The flagship shopping guide, carefully curated and vetted by strategists. Click here to learn about our methodology and here to find all our best guides.
The flagship shopping guide, carefully curated and vetted by strategists. Click here to learn about our methodology and here to find all our best guides.
Decades of jewelry collecting have taught me that where you store your treasures is as important as the treasures themselves. Otherwise, your gold jewelry can wear out, your necklace can get tangled, or worse, get lost. I have over 200 pieces of jewelry stored in various trays, boxes, and even a mini curio cabinet. But choosing the right jewelry organizer (or organizers) really depends on what you have: a large heirloom collection or a small jewelry collection. Here’s a list of the best jewelry storage boxes, including ones I’ve used over the years to protect my most treasured pieces. To round out my recommendations, I consulted jewelry designers, fellow collectors, and professional organizers about the jewelry boxes, organizers, and stands they use, and I tried a few myself. If you’re looking to organize other spaces in your home, too, we have guides to the best storage containers, drawer organizers, and closet organizers.
Jewelry organizers fall into two categories: open organizers (e.g. stands, boxes, trays) and closed organizers (e.g. boxes, drawers, caskets). Generally, the more fragile the jewelry, the more carefully it should be stored.
A set of jewelry with semi-precious stones or precious metals (especially silver) should be stored in a soft, lined box (velvet is popular). Costume jewelry is relatively easy to store and can be left outdoors. However, two things should be noted: (1) be careful of dust; and (2) avoid direct sunlight, as it will gradually lose its luster. A small tray or saucer can be used to store rings and other jewelry that is frequently put on and taken off. Jewelry stands (usually used to hold bracelets and necklaces) can prevent jewelry from becoming tangled.
Next, consider the presentation method. “Storage is all about compliance,” explains Ope Omoyola, founder of Octave Jewelry. “If there’s a really great storage device that’s perfect and works great in theory, but you never use it or you don’t like the look of it, then it’s not for you.” Some argue that clear organizers let you see everything at a glance, but they can feel a little tinny—a clear lid may be enough to keep track of the items you wear most often. And with the included mirror, trying on jewelry will be as easy as sitting at the counter at a jewelry store.
Sure, you could follow the example of Jennifer Bell, founder of her eponymous accessories brand, and store your fine or semi-fine jewelry in its original box, with a small picture on the outside of the box to help you tell them apart. Or you could follow the example of Jill Martinelli of Lady Grey, who stores her jewelry individually in small plastic bags. But the best jewelry organizers do the job for you: They feature compartments, tiers, rows, and sections—all designed to keep each piece in its place.
In terms of practicality, a jewelry storage box should be roomy and not take up too much space. If you have room for a full-size piece of furniture, consider a wardrobe, but I prefer to free up floor space with wider wall cabinets. Also, if you choose boxes, you’ll need to consider that the top of a dresser may need some rearranging, while storage organizers can be placed on almost anything. To help you decide between our recommendations, I’ve listed the dimensions of each storage box.
Design: Stackable Trays & Boxes | Storage Compartments: Trays come in a variety of sizes depending on design | Dimensions: Starting at 9.88″ x 7.25″ x 1.75″
Stackers modular boxes are like building blocks and come in ten styles: box, drawer, or tray. You can use each box individually or stack them like a traditional jewelry box. The DIY option is the main draw of Stackers, as you can easily customize the kit to suit your needs, whether you want to store an entire charm bracelet, rings for every finger, statement necklaces and earrings, or any number of other types of jewelry. I tested the “box with lid” version, which opens to reveal a series of square and rectangular compartments, including one specifically for rings and stud earrings. It keeps everything separate so that strands of pearls don’t rub against a bracelet chain, and the neutral velvet lining allows me to clearly see what I have while still providing cushioning.
The stacker is also pretty cool. “I wanted a real, grown-up jewelry box. That’s what I wanted,” says Strategist senior writer Lisa Corsillo, who has three components: a lidded box like mine, a 25-compartment tray, and a tray for rings and bracelets. Each component ranges from $28 to $40, so how much you spend depends on how many pieces you need to store. But overall, they’re pretty affordable, since you can buy only what you need. Pro organizers vouch for them, too: Heidi Lee loves that you can separate each tray so you can see everything at a glance, Caroline Solomon thinks the 25-compartment tray is a must-have for storing earrings, and Brittney Tanner appreciates that you can always add more trays as your jewelry collection grows.
