Monday 30 April 2012

Shiny silver necklaces

The beautiful silvery sheen of a solid sterling silver necklace in full sunlight is spectacular in its own unique way. Jewellery is one of the few possessions that has no practical function and is only worn to delight and attract admiring gazes from others.

Yes, jewellery is for the vain, but everyone, no matter how humble they pretend to be secretly wishes for the attention and approval from their peers. Jewellery, like all fashions, is another way to draw the attention of others, nature is full of colour and sounds that animals use. Man has simply copied this phenomenon and replaced feathers with silver and gold.

Wearing silver jewellery constantly is one of the best ways to keep it shiny, the way it rubs on your skin and clothing will gently polish it as you move about. Avoid swimming pools though, the chlorine will damage the precious metal of your silver necklace.

Charm bracelets are special

One of the delights in owning a charm bracelet is the way the charms seem to dance about as you move your wrist, catching the light and gleaming in the sun. There is a much deeper and more important reason for wearing a charm bracelet however.

The charms that you collect over many years and add to your bracelet one by one, all have held a very special meaning for you. You may own some charms that you were given on a special birthday or to celebrate the birth of a child. Sometimes you will choose charms just because they visually appeal, other charms are added because of your love for music or sport.

Charms tell a story and are a wonderful way to carry mementoes with you on your gold or silver bracelet everywhere you go. People can't help but look at a beautiful charm bracelet and wonder about why you have chosen a particular charm.

Sunday 29 April 2012

Choosing a gold necklace

When choosing a gold chain necklace which you will want to wear every day, it's all about quality.

Only solid gold chains can stand the pace of constant wear. Cheaper gold filled, rolled gold or gold plated chains will lose their coating in as little as a few months of daily use. Then the only place your gold necklace will be seen is in the bottom of your drawer.

Ladies can wear a gold necklace of any width, with or without a pendant. Men, however, will need a reasonably thick gold chain. The very fine gold chains lack masculinity and are much better suited to the fairer sex.

A necklace for a man should normally be around 5mm or thicker. Ladies necklaces start at around 40cm for a choker and around 50cm for a standard chain. Men's necklaces will normally be at least 55cm, men with large builds may need a 60cm or longer gold necklace.

Quality Silver Necklaces

Silver chain necklaces come in a huge range of styles, widths and lengths. But not all silver necklaces are equal.

925 sterling silver is an alloy of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper and is the most common alloy used in quality jewellery. Pure silver is too soft for necklaces and bracelets, so the copper is added to increase the strength of the silver. Sterling silver chain jewellery is made to last for a life time of constant wear.

Silver plated chains are a cheap base metal, often brass and copper are used, and silver is electroplated onto the cheaper metal. These necklaces and bracelets look great when they are new, but a few months of every day wear will see the plating wear away and the base metal becomes apparent.

If you intend wearing your silver necklace every day then only a quality solid sterling silver necklace will look as good in 20 years as it does today.

Thursday 26 April 2012

Tell your story with a solid gold charm bracelet

When buying a gold charm bracelet, there's a lot more to think about than just the style and length that you are going to need. A charm bracelet will eventually hold a full life time of memories, special times, birthdays, achievements and reasons for feeling great.

There is little point in buying inferior gold plated or rolled gold charm bracelets, when they will lose their coating and the cheap base metal shows through after only a few months of constant wear. Do it once and do it right. Buy a solid gold chain and you know it will last beyond your own life time and can be passed down through your family.

The same is true of all the gold charms you will collect. As events and achievements inspire you to mark the occasion with another gold charm for your bracelet, make sure you are buying quality solid gold charms that will last.

Monday 16 April 2012

Versatile gold bracelet chains

The simplicity of a solid gold unpatterned bracelet allows it to be worn with almost any outfit from a simple t-shirt to a dinner suit, or an evening gown for the ladies. A solid 9ct gold bracelet is sturdy enough to be worn everyday for the whole of your life and gives an impression of luxury without being ostentatious.

