VCA ~ Van Cleef Arpels Discussion thread!
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I came across wolf’s name because of TPF and I guess you are one of the OPs who used it the first! I was just curious that the VCA boxes look so pretty but once you get them, it’s of no use? Because they won’t prevent tarnishing etc?
You are too cute! I can visualize your outfit, like the Romanovs, with all those secret pouches in your ski outfits... your 5 necklaces, 6 rings, 8 earrings, 4 bangles. You probably jingle.
And back at the hotel room...
You probably sleep with your pieces on.
My pieces are very organized and disciplined, and they like to snuggle at night in their cute little pouches. My pieces will not want to be buddies with your gypsy-roaming-everywhere pieces.
Nope... we can't ever be roomies.
Lol, I love it! Me in my turquoise jacket and white ski pants with pink hair flowing (hah - oh wait, it doesnt flow anymore I have to wear a helmet now) and then patting my pockets every ten minutes like an old man who can’t find his wallet…
lift card…cell phone…cash….eye drops...jewelry pouch. I really don’t know how everyone else does it, we ski in Austria and everyone is dressed to the nines for dinner.
Im a little disappointed we can’t be roomies, you have a few pieces I’d love to have a visit with!!!
Hi! I think if you want to store your VCA in their boxes, that's fine.
Tarnishing/changing color takes times. It's not an overnight process that one day, poof, your gold just turns.
I got into this at one point and read so much about metals, one can really go down a rat hole on this topic. To summarize, the main thing affecting tarnishing is the environment. Over time, all karat gold (except pure gold) will slightly tarnish. Gold takes years/decades and is a much slower process than say silver. Look at vintage jewelry or grandma's old jewelry. It will have the dark deep off color look that looks "old and vintage". I never really thought about gold jewelry tarnishing until I experienced it first hand which is why I then went down that google rat hole.
I posted about it earlier, and I have two examples. My mother's engagement ring... she never wore it, tossed it in a drawer, I saw it after many years, and the metal definitely looked old, darker. For a ring that was never worn, it looked "vintage". I have a rose gold chain, never wore it, tossed it in a drawer (actually it was in a box in a drawer), and the rose gold looks dark now. It is not the gold that tarnishes, it is actually the other metals reacting. Gold jewelry (except 24K) is really an alloy, a mix of metals. 18K gold is only 75% pure gold, the remainder consists of other metals such as copper, nickel, zinc. For example, rose gold is a mix of gold & copper. If you want to get scientific and more info about metals/alloys and jewelry, you can google as there is a lot written about metals reacting with humidity, oyxgen, sulfur, salty humid ocean air, etc. It goes on and on, and the information is quite interesting. However, if by reading it will cause you to worry more, skip it.
In the end, jewelry is for enjoyment and not something to worry about. A little change in color over time won't hurt anything, and it will take years/decades. There are worse things that can happen in the present such as nicking a gemstone or making a deep scratch in the metal, both of which I have done. It's just life and part of the journey of a well loved jewelry piece.
If you enjoy storing your jewelry in the original VCA boxes, keep doing it. It's preference. Some people leave their jewelry out on their dresser. Some people put their bling in the safe deposit box (by the way, if you do this and have pearls, a big no-no for pearls as safe deposit box environments are very dry and will dry our your pearls if you store them there for an extended period).
For me, I like to put my bling in jewelry boxes so I can look at the beautiful pieces. The LusterLoc lining is an added bonus for protection which is great. The original question was about LusterLoc, which is a patented technology by Wolf. My jeweler actually turned me on to Wolf jewelry boxes because of LusterLoc. It's also nice to see how many people in this forum already have Wolf. But it's not the only solution as there are other anti-tarnishing options if you wish to do so.
Enjoy your bling, put it in whatever storage gives you that ear-to-ear grin smile, and don't worry about it.
We can let the grandkids worry about tarnishing and "grandma's old looking vintage jewelry."
I hope this was helpful.
We need a mod shot of you in your awesome snow bunny outfit!
