is the record of a piece having been someone's, and it is not a defect — we keep it deliberately. Damage is a missing stone, a broken clasp, a cracked shank or a bent post. That is what gets pulled out before a jar is filled.
The dealer's notes
Can I clean vintage jewellery with toothpaste or baking soda?
No. Both are abrasive: on plated metal they cut through the plating in a few passes, and on foil-backed or glued stones the paste creeps under the setting and never comes out. A soft dry cloth handles most tarnish; a silver cloth handles the rest.
Is it safe to put vintage jewellery in water?
Only solid metal pieces with no stones, no pearls and no glue. Anything with foil-backed stones, paste, rhinestones set in glue, or strung beads should never be submerged — water lifts the foil, clouds the stones and rots the thread.
How should I store vintage jewellery so it doesn't tarnish?
Dry, dark and separated: each piece in its own pouch or compartment so metals don't rub, away from bathrooms and windows, with a strip of anti-tarnish paper in the box. Storage prevents more damage than any cleaning method repairs.