Jewelry

[Margo Channing]

I have some beautiful cameo pendants that I don't wear often enough.  I have mobility issues when it comes to hands and fine motor movements and have to rely on someone else to clasp/unclasp necklaces so when I wear a pendant I generally like to keep it on for a couple of days.

I'm afraid that cameos can't stand up to every day wear and tear and have gotten differing opions from various jewlers.

What's your experience/opinion?  Thanks.

[Q4u]

Since true cameos are carved (usually) from shell they do tend to be fragile and won't hold up to being dropped (for instance)... but they are sturdier than you think when you consider that very pricey cameos are made into rings.  I used to have a ring and wore it all the time, didn't matter for what, I really didn't understand back in the day and nothing happened to it.  As a matter of fact, I ended up selling it when it sat in my jewelry box for too long.

As pendants, I think they have a long, long life (again, many made a hundred years or more ago have held up beautifully).  But if you are worried, take your cameos and mount them in a frame and hang them on a wall so you can enjoy their exquisite beauty whenever you wish to.... a velvet backing would look wonderful and a gorgeous frame (maybe even a shadow box so it'll be protected from dust).... mount them individually or make a collage if you have more than one or two.

Michaels would do it for you if you want them to.  I had a small quilt that has sentimental value to me and they mounted it, I picked the frame and it's in my computer room wall right now .....

Enjoy~!!   

[esmeraldagooch]

Mine are large and very old.  Pendants are large shell's many times and seem very tough.  I take my jewelry off at night and wouldn't think to wear them to bed.  I do have earrings and rings, I am careful with the ring like am with my pearls.   I would enjoy them not leave them in the box.  Life is short.

[Kachina624]

@Margo Channing  I have arthritic fingers as did my mom. We found  solutions to the clasp problems.   The jeweler put a huge oversized spring ring clasp on one of mom's chains. I buy chains at least 24" long so I can slip them over my head w/o using  a clasp.   I also buy magnetic clasps that fasten to the ends of chains,  on eBay.   Most jewelry suppliers also carry them. 

[sunshine 919]

I have a cameo ring that I wear a lot.  I have only had it maybe a year but it is a genuine cameo and it shows no sign of wear.

[Margo Channing]

Thanks ladies!  I appreciate hearing fom you.

[violann]

I have a very old coral cameo ring, and the features on the face are definitely softened by time, but there are no cracks or chips. I wear it on my middle finger.

I also have a beautiful "cameo habile" (?) set with a 1/4 carat diamond, and although I wear it fairly infrequently nothing has ever happened to it when I wore it. I wear it on a fine chain and it has a pin back that I also use to stabilize it. 

It it was given to me by my dad, and I cherish it.

Maybe it would be helpful for you to make a casual assessment of how often you actually bump some practice pieces of jewelry so that you could gain more confidence with your special pieces.

I could imagine wearing my ring for a couple days without taking it off, but my large cameo pendant could actually hurt if it swung around and hit me, LOL.

[SahmIam]

I have a few that have passed down since the mid 1800's. I'm told they can be worn as long as they are treated like any good piece of jewelry but my issue is if ANYTHING happened to them, I would be crushed; especially as I received them from my beloved Grams who passed many years ago.

I wear them to special events (so for a few hours) and then back into their box. *sigh* You want to enjoy them but you don't want to harm them. I don't really know the answer, OP.

[VegasBusinessWoman]

Never thought about the relative fragility of cameos, though now that you've brought it up, I obviously should.  I have two brooches that DH bought me as gifts, and they are obviously antiques.  I've only worn them on jacket lapels, so the issue of constant wear has never come up.  Also have a pair of cameo earrings I bought maybe 8 years ago in Laguna, but they aren't something you would wear for days on end--not that comfortable, although they're really lovely.

The shells that cameos are carved from are probably not as strong as most gemstones, so it would make sense to me that you would not want to get them wet, bang them around or sleep in them.  I'm certainly no jewelry expert, but cameos just don't seem like a day-and-night piece of jewelry.