Yup, you would be the modern day Gilded Age American Heiress skiing in Europe...
beautiful, fashionable, and totally loaded with bling!
Written so well! Aside from your knowledge on jewelry, you really have a talent for explaining things so well and thoroughly. I couldn’t imagine a better response.Hi! I think if you want to store your VCA in their boxes, that's fine.
Tarnishing/changing color takes times. It's not an overnight process that one day, poof, your gold just turns.
I got into this at one point and read so much about metals, one can really go down a rat hole on this topic. To summarize, the main thing affecting tarnishing is the environment. Over time, all karat gold (except pure gold) will slightly tarnish. Gold takes years/decades and is a much slower process than say silver. Look at vintage jewelry or grandma's old jewelry. It will have the dark deep off color look that looks "old and vintage". I never really thought about gold jewelry tarnishing until I experienced it first hand which is why I then went down that google rat hole.
If you want to get scientific and more info about metals/alloys and jewelry, you can google as there is a lot written about metals reacting with humidity, oyxgen, sulfur, salty humid ocean air, etc. It goes on and on, and the information is quite interesting. However, if by reading it will cause you to worry more, skip it.
In the end, jewelry is for enjoyment and not something to worry about. A little change in color over time won't hurt anything, and it will take years/decades. There are worse things that can happen in the present such as nicking a gemstone or making a deep scratch in the metal, both of which I have done. It's just life and part of the journey of a well loved jewelry piece.
If you enjoy storing your jewelry in the original VCA boxes, keep doing it. It's preference. Some people leave their jewelry out on their dresser. Some people put their bling in the safe deposit box (by the way, if you do this and have pearls, a big no-no for pearls as safe deposit box environments are very dry and will dry our your pearls if you store them there for an extended period).
For me, I like to put my bling in jewelry boxes so I can look at the beautiful pieces. The LusterLoc lining is an added bonus for protection which is great. The original question was about LusterLoc, which is a patented technology by Wolf. My jeweler actually turned me on to Wolf jewelry boxes because of LusterLoc. It's also nice to see how many people in this forum already have Wolf. But it's not the only solution as there are other anti-tarnishing options if you wish to do so.
Enjoy your bling, put it in whatever storage gives you that ear-to-ear grin smile, and don't worry about it.
We can let the grandkids worry about tarnishing and "grandma's old looking vintage jewelry."
I hope this was helpful.
Hi there @BigAkoya, Omg first and foremost thanks so much for being on this forum you really help people and share your extensive knowledge with us newbies.I do have a vintage 20 something year old beautiful pendant(higher than 22k maybe 23) that I don’t want to get polished to ruin it’s beautiful vintage look, however lately my jewel insurer mentioned that corrosion and mould isn’t covered in my insurance, however I wasn’t even aware that 18 k gold metal could just randomly drop mass or grow mould, or be corroded!! Such horrorHi! I think if you want to store your VCA in their boxes, that's fine.
Tarnishing/changing color takes times. It's not an overnight process that one day, poof, your gold just turns.
I got into this at one point and read so much about metals, one can really go down a rat hole on this topic. To summarize, the main thing affecting tarnishing is the environment. Over time, all karat gold (except pure gold) will slightly tarnish. Gold takes years/decades and is a much slower process than say silver. Look at vintage jewelry or grandma's old jewelry. It will have the dark deep off color look that looks "old and vintage". I never really thought about gold jewelry tarnishing until I experienced it first hand which is why I then went down that google rat hole.
If you want to get scientific and more info about metals/alloys and jewelry, you can google as there is a lot written about metals reacting with humidity, oyxgen, sulfur, salty humid ocean air, etc. It goes on and on, and the information is quite interesting. However, if by reading it will cause you to worry more, skip it.
In the end, jewelry is for enjoyment and not something to worry about. A little change in color over time won't hurt anything, and it will take years/decades. There are worse things that can happen in the present such as nicking a gemstone or making a deep scratch in the metal, both of which I have done. It's just life and part of the journey of a well loved jewelry piece.
