Spring and Summer are all about green! Spring ushers in the lovely new deep green foliage we all love to see, and Summer gives us our limes and chartreuse.
In the Jewellery world, however, the months of May and August celebrate the same hues…
Drop by Jewel Envy and celebrate Green!
Spring is a time of growth, renewal, and energy. Expressed through floral motifs, bright colours, fluid lines, and circles, here are just a few pieces from our talented goldsmiths that encapsulate the feeling of Spring!
Silver and gold detail floral earrings by Hyewon Jang / H Jewellery.
Textured silver and pearl necklace by Robin Cassady-Cain / House of Cassady.
Sawpierced silver and raw emerald necklace by Shafiq Sarwari / Shafiq’s Jewelry
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
As you may have noticed, Jewel Envy is celebrating its 20th year, and celebrating in style! All year long, there are special things happening, including our “golden ticket” to win a unique piece of jewellery from one of Jewel Envy’s member goldsmiths!
What’s that, you say? Well, every month there is a different promotion that will get you a lucky dip capsule, with a surprise inside. A lot of them are for fun Jewel Envy-themed merch, but some lucky people will find a golden ticket inside, and they’ll get to pick their choice from the more than 15 pieces of jewellery curated just for this! There are necklaces, and earrings as well as a ring, brooch and cufflinks!
Pics of a few of the pieces up for grabs, to intrigue you – visit us in studio to see the rest!
A few more of the pieces!
In April, any repair will give you a chance to find the golden ticket! Next month will be something different. Now that spring is starting to make itself known, why not venture out to see us and explore what is new in the studio? Looking forward to seeing you soon!
-Robin.
This year I was able to attend Munich Jewellery Week & Schmuck at the Internationale Handwerkmesse in Munich, Germany. This annual event represent one of the largest meeting places for international contemporary jewellery. Here are some of my favourite pieces I saw during the week, some more traditional and some more avant-garde.
Art Jewelry Forum Young Artist Award winner Benedict Haener’s glass necklace.
Silvie Altschuler – Earrings
Keith Lewis’ Descend (Icarus)
David Bielander’s ‘Cardboard’ Ring (made from gold!)
Brooch by Georg Dobler
Broken cuff restored! Another complex fix done that included making sure we repeated the patterned section and hammered into shape alongside the customer to get the perfect fit.
Our goldsmiths Zoey and Hayat will be at the Spring One Of A Kind show starting April 9th to the 12th. Go show your support for local makers at OOAK!
Sterling silver brooch by Zoey Perse.
Zoey’s collections capture the quiet wonder of walking along the shore or in the garden, discovering small treasures shaped by the sea and the land. Each piece reflects that simple, irresistible moment when nature offers you something beautiful to hold.
Visit Zoey’s OOAK profile for more info: https://profiles.oneofakindshow.com/explore/artisan.php?id=e8241212_1771529055
Necklace by Hayatii Gold.
Hayat’s designs often feature organic forms such as flowers and natural textures, celebrating individuality and quiet elegance. Because every piece is made by hand, no two are ever exactly alike, each one is a small, wearable work of art.
Visit Hayat’s OOAK profile for more info: https://profiles.oneofakindshow.com/explore/artisan.php?id=5ed84a19_1771529057
We love (and do!) a lot of custom jewellery design here at Jewel Envy. It’s so much fun (and sometimes frustration!) helping to bring a vision for a unique piece to life. And we’ve had a lot of interesting requests over the years! A few years ago, a couple came into the studio wanting a custom brooch for the groom. This may seem like an odd thing, but the couple had Scottish Ancestry, and the groom was planning to be kilted and plaided for his wedding clothes. Part of the outfit is often what’s called a fly plain (basically a big plaid scarf) worn over one shoulder and secured with a sizeable brooch. It was a bit opportune, as my grandmother was Scottish, I lived in Scotland for some time, and I had been thinking about plaid brooches and kilt pins for a while (but not gotten actually made any), so here was a great project for me! I’ve worked on a few of these, and am currently working on a new one!
First brooch – stag antlers, and the initial were special requests from the client, with the rope, the laurel wreath and the guantlet elements from the Mackinlay clan crest. There were a lot of small details, so we oxidized parts of the frame to really make it pop! (Just FYI, the tartan shown is not the Mackinlay tartan!)
This was another commission, based on the Clan MacKay crest – the client wanted the motto in a specific font, and the rest we developed together.
