Jewellery Care
JEWELLERY CARE AND INFORMATION
MATERIALS
All products for sale on this site have been carefully selected to ensure that best quality materials and workmanship are used. Many products are handmade and so slight imperfections may occur which are considered to add to the uniqueness of hand made or hand-finished products.
Designs use a range of materials, including, but not limited to .925 sterling silver, 14k, 18k, 24k gold plating, stainless steel, brass, lead and nickel free alloy, leather, silk, wood, plastic, resin, natural gemstones, pearls and others. Rhodium plated jewellery is also included in our designs. Rhodium is a precious metal from the platinum family, is three times more expensive than platinum and adds a wonderful shiny lustre to the piece. It is usually applied over white gold, silver or base metal alloy. Rhodium plating provides a tougher surface and protection from scratches and tarnishing thus prolonging the life of your jewellery.
PLATING
To complete the design, most fashion jewellery is plated in the chosen metal such as gold, or rhodium over solid silver or base metal. Gold Plating, sometimes referred to as bonding, uses an electroplating process that coats the item with heavy layers of 18k or more usually 14k gold.
Gold plating colours
14k yellow - noted for its wide range of colours tints, hues, and wear resistance, 14k is widely regarded as the normal plating finish for the jewellery industry. Usually used over sterling silver as a "vermeil" finish, 14k gold plating can provide your item with years of beauty and durability.
8kt rose - this type of plating has a "rose" tint colour to its finish. Used as a final finish or as a contrast colour with yellow gold plating, 18k rose gold plating provides a beautiful and exotic look to the design.
NICKEL SENSITIVITY
All products are lead and nickel free. If you have very sensitive skin and suspect that you may not tolerate even very small amounts of nickel we advise you to wear only pure gold and silver jewellery.
HALLMARKING OF .925 SILVER PRODUCTS
Any product weighing more than 7.78 grams of silver must be hallmarked. Blossom-UK.com uses the hallmarking services of the Birmingham Assay Office and our hallmark looks like this:
VG .925 Anchormark
This is your assurance of the quality of the silver.
JEWELLERY CARE
Gold plated jewellery should be cleaned in warm soapy water and dried and buffed with a soft cloth. We do not recommend sonic cleaners or chemical cleaners for our jewellery. In case of tarnishing, we advise gentle use of a jewellery cleaning cloth for gold/silver.
Normal wear and tear would not include doing the gardening whilst wearing your ring(s) and we advise removing your rings whilst washing up, doing housework or using cleaning materials, abrasive cleaners, or chemicals. Looking after your jewellery collection correctly will give you years more wear and enjoyment.
Gold and silver jewellery should be cleaned gently with proprietary gold and silver cleaners, and items containing natural gemstones, cubic zirconias or other materials should never be allowed to come into contact with chemicals and cleaning solutions, and should not be left near heat sources or exposed to strong sunlight.
ABOUT CUBIC ZIRCONIA (CZ, SWAROVSKI) STONES
Blossom-UK.com features many simulant stones in our product offering and we feel that anyone buying CZ jewellery should understand that CZ is not a cheap alternative to natural gemstones. CZ stones go through complex processes before being used to create beautiful jewellery to equal and even surpass natural gemstones. CZ can be used to create fabulous designs using larger and more vibrantly coloured stones to produce quality and desirable jewellery to enhance everyone's jewellery collection.
Cubic zirconia is a man-made composition created to simulate, or take on the likeness of, a real diamond. Due to its hardness and beautiful shine, cubic zirconia has become the most popular substitute for diamonds on the market today. It is available in many fashionable styles, shapes and colours to suit any occasion. Cubic zirconia stones can be used in all types of jewellery, including rings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and earrings. Customers are flocking to get the latest styles of cubic zirconia and synthetic gemstone jewellery more than ever before.
CZ VERSUS LAB CREATED STONES - WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
Though both have lovely characteristics, there is a huge difference between cubic zirconia and synthetic gemstones. Both are created in a lab, but synthetic gemstones are made using the same optical, physical, and chemical properties as natural stones. Lab gems also have the same mineral content as natural gems. On the other hand, cubic zirconia is created to look similar to natural stones but with different optical, physical, and chemical properties.
TYPES OF SYNTHETIC GEMSTONES
Synthetic gemstones come in many shapes and forms. They are available in coral, diamond, alexandrite, emerald, lapis lazuli, ruby, sapphire, turquoise, spinel, garnet, and quartz. There are many shapes and colours available. For example, lab blue sapphire gems and lab ruby gems can be cut n the following shapes: heart, marquise, octagon, oval, round, trillion, square, pear, and baguette.