If you enjoy storing your jewelry in the original VCA boxes, keep doing it. It's preference. Some people leave their jewelry out on their dresser. Some people put their bling in the safe deposit box (by the way, if you do this and have pearls, a big no-no for pearls as safe deposit box environments are very dry and will dry our your pearls if you store them there for an extended period).
For me, I like to put my bling in jewelry boxes so I can look at the beautiful pieces. The LusterLoc lining is an added bonus for protection which is great. The original question was about LusterLoc, which is a patented technology by Wolf. My jeweler actually turned me on to Wolf jewelry boxes because of LusterLoc. It's also nice to see how many people in this forum already have Wolf. But it's not the only solution as there are other anti-tarnishing options if you wish to do so.
Enjoy your bling, put it in whatever storage gives you that ear-to-ear grin smile, and don't worry about it.
We can let the grandkids worry about tarnishing and "grandma's old looking vintage jewelry."
I hope this was helpful.
So I just wanted to check regarding VCA’s alloy in yellow gold since I have yellow gold pieces and thinking of getting maybe more(or not depends on corrosion) , what composition is VCA YG alloy and have you experienced corrosion etc earlier? , just want to know before I pay more premium for my insurance , my existing pieces are 6 months old a pendant and earrings, but since you seem like an extremely well versed patron thought of checking here. Apologies if I am bothering anyone Many thanks too
I am glad this was helpful as I sometimes ramble, because I get so excited about jewelry.
I am definitely not an expert. I am just really into gemology, and with that, I love gemstones and jewelry of course. I have a lot of gemology and jewelry books and study the trade; it's sort of my hobby. It is my relaxing happy place, and it's completely opposite from my day job which is stuffy, corporate, male dominated.
First, your VCA jewelry will be fine. I would not worry at all. I would wear it and enjoy it. On the alloy mix, I seriously doubt VCA will publish their exact 18kt gold mix, and in reality, it doesn't matter what the mix is as a consumer. What matters is the karat gold. 18kt gold for fine jewelry is a common standard, and that is what VCA uses. By the way, 18k is also stamped as 750, so you will see that on many jewelry pieces. This is an industry standard to the purity of the gold in that piece; it is not a mark of VCA. Pure gold is 24k, near 100% gold. 18k is 75% gold (18/24 = 75%), so the 750 is the mark of 18kt gold (750 out of 1000 parts gold). The same is true for say, 14k gold. 14k is 58% gold (14/24 = 58.3333%), so rounded up, the industry number for 14k gold is 585. If you see "585" on a jewelry piece, it is 14k gold.
To your 22k piece, I completely agree with you in not getting it polished. Leave it, and enjoy it's vintage beauty; I am sure it's lovely. Some people like to polish their gold jewelry to keep it sparkly, and it's okay to do it once in a while if you really want to, but when you polish gold, you are actually buffing it and removing metal. Yes, it's only a microscopic layer, but if you do it often, over time, you will lose metal and weaken the piece, especially areas like the prongs. For me though, the worst part about over polishing is that when you remove metal, you are also losing that crisp definition in the design. It's like Aunt Nellie's (we'll stop picking on grandma) wedding ring/band that she wore 24x7. Aunt Nellie's ring has that soft look, rounded edges and prongs where if you stared closely (or use a loupe), you can see that the prongs were once crispier, and the edge of the band was once sharper. It's just from decades of use which is the same concept as over polishing a piece. A good jeweler though will never let you come in weekly/monthly and "polish up" jewelry.
I want to make a comment on insurance if I may, and then I'll zip it as I know this is getting off track here in this VCA thread.
Insuring jewelry should be thought out objectively as to what pieces you really want to insure. Some people may make an emotional statement and say "you should insure all your fine jewelry". I say no, and here is why.
My opinion is the whole point of insuring jewelry is that if the piece is lost/damaged, the price point of that piece is such that you cannot replace it with your "near term budget." And that "near term budget" varies for each individual. For example, one person may never be able to replace a $2,000 ring as part of their near term budget, so they will definitely want to insure it. Another person may say "$2,000 is nothing, I will buy that ring again tomorrow", so this person's "comfort loss limit" per piece may be $20,000 or $200,000. I say this because when I first started collecting fine jewelry, the emotional side of me insured every piece.
