Please don’t cook with Cartier

Please don’t cook with Cartier

by | Opinion

With love, meghan

Please don’t cook with Cartier

Published September 5, 2025

First, I have a confession to make. I have watched With Love, Meghan. Both seasons, all episodes. Flower sprinkles and scented guest towels hold no secrets for me, and I have been making apple butter by the gallon this last week. But although the show is soothing, relaxing and comforting, there is one thing that makes me really, really anxious as a jewellery person. And that is, you guessed it: the jewellery. With more than my average annual income on her hands (chunky engagement ring with Botswana diamond and gold Cartier tank watch, just to name a few), Meghan happily kneads dough, moulds clay, rinses vegetables… while I watch in rising horror. Because here’s the truth: jewellery is not indestructible, and wearing it while cooking or cleaning can cause damage that even the most skilled conservators cannot always undo.

Why cooking in your jewellery can cause damage

Even pieces made of metal and gemstone – materials that feel solid and enduring – are surprisingly vulnerable to daily wear and tear. Gold, for example, is a relatively soft metal, especially in its higher karat forms. When you rub it against hard surfaces like countertops, or plunge it repeatedly into water, you’re encouraging surface scratches and slow erosion. Stones can loosen from their settings. Clasps weaken. Chains stretch. Prongs bend.

Wearing jewellery while cooking is especially risky. Think of all the small particles of flour, spices, or oils that can work their way into tiny crevices of a ring or a bracelet. Dough in particular is notoriously sticky and persistent – I’ve seen old rings with decades of residue built up beneath the bezel, hardened into something that looks like concrete.

Even washing vegetables can pose a risk. A moment of distraction, and a ring slips off under running water, vanishing into the sink drain before you even notice. I mean, it happened to the Romans: dozens of ring stones were found in the drainage pipes of a bath house in England.

There’s also the issue of sudden temperature changes. Heating and cooling can cause tiny cracks or stress points in certain stones.

Pearls can be dulled by exposure to vinegar or lemon juice, both common kitchen staples. If you’re marinating a salad with your hands, your pearls probably shouldn’t come along for the ride. Or actually, any jewellery.

Jewellery as heritage: why taking care of it matters

But apart from the technical reasons, there’s something deeper at stake here. Jewellery carries history. Even if it’s not antique, every piece becomes a witness to our lives – and not all events should leave their mark. When I see someone wearing an exquisite ring to mould clay, I don’t see luxury, I see loss: the slow withering of stories that could have lasted generations.

And it’s not just emotional sentiment. From a conservation perspective, unnecessary handling of jewellery is a real concern. Museums and collections across the world maintain strict protocols for handling historical jewellery. Gloves are worn not to protect the person, but to protect the piece – oils and acids in human skin can corrode metal, dull gemstones, and cause tarnish. Jewellery conservators avoid even touching stones unless necessary. We know from decades of experience how easily surface damage can accumulate, even when wear feels gentle or casual.

Even more, once damage is done, repair isn’t always straightforward. Restoring a ring that has lost its setting or replacing worn enamel is a skill in its own right – and one that often comes with compromises. Original details might be lost in the process, or replaced with modern materials that don’t quite match. In the world of historical jewellery, ‘untouched’ often carries more value than ‘restored’.

For contemporary jewellery, you might think that repair is easier – and often it is – but some designs, especially from luxury brands, are difficult to repair without sending them back to the maker. Repairs are not just pricey, they’re slow, and often restricted to authorised centres. Damage caused by misuse can even void warranties. Just saying.

A suggestion for With Love, Meghan

Of course, jewellery is meant to be worn. That’s the whole point of it, and one I advocate as well. It lives best when it is close to us, part of our daily rituals. But part of wearing it well, is understanding when not to. Jewellery doesn’t need to be treated like it’s made of spun glass, but neither should it be expected to survive a kitchen workout or a pottery class unscathed. I do wish we’d think twice before whisking cake batter in our grandmother’s engagement ring. It’s not a harmless choice: it’s slow damage, and professional jewellery care and preservation are sometimes as easy as taking your jewellery off at the right moment!

So next time you reach for the flour or the dish sponge, think twice before your jewellery joins in. Because caring for jewellery today means preserving its story for tomorrow.

Also, if I could offer a suggestion to the show: removing one’s jewellery before taking on any crafting or cooking goes a long way to elevating the everyday and lowering my heart rate . Thank you!

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The Bedouin Silver blog gives credit where credit is due! Transparent referencing and citing sources helps us all grow. Would you like to do the same and quote this article? Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

The Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog: Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on jewellery, informal ritual and collections. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only. Sigrid strongly believes in accessibility of knowledge, and aims to provide reliable and trustworthy content: that’s why the Bedouin Silver blog provides references and citations.

What does a jewellery historian do?

What does a jewellery historian do?

by | General jewellery topics

Jewellery research

What does a jewellery historian do…?

Published on August 23, 2024

When people learn I’m a jewellery historian, their first response is often ‘I had no idea that was a thing!’, usually followed by ‘What does a jewellery historian do…?’ In this two-part blog, I’m using the questions I asked about my work to zoom on what it is jewellery historians do, and of course, how I go about it myself. So here is Part 1!

What is jewellery history?

Being a jewellery historian is not a clearly defined field, and that offers plenty possibilities for individual researchers to give it their own spin. Our central theme is, unsurprisingly, jewellery, but that is a theme you can observe from many angles. Jewellery history is a very wide field.