For the ladies wishing to achieve a different look, they may dress up their bracelet with one of many the heart shaped padlocks that are readily available. Plain padlocks can be found in either flat or puffy (convex) styles and filigree gold padlocks are strikingly patterned.

A thicker gold bracelet also looks great with a bolt ring (Kartier) clasp which gives the bracelet an overall chunkier look. This is especially effective on a belcher bracelet as the links are similar in shape to the bolt ring clasp.

Charm bracelets can also have the standard clasp replaced with a heart padlock which adds interest to the overall design.

Silver charm bracelets for children

With the price of gold soaring through record highs recently many are choosing to buy silver charm bracelets at a much more affordable price than gold ones.

Sterling silver charms look great and it's much less expensive to grow your collection and fill your whole bracelet. There are so many silver charms available, it would be hard, to not be able to find the one you want. Silver charms are a great way to remember an important event or achievement. They are always right there with you.

Children love wearing jewellery, even simple plastic necklaces and bracelets, but they will be especially thrilled when its real sterling silver. A good quality solid silver bracelet and a few charms to get them started can be bought for well under $100. When the child will be able to wear the charm bracelet for their whole lives and keep adding to it, it's a truly lasting gift.

Sunday 15 April 2012

Is it real gold?

Walking through the streets of Rome it was amazing how many street vendors were trying to sell their wares. Many were selling knockoffs of famous brands of handbags, they certainly looked real but the prices made it clear that they were not.

It seemed that the government simply turned a blind eye to this practice. Another stall sold 9ct gold chains and the table was covered with bracelets and necklaces in a huge range of lengths and widths. Again the prices were below what you would normally expect to pay, but they were not overly cheap which gave a sense that they could be real.

However it would be foolish to have hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold sitting on a table in the street. A few people had stopped and bought gold chains while I watched from across the street and probably thought they were buying real gold, I thought probably not.

Manly chains for manly men

Some men love to wear jewellery, while some men are somewhat hesitant. Often it comes down to how masculine a man considers the piece of jewellery to be.

When buying gold chains for men it is important to understand that a chain with a thin profile is more likely to be perceived as being too feminine. Realistically a gold bracelet for a man should be thick and solid, a minimum of 7mm in width would be advised; less than this can look a bit girlish.

Gold necklaces follow similar rules; the only time you can get away with a fine gold chain is where a pendant is fitted. A gold necklace worn by itself should be at least 5mm wide for the same reasons as that of a bracelet. Before buying gold chains for your man take him to a jewellers and see how he would feel about wearing some of the jewellery on display.

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Dichroic glass pendants

Slipping off her silver necklace chain she placed it gently beside her clothes and headed out to the small pool in her back garden. She had been warned about the dangers of chlorine on her jewellery and always made sure she removed it before going for her daily morning swim. It was a great time for her, it gave a chance to clear her head and let her thoughts run free.

She had been thinking about buying a pendant for her silver necklace and she drew pictures in her mind of the designs she liked as she lapped up and down the pool. She loved the patterns in dichroic glass and a couple of her friends wore pendants in this style. She really liked the way each dichroic glass pendant was completely individual.

No two would ever be the same because of how the glass was affected by the heat of the furnace. Flicking through the colours made her decide than a bluish shade with yellow highlights would be nice.

Silver chains for men

Masculinity is a trait that many men demand when selecting the jewellery they are prepared to wear. Some men feel uncomfortable if their jewellery is not 'manly' and has a thickness that implies strength. Many mens silver chains are quite thick which gives a rugged impression and exudes a look of solidness which the owner finds important.

With this in mind a silver necklace for a man should be at least 5 or 6mm across unless it is worn to display a pendant which will allow for a finer chain than that for a necklace worn solo. Bracelets for men should be thicker again, 7 or 8mm will look masculine, less than that is probably more suited to the fairer sex.

