As a jeweler I receive questions about jewelry care, and one thing I notice that people forget is, how to care for their jewelry when traveling.  So I thought (with all the holiday shopping and family visiting going on) I'd share my 5 jewelry tips to consider when traveling.

I travel often and I have found these to be tried and true, I hope they do you good.

1.  Keep your valuable jewelry on you while flying

A rule I live by when flying, especially if I am bringing sentimental jewelry with me, I find it is best to store your jewelry inside of  your carry-on bag.  This eliminates some of the heartbreak if your checked luggage is lost in transit or worst, is stollen.

2.  Pack versatile pieces of jewelry

When I travel I pack a capsule wardrobe; a limited number of versatile piece of clothing and accessories that effortlessly make up different outfits.  By packing a capsule you are encouraged to pack jewelry that can carry you throughout your trip.  This isn't so much a "care tip", more of a "packing tip", but I still find it to be useful for jewelry.

I tend to pack a pair of hoops, one statement ring, a pair of studs and a minimal necklace.   These piece will go with every outfit that my capsule makes up and will take me from day to night.

3.  Properly store your jewelry

Proper jewelry storage is key if you want your favorite pieces to last you years to a lifetime.   Proper jewelry storage is also the key to keeping your jewelry safe, organized and tangle-free.   I advise packing your jewelry in jewelry pouches when traveling.  If you no longer have the pouch that came with your jewelry, simply store pieces in plastic zip bags, just be sure to pack necklaces and dangly earrings in their own pouches / zip bags.

A tip for packing dainty necklaces; place the majority of the necklace in a small zip bag leaving about 2 inches (where the clasps is) hanging out and secure the zip around the chain, then place that zip bag into a slightly bigger one.  This suspends the necklace, keeping the chain from tangling.

4 Always put jewelry away after removal

When traveling, I tend to jump from one outing to the next and it is easy to misplace things when constantly on the go.   One way to avoid misplacing jewelry is to designate an area in your hotel room for your jewelry when getting dressed.  Once you are done accessorizing yourself, put unused jewelry back into pouches and the pouches back into your luggage or hotel safe. And that leads me to the next tip.

5 Use the safe (?)

This one is tricky.  I'm a slightly overly cautious person when it comes to matters like this.   If I am staying in a nice hotel (4 to 5 stars) AND traveling with expensive/sentimental jewelry, I would opt "yes" for the hotel safe.   I rarely travel with jewelry that would cause me to faint if lost or stolen but, if I did - I'd be using the safe.  When I am staying in accommodations like Air B+B, I would wear my valuable jewelry or hide it in a safe place or simply leave  valuable/sentimental jewelry at home.  I throw a "better safe, than sorry" at this one.

Those are my tips for traveling with jewelry and as I said before, I hope they do you good.

Happy travels + Thanks for reading,

Charmaine