How to care for and travel with your nice jewelry

Love your jewelry? But don't dare to take it along with you when you're traveling?

"When it comes to storing, caring and traveling with jewelry, it is best not to use the one-size-fits-all perspective," says Jayson Miller, with Robert & Jayson Miller Fine Jewelry.

Here are a few suggestions to think of before you pack up your pearls and travel with your jewels:

First, when you travel, you will want to use a first-class approach for pearl jewelry!

"This is not the type of jewelry that should be jumbled together with other pieces as pearls are delicate and can be scratched or cracked if they rub, or bump against gemstones or metal," says Miller.

Remember to protect the family jewels and pearls! Your best bet is to find a special compartment in a jewelry box or jewelry roll.

Also, remember to keep the luminous spheres away from other jewelry items (this is a good suggestion for travel AND at home).

"For extra protection," says Miller, "store pearls in a soft, lint-free bag to add protection against scratches and dust."

When traveling, take extra care to prevent losing jewelry.

Storing items in a small, travel jewelry box or jewelry roll is one solution. Ring boxes (either the one it originally came in, or one from another ring) have a slot and will help keep the ring in place.

Necklaces can become tangled, so it is best to fasten the clasp (a good idea at home in the jewelry box as well).

If you do not have the original container for your necklace, you can recreate one by cutting long, vertical slots in a thin piece of cardboard, and sliding the necklace through the cut to keep it in place.

For extra protection, you may want to wrap a thin piece of foam around the piece, and then placing it in a plastic bag and taping it shut.

Jewelry, if properly cared for, can last indefinitely and even become an heirloom for future generation.
Tips to keeping your pearls looking their best
Whether you are traveling or not, pearl jewelry needs a little TLC. Here are a few tips to keep your pearls looking their best from Jayson Miller:

· Fasten pearl necklaces, bracelets and rings after you’ve applied your make up, perfume and lotion to avoid putting pearls in contact with chemicals that could dull their finish or nacre.

· Remove pearl rings before washing your hands or applying lotion.

· Wipe pearls with a soft, lint-free cloth immediately after wearing them and before putting them away.

Do not use abrasive cloths as they can wear away the luminous, nacre coating.

· Never clean your pearls with solutions that contain ammonia or harsh detergents or chemicals.

· Do not put pearl jewelry in an ultrasonic cleaner.

Thief Pulls Off $8M Jewelry Heist In Paris

(AP) A lone man carrying a gun stole between euro6 million ($8.5 million) and euro6.5 ($9.1 million) worth of jewels Saturday afternoon from the Chopard jewelry house on the chic Place Vendome, police and a police union official said.

No one was reported injured in the robbery.

Police said the operation was carried out by one man.

An investigations officer with the Alliance police union, Olivier Lebon, said a man in his 50s and wearing a suit walked into the boutique in the afternoon. He threatened employees with a gun, and, minutes later, walked calmly out of the store with his loot.

It was not immediately known whether he had an accomplice outside the store or waiting elsewhere.

Numerous jewelers, as well as France's Justice Ministry, are located on the elegant Place Vendome which is usually filled Saturday with strollers soaking up the sunshine.

The estimated value of the stolen jewels is far below the euro80 million in watches and jewels stolen from the Harry Winston shop in Paris in December 2008.

Rapaport, May 13, 2009: Big beautiful blue diamond for $9.5 million

Platinum pricing chaos impacting manufacturers

Platinum prices plummeted in April, with the precious metal losing nearly 10% of its value in just two days. The sharp decline could hit jewellery manufacturers as volatile base metal prices make it difficult to price pieces.

Due to high mark-ups, the design-led market will be less affected by fluctuating platinum prices, but Johnson Matthey’s Neill Swan said that wedding band manufacturers could be at risk. “Wedding bands are closer to a commodity,” he explained.

Some manufacturers have tried to implement price band structures to help stave off the effects of fluctuating prices. However, the quick pace of price changes has meant that companies are faced with moving bands several times a week

Lily Allen to launch jewellery line

Lily Allen to launch jewellery line

Singer wants to get more involved in fashion


Lily Allen wants to create her own jewellery collection.

The singer, who has designed clothes for high street store New Look, hopes the range will be out ‘the back end of this year.’

‘There are lots of things I want to do in my life,’ she told Capital Radio.

‘I just don’t know what they are yet. I am quite unnatural in front of the camera.

'It can be a little bit intimidating but fun on some levels.’

Italy Q1 jewellery exports down over 10 percent

* Q1 jewellery export volumes fall more than 10 percent
* Modest positive signs recently, full-year export to fall
* Lobbying to cut U.S. import duties on hold for now
(Adds comments, details)
By Svetlana Kovalyova
MILAN, May 14 (Reuters) - The volume of precious metal jewellery exports from Italy, Europe's top producer, fell more than 10 percent in the first quarter of 2009 and full year exports are set to decline due to weak demand, a senior industry official said.
Jewellery manufacturing is the main consumer of gold and other precious metals. Falling export tonnages from Italy, the world's leading exporter of gold jewellery, mean demand for the metals from jewellery makers has been dropping too.
"I am afraid export volumes fell more than 10 percent in the first quarter," Stefano de Pascale, director of Italian goldsmiths' body Federorafi, told Reuters on Thursday in a telephone interview, revising his earlier forecast of an 8-10 percent fall.
Full-year export volumes would also fall, despite some modest signs of recovery in purchase orders by clients and of metal purchases by jewellers, de Pascale said.
"We should wait and see if these small signals gain strength in the second half of this year... But they will not be able to reverse the negative trend and the year will close with a minus sign," he said, while declining to give precise forecasts.
De Pascale hoped the fall in sales would slow in the second half of 2009, with wholesale and retail buyers resuming purchases after a destocking period that has lasted several months because the economic crisis has hit consumer demand.
But it would require strong signs of recovery in the global economy and consumer demand to reverse the decline of Italian jewellery sales since the early 2000s, he said.
Italy sells abroad about 70 to 75 percent of the jewellery it makes and it used to dominate world markets. It has lost market shares to rivals from lower cost India, China and Turkey which have improved quality over past few years.
Last year exports of Italian precious metals jewellery fell 13 percent to 211.8 tonnes, according to data from another industry body, Club degli Orafi.
De Pascale said Federorafi had put on hold its efforts to push for a cut in U.S. import duties on European Union jewellery, which put Italian manufacturers at a disadvantage with their non-EU rivals on the world's key jewellery market.
"We are waiting to see clear signals from the Obama administration of what its trade policy is going to be," de Pascale said.
In the meantime, Italian jewellers would back a "zero duty" initiative to cut import duties on jewellery and some other goods as part of World Trade Organization talks, he said.