Costume
Jewelry Buying Guide
Have you
ever wondered if what you know
about costume jewelry is
accurate? Consider the following
paragraphs and compare what you
know to the latest info on
costume jewelry.
Costume
jewelry is often created with
non-precious metals, usually gold
or silver plated, and with or
without beads and stones. Costume
jewelry has been extremely
popular around the world for
thousands of years.
The Ancient
Egyptians are known to have worn
decorative beaded necklaces and
Cleopatra is probably one of the
original wearers of what we now
call costume jewelry. In more
recent times the people of the
Germanic and Slovak regions
became highly skilled at
developing intricate patterns in
glass beads. However, beadwork
used in costume jewelry is not
only limited to glass.
A large
variety of materials are
traditionally used to make beads
such as jet, wood, amber,
gemstones, pottery, ceramic,
metals, horn, coral, ivory,
tortoiseshell and pearls.
Some modern
materials such as plastics, nylon
and even polycarbonate variants
are also used to make beads.
Costume jewelry can be antique,
period, or contemporary and there
are many collectors of every
style of costume jewelry.
Venetian glass pieces of costume
jewelry are particularly
collectable as well as being
extremely popular for people to
wear.
I trust
that what you've read so far has
been informative. The following
section should go a long way
toward clearing up any
uncertainty that may remain.
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Cleaning
costume jewelry is
extremely simple but
needs to be done on a
regular basis to prevent
tarnishing.
Simply
use a mild detergent
mixed in water to keep
your costume jewelry in
good
condition.
It
is important not to soak
the jewelry and to make
sure that you dry it
thoroughly before
storing it.
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You can buy anti-tarnish paper
for wrapping your costume jewelry
in before you put it away for
long periods of time but regular
cleaning is the best defense
against tarnishing. The
tarnishing of costume jewelry is
typically caused by the metal
reacting with the atmosphere and
oxidizing.
Unfortunately,
there are a large number of
people who are unable to wear
costume jewelry next to their
skin.
This is
because of their sensitivity to
the metals used. It is important
to make sure that anyone that you
are buying the jewelry for is not
allergic to nickel or copper,
especially with pierced earrings.
Costume jewelry may look
beautiful and, especially in the
case of contemporary pieces, be
reasonably priced but it is not
suitable for everyone to wear.
For many
people a piece of costume jewelry
may be the first jewelry that
they have worn and it is
important to look out for signs
of a reaction, especially after
extended periods of wear. Often
people will not show a reaction
if they wear the jewelry for a
short amount of time and this can
be an ideal way to avoid any
possible discomfort.
You can
also buy a special coating that
you apply to the back of the
costume jewelry to protect the
skin from having direct contact
with the metal.
As your
knowledge about costume jewelry
continues to grow, you will begin
to see how costume jewelry fits
into the overall scheme of
things. Knowing how something
relates to the rest of the world
is important too.
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About The
Author
Alice is a jewelry designer
with 18 years experience. You can
read much more from her on her
blog at http://www.jewelrybloghome.com
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