Design: Box | Storage Division: Multiple trays and drawers with different compartments in each tray and drawer, specific size depends on (small, large, max) | Dimensions: Minimum 7.25″ x 5″ x 4.25″
Pottery Barn’s Stella is the quintessential jewelry box. It has a traditional look and comes in four different finishes (black, white, oak, and burl). It comes in three sizes: Small (with a mirror) for $99, Large (with a glass top) for $149, and Ultimate (which flips up to reveal more storage) for $249. I went with the Ultimate model, which can hold more than 100 pieces of jewelry. The extra space makes a difference: The bottom drawer easily holds necklaces that used to topple over many necklace racks. It reminds me of a treasure chest, and like a real treasure chest, it takes some effort to move (or move from one end of the dresser to the other). But once you put it where you want it, it won’t budge. Juliana Ramirez, brand director at Loeffler Randall (formerly Lizzie Fortunato), is also a fan, raving about the Stella’s sturdy construction and multiple compartments. “The days of lugging around a bunch of bulky dust bags are finally over,” she told me.
Design: Box | Storage Compartments: Pull-out tray with 28 slots for earrings or rings and 4 drawers for bracelets, bottom tray with 12 inserts for necklaces, lid can also be used as an additional tray | Dimensions: 13″ x 10″ x 3″
If you are looking for high-quality designer jewelry boxes, you will want to check out the Ariel Gordon jewelry boxes. (You may have seen them in some jewelry collecting videos.) I received this jewelry box in March and have been storing some of my oldest jewelry in it ever since. It has a large capacity. The box has a pull-out tray with 28 swirls for rings and earrings, and 12 individual necklace inserts at the bottom of the box. You can thread a necklace through the hole at the top of the insert, and the pocket at the back can store the rest of the necklace and the clasp. (You can also take out the inserts individually and use the empty compartments for other purposes.)
Everything is neatly organized and easy to find; I haven’t lost a single earring so far. It’s immediately obvious that this is a jeweler’s jewelry box — only a jeweler could come up with a lid that flips over and goes into another tray. It’s also lined with rust-resistant Lusterloc, which you’ll also find in Marla Aaron’s $2,400 Everything Box. I was skeptical at first, but most of my jewelry is stored in the Ariel Gordon box, and my cheap gold-plated jewelry hasn’t lost its color (compared to when I kept it in the glove compartment). It’s definitely a splurge, but you get a ton of storage space, and it looks great on a dresser. Makes you want to adorn yourself with jewelry.
Design: Cabinet, Wall Mounted | Storage Space Division: 84 Ring Slots, 32 Necklace Hooks, 48 ​​Earring Holes, 90 Earring Slots | Size: 14.49″ x 3.94″ x 47.24″
This Songmics storage cabinet is fully functional, with a mirror in the front, LED lighting on the side, storage for items other than jewelry, and a lock with a key. Of all the cabinets on this list, it has the most storage space, with room for at least 84 rings, 32 necklaces, and 24 pairs of earrings. You can hang it on the back of a door (hook included) or mount it on the wall (screws included, too). The cabinet has a discreet design—it looks like a mirror when closed—so it won’t draw attention to items you don’t want to keep. SVNR’s Christina Tung thinks it’s more practical than hanging clothes hangers everywhere. She also uses it to organize her own collection: “My new rule is that if something doesn’t fit into the storage system I’ve designed, I have too much of it.”
Of all your jewelry collections, necklaces are the most difficult to organize. They often get tangled up with each other or with other necklaces as they unravel. The best way to do this is to use a necklace stand. Jewelry designer Melinda Maria recommends this necklace stand, which can display bracelets, watches, and hook earrings. There are three tips to know about this type of necklace stand: (1) Leave space between necklaces to keep them from getting tangled; (2) Place the necklaces you wear most often at either end for easy access; and (3) Don’t place all your heavy, flashy treasures in a row, as this will increase the likelihood of the entire necklace rack tipping over. Necklace stands tend to accumulate dust easily, so wipe them down with a microfiber cloth every now and then (using harsh cleaners can damage both your jewelry and your necklace stand).
Long necklaces typically hang on a standard T-bar. For these, a hanging organizer is a better option—this Rev-a-Shelf organizer fits inside your closet and pulls out like a coat rack. Grid + Glam founder Corinne Morahan says the 14-inch frame has a total of 25 hooks that are spaced far enough apart that you don’t have to worry about them getting tangled. She loves that she can find the necklace she needs without having to take down the others.
Design: Stand | Storage: Eight hooks with bottom bar and tray | Dimensions: 4.13 x 7.87 x 11.22
Tanner recommended this jewelry display stand from Japanese home goods company Yamazaki. It’s simple and modern, using a combination of steel and wood, which she says makes it a little better than your average acrylic. The display stand has two horizontal bars, and the top bar has eight evenly spaced hooks. Tanner likes that the hanger indicates how many pieces of jewelry it can hold, so she knows exactly how much jewelry to hang. The horizontal bar at the bottom can be used to hang bracelets and watches, while the tray can be used for earrings and rings you wear often.