Heavy bolt ring clasps are a good way to dress up a silver chain and still remain manly in appearance. The right jewellery will be appreciated and happily worn by many men, but chains that are too fine are likely to be put away in a drawer and never seen again.

Monday 9 April 2012

Bringing it home

Shopping on holidays is almost expected, it seems that we need to buy something from a foreign land and bring it home to remember the great time away we had. In Egypt the street vendors had rows of silver necklaces in so many designs and sizes that I couldn't choose which one I wanted to take home with me.

A lot of the jewellery was handmade and the fact that I had seen nothing like it at home made it more desirable as I knew I wouldn't be able to find it again. Like most tourists I probably paid more than I should have but at least I'm not alone in that.

The quality of the sterling silver necklaces and bracelets was very good, and the workmanship was close to flawless. We had seen in other countries in similar street markets jewellery that looked like it had been made by blind monkeys with a hangover.

Dress up a gold necklace

Sometimes we like to dress up some of our plain jewellery.

A gold necklace chain can have a pendant added for example, but what if you would like a necklace to be worn alone and still show some individuality? Normally the clasp sits at the top of a necklace behind your head and isn't seen. An alternative to this could be changing the clasp for a Kartier, or heavy bolt ring, clasp and wearing it at the front.

This looks especially good on a heavier gold necklace for both men and women. You could instead decide upon a fob that was matched to the thickness of your gold chain. It is quite a common practice to have a heart shaped padlock on a bracelet, but these plain or filigree style locks look really good on a gold necklace as well. This give you another way of wearing a simple necklace chain that will be different from most other peoples chains.

Saturday 7 April 2012

Buying quality silver chains

Most women love to wear jewellery and will often have quite of lot of pieces to choose from. Some will be costume that will get occasional wear, some will be worn every day and this should be selected because of its quality as well as beauty.

Daily wear requires solid silver chains to ensure that the piece will last, plated and filled jewellery is ok for infrequent use but it is just another form of costume jewellery. The thin outer layer wrapped or plated onto a cheap base metal will wear through revealing the brass or copper below. The piece will then be thrown into the bottom of a drawer never to be worn again.

Quality jewellery means buying necklaces and bracelets made of silver chains that are solid through, in other words pure sterling silver. These silver chains will outlast costume jewellery and with occasional but regular polishing they will always look spectacular.

Sizing a gold bracelet

Choosing the size of a gold bracelet chain is easy enough if you consider a few simple tips.

The width of the chain can range from quite fine to fairly chunky for a lady, but a gentleman would rarely wear one of the finer thickness bracelets. For men a minimum width of around 7mm should be selected to make sure it is masculine.

The length of the gold bracelet should be made to fit the wrist of the owner. To find out the correct length measure the wrist just below the hand and add either 2 or 3cm, less means the bracelet will sit higher on the hand and more means it will fall further onto the hand.

If you have a necklace you could place it around the wrist and adjust the length until it sits where you would like it to and measure it. If the gold bracelet is much thicker than the necklace you used for this, you may need to add a little more to your measurement.

Silver instead of white gold?

The decision to buy either yellow gold or white gold is most often decided by a preference for one metallic hue over the other. Some people prefer the cooler shade of silver over the warmer yellow gold.

With the price of gold rising quite dramatically in recent times, those who would normally have chosen white gold are beginning to look more closely at a 925 sterling necklace as an alternative.

Silver is almost indistinguishable to white gold in looks but it can be subject to tarnishing. Rhodium plating can be used to prevent this from happening in the same way that most white gold is also rhodium plated. It isn't cheap to have done and needs to be re-plated every 12 or 18 months depending upon how often the jewellery is worn. In any event it is still going to be significantly cheaper to buy a silver necklace than a similar white gold necklace.

Redesign of website

We have just added 3200+ new gold and silver charms to our website (now we have nearly 3700 in total) and decided it was time to make it easier to find what you are looking for.

Silver bracelets, silver necklaces, silver charm bracelets, silver charms all now have their own pages.