Now I’m working on a new commission based on the MacPherson clan crest. I have a few ideas, but the sketches are not quite there yet for sharing! But whatever I do, I think it’s going to include that cat (tongue and all)!
If you have something you’ve been thinking about, and want to make it a reality, come in and chat to us about it! Quotes are free, and we try our best to meet you on budget!
Happy Saturday!
-Robin (House of Cassady)
Since the beginning of time, people have worn jewellery. The earliest known traces of jewellery date back to the Middle Stone Age, showing that personal adornment has been part of human culture for tens of thousands of years. Archaeologists have discovered some of the oldest examples in Bizmoune Cave in Morocco, where 33 perforated marine shell beads made from the species Tritia gibbosula were found. These beads are estimated to be around 142,000 years old, making them the oldest known jewellery currently identified. The shells were deliberately pierced and likely strung together as necklaces or attached to clothing. Because the shells originated from the coast—roughly 50 km away—researchers believe early humans intentionally collected and transported them, suggesting symbolic or social meaning rather than accidental accumulation.
Another important discovery comes from Blombos Cave in South Africa, where archaeologists uncovered 41 perforated shells from the species Nassarius kraussianus dating to about 75,000 years ago. These shells were selected for their similar size and had small holes drilled through them, with wear marks indicating they were strung together as beads. Some also contain traces of red ochre pigment, suggesting they were either painted or worn by individuals who used body pigments. The discovery provided strong evidence that early humans were already engaging in symbolic behavior, using jewellery to communicate identity, social status, or group membership. (Scientific American)
Evidence from other archaeological sites supports the idea that jewellery-making was widespread among early humans. Similar pierced shell ornaments made from Nassarius shells have been found at sites in Israel, Algeria, and Morocco, some dating to around 100,000 years ago. These artifacts are considered early forms of personal adornment and are often associated with the emergence of symbolic thinking and social communication in early Homo sapiens. The consistent design and evidence of wear suggest these objects were not random decorations but meaningful cultural items used to signal identity, relationships, or group affiliation in prehistoric societies.
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Jewellery tarnishes as a result of exposure to the oxygen in air. This process is called oxidation.
Oxidation can be used decoratively in Jewellery that you see as blackened areas but will also occur naturally over time. You can minimize this natural chemical reaction by keeping your Jewellery in a box that absorbs moisture and reduces oxygen.
Small sealed plastic bags are also an effective way to protect your Jewellery from exposure to oxygen.
Anit-tarnish covers and/or cloths are also available to put around Jewellery or to use in Jewellery roll-up cases to protect pieces from oxygen.
Oxidation will still occur over time, but these methods will reduce the speed with which it happens.
The climate you live in will also affect the rate at which natural oxidation occurs. Warm humid environments will cause Jewellery to tarnish faster than dry environments.
Dry environments can cause their own problems by removing moisture in some gemstones and cause them to crack. An artificially dry environment such as a plastic bag may appear to be the solution for humid environments but will hurt some gemstones like pearls and opals that need moisture to preserve their lustrous qualities.
If you are wondering why some of your Jewellery appears to tarnish more or at a faster rate than other pieces, it can be because some metals and their alloy components react to oxygen differently.
Costume Jewellery – Likely will tarnish but depends on the alloys. Copper based alloys tarnish.
Fine Silver – does not tarnish.
Sterling Silver – Tarnishes as the copper in the alloy reacts to the oxygen in the air.
Yellow Gold – Lower karats will tarnish more as they have a greater copper content than higher karat gold.
Nickel white gold – Tarnishes a slightly yellow colour over time, lower karats tarnish faster than higher karats.
Palladium white gold – Does not tarnish.
Platinum – Does not tarnish.
Some white metal Jewellery (sterling silver, nickel white gold) is plated with Rhodium. Rhodium is from the platinum group. There are six types of platinum that make up this group of metal; they are not alloys but metals with similar properties. Rhodium is hypo allergenic and does not tarnish.
Some yellow metal Jewellery (brass, gold) is plated with high kart yellow gold for a bright yellow finish and because of the higher kart the less it tarnishes.
Just because a metal does not tarnish it can still get dirty. There are chemicals and dust in the air we breathe and this settles on Jewellery forming a fine layer that can resemble tarnish but is not the result of oxidation.
’20 Tips on maintaining our Jewellery’, Gillian E. Batcher, 2013
