DON’T VIOLATE THESE JEWELRY TRAVEL RULES

Ok I admit it! I violated the number 1 rule for traveling with gold, silver and gemstone fine jewelry.

Rule number 1 for taking your precious, irreplaceable fine jewelry along with you while traveling is:  DON’T carry precious, irreplaceable jewelry while traveling.

I decided to wear my large white gold hoop earrings with dangling diamond charms to our family reunion vacation in the Wisconsin Dells.  These earrings are special because I designed and crafted them from some other earrings I didn’t like.

 I really wanted to look stylish in front of my mother’s 9 sisters and trendy to all my hot younger cousins.

JEWELRY TRAVEL CASE SAGA

While packing for the Wisconsin trip, I also made the decision to violate rule number 2 for traveling with jewelry:  I switched to a flimsy jewelry travel case that was a freebie instead using of my normal travel case.  Rule number 2:  Carry a fully closable travel case designed with secure interior holders for your jewelry.

One of my gold hoop earrings slipped off of the case’s tab, and then the diamond charm fell completely out, luckily into my purse. The case only had a ribbon tie closure.

 I had figured that the flimsy case would fit easier into my purse.

I located the hoop earring right away once I got home, but it took an extensive search throughout my purse to find the charm which had fallen into the pages of a date book.

MUDDY GEM PROSPECTING IN WISCONSIN

Once in Wisconsin, I also happened to violate Rule 3:  Don’t buy major gemstone jewelry while traveling.  Well, I only partially violated this rule.  I “bought” some gemstones for $15.  Actually, I bought a bucket of North Carolina sand containing rough gemstones to prospect at Dells Mining.

MY ROUGH GEMSTONES FINDS:  

1 aquamarine walnut-sized

1 rose quartz pecan-sized

4 marble-sized emeralds,
1 very small ruby 

3 acorn-sized blue sapphires, 

2 pebble-sized garnets,

½ dozen amethyst chips and pebble-sized white topaz.

 Note:  This bucket of sand was not spiked with cut and polished stones like some of the higher priced buckets.

I had some wet, muddy fun “prospecting” and I was elated and overjoyed to find the rough gemstones.  But my elation was quickly deflated when I was told that it would cost up to $18 per carat to cut and polish the pretty rocks into gem quality stones.

I really wasn’t sure if this was a good deal.

Hmmm... I really considered getting the emeralds cut and polished.  But I hadn’t budgeted that type of spending money for the reunion.

Maybe I will next time.

And next time, I won’t violate the rules for traveling with jewelry.

MORE RULES FOR TRAVELING WITH JEWELRY

See my previous post from April 2012 with other rules for traveling with jewelry. You can’t have fine jewelry style if your gold and gemstone jewelry is lost or stolen.

Pat Thomas for Jewelrystash until next time…