As you can guess, insurance adds up, and it can get to be a big monthly expense if you insure a lot of pieces. Then I realized, for me, not every piece needs to be insured. So before you insure a piece, ask yourself, "if I lose/damage it, can I replace it in the near term?" And also think, what is your "comfort loss limit" if you lose a piece. Everyone has a limit, you just need to think through what your limit is. Looking at it from that perspective, I personally do not think it's needed to insure every piece of jewelry. Just something to think about for another point of view.Okay... one last comment on insurance... promise, but this one is important topic to think about...
Ask your insurance company "how" they replace your piece. Some companies will replace it with a comparable item, not the exact item. The classic example is a diamond ring. Some insurance companies will replace it with comparable diamond. But if you buy branded pieces, such as Tiffany, Graff, Harry Winston, you are paying for the brand name, and that should be 100% clear on your policy. Full replacement is the best; they just cut you a check, no restriction on how you use the funds. They do not make you purchase the piece first for reimbursement, which reimbursement is not the same as a straight payout. On loss/damage, ask your company what they cover. Loss is not the same as damage. Loss is theft, accidentally misplacing it, dropping it in the sink while the water is running. Damage is whacking a prong, losing a melee diamond, chipping a ruby.
I'll wrap this up with a great story on jewelry loss to share an experience.
I had a pair of diamond earrings. One day, while on the road, I happened to wrap one earring in tissue paper and put it on the table. I ended up tossing the tissue paper in the waste basket along with that single earring. I called my agent and told him I threw my earring away, just one.
He cuts me a check for one earring, no problem. A couple weeks later, I get a second check for the same amount. I call him and tell him he made an error and double paid me. He told me no, the second payment is correct, and the error was his. He said you insured your "pair of earrings" for full replacement, and one earring is not the set. Therefore, the second check was for the second earring. Who knew, but if you really think about it, he is 100% correct. My earrings happened to be diamond studs for which I could call the company and order just one earring. However, what if they were a matched earring set of something else? One cannot just wear one earring. Hence my agent paid me full replacement value for the "pair of earrings". What a great insurance company!Whew... sorry for the long post. I will zip it now as I do respect this is a VCA forum. I hope some of it was helpful.
Jewelry is for pure enjoyment, to make one smile. I am sure you will enjoy wearing your lovely VCA pieces.
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I did the same thing!I am glad this was helpful as I sometimes ramble, because I get so excited about jewelry.
I am definitely not an expert. I am just really into gemology, and with that, I love gemstones and jewelry of course. I have a lot of gemology and jewelry books and study the trade; it's sort of my hobby. It is my relaxing happy place, and it's completely opposite from my day job which is stuffy, corporate, male dominated.
First, your VCA jewelry will be fine. I would not worry at all. I would wear it and enjoy it. On the alloy mix, I seriously doubt VCA will publish their exact 18kt gold mix, and in reality, it doesn't matter what the mix is as a consumer. What matters is the karat gold. 18kt gold for fine jewelry is a common standard, and that is what VCA uses. By the way, 18k is also stamped as 750, so you will see that on many jewelry pieces. This is an industry standard to the purity of the gold in that piece; it is not a mark of VCA. Pure gold is 24k, near 100% gold. 18k is 75% gold (18/24 = 75%), so the 750 is the mark of 18kt gold (750 out of 1000 parts gold). The same is true for say, 14k gold. 14k is 58% gold (14/24 = 58.3333%), so rounded up, the industry number for 14k gold is 585. If you see "585" on a jewelry piece, it is 14k gold.
