“The seeds of life” The word garnet is a derivative of the latin word granatus meaning pomegranate. And it is thought that the stone was named because of its resemblance to the seeds of a pomegranate. This traditional January birthstone has inspired many legends and has popular associations with love, friendship, light, and vitality. It…
Category: Jewellery
Gemstone Focus: Topaz
Yellow Topaz is the traditional birthstone of November. Most people will associate the November birthstone with the colour yellow . However, as a family group topaz can be found in many colours including blue and the highly sought after and rare Pink Topaz and the orange- red Imperial Topaz aka Precious Topaz. I’ll talk more…
Gemstone Focus: Citrine
With its bright sunny yellow, Citrine is one of the most cheerful gemstones in the birthstone calendar. But you can also find them in pale yellow and cognac as well as the rich orange-yellow Madeira Citrine. Throughout history it has often been confused with November’s other birthstone, Topaz. This was mainly because before gemology became…
Gemstone Focus: Opal
‘Mysterious opals contain the wonders of the skies – sparkling rainbows, fireworks, and lightning, shifting and moving in their depths.’ – Author Unknown Birthstone of October and gemstone of the 14th wedding anniversary, Opals have been treasured for their amazing play of colour for centuries. They are in fact so unique that a completely unique vocabulary…
Gemstone Focus: Pearls
If you were born in the month of June, you are lucky indeed because you have four birthstones to choose from, pearl, moonstone, bloodstone and alexandrite. But by far the most popular is the pearl. The pearl is special in that it is produced by a living organism in response to an iritant, usually a small…
Gemstone Focus: Amethyst
I have always loved gemstones. As a child I had a huge collection of gemstone rocks and basically, if it sparkled, glowed or was just pretty, I wanted it. That love has followed me into adulthood and has now made its way in my jewellery designs. I love working with rare, or unusual gemstones. And…
Top Tips: Caring for your jewellery
To keep your jewellery pieces looking their best, occasionally you will need to give them a clean to remove the build-up of oils and dirt from daily wear. Caring for jewellery is pretty straight forward, but there are a few things to consider. Basic Care Avoid showering, washing dishes, swimming etc. with your jewellery on…
Ignore Jewellery Trends – Ask yourself these 5 questions
Self-adornment has been around since we first learned to carve beads from bones, shells and pebbles. Jewellery has been used as money, for protection, as symbols of status, wealth, position or for religious and ritual purposes. It has even been used to signify causes, for example, the suffragettes used color to symbolise their cause and…
What’s in a Hallmark?
I sometimes get asked about hallmarking, so I thought I’d do a short post to help people understand what it’s all about and how hallmarks can help the buyer. In a nutshell, a UK hallmark is a series of marks struck or laser engraved into an item of precious metal after it has been tested…