As people spring clean their homes and wardrobes, it’s important not to forget to spring clean your jewellery box.
Empty the Box
To start with, carefully empty out your jewellery box onto a smooth, clean surface. A tray is a great way to do this. Once empty, clean the box itself. Use the appropriate item for the material; wax or polish for wood, glass cleaner, or a soft damp cloth for plastic. If the interior is cloth or velvet, the best solution is to run a lint roller or dryer sheet over the material to pick up dust.
Next, it’s time to inventory your jewellery pieces.
Inventory Your Jewellery
You can use a notepad, app or spreadsheet. Make a list of the jewellery in the box, with space for notes, organised by type, then style. Identify and put aside pieces that need fixing, and watches that need new batteries. Note whether items need cleaning or polishing.
Photograph any expensive pieces and make sure they are properly insured. Consider investing in a safe or lock box for those items.
Finish up by cleaning your jewellery, sorting out any dust or tarnishing.
Declutter
Choose the pieces of jewellery that you want to keep. You can use any method that appeals to you.
These three are popular:
- The KonMari method, where you keep items that spark joy.
- The Minimalist approach where you pare your collection down to a capsule.
- Or the box method where you divide pieces into Keep, Donate, Sell and Bin piles.
Don’t throw pieces away unless they are unfixable. Charity shops are happy to take costume jewellery and you can sell more expensive gems through consignment shops or places like eBay. If you aren’t sure, pop the ‘maybe’ items into storage and check in three months to see if you’ve missed them.
Next, make a list of essentials and fashion pieces you think are missing from your collection.
Re-Stock
Firstly, do you need a new jewellery box? This depends on the amount of jewellery you have after the declutter. You want to avoid pieces being scattered, or scraping against each other. (Remember that pearls need to be kept wrapped and separate lest they be scratched).
Go back to the list you made in the previous section. Purchase what you can afford to complete the collection.
This includes bits and pieces you might need. You might need to restock on butterfly backs for your earrings, or a necklace extender for a too short pendant.