BACKGROUND
A gem or gemstone can be defined as a jewel or semiprecious stone cut and polished for personal adornment. Gemstones produced in producing countries are of three types; natural, synthetic, and simulant. The natural gemstones are cut from minerals of crystalline form such as beryl, corundum, and quartz. (Diamond is a crystal of pure carbon.) Organic materials such as amber, coral, fossil, ivory, mother of pearl, natural and cultured freshwater pearls, and natural saltwater pearls are also considered natural gemstones.
Laboratory grown synthetic gemstones have essentially the same appearance, optical, physical, and chemical properties as the natural material that they represent. Synthetic gemstones include alexandrite, coral, diamond, emerald, garnet, quartz, ruby, sapphire, spinel, and turquoise.
Simulants are laboratory grown gem materials that have an appearance similar to that of a natural gem material but have different optical, physical, and chemical properties. Cubic zirconia (CZ), a replacement for diamond, falls into this category and was first used for the production of jewellery stones in 1976. On the hardness scale for stones, the genuine diamond is a 10 compared to a hardness ranging from 8.5-9 for CZ. CZ has a refractive index (the ability to refract a ray of light into colours of red, orange, green, yellow, violet, and blue) of 2.15-2.18, compared to 2.42 for genuine diamond. Gemstone simulants can include coral, cubic zirconia, lapis lazuli, malachite, and turquoise. Additionally, certain colours of synthetic sapphire and spinel, are used to represent other gemstones.
CUBIC ZIRCONIA STYLES
Cubic zirconia resembles diamonds and is available in various shapes and colours. For instance, there are heart-shaped lavender stones, oval-shaped pink stones, pear-shaped champagne stones, and many other dazzling combinations.
Did you know that white Cubic Zirconia is graded into Grade A, Grade AAA, and Grade AAAAA? Grade AAAAA has become the most valued cubic zirconia stone because it offers long-lasting fire and sparkle comparable to diamonds. See Which Type of CZ to Buy, below.
CUTTING
The cut in any stone, whether natural or imitation, depends on the skill of the stonecutter. The cutter must evaluate a gem crystal carefully to determine how much of the crystal should be cut away to produce a stone or stones with good clarity. The cutter must also determine which stone shapes will make maximum use of the crystal.
Proportion plays an important part in the cut of a crystal. An ideal stone is cut to mathematical specifications to allow a maximum amount of light to be reflected through the stone. This type of cut is known as the Brilliant cut. Variations from these set proportions can reduce the brilliance of the stone. When working with diamonds, a cutter might find it more cost effective to vary from these angles in order to remove a flaw or inclusion, yet still retain maximum carat weight. As synthetic diamond crystals are more moderate in cost and almost flawless in clarity, larger stones can be cut to correct proportions.
QUALITY CONTROL
The quality of a real or imitation stone is determined by the Famous 4: the four Cs: carat, colour, clarity, and cut. It is the combination of the grades in all four that determine the final quality and hence value of both a genuine and an imitation diamond.
The carat weight 0.0175 oz (0.5 g) of a genuine diamond is the weight of the stone in carat weight. Synthetic stones are always heavier in carat weight than genuine diamonds, as the material they are made of is denser.
The colour of a diamond can affect its value. Complete absence of colour represents the high end of the scale, and pale, unevenly tinted stones comprise the lower end. Diamonds with an unusually high degree of colour are known as fancies, and are graded by the evenness, rarity, and tone of the colour. Both genuine and cubic zirconia diamonds are available in various colours ranging from palest yellows to brilliant reds.
The clarity is the clearness or transparency of a stone. In genuine diamonds, clarity is determined by nature, minute mineral traces, and small crystals of imperfections that can cloud a stone. The clearer the stone, the more valuable it is. The clarity of a simulant diamond can be controlled in the lab. However, bad melts can produce stones with small inclusions. Variations in the metal oxide mixtures can change the colour of the stone. Uneven coloration is as undesirable in a simulant diamond as in a genuine diamond.
WHICH GRADE OF CZ TO BUY?
Just as with diamonds, cubic zirconia stones are quality graded. Cubic zirconia is graded in hardness on a scale of 1 to 10 whereby 10 is the hardest, such as quality diamonds. The hardest a CZ can be is a 6.5.
In the CZ grading system grade A is a cz that will eventually cloud or turn yellow, Grade AAA, and Grade AAAAA grading system, AAA CZ's will never cloud or turn yellow and should last a lifetime. AAA/AAAAA cubic zirconias are much sought after and can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
www.Blossom-UK.com recommends AAA/AAAAA Grade cz's for use in our jewellery ranges.
