Hallmarking
Precious metals used in jewellery like gold, silver and platinum sold in the U.K must be hallmarked. This is to confirm they meet the legal standard required to be sold and guarantees they are the metal they claim to be. Hallmarking can only be done at one of the four Assay offices in the U.K or an assay office belonging to the international convention. The only exempt items from hallmarking are those that are under the legal weight threshold. They are as follows- 1 gram for gold, 0.5 gram for platinum and 7.78 gram for silver.
9ct will be stamped 375, 14ct 585, 18ct 750, 22ct 916 and silver will be stamped 925. A hallmarking stamp will consist of the metal code (925), the assay office it was submitted and checked by (this will be in the form of a symbol, Birmingham an anchor) and sometimes the companies name that manufactured the item. It will also have a stamp stating the year it was hallmarked. For more information on hallmarking go to to the Birmingham assay office at www.theassayoffice.co.uk
Ring Size chart
Cubic Zirconia
Cubic Zirconia is a widely used synthetic gemstone available in a variety of different colours. Because of its durability, optical flawless and often colourless appearance it is one of the most popular stones used in the jewellery industry today. It is also popular because of its similar appearance to diamonds but so much more affordable.
Diamonds
When choosing a piece of jewellery that will consist of a diamond you will be looking at these four factors:- Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat (the 4 C's). Each factor will determine the value and appearance of a diamond.
Cut
The raw diamond is cut by a highly skilled master stone cutter. The better the cut proportions the more a diamond will sparkle. This is why the cut of a diamond is such an important aspect.
Colour
The colour of a diamond is one of the key elements in determining the value. The rarest and highest quality diamond will be colourless (the best blue white). The diamond colour will be graded from D (being the best) down to Z. The best and rarest are the D to G grades. Below is a table showing the diamond colour grading scale:-
Colourless ( Most Valued)
D Exceptional white+
E Exceptional white
F Rare white
Near colourless
G Rare white
H White
I,J Slightly tinted white
Faint yellow
K,L Tinted white
M Tinted colour
Very light yellow
N,O,P,Q,R Tinted colour
Light yellow
S,T,U,V Tinted colour
Clarity
A diamond clarity is affected by external flaws and internal flaws. External flaws are impurities on the surface of the diamond and internal flaws are impurities in the interior. Many internal flaws include black or dark spots, clouds and fractures. Diamond clarity is also based on the inclusions it has. the more inclusions a diamond has the less amount of light can pass through therefor hindering its beauty and value. Clarity is graded as follows:-
FL, IF - Internally flawless:- Free from internal blemishes visible under 10x magnification. Very rare
VV.S1, VVS2 - Very, very slightly included:- Inclusions or blemishes very very difficult to locate under 10x magnification. An excellent quality diamond.
VS.1, VS.2 - Very slightly included:- Inclusions and external blemishes difficult to locate under 10x magnification.
SI.1, SI.2 - Slightly included:- Inclusions and external blemishes are visible under 10x magnification. A good value diamond.
I.1, I.2, I.3 - Included/Imperfect:- Inclusions and blemishes very easy to locate. I.2 and I.3 inclusions are easy to locate with the naked eye.
Carat
The carat of a diamond is its weight. 1 carat is equal to 0.2 gram. The weight of smaller diamonds is often expressed in points. There are 100 points in a 1 carat. For example 0.50 points = 1/2 carat.
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