As soon as possible over the coming weeks we will be updating the pictures of our new range of charms, but as you can imagine it will be a massive undertaking. Every charm will need to be photographed, numbered, cleaned up and resized and then added to the website manually. In the mean while the black and white scans we are currently displaying will give you an idea of the size and form of our products.

Happy Easter everyone!

Friday 6 April 2012

Storing jewellery correctly

Whether its silver charms, a necklace, bangle or a diamond ring, you should store your jewellery properly to prevent damage.

Each item should be kept in a velvet pouch or if you have a jewellery box, then each piece in its own compartment. Rings can be stored on trees which will keep them apart to prevent scratching. Necklaces will tangle if thrown in together so either keep them separated or hang them individually. If you have some that have become tangled already, it is easier to separate them or remove kinks by dusting with talcum powder.

Finer chains can be separated by using a couple of dress makers pins and carefully undoing any knots. Rings with gem stones will easily scratch the much softer silver and gold, the stones are much harder than the precious metals and will likely be the cause of most damage when jewellery is not properly stored.

Utrasonic cleaning of silver necklaces and bracelets

I’ve been looking for a way to clean my charm bracelet and I have finally found what I think is the perfect solution. Getting into all the crevices using a soft tooth brush and warm soapy water did a reasonable job on my gold bracelet, but it was fiddly and took quite some time to do a good job. A friend has an ultrasonic cleaner, for her jewellery and raved about how well it worked. I bit the bullet and found a small one on ebay for about $50 so I ordered it last week. It is simple to use, all I had to do was fill it up with very warm water and a drop of mild detergent and push the button. It runs for 3 minutes and you can see it bubbling away as it shakes of the dirt. My charms and the bracelet chain came out shiny clean and I was surprised at how the colour of the water had changed. A quick rinse under running water removes the soap film and when they were dry my charms were really clean and shone beautifully. I must admit I got a bit carried away and went through my jewellery box and ran all my silver necklaces and bracelets through the cleaner too. It did a great job on them, so out came the watch (it is waterproof) and it got in between the links and heaps of dirt and muck was left behind in the water. I’m glad I did a bit of research, because there are some types of jewellery that shouldn’t be put in an ultrasonic machine such as pearls and opals. So, if you have solid metal jewellery, a great way to quickly and easily clean of the dirt and grime isn’t very expensive to buy.

3200 New Charms

Wow. We have just added 3200 new gold and silver charms to our website. A massive amount of work but it's great to be able to offer so many more choices to our customers.

The photos are from the manufacturers catalogue which unfortunately is black and white, but we are making arrangements to have the complete range photographed in colour in the very near future.

Drop by and take a look, all of the charms are available with open or closed jump rings or a minitature parrot clasp.

Cheers

Ross

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Looking for a gold bracelet?

Are you looking for a new gold bracelet to buy? There are some great online stores (hint, hint) that have a great range of solid gold jewellery at prices well below retail stores. Running a business in a shopping centre carries with it huge overheads in the form of wages, rents and commissions paid to the centre management.

Online jewellery stores don’t pay these large overheads and these savings are passed on to the buyer. Some online stores hold stock that can be despatched immediately, others order from the manufacturer as needed. The second store type can supply a wider range of gold chains made to the length that you order.

Custom clasps can be chosen to replace the standard lobster or spring ring with a heart shaped padlock or a chunky bolt ring clasp. Delivery may take a little longer, but you get to buy a custom made chain to your specifications.

Creating your own silver charm bracelet

Designing your own charm bracelet can be a really fun project as you examine the massive range of charms that can be found in retail shops, markets and online stores. I recommend starting by selecting an appropriate sterling silver bracelet to fit your charms to. The most common chains used for charm bracelets are the belcher, oval belcher and long curb chains.

The advantage of these styles is that they have quite small links that are closely spaced together. This close spacing allows you to connect the charms in more combinations than you would have available with the longer linked styles. The length of your bracelet should be around the measurement of your wrist plus an additional few centimetres, depending on how far down your hand you wish the bracelet to sit when you arm is by your side.

