Cleaning and Decluttering My Earring Collection

This week, I've been a lot more motivated to do some decluttering and organising, especially after working on my wardrobe earlier in the week. On Thursday, I decided to tackle my earring collection. I have to say from the start that I have a lot of earrings, that I've collected and worn over the years. I have culled them before, letting go of some, but I haven't done this job in a long time.

In a previous style incarnation, I used to wear mostly fashion jewellery and I liked to have studs and danglies in every possible colour to go with my outfits.  These days, I don't wear a lot of my old stuff and prefer to stick to some everyday favourites, which tend to be either sterling silver or sterling silver gemstone studs or huggies (i.e. gemstones that hang from a small hoop that hug the earlobe). 

There are a few costume pairs that I also wear quite regularly, but the rest of my collection rarely gets worn. That doesn't mean I can easily part with many of them, as they are old favourites and I like to keep a good selection to go with different outfits and whims. Thankfully they don't take up much space, so I'm not too desperate to declutter them all. Here's a picture of the current extent of my collection:

They were a bit of a jumble, so I decided to get very systematic when going through them with regard to the type of earrings they were.  Every pair was considered, cleaned and then put into the different piles according to whether they were studs, danglies/dressier earrings and everyday earrings that I reach for. I made sure that each pair had appropriate backs and then put them back into their containers.

There were another few places where I keep earrings, namely silver ones and gemstone ones, so I went and dug these out too and went through and cleaned them all. I do have a lot of gemstone earrings, as at one point I bought a supply of beads and findings and made these, so I have many more pairs than I need, but as the findings are silver, they do have a value, so I'm happy to hang onto them. Besides, if I lose one earring, as sometimes happens, I can  replace it with another.

Here is the gemstone collection after organising and cleaning it:

I separated the earrings in the box according to colour more or less, to make them easier to choose from. Some of my gemstone earrings, the ones I wear daily, I put in a little dish that I keep on my dressing table. Here's a picture of these every day earrings, not all are silver or gemstones, some are just costume, but are my current favourites:

The danglies and dressier earrings I have put in this pot. I don't reach for them often, but sometimes, I do feel like a change or if I'm going out I may take a look through and pick a pair out.

The studs went into another box:

As you can see, I like large ball shaped studs in all colours and finishes. They are a definite favourite that I return to a lot. These costume ones don't get worn so much now, but I do sometimes look for a pair to match something I might be wearing.

In addition to the above, I do also have two other collections of earrings, the first are vintage clip ons. I don't wear them often, as they can nip, but sometimes I will wear the odd favourite pair. I also like them as they are mostly vintage and I have a particular love of vintage jewellery and have had phases where I've dressed in a vintage style and I would reach for these to wear with outfits. Here's my collection, now divided into danglies and non-danglies.

I particularly like the red danglies with the gold cross on them. I can remember wearing these a lot at a particular point in my life and I loved them, they are so 80's. Some of the diamonte/paste ones are nice to wear for an evening out, not that I go out anywhere special very often these days.

The other collection I have are Xmas earrings, to wear with my collection of Xmas brooches. I didn't photograph these, as I may do a separate post nearer the festive season. I try to wear a different brooch and similar themed pair of earrings every day in December to give them an airing. I've collected them over many years, some are vintage, but the earrings are mainly modern/new and I try to match them as best I can to whatever brooch I'm wearing. It's just fun and a hobby of mine. 

I cleaned all of my Xmas earrings before putting them away after Xmas, so I didn't need to clean these. I moved a few pairs back into normal use, as they aren't specifically Xmas ones, and I donated a couple of pairs I never reach for, mainly because they are too small. I mostly kept these earrings, as they are a themed collection and there is value in that when it comes to selling them on. I still add to the collection when I see a pair that I particularly like, as I love Xmas and this is my way of expressing that. I keep them in out of season storage until December rolls around.

The final small collection of earrings I have are sterling silver ones. I don't have many, just a few favourite pairs. Some I've lost along the way and I have been left with just one, others have broken. I sorted all the singles and broken silver into a bag and I may sell it for scrap at some point. Any that I hadn't cleaned recently got cleaned with bicarbonate of soda and came up sparkling. 

This was all a bit of a mammoth process and took me all afternoon, but at least it is now done. I donated 19 items which included a couple of necklaces, which isn't a lot when you consider the number of earrings I still own, but it's a start. Here's a rundown:

Dress/Dangly - 25 pairs

Studs - 35 pairs

Crystal/Gemstone - 31 pairs

Clip ons - 19 pairs

Sterling Silver - 11 pairs

Xmas - 29 pairs

Total - 150 pairs

It's just as well that they are small and easily stored. I may go back to them and donate more at some point in the future, but for now, I'm happy with the one's I've kept.

The items I am donating, I cleaned and put onto cards to make them easy to put out for sale at the charity shop. Hopefully, it will save them some time. I'll probably put a note in to that effect too.