To your 22k piece, I completely agree with you in not getting it polished. Leave it, and enjoy it's vintage beauty; I am sure it's lovely. Some people like to polish their gold jewelry to keep it sparkly, and it's okay to do it once in a while if you really want to, but when you polish gold, you are actually buffing it and removing metal. Yes, it's only a microscopic layer, but if you do it often, over time, you will lose metal and weaken the piece, especially areas like the prongs. For me though, the worst part about over polishing is that when you remove metal, you are also losing that crisp definition in the design. It's like Aunt Nellie's (we'll stop picking on grandma) wedding ring/band that she wore 24x7. Aunt Nellie's ring has that soft look, rounded edges and prongs where if you stared closely (or use a loupe), you can see that the prongs were once crispier, and the edge of the band was once sharper. It's just from decades of use which is the same concept as over polishing a piece. A good jeweler though will never let you come in weekly/monthly and "polish up" jewelry.
I want to make a comment on insurance if I may, and then I'll zip it as I know this is getting off track here in this VCA thread.
Insuring jewelry should be thought out objectively as to what pieces you really want to insure. Some people may make an emotional statement and say "you should insure all your fine jewelry". I say no, and here is why.
My opinion is the whole point of insuring jewelry is that if the piece is lost/damaged, the price point of that piece is such that you cannot replace it with your "near term budget." And that "near term budget" varies for each individual. For example, one person may never be able to replace a $2,000 ring as part of their near term budget, so they will definitely want to insure it. Another person may say "$2,000 is nothing, I will buy that ring again tomorrow", so this person's "comfort loss limit" per piece may be $20,000 or $200,000. I say this because when I first started collecting fine jewelry, the emotional side of me insured every piece.
Okay... one last comment on insurance... promise, but this one is important topic to think about...
Ask your insurance company "how" they replace your piece. Some companies will replace it with a comparable item, not the exact item. The classic example is a diamond ring. Some insurance companies will replace it with comparable diamond. But if you buy branded pieces, such as Tiffany, Graff, Harry Winston, you are paying for the brand name, and that should be 100% clear on your policy. Full replacement is the best; they just cut you a check, no restriction on how you use the funds. They do not make you purchase the piece first for reimbursement, which reimbursement is not the same as a straight payout. On loss/damage, ask your company what they cover. Loss is not the same as damage. Loss is theft, accidentally misplacing it, dropping it in the sink while the water is running. Damage is whacking a prong, losing a melee diamond, chipping a ruby.
I'll wrap this up with a great story on jewelry loss to share an experience.
I had a pair of diamond earrings. One day, while on the road, I happened to wrap one earring in tissue paper and put it on the table. I ended up tossing the tissue paper in the waste basket along with that single earring. I called my agent and told him I threw my earring away, just one.
Whew... sorry for the long post. I will zip it now as I do respect this is a VCA forum. I hope some of it was helpful.
Jewelry is for pure enjoyment, to make one smile. I am sure you will enjoy wearing your lovely VCA pieces.
A decade or more ago I wrapped my mikimoto pearl earrings in tissue and ended up tossing them! I couldn’t believe I did that! Thank you for sharing because it makes me feel like I’m not the only one that could have done something like that!Woww you indeed help everyone with your knowledge on everything!I am glad this was helpful as I sometimes ramble, because I get so excited about jewelry.
I am definitely not an expert. I am just really into gemology, and with that, I love gemstones and jewelry of course. I have a lot of gemology and jewelry books and study the trade; it's sort of my hobby. It is my relaxing happy place, and it's completely opposite from my day job which is stuffy, corporate, male dominated.
First, your VCA jewelry will be fine. I would not worry at all. I would wear it and enjoy it. On the alloy mix, I seriously doubt VCA will publish their exact 18kt gold mix, and in reality, it doesn't matter what the mix is as a consumer. What matters is the karat gold. 18kt gold for fine jewelry is a common standard, and that is what VCA uses. By the way, 18k is also stamped as 750, so you will see that on many jewelry pieces. This is an industry standard to the purity of the gold in that piece; it is not a mark of VCA. Pure gold is 24k, near 100% gold. 18k is 75% gold (18/24 = 75%), so the 750 is the mark of 18kt gold (750 out of 1000 parts gold). The same is true for say, 14k gold. 14k is 58% gold (14/24 = 58.3333%), so rounded up, the industry number for 14k gold is 585. If you see "585" on a jewelry piece, it is 14k gold.
