Storing pearls in a safe

[Caitlin]

jewelry roll. duh.

Like one of these?

 

[gravityalwayswins]

Knotty, you make an excellent point about insurance. I wish more people knew about the limitations of standard homeowners policies when it comes to jewelry! A friend of mine learned the hard way when she lost a very expensive ring and thought it would be covered but only ~$2500 of it was. Regardless of a safe, hiding place, or nothing, I insure most pieces > $300 or so. My motivation is mostly items that I consider irreplaceable emotionally but not always monetarily - the exotics, for example, some custom pieces, and heirlooms.

Pearl_dreams - I hadn't thought of the crystals. I'll definitely look into those! Thanks!

 

[Valeria101]

Yes, I do think I know what you're talking about. I think they have a very techincal name -- uh, jewelry roll.

I never thought of the misting thing. The mold issues would concern me, though.

Ha! You'd never guess the strange things I've tried on Google (or the strangest that came back!) That's the idea.

Mold... hm... never thought of that. One spray with a vaporizer releases a minute amount of water, and then, pearl roils would be opened every day in a jewelry shop. No time for mold. Maybe that was part of the equation too.

So far I had no problem of the sort, but my homey roll is not kept very tight and allows air circulation.

 

[Raisondetre]

Hmm, the beads remind me of the Bindeez beads scare we had in Australia. A couple kids came in after swallowing those toy beads, which apparently contained GHB after they were hydrated ...

 

[Hanaleimom]

storage

storage

I have one of the leather jewelry roll with suede interior. Although I bought it with the intention to store jewelry during travel. I don't think I will mist the suede interior though. It has the slender long pillow for rings and holes for earrings, but just zipper pouches for necklaces. It was a Royce Leather pouch. The link posted that shows the tab to hang the necklaces seem nice.

I started collecting ideas posted here and am thinking of just putting them in the safe by itself, not with other documents. I don't know the effect of the moisture crystals and/or sponge has on the documents; thus a separate safe comes to mind. I'd use the water-retaining crystals. Costco also sells some acrylic storage with pull-out drawers. I have to get measurement to see if it will fit inside a safe. ( I don't have a separate pearl safe yet). I am thinking of storing the pearls inside silk organza bags and put them inside the acrylic box. Everything should be see-through at a glance. I can pull out a certain drawer and get my strands, etc.

As far as insurance, it gets costly. We insured my diamond ring years ago and it cost $20/month and it was added to home insurance. Instead of spending $240/yr, I'd rather buy the safe with water crystals. Besides, I become attached to these pieces; and certainly they are irreplaceable to me.

Please keep new ideas coming. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Valeria101]

I don't know the effect of the moisture crystals and/or sponge has on the documents; thus a separate safe comes to mind.

Or an airtight box for the pearls in the existing safe...

 

[barbie biggs]

Just wanted to share two thoughts:

1) My insurance agent said that if the jewelry I'm insuring is not in said safe and a robbery occurres, there might be a question of whether it's covered. He says if it's valuable enough to insure, it's valuable enough to lock up.

1B) I compromise by keeping the appraisals in the safe. The pearls I wear. I have a shell dish on my country french writing desk. Sometimes I'm so irresponsible that there are two or three necklaces lying draped over the shell dish at the same time. Oh dear.

2) The humidors. Back to woodworking. I love humidors, they are beautiful and they smell great. Even if I do spend part of my life counseling people who are addicted to tobacco, I still quite like the smell. But the wood is toxic, toxic, toxic. It's traditional to make them of Spanish Cedar. Wonderful wood, beautiful fine grain, great smell. If you look close you will see that the cedar parts of the humidor are finished on one side so the wood can breath. Otherwise the sap works its way out and ruins the finish. I don't know what that could do to a pearl.

I wouldn't put my pearls in a humidor. Hmmm, it might be the perfect place to store jewelry appraisals. You could keep a number of important papers in there.

