The aromatic oils from the cedar can discolor some things - Gold, silver and and most stones would be OK, but I'd worry about pearls and some of the softer stones.

I second what lazygardens said - I wouldn't store things like pearls, shell, ivory, jade, opals, turquoise, agates, or sterling in cedar. The sterling wouldn't be damaged, but I'd bet you'd have a fair share of discoloring and extra work to keep it polished.

You could slip things into a plastic bag--that's how I keep my silver from tarnishing when I'm not wearing it.

OK... this is starting to sound too complicated, so I'll scratch the cedar chest as jewelry box idea for now.

On the other hand: I have 2 silver serving pieces that need to be polished again. Will a ziplock bag take care of keeping the tarnish away, or should I wrap them in saran wrap or something?

Julie,

I do the saran wrap and it keeps everything perfect!

Maria

air tight, for silver--so zip-lock will be OK (I suck the air out of mine, a la Julia Child), but so will plastic wrap, if you get a good seal; don't be half-hearted.

If you put a piece of chalk in the bag (or silver chest) it will prevent (or at least slow down) the tarnishing process.

~Meg