To your 22k piece, I completely agree with you in not getting it polished. Leave it, and enjoy it's vintage beauty; I am sure it's lovely. Some people like to polish their gold jewelry to keep it sparkly, and it's okay to do it once in a while if you really want to, but when you polish gold, you are actually buffing it and removing metal. Yes, it's only a microscopic layer, but if you do it often, over time, you will lose metal and weaken the piece, especially areas like the prongs. For me though, the worst part about over polishing is that when you remove metal, you are also losing that crisp definition in the design. It's like Aunt Nellie's (we'll stop picking on grandma) wedding ring/band that she wore 24x7. Aunt Nellie's ring has that soft look, rounded edges and prongs where if you stared closely (or use a loupe), you can see that the prongs were once crispier, and the edge of the band was once sharper. It's just from decades of use which is the same concept as over polishing a piece. A good jeweler though will never let you come in weekly/monthly and "polish up" jewelry.
I want to make a comment on insurance if I may, and then I'll zip it as I know this is getting off track here in this VCA thread.
Insuring jewelry should be thought out objectively as to what pieces you really want to insure. Some people may make an emotional statement and say "you should insure all your fine jewelry". I say no, and here is why.
My opinion is the whole point of insuring jewelry is that if the piece is lost/damaged, the price point of that piece is such that you cannot replace it with your "near term budget." And that "near term budget" varies for each individual. For example, one person may never be able to replace a $2,000 ring as part of their near term budget, so they will definitely want to insure it. Another person may say "$2,000 is nothing, I will buy that ring again tomorrow", so this person's "comfort loss limit" per piece may be $20,000 or $200,000. I say this because when I first started collecting fine jewelry, the emotional side of me insured every piece.
Okay... one last comment on insurance... promise, but this one is important topic to think about...
Ask your insurance company "how" they replace your piece. Some companies will replace it with a comparable item, not the exact item. The classic example is a diamond ring. Some insurance companies will replace it with comparable diamond. But if you buy branded pieces, such as Tiffany, Graff, Harry Winston, you are paying for the brand name, and that should be 100% clear on your policy. Full replacement is the best; they just cut you a check, no restriction on how you use the funds. They do not make you purchase the piece first for reimbursement, which reimbursement is not the same as a straight payout. On loss/damage, ask your company what they cover. Loss is not the same as damage. Loss is theft, accidentally misplacing it, dropping it in the sink while the water is running. Damage is whacking a prong, losing a melee diamond, chipping a ruby.
I'll wrap this up with a great story on jewelry loss to share an experience.
I had a pair of diamond earrings. One day, while on the road, I happened to wrap one earring in tissue paper and put it on the table. I ended up tossing the tissue paper in the waste basket along with that single earring. I called my agent and told him I threw my earring away, just one.
Whew... sorry for the long post. I will zip it now as I do respect this is a VCA forum. I hope some of it was helpful.
Jewelry is for pure enjoyment, to make one smile. I am sure you will enjoy wearing your lovely VCA pieces.
You may call it a long post but I read through it like reading a gripping novel!!
I will need to see where I stand on the limit of the piece and yes the insurance company had asked me to get the jewellery polished every few years as well! I was scared it would ruin the integrity of the hammered motif
Since you know so much about metals and gemology, does oxidization also cause metal loss over time??
I wanted to know the mix of YG 18k since I know my skin is acidic and I have anemia too lol, so it can cause oxidisation etc if it has copper, I have not had a problem so far with my 22k pieces but I don’t really wear them often too! As for 18k Yg, I wear one of it daily but it’s not VCA so wasn’t sure if VCA’s could be more prone to oxidization or not
as for my policy they told me that damage due to wear isn’t really covered
thanks @BigAkoya you beautiful heart, you should have a website of your own , just my thought
How does this affect jewelry? I’m anemic too
. How Do you know if you are acidic?
+1How does this affect jewelry? I’m anemic too
How does this affect jewelry? I’m anemic too
+1 lol