Caring for your Jewellery

Anniversaries

Birthstones & Star Signs

Ring Size Converter

Hallmarks

Seiko Information

 

Caring for your Jewellery

General Care

• Take care of your jewellery and it will shine for years. Each piece of jewellery is individual, but as a general guide the National Association of Goldsmiths advises:

• Gently rub gold and silver jewellery with a soft, clean cloth to maximise the shine.

• Jewellery set with gems can be brought to life by careful cleaning with a soft brush and soapy water, or with a proprietary jewellery cleaning solution. Try not to get threaded pearl or bead jewellery wet and only wet antique jewellery after specialist advice - you could ruin it.

• Wipe pearls with a soft damp cloth after wearing to remove perfume, hairspray and anything else likely to damage them.

• Don’t use abrasive cleaners on jewellery.

• You can use silver ‘dip’ type cleaners on most silver jewellery - but rinse and dry them thoroughly.

• Don’t use silver ‘dip’ type cleaning solutions on gold jewellery, only special jewellery cleaners.

• Don’t use silver ‘dip’ type cleaning solutions on gold jewellery, only special jewellery cleaners.
• Keep jewellery carefully stored and separated - not jumbled together in a draw.

• Keep chains fastened so that they don’t get tangled up.

• A professional should check jewellery for damage or wear, on a regular basis.

• Make sure you have a detailed insurance valuation for your jewellery. As a rough guide, the description in a professional jewellery valuation will be detailed enough that a jeweller could use it draw a pretty accurate sketch of the item.

• If in any doubt about the care, repair or valuation of your jewellery ask the advice of a professional.

• For the sign of a professional jeweller look for the National Association of Goldsmiths’ Grant-of-Arms.

Cultured Pearls

Cultured pearls are formed inside oysters. As they are of organic origin they are particularly susceptible to damage. For this reason you should treat cultured pearls with great care.

• Cosmetics including perfume and hairspray should be applied before you put on any cultured pearl jewellery, otherwise the nacre, or skin, can become permanently damaged. After wearing, clean it with a soft dry cloth.
• Should you need to wash your cultured pearl jewellery, do it with water and maybe a drop or two of detergent. Don’t use any form of chemicals, as they are most likely to damage the cultured pearls.
• Cultured pearls are soft and any rough treatment such as carrying in a handbag or putting them loose in a jewellery box may also damage them. Wrap them in tissue for protection.
• Everyday wear, and the natural constituents of your skin can have a detrimental effect on the silk used to thread your cultured pearls. Get a National Association of Goldsmiths’ member to check them regularly. The frequency of rethreading depends on many different factors, but once a year is a good idea.

Silver

Silver is a beautiful lustrous metal, used in making much of contemporary jewellery. It does unfortunately have one downside, and that is tarnish. The modern world and the way we live means there is a lot of sulphur in the atmosphere, this is what causes tarnish. Centuries ago silver kept its polish far longer as there was very little pollution.
Regular cleaning and polishing will restore the original look of silver, but take care not to polish too enthusiastically, as silver is actually removed from the surface. Consult your local National Association of Goldsmiths jeweller for advice on which product to use, and how to use it.
There is available a modern polishing foam that cleans silver without polishing, it even contains a tarnish resistant formula.

Watches

• Ideally a watch needs to be serviced every year or two (ask your jeweller about your particular brand and model). Some watches will keep going OK for years without needing repair, but don’t risk it, there could be problems of wear building up that will make eventual overhaul more difficult or impracticable.
• Unless the degree of water resistance is clearly defined or marked on your watch or in the product manual, don't risk wearing it in the shower or pool. ‘Water resistant’ is not the same as ‘Waterproof’.
• No matter how handy you are, don't attempt any 'do-it-yourself' watch repairs or even take a peek inside. Only an expert watchmaker should be trusted to put your watch back into working condition if there is a problem.

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Anniversary Ideas

 

Here is a list of traditional anniversaries for use with gift ideas.  Whilst wedding anniversaries are a common use for these gifts they are also useful for other anniversaries, such as birthdays and long service awards. 

 

1. Paper

2. Cotton

3. Leather

4. Fruit

5. Wood

6. Confectionery/Sugar

7. Copper

8. Bronze

9. Pottery

10. Tin/Pewter

11. Steel

12. Agate

14. Moss-Agate

15. Crystal

16. Topaz

17. Amethyst

18. Garnet

19. Zircon

20. China

21. Aquamarine

23. Sapphire

25. Silver

28. Jade

30. Pearl

33. Bloodstone

35. Coral

40. Ruby

45. Sapphire

50. Gold

55. Emerald

60. Diamond

70. Platinum

75. Diamond/Gold

 

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Birthstones & Star Signs

When buying jewellery for a birthday present it’s often useful to know which birthstone applies to which month.  Below is a list of birthstones, with some alternatives, as currently recognised by the National Association of Goldsmiths.

