Hallmarks
All our fine jewellery is hallmarked from one of the uk assay offices,and the following information you may find useful to help understand the differing grades of the fine metals.
Fine or pure gold is a very rare yellow metal. Pure gold is too soft for the production of jewellery,hence pure gold is normally combined with other metals,making an alloy and allowing the resulting gold to be used in the production of fine jewellery.The other metals used determines the colour and softness or pliability of the resulting alloy.
The proportion of gold to the other metal determines the ct of the alloy.
9ct has a proportion of 9:24,that is there are 9 parts gold within 24 parts of the metal alloy.
18ct has a proportion of 18:24,that is there are 18 parts gold within 24 parts of the metal alloy.
22ct has a proportion of 22:24,that is there are 22 parts gold within 24 parts of the metal alloy.
White Gold
White gold is gold that has been produced from a silver rich alloy and is normally very light yellow or whiteish in colour.That is why a 9ct gold alloy will be whiter in colour than an 18ct gold alloy,as the 9ct contains more silver than gold proportionately.White gold pieces are often enhanced with rhodium plating,giving the pieces a whiter finish. With time the plating may fade,showing the true pale yellow colour,but this can easily be re-applied to restore the original finish.
Platinum
Platinum is an even rarer metal than gold making it even more vauable,jewellery made from it always looks beautiful. Like gold pure platinum is too soft for the production of jewellery and so an alloy has to be formed.All our platinum items carry a hallmark,Platinum 950 which is an alloy of 95% platinum and 5% palladium platinum.
Nickel Directive
All our products comply with the nickel directive.Traditionally nickel was used as a metal for the production of fine jewellery alloys,however it can cause allergic reaction for some people.For this reason UK regulations -The Nickel Directive states that all items made or imported into the European Union after 20/1/2000 do not have nickel release rates exceeding 0.5 micrograms per square centimetre per week.
All our products are compliant with these regulations.
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