Clear blue skies, a sea breeze and the warm glow of sunshine caressing your skin: even the thought of a holiday can instantly make you feel more relaxed. Taking care of the little details before you travel can eliminate some common holiday stresses so that you can sit back, relax and soak up the sun.

While we’ll leave passport, visa and currency advice to the experts, we’ve created this short holiday care guide for on-the-go jewellery lovers to help you avoid damaging your precious holiday jewellery in the sun.

Pack smart

The trick to travelling light is to plan ahead. Will you be lounging by the pool, partying until the early hours or sipping cocktails until sundown? Once you’ve pulled your holiday wardrobe, you can start to style it up with key pieces of jewellery. Choose simple pieces that can multitask and pair with multiple outfits, such as classic stud earrings or a pendant necklace. Add in a few statement pieces for when you want to dress to impress: chandelier earrings, a cocktail ring or a cuff bracelet. Keep it simple and take only the essentials.

Get organised

One pet peeve of travellers is arriving at their destination and finding all of their jewellery in a tangle. Untangling necklaces, in particular, is not only time-consuming but risks snagging and breaking them. 

Pack your jewellery carefully and it will save you time on arrival. For necklaces, it’s best to keep them separate. While packing them in individual boxes can be too bulky and heavy for travel, you can opt for small jewellery bags. Your Toolally pieces arrive in a small drawstring linen bag which is perfect for protection whilst you're travelling. One packing hack that has done the rounds on social media is feeding each necklace through straws to avoid the dreaded tangle and then carefully bundling them together. 

A jewellery roll, especially one that will hang or lay flat, is an affordable solution for packing smaller pieces of jewellery like rings and earrings. You can improvise by using pill cases as an alternative and padding with cotton wool pads to keep items in place. Bracelets can be looped around a rolled flannel or hand towel and, again, stored in zip-lock bags or a small cosmetics bag.

For chunkier, statement pieces, it’s worth wrapping in bubble wrap or foam as a lightweight solution. Take extra care with more fragile items of jewellery, such as acrylic pieces. While acrylic jewellery is lightweight and durable, making it a great holiday pick, it is also vulnerable to being scratched and broken. It’s worth adding a little bulk by packing these items in firm boxes to avoid breakages. Earrings can be held in place by pushing pairs through pieces of card. 

Avoid nasties

Though you may enjoy cooling dips in the pool or swimming in the sea, your jewellery won’t. 

Water damage can tarnish jewellery, even after you’ve dried off, as the residue can continue to cause damage as long as it remains on the surface. Gemstones and metals can tarnish and corrode, and acrylic can begin to erode if exposed to chlorine and saltwater.

Sun, sand and sun cream are the other culprits of jewellery that has lost its sparkle. 

Though you might be keen to wear statement acrylic jewellery day and night, avoid wearing in extreme heat like at the peak of daytime sun. Heat and direct sunlight can warp acrylic and the hot temperatures can soften the glue. 

In these sunny conditions, we all know it’s important to protect the skin but sunscreen will sit on the surface of jewellery long after it's been absorbed by your skin. The chemical make-up of these lotions can also erode and tarnish jewellery. As it’s often sticky, it also attracts dirt, sweat and other build-up. Add into the picture the risk of sand sticking and scratching the metallic or acrylic surface too.

Ideally, it’s best to remove your jewellery before swimming and when applying sunscreen but, if not, be sure to clean it soon after. 

For fine jewellery, rinse with fresh water to remove greasy build-up and residue and then dry and buff with a soft cloth to have your pieces sparkling again. For acrylic pieces, avoid water which can mark the material. Instead use a dry polishing cloth to wipe the surface of jewellery clean.

Be prepared

Never pack expensive jewellery in your hold luggage. Often the safest place is leaving it at home but second best is keeping it with you as hand luggage.

Make sure you have adequate travel insurance to cover valuable items, including jewellery. You can list and photograph before you travel as a back-up should anything get lost.

Often though, the most valuable pieces are those with sentimental value - items gifted by loved ones or that hold memories of special occasions that are irreplaceable. Pack them safely and discreetly and keep close to you as you travel.

Once you arrive and unpack, get set to dazzle. Still looking for some holiday wardrobe inspiration? Check out our holiday jewellery collection to transform your resort wear from so-so to oh la la.