Tomorrow is the 1st of May and traditionally May Day is celebrated as the first day of Spring! Here at Jewel Envy we are celebrating with jewellery and gemstones that remind us of the coming spring!
May Day 2023
Month: April 2023
Sharks!
Clean your Jewellery regularly
The Basics of Jewellery Care: Clean your Jewellery regularly
For years of wearability, jewellery should be cleaned frequently. It is not advisable to let a thick coating of black tarnish build up on your jewellery as it can eventually eat away at metals and create permanent damage to the piece.
There are a variety of methods for cleaning Jewellery. For light tarnish a polishing cloth is the least abrasive method. There are two types of polishing cloths, plain and with rouge embedded in them.
A plain cloth is perfect for weekly cleaning of your pieces. It must be a cloth designed for cleaning jewellery as the fibers in these cloths will not scratch the metal.
You would be surprised that some cloths can actually put scratches into silver and gold jewellery as they have hardness greater than the metals. Use a polishing cloth by rubbing it over the surface of your jewellery. Chains can be pulled through the cloth as you pinch them lightly between the cloth in your fingers.
For a slightly heavier cleaning use a cloth embedded with rouge. Rouge is a polishing compound used in the final stage of finishing jewellery. It can be used on all metals and on most gemstones (check with a jeweller first). After rubbing your jewellery with the rouge embedded side of the cloth rub the jewellery with the non-rouge side of the cloth to remove the compound. Wash your hands well after touching rouge as it is a strong chemical and can easily transfer to other items you subsequently touch.
If you find that the cloths are not removing the tarnish the next step is a metal cleaner that is rubbed on with a sponge under running water. Polishing compounds such as this remove a thin layer of the metal in the process of removing the tarnish. Be careful if you are cleaning plated jewellery as repeated polishing will remove plating over time.
’20 Tips on maintaining our Jewellery’, Gillian E. Batcher, 2013
Sunny Saturday!
It’s definitely April (right? April showers…and all that!). It’s a bit dreary and wet outside (although a reasonable temperature). It’s always sunny in the studio, though! In honour of the sun, here’s a small curated collection from the bubbles in the studio that make me think of the sun!
It’s all about the sun today!
Large necklace by Robin (House of Cassady), then clockwise from the bottom: Citrine ring by Gillian (Pash Jewellery Designs), opal stud earrings by Aurora (Handmade Revotion), hoop earrings by Alexis (Glaciale Goldsmith), half moon pendant by Karyn (Sticks vs Stones), pod earrings by Alex (Kinsley Vey Designs) and bracelet by Jen (Frekkel Designs)
Hope to see you soon!
Hand Cut and Hand Crafted
These gorgeous lapis lazuli pieces are from our very own goldsmith member, Shafiq. The stone is from Afghanistan, but he cuts and polishes it to perfection here at the studio and makes these stunners by hand.
Come by and take a look!
The online auction is open!
Yes, you heard that right! We posted a sneak peek of items a couple of weeks ago for this very special event, but you can now see the full range of items available by clicking here.
Alexis has made a nice display in store, complete with numbers and QR code to the auction site, so you can come in and eyeball things in person if you want!
As you can see, there are a number of different items available…..
…to suit almost any budget or taste!
In case you didn’t see the previous post, we are fundraising for our valued colleague, Shafiq, to help bring his family to Canada (they’re currently refugees in Pakistan). Gillian has written the full story, which you can read by clicking here.
The auction will run until June.
Enjoy the beautiful weather!
Quick Emerald Facts
Emeralds are green stone, highly valued for its moss green or forest green colour, though as mentioned by the Gemological Institute of America;
“Gem experts differ on the degree of green that makes one stone an emerald and another stone a less-expensive green beryl. Most gemologists, gemological laboratories, and colored stone dealers call a stone green beryl when its color is “too light” for it to be classified as emerald. Even among that group, however, there’s a difference of opinion about what’s considered “too light.””
As mentioned in the quote above, emeralds are the name we give certain colours of Beryl, a family of minerals which comes in a variety of colours, some useful for jewellery purposes, and some too fragile.
Emeralds can be either naturally mined, or made in a lab. Lab grown emeralds tend not to have the ‘jardin’ (the internal inclusions which give it its mossy look), though this does make them less prone to breaking during gem setting.
Emeralds are often cut octagonally, sometimes referred to as ’emerald cut’ due to how common it is. These stones can present a large challenge for setting in metal. Although they are a ‘hard’ stone for a coloured gemstone, they are often riven with internal flaws and inclusions which creates an unstable material prone to breaking.
Although beautiful emeralds should only be cleaned with a soft brush, and a light soap to prevent damage!