Depending on the thickness of chain you select, a spring ring or parrot clasp will be fitted. You can elect to change this to a bolt ring clasp on a heavier chain or substitute it for a plain or filigree heart padlock should you wish a style that is less simple and plain.

Probably the hardest decision is in selecting the sterling silver charms themselves as there are so many to choose from. As you evaluate each one, consider what meaning it conveys and how that relates to the events and occasions you wish to commemorate. Some will leap out at you and are going to be 'must haves', put these at the top of your list.

Examining the chain will give you an idea of how many charms can be comfortably hung and how many links you will need to separate them by. After counting the must have charms you will know how many more will have room available, so use this number to thin out the charms lower down on your list.

Monday 2 April 2012

Amazing Gold

Gold is one of the most extraordinary elements known to man. Admired for thousands of years and used extensively in jewellery, this metal has some amazing statistics. It is almost indestructible, requiring a special mixture of 2 acids (sulphuric and hydrochloric) to cause a reaction. No single acid will be able to elicit any damage by itself. Gold is non-toxic and does not rust.

All the gold every mined on earth would fit into a cube with sides around 19 metres in length. This amounts to less than 25 grams for each and every person living today, about the amount in a medium gold necklace.

It can be beaten so thinly that it is possible to see through it, no other metal can claim this ability, and it is used on astronaut's visors. Just 31 grams can be made into a sheet of 16 square metres in size.

Gold is the 3rd best conductor of electricity behind silver and copper and as it won't corrode it is widely used in electronic devices, especially on contacts in relays and the circuit boards in computers. It melts at 1064 degrees Celsius and a cube with 10cm sides (one litre) weighs 19.3 kilograms, consider that a litre of water weighs just 1 kilogram.

The largest single gold nugget ever found weighed in at around 70 kilograms and would be worth over 3 million dollars. To put that in perspective, it would fit inside a one gallon milk container. A cubic foot of gold, around about the size of a milk create, would weigh a massive 500kg.

It is no wonder with all these special properties that it has become the premium choice for quality jewellery in all its forms. Solid gold chains look great and will bring a lifetime of pleasure for the lucky owner.

Solid Gold Bracelets

Solid gold chains are the premium choice when you are shopping for a new necklace or bracelet. The quality of solid gold ensures that the jewellery will last and maintain its integrity for more than a lifetime. While it may be tempting to save money by buying gold filled or gold plated chains, it is false economy. With everyday wear, the outer layer of the cheap imitations will wear through and reveal the base metal underneath. This is usually brass or copper and will often occur after only a few months.

A solid 9ct gold bracelet will impress for all time as it is solid gold all the way through. Cleaning is easy, a bowl of hot water, a soft bristled tooth brush and a drop of a mild detergent is all that is needed to remove a build up of dirt and grime. Avoiding chlorine in swimming pools and spas as well as chemical cleaners is important to prevent stress fractures to precious metal jewellery.

Nameplates on gold necklaces

Carrie from the tv series Sex in the city wears her name on her gold necklace. Since then many women have copied this style and turned it into quite a fashion statement. Many names are quite common and these name plates are readily available from jewellers. There are some online stores where you can type in your name and have a necklace made to the length you want with your name cut from a solid gold plate. Being able to order a custom made plate means that any name is possible, rather than what a jeweller may carry in their regular stock.

As these name plates are individually made you can choose to have any word turned into gold necklaces with the chain style you prefer. You may wish to have your star sign as a word instead of the symbol as a pendant. The choices are only limited by your imagination.

Silver chains for bracelets

Sterling silver jewellery is the choice of many because of its beauty, it has a rich silvery lustre that draws the admiring eye of others. Silver chain jewellery has a wonderful fluid movement that causes light to be reflected in many directions with every turn of your head or flick of your wrist. Silver is quite heavy, a litre weighs in at around 10.5 kilograms. Compare that to a litre of water at one kilogram. It's because of this density that a solid silver necklace has a definite feeling of solidity and quality.