Design: Saucer | Storage: One shell-shaped compartment | Dimensions: 9” x 5” x 3”
While this Bathing Beauty design from Ohio glassware maker Mosser Glass is marketed as a soap or sponge organizer, I’ve found it works great for jewelry, too. In fact, I have two of these. The shell-shaped center space is larger than you might think—I store a lot of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings in there. For hook earrings (especially dangling ones), you can hang the back of the earring by the scalloped edge to make it easier to find the one you need. However, since there are no interior compartments, it’s best to store more fragile jewelry elsewhere.
Design: Tray | Storage Division: Round Single Compartment | Size: No Size Specified
It’s hard to say which jewelry tray is best, since each one is essentially a decorated plate. I like to keep a few to add to my ever-growing jewelry collection. In fact, one of my favorite pieces is a Casa Carta ashtray I received as a gift a few years ago. But since my Casa Carta pick was a little out of the ordinary, I decided to officially include jewelry designer Erica Weiner’s recommendation on this list. Her dresser is lined with “a collection of vintage ashtrays,” including some she’s… well, borrowed from restaurants she’s dined at while traveling. One of her favorites is from the famous (and celebrity-frequented) Café de Flore. “It turns out that if you’re not drunk and you’re brave enough, you can buy one,” she explained. It serves as a platform for her everyday items: “It’s really useful because I don’t have to open drawers or lids, open safes, or unzip bags. I just throw them in there.” She adds, “I’m lazy, and I need to see my jewelry to wear it.” (Weiner also loves this John Derian scrapbook tray, where she keeps a gold quartz watch chain with a horseshoe locket, a turquoise Cleopatra-style collar, a Georgian ouroboros ring, and a beaded necklace her four-year-old daughter made.)
[Editor's note: Prices at Café de Flore are listed in Euros, so these are approximate US dollar figures.]
Design: Tray | Storage: Round, single-compartment compartment | Dimensions: 4″ x 4″ x 1.25″
I’ve always wanted to use this incense burner as a trinket holder, because it seems too fancy to be used for burning incense. (Seriously, it’s carved with Marie Antoinette’s face, and it was made by the French ceramicist Astier de Villatte.) It now holds my favorite little items, which also happen to be my smallest, like these pearl stud earrings. It’s surprisingly sturdy — I accidentally dropped it once and it didn’t even crack. I love that it doesn’t have a raised edge (compared to a traditional tray), making it more of a display platform than a container. Plus, it’s a work of art — Catbird describes it as “witty, touching, and a little creepy” — which makes its nearly $100 price tag a little more approachable. (I might just convince Weiner to buy one for himself.)
Design: Tray | Storage Compartments: Three nestable oval compartments | Dimensions: 4″ x 4″ x 0.94″ (Small), 8.6″ x 4.6″ x 0.94″ (Medium), 13.11″ x 4.57″ x 0.94″ (Large)
Lisa Saltzer of Lulu Frost mentioned these nesting trays, saying she loves their rounded curves, which make them look like “mini sculptures.” The three trays serve as a “beautiful backdrop” for the gems, “so the eye can really focus on the jewelry,” she explained. This set of nesting trays is incredibly versatile: You can choose colors that match your jewelry, nest the trays inside each other to divide them into sections, or separate them to display in different parts of your space. (You can also turn the tray into a desk organizer for keys, AirPods, and odds and ends.) Saltzer thinks their most practical use is that “at the end of the day, when you’re tidying up your jewelry, you can use them as a cute little organizer.” (She also collects vintage Limoges plates for the same reason, and recommends looking on Etsy, eBay, or the “almighty tag sale,” where you can almost always find vintage plates “for next to nothing.” Just look for the telltale stamp on your find.)
Design: Tray | Storage: 14 different sized compartments, each with a separate hinge area | Dimensions: 12″ (expands to 18.75″) x 10.25″ x 1.5″
This Stackers tray has a low-profile design and adjustable width, so it fits easily in a dresser drawer. Strategy writer Lauren Roh kept this tray in a shallow drawer in her bedroom closet after she realized her “tangled necklace” wouldn’t untangle itself. Now she finally has a place to easily store her daily essentials. (Roh even featured Stackers in one of our Strategy Flight series.)