Starting with scope, most jewellery historians focus on either one type or category of jewellery, on a specific timeframe or geographical region, or both. It’s completely impossible to know everything and anything on all jewellery ever created by humans, so limiting one’s scope occurs almost naturally.

Just one example: I have a friend who is extremely knowledgeable about all things jet throughout time: her starting point is the material itself, and from there she traces technical, historical, cultural and economic aspects of jet jewellery. [1] We met at the Society of Jewellery Historians in London, where we both were presenting a talk: yes, we have a society and it’s not even secret! [2]

There are jewellery historians who are extremely focused on technological aspects, but who could not tell you the first thing about its cultural meaning. There are jewellery historians who are intrigued by the aesthetic and iconographic evolving of jewellery as adornment, jewellery historians who study the social meaning of jewellery, and even forensic jewellery historians, who help give a voice to the dead by looking at their jewellery.

The study of jewellery in the widest sense is incredibly varied, and that is what makes it into such a fascinating field, I think.

How did I become a jewellery historian?

There is not really a curriculum to become a jewellery historian in the field of North African and Southwest Asian adornment. For me, this is a self-built field, that took me decades of finding my own path and pursuing my own research interests. And I would not have it any other way, too: I love and appreciate the freedom to go exploring what works and does not work for me, and dive deeper into those aspects that I really enjoy.

So, it’s not something I consciously set out to achieve, with a clear plan and a solid goal in mind: for me, it was more of a natural path that I followed, let by my interests, which eventually led to the realisation I might have become a jewellery historian – and then I went with that.

And what if you wanted to become one? Other avenues to approach include following education at the GIA, pursue specialisation within an art history or design curriculum, or within applied sciences…there are endless possibilities to developing yourself into a jewellery historian.

And where do jewellery historians find a job?

Good question! I also get asked a lot how I ‘got this job’: more on that below, so keep reading! Where may jewellery historians end up? Of course, there are museums with jewellery collections, where jewellery historians work as curators. In academia, you may find them as lecturers in design or history departments, although with most universities, there is not really a curriculum in wider jewellery studies itself. Auction houses also often employ jewellery historians to identify and appraise jewellery, and there is always the possibility of starting your own business as a jewellery dealer or consultant!

Jewellery history: how do I go about my work?

How do I fit in all this? How did I land my job? I have a few central themes that are pivotal to me and which guide my work. You might think of these as my mission, or maybe my main values. This is not necessarily how other jewellery historians interpret their work, this is how I think of mine.

First, I have a clear scope. I focus on adornment in the many cultures in North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological jewellery from this region and from Europe. There is much more out there, and although I have built up quite a large mental reference, I need to reach out to fellow researchers every once in a while, too. Which is always great, because then I get to learn something new…!

Central to my work are these themes:

1) For me, jewellery is a historic source. It has so much to tell, about the world of women, climate change, religion, history, geopolitics, identity…⁠So I’m not the type of historian who focuses on art historian or iconographic details, but more of a historian who places jewellery in its wider context as material culture. That could also be the archaeologist in me, of course, but I can’t see jewellery as simply embellishments only. That would be selling its amazing capacities of storytelling short.

2) Jewellery does not exist in a vacuum. It belongs within a particular context: studying jewellery means understanding this cultural and historic context as well. To me, that is absolutely essential.

You could imagine this as ever widening circles. Starting with jewellery and the body, there is of course looking at directly related fields of study, such as dress and body aesthetic, but also taking research and theory into shaping personal identity into account, along with things like gender studies. Widening our view a little further, there is the field of economy and trade to observe, ranging from household economy to shifting geopolitical landscapes. Beyond that, there is the intangible: how does jewellery relate to informal ritual, but also to things like expressions or sayings, songs, and poetry?

3) Jewellery is heritage. It is a living part of the society that created it. To me, this is crucial, particularly when thinking about its future. Where is the jewellery, currently residing with private collectors, going to end up? For me, engaging with, and more importantly listening to the communities that created and wore these items of jewellery is of major importance.

4) Personal adornment is not simply an ‘object’: in many cultures it forms part of a person, helps them grow and is believed to contribute to their safety and wellbeing. Thinking of jewellery as being alive somehow offers different approaches to understanding these better, instead of only looking at them as a commodity that you can buy or sell.

How did I get this job as a jewellery historian?

Well, I built it myself. I think this may be one of the things I’m most proud of: that I can actually build a business out of something I believe to important and something I love doing – a business that allows me to keep on working in and adding to this field.

It makes me feel incredibly grateful to realise there are so many people who do not just buy jewellery, but are also genuinely interested in their cultural background. The e-courses I developed for example work so well they helped me fund my (self-funded, because independent researcher) PhD research in the past, and now they continue to support my next research projects. On top of that, I get to do commissioned writing in really exciting projects and to present talks on jewellery, all while helping other appreciate their collections of jewellery even more. It’s honestly the best job ever.

But what do I do all day, exactly? More on that in Part 2 of this blog!

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Find out more about the histories behind jewellery in the e-courses!

More posts on jewellery and research? Browse them all here!

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References

[1] Sarah Caldwell-Steele is a researcher and jetworker who knows jet in and out! Follow her work and research here.

[2] The Society of Jewellery Historians is very much worth joining! Fascinating lectures, an illustrated periodical and always something new to learn.

The Bedouin Silver blog gives credit where credit is due! Transparent referencing and citing sources helps us all grow. Would you like to do the same and quote this article? Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

The Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog: Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on jewellery, informal ritual and collections. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only. Sigrid strongly believes in accessibility of knowledge, and aims to provide reliable and trustworthy content: that’s why the Bedouin Silver blog provides references and citations.