Just a thought,
barbie

 

[knotty panda]

Catilin: I was thinking about one with loops and snaps on both ends, the professional kind.

Barbie: So Bob Curtis' Travelin' Toolboxador is ok since there is no wood involved? I keep my beads which are awaiting homes (and have been for years in some cases) in hinged/latched cigar boxes. The aroma has long since departed my collection.

 

[lisamla]

I have a safe and I keep all my jewelry in it, except for my pearls. I also have insurance for all my jewelry. I have a blanket policy to cover anything less than $2500 - this includes watches. And then I have an individual policy for anything over $2500. Although I would be replacing my original pieces and it wouldn't be the same, it would be even worse not to have anything should all my jewelry be stolen. The cost of the insurance is such a small fraction of the replacement value that it is worth it in my opinion.

 

[Nerida]

I have a safe. I have jewellery rolls. I have a lovely Chinese jewellery box. BUT my rings are usually sitting where I left them - on my dressing table, at my computer, on the kitchen bench even! I WISH I could remember to put them in my safe. When I store my pearls, they are in silk pouches (can't see through them.... same problem as everyone), but I usually alternate between 3 or 4 different strands, then change again every couple of weeks - I hate to say it, but the ones I am alternating between tend to sit out on my dressing table....even my diamonds are usually just in a small jewellery box on my bedside table .... I am a burglary waiting to happen..

 

[jerin]

I have a safe. I have jewellery rolls. I have a lovely Chinese jewellery box. BUT my rings are usually sitting where I left them - on my dressing table, at my computer, on the kitchen bench even! I WISH I could remember to put them in my safe. When I store my pearls, they are in silk pouches (can't see through them.... same problem as everyone), but I usually alternate between 3 or 4 different strands, then change again every couple of weeks - I hate to say it, but the ones I am alternating between tend to sit out on my dressing table....even my diamonds are usually just in a small jewellery box on my bedside table .... I am a burglary waiting to happen..

Hi Nerida,

you all make me laugh when reading about everything you have to have your pearls and jewelry stored safely but still let them lay around everywhere....

I still believe if you have a safe, just take the pearls out once in a while, put them into the bathroom while taking a shower and they all can soak up the mist that is needed. The pearls you don?t have in the bathroom you can wear instead so they as well get what they need...

 

[Nerida]

Yes, Inge, I am truly the world's worst at safeguarding my own jewellery. My husband bought me a gorgeous Bvlgari diamond and semiprecious stone ring recently, and I hate to say it, it is usually on my bedside table. I really should ring the insurers one day! The only thing I insure separately is my piano - even more important to me than my pearls!!

My "stock" of pearls for selling is in the safe - at least they get some special care!

Nerida.

 

[barbie biggs]

I apologize to everyone for my faux paux yesterday. I was thinking out loud and sort of shot down two ideas without offering anything better.

Dear Knotty:
I'm not sure if we in the U.S. are going to run out of raw petroleum for plastic before or after we run out of wood. We seem intent on cutting down a lot of trees. At any rate I'm glad your humidors are holding up. I've seen some with the finish bubbled up out of them. It's depressing.

As to the Bob Curtis 'Travelin' Toolboxador. Never seen one. Probably don't want to store my pearls in plastic yet. I wonder if it would be good for storing beading tools. Hmmm.

If a burgler breaks into my house I hope I'm not home and I hope he/she leaves my husband, my labrador and my kitty alone.

 

[Nerida]

As much as we all love our pearls, Barbie has hit it on the head for me - leave us and our animals alone - whilst sentiment is important, our pearls are just "things" afterall.... no labrador here, just an enormous weimaraner who might not even notice there was a burglar...

 

[pattye]

Hi All-- Yesterday at the GIA Pearl Grading Course, my instructor, James, suggested using a "cigar humidifier" in the container with the stored pearls. When I "googled" it, it appears to be a small container with the water loving crystals discussed here and a perforated top to allow the moisture to slowly evaporate. Just wanted to make sure it was mentioned here in this thread about pearl care!

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time