Omojola stores hers in a desk drawer so she can stack them on top of each other (and take them apart as needed) and push the sides apart for stability. “I’m a very visual person, and I need everything to be neatly laid out,” she says, explaining that she prefers to “display as much of [my] jewelry as possible so that when I’m getting dressed and choosing jewelry, it’s on display.” You can stack one tray on top of another to create a jewelry box effect. (For a more permanent solution, Rev-A-Shelf makes a drawer-within-a-drawer system that fits standard-width drawers and installs with a screwdriver and level. Lauren Saltman, owner of Living Simplified, likes that it’s cushioned to keep jewelry from falling out.)
Design: Box (Box Design) | Storage Compartment: Three Earring or Necklace Clasps, Pouch, Four Compartments, Ring Roll | Dimensions: 2″ x 4.5″ x 4.5″
This small but functional travel jewelry box from Target’s Brightroom collection features a necklace loop, a pocket for storing pendants, and multiple compartments with a ring box. I love the mirrored design that separates the lid and organizer from the compartments on the other side so they don’t get crowded. Even though there are three tabs on the necklace, I always leave the middle one out to reduce the chance of tangling. (If I’m packing more than two necklaces, I put the rest in the bottom of the box.) This jewelry box takes up a little more space than a travel soap box, and as someone who packs way too much, I can stuff it into any available space in my suitcase or duffel bag. For just $10, it does what I need it to, and it’s cheaper than a one-way ticket on NJ Transit. You can also invest in Calpak’s Kaya jewelry box, which Michelle Berlinger of Berlinger Jewelry uses to protect her diamond tennis bracelet while traveling. Or Mark & ​​Graham’s monogrammed box, which Maria says is “small enough to fit in a carry-on.”
Design: Box (rolls up) | Storage: 16 snap loops | Dimensions: 22″ x 11.5″ (open), 11.5″ x 4.5″ (closed)
Another way to save space when traveling is to use a jewelry roll. When Saltzer would travel to perform, she would fill rolls of these beautiful velvet jewelry pieces and pack them into her suitcase. Each roll has a series of removable loops with snaps for hanging necklaces and bracelets. “It’s very self-contained; everything is folded in there,” she said. “The velvet is so finely padded that it won’t shift or get scratched.” Once you unroll the roll, it easily unfolds, putting all your items on display without having to fiddle with them. If you’re traveling with a small amount of belongings, one of Saltzer’s favorite travel organizers is a small brocade bird jewelry roll that has a zippered pocket instead of a loop for hanging. While not as pretty as real antique Chinese embroidered silk, it’s very affordable.
Design: Cabinet | Storage: Five drawers, interior dividers sold separately | Dimensions: 11″ x 15″ x 13″
After I reached out to Weiner, she asked her Instagram followers for jewelry storage tips and received a ton of helpful information. But I was particularly intrigued by the cabinets in her studio that hold jewelry-making components, including unfinished metal castings. Weiner and her co-workers “got tired of opening and closing little plastic bags all the time,” so they came up with this solution. She also added a few dividers designed to fit inside the cabinets. She thinks this type of cabinet is best for those with larger collections, and suggests purchasing dividers in different sizes, such as a four-compartment tray for larger necklaces and a 24-compartment tray for a variety of rings. Weiner also notes that these dividers are made of a softer plastic, making them more likely to get your jewelry caught in them. “If you have small pearls or gemstones in your jewelry, you don’t want them banging around on hard surfaces.” Each drawer in this organizer is labeled, so you can always see what’s in it. “Or, frankly, I’d leave it empty; it’s much more stylish,” she suggested.
(For those with a little extra space, consider the Alex Drawer from Behr Studio and Showroom. It looks like a modern, flat-panel filing cabinet with narrow drawers to help keep things organized, she explains.)
• Jennifer Behr, founder of her eponymous accessories line • Michelle Berlinger, founder of Berlinger Jewelry • Lisa Corsillo, senior strategy writer • Heidi Lee, founder of home organization service Prune + Pare • Melinda Maria, jewelry designer • Jill Martinelli, co-founder of Lady Grey • Corinne Morahan, founder of Grid + Glam • Ope Omoyola, founder of Octave Jewelry • Chelsea Peng, senior strategy editor • Juliana Ramirez, former brand manager for Lizzie Fortunato • Lauren Ro, strategy writer • Lauren Saltman, owner of organizing company Living Simplified • Lisa Saltzer, founder of Lulu Frost • Leslie Sigurdson, head of brand partnerships at GLDN Jewelry • Caroline Solomon, organizing expert • Brittney Tanner, professional organizer • Jessica Tse, founder of NOTTE • Christina Tung, founder of SVNR • Erica Weiner, jewelry designer • Tina Xu founder of I AM A LOT
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