A wide range of sterling silver chains are available from which to choose a necklace, a bracelet or an anklet. As summer approaches in the southern hemisphere many will consider a delicate anklet as shorts and skirts come back into regular wear. The swirling twist of a Singapore rope anklet chain sparkles as the light shimmers from the many facets of the precious metal. Some of the medium width curb and belcher chains make excellent anklets and can feature a heart shaped padlock instead of the lobster clasp usually fitted.

All styles of silver chain are suitable for bracelets. When choosing for a man, a minimum width of around 7mm will ensure the chain is masculine, the thinner styles are more suited to the finer sex. Selecting the right length is done by making a measurement of your wrist just above your hand and adding between two and three centimetres. Adding more will make the silver bracelet drop further onto your hand and reducing will keep the chain higher on your wrist.

Chain necklaces for men should be at least 5mm or greater for the same reasons a bracelet should not be too fine. Ladies chokers start at around 40cm in length, a 'standard' necklace may be around 50cm and men usually would wear a 55 or 60cm chain.

Sunday 1 April 2012

Make it personal with solid gold charms

Often the choice of a piece of jewellery as a gift for a loved one can be very complex because of the huge range of items available in all styles and metals. Something you may wish to consider is how to make a gift very personal to the one you love.

A great choice may well be a solid gold charm bracelet which you can very much personalise by adding some gold charms that have a real meaning for your love.

A special birthday is an obvious choice, but you may also wish to consider a zodiac charm for those who follow astrology. For those with a new baby there are many charms to suit, booties or a dummy could be a nice touch.

Good luck charms, either Chinese symbols or horseshoes, for the superstitious. For the career minded a choice of one of the many gold charms that represent a job could be the ticket.

Designing your own gold bracelet

So you have decided that you must have a new gold bracelet. Once you have chosen the style of gold chain you like, you still need to consider the length and width of the bracelet.

Ladies will find that almost any width of solid gold chain will be suitable, where as men will need a bracelet of around 7mm or wider. Anything smaller than that lacks masculinity. To find the correct length, measure your wrist and add between 2 and 3 centimetres, if you want a tighter or looser fit then you can increase or reduce as needed.

To give your gold bracelet a little bit more character, you may wish to fit a bolt ring clasp in place of the lobster clasp that would normally be supplied. A large range of solid gold plain and filigree heart shaped padlocks, both available in convex or flat designs will also add some flair to your bracelet.

Selecting a solid gold necklace

Belcher, curb, figaro or Singapore rope? Perhaps you prefer another style altogether. It's a hard decision when choosing a gold necklace.

There are so many beautiful styles of chain, but in the end it comes down to a matter of personal choice. After you have decided on the style of gold chains you prefer for your necklace, you still have to consider the width of the links and the length.

Finer gold necklaces are great for showing off a pendant as they don't steal the lime light and allow the pendant itself to be the featured piece. The beauty of the finer chains is that you can remove any pendants and still wear the chain unadorned.

The size of the pendant you wish to wear on your solid gold necklace will largely determine the length of chain you will require. A good way to find the correct length is to fit the pendant to an existing chain and hold the ends together with the pendant sitting as you wish, then just measure how much chain was used.

Do you have enough silver necklaces?

Is the shopping bug biting? Sometimes we need to lash out and spoil ourselves by buying something that makes us feel good to own. Jewellery is often a great choice because we can wear it all the time and silver necklaces feel so good to wear.

Of course you can't deny that having others admiring your new silver chain doesn't make you feel a little bit special too.
Silver necklaces are still much less expensive than gold, so having a few different styles in your jewellery box won't break the bank.

Fine (thin) silver chains are ideal to display your favourite pendants and will keep the attention focused on the pendant itself.

You should be looking for a silver necklace of the correct length so that the pendant is displayed in the position that you want it to sit. It is also wise to not choose to thick a chain for the pendant you wish to display.