Star Sign	Month	Colour	Gemstone	Alternative
Capricorn	January	Dark Red	Garnet
Aquarius	February	Purple	Amethyst
Pisces	March	Pale Blue	Aquamarine	Bloodstone
Aries	April	White	Diamond	Rock Crystal
Taurus	May	Green	Emerald	Chrysoprase
Gemini	June	Cream	Pearl	Moonstone
Cancer	July	Red	Ruby	Cornelian
Leo	August	Pale Green	Peridot	Sardonyx
Virgo	September	Deep Blue	Sapphire	Lapis Lazuli
Libra	October	Variegated	Opal
Scorpio	November	Yellow	Topaz	Citrine
Sagittarius	December	Sky Blue	Tanzanite	Turquoise

 

Additionally if you wish to know what star sign applies to that special birthday the list below may be helpful.

Star Sign	Dates
Aries	Mar 21st – Apr 20th
Taurus	Apr 21st – May 21st
Gemini	May 22nd – June 21st
Cancer	June 22nd – July 23rd
Leo	July 24th – Aug 23rd
Virgo	Aug 24th – Sept 23rd
Libra	Sept 24th – Oct 23rd
Scorpio	Oct 24th – Nov 22nd
Sagittarius	Nov 23rd – Dec 22nd
Capricorn	Dec 23rd – Jan 20th
Aquarius	Jan 21st – Feb 19th
Pisces	Feb 20th – Mar 20th

 

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Ring Size Converter

In the UK ring sizes are measured using an alphabetic scale with size ascending from A-Z. Since there is no international standard for ring sizes the National Association of Goldsmiths has compiled a size converter for the UK, USA, Japan and Europe. Also included are the diameter and circumference measurements.

UK	USA	Japan	Europe	Diameter (mm)	Circumference (mm)
H½	4	7	6	14.8	46.5
I½	4½	8	8	15.2	48
J½	5	9	9	15.6	49
L	5½	10	10	16	50.5
M	6	12	12	16.4	52
N	6½	13	13	16.8	53
O	7	14	14	17.3	54.5
P	7½	15	15	17.7	55.5
Q	8	16	17	18.1	57
Q½	8½	17	18	18.5	58
R½	9	18	19	18.9	59.5
S½	9½	20	21	19.3	61
T½	10	21	22	19.7	62
U½	10½	22	23	20.1	63.5
V½	11	24	24	20.6	64.5
W½	11½	25	26	21	66
Y	12	26	27	21.4	67.5
Z	12½	27	28	21.8	68.5
Z+1	13	28	30	22.2	70
Z+2	13½	29	31	22.6	71
Z+3	14	31	32	23	72.5
Z+4	14½	32	34	23.4	74
Z+5	15	33	35	23.9	75

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Hallmarks

Hallmarking is one of the oldest forms of trading standards.  The main principle is that precious metal alloys are marked to show their purity.  This is done through a series of stamps into the gold to make up the hallmark.  These stamps can be a picture, a letter or a number, each having a particular meaning.  This is important because even to the trained eye it is not easy to determine the purity of precious metal in an item.  This gives room for people to miss-sell items as having a higher purity of precious metal than they actually contain.  Hallmarking prevents this by regulating the purity of precious metal items. In the UK only certain purities of gold, silver and platinum are legal for sale. 

Current UK hallmarks contain a 3 digit number to describe the purity of the metal.  The shape of the box in which the number is contained is different for different metals.  The current legal finenesses along with an example for each metal are shown below.

Gold – 375 (9ct), 585 (14ct), 750 (18ct), 916 (22ct), 990, 999.

Silver – 800, 925 (Sterling), 958 (Britannia), 999.

Platinum – 850, 900, 950, 999.

Palladium – 500, 950, 999.

In addition to the fineness mark current UK hallmarks will have a date letter and an assay office mark indicating the year and location that the item was assayed.  Examples of UK assay office marks are shown below.

Sometimes instead of the standard UK fineness hallmark, a common control mark may be used.  This is an internationally recognised hallmark that enables the sale of precious metals in all participating countries without the requirement of country specific hallmarks.  These consist of a fineness number contained within a set of scales, as seen in the example below.

Whilst there are many other hallmarks you can find on a precious metal item these are the main ones in use today that you need to know to determine the type of precious metal and its purity.

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