April 28, 2024
Pearls are the most elegant and flattering of gemstones. The only gemstone that comes from the sea and is not mined, these exquisite gems are also delicate and need special care.
With the correct treatment in keeping them clean, in storing them and in maintaining them, your pearls will last generations. Indeed the famous La Peregrina pearl was found in the lat 16th Century and was famously worn by Elizabeth Taylor, purchased for her by Richard Burton for Valentine’s Day one year.
With incorrect handling, storing and no protection the thread will perish, the pearls may be irrevocably damaged and their famous lustre may be diminished beyond repair. A great many second-hand pearls are damaged. Many pawnbrokers find they can’t resell the pearls that are brought to them as they have not been looked after.
The sad thing is, pearls aren’t hard to take care of. It only needs a few precautions in storing, wearing and cleaning them that mean they will hold their quality and lustre for, literally, hundreds of years.
If in doubt, take your pearls to a jeweller for specific advice but the guidelines below offer general guidance in looking after and maintaining your pearl jewellery.
Perfume, beauty products, lotions and potions may contain alcohol and other chemicals which are extremely damaging to pearls. Never spray perfume or hairspray on after you put on your pearls, always before and try to avoid perfume on areas of skin where pearls will rest.
The same goes for body lotions and other beauty products.
Never get your pearls wet. Don’t shower or bathe in your pearl jewellery and never dip them in jewellery cleaning fluid (even cleaning fluid designed for pearls) particularly if they are strung. The silk thread that pearls are strung on will stay wet and my rot or blacken. They can even cause the area of the pearl where the string is in contact with the pearl to blacken. If your pearls aren’t strung, getting them wet can still cause them to come loose from their setting.
You can wipe your pearls over with a damp (not wet!) cloth to clean them of perspiration or any chemicals. Dry thoroughly afterwards.
When you remove your pearls, please clasp the setting/fitting rather than the pearl itself before gently pulling. Often pearls are glued, screwed or pinned in place and you want to protect the integrity of the setting as much as possible. Similarly if you have a magnetic clasp to your necklace or bracelet, hold the clasp and join to open rather than pulling on the chain or pearls themselves.
Pearls measure just 2.5 on the Moh’s Hardness scale! Compare that to diamond’s 10 score! A pearl is soft. This means they are easily scratched and can be dissolved. Always store your pearls in a box or soft cloth away from other jewellery which will easily scratch your pearls.
Don’t store in a plastic bag as this can dry out your pearl leading the the nacre (the outer layer of the shell) to crack and peel.
Don’t store in bright light or sunlight, as this could fade the colour.
Strings of pearls will need restringing possibly every two years - sooner if they are large pearls as they may stretch the silk threads they could be strung on.
April 28, 2024
Mary Berry made famous a style of necklace featuring a gold chain with barrel-shaped pearls stationed intermittently along the length of the chain. The Mary Berry necklace style is classic, timeless and suits all ages and occasions.The necklace hangs at just the right length to sit along her neckline.
The pearl necklace became known as a Mary Berry necklace as people who watched, The Great British Bake Off" admired her necklace and wanted one in a similar style.
The Mary Berry Style Pearl Necklace in Silver £220
You can get a similar style in round pearls. You can choose chains and pearls of varying sizes and lengths.
Diamonfire Shell Pearl and Silver Bracelet £79
You can, of course, also find 'Mary Berry' style bracelets and even matching drop earrings.
April 17, 2024
Affiliate Disclosure: If you purchase an item by clicking through the links in this article, we may receive a small commission on the sale, at no extra cost to you.
The wonderful thing about jewellery is, with a little care, your perfect piece will still look as good as new decades after its purchase, unlike almost any other accessory.
We can take this for granted and, regularly in our jewellers, we talk to people who are upset at a treasured piece of jewellery they wore 24/7 has been damaged or a part lost.
We've seen rings bent by weight lifting, doing manual labour or even the housework. Having seen a badly bent silver ring which the owner came in with after she got it caught in some venetian blinds, it does make you think about how our precious jewellery withstands some rough treatment at times. If we wear our jewellery items all the time, if we don't remove them before using harsh chemicals, or doing heavy, manual work (even the housework!), we may damage them.
Jewellery is fantastically hard wearing, but these pieces are still composed of precious metals that need to be relatively soft to be manipulated into the wonderful shapes of rings, pendants and earrings. Added to that, claws that hold precious stones in place are very, very small and a know can easily damage them.
We forget that these are extremely precious items. With a little care and caution, our piece will last for decades and even generations.
If we ensure our jewellery is regularly cleaned and packed away safely, sealed to stop the air getting to it as much as possible, it will stay perfect and sparkly for the next time we wear it.
Jewellery needs to be stored properly, wrapped or boxed away from other stones or metals which may otherwise scratch it.
In a perfect world we would remove our jewellery every night and store it in the box it came in. We would regularly clean and polish our jewellery.
We rarely do this and I'm not sure why as it's not so difficult to do and not very time consuming. If we did, we would extend the life of our jewellery by a long way. Many people are shocked when they wear their item of jewellery 24/7 and find a stone has fallen out. For jewellery where stones have been glued in it is only a matter of time before this happens.
Here we outline a few tips on keeping your jewellery at its best.
Most of us don't realise how grubby our piece of jewellery is until we clean it ... so much so it's often a bit of a shock when we see the difference, especially with rings.
You may think that leaving your jewellery (or watch) on all the time and bathing or showering in it will naturally "clean" it. This is not the case. Soap and water won't reach into all the nooks and crannies of the item and, a residue of soap will remail on the surface of gemstones, like a film, which will dull the piece considerably.
By leaving the item on, perspiration will gather under the piece and this will further attract dust, skin cells and other particles.
A little warning though ... if in doubt about the piece of jewellery that you would like to clean, DO get professional advice and don’t clean a piece of jewellery yourself if you are unsure about the material of the item or if it is particularly precious to you.
If you've ever reached for a piece of silver jewellery to wear and discovered that it has gone black and tarnished, you’re not alone.
Tarnishing is a completely natural process that happens on the surface of silver but, luckily, it can be removed easily and economically with silver cleaning products. An inherent quality of silver is that it will, if left out in the open, lose its shine and darken (tarnish) on exposure to the environment (air). Sometimes the piece can look quite black.
It is quite literally a chemical process that occurs on the surface of the metal. Hence leaving silver in the open accelerates this process.
This includes jewellery items kept in a jewellery box, unless it is in a sealed bag. (We will show you how to store your jewellery later).
Tarnished silver does not mean that the piece of tarnished jewellery is not really made of silver, as many people think.
Jewellery cleaning wipes or a silver polishing cloth will remove surface tarnish and your item. Chains and other stubborn tarnish on plain silver can be dipped in a silver cleaning fluid.
Please don't ever clean your jewellery with toothpaste – toothpaste is very abrasive and is likely to scratch your precious jewellery and cause damage. Silver and gold is a lot softer than the enamel on your teeth.
Tarnish only occurs on the surface of the metal – it doesn’t “eat” into the silver and it doesn’t damage the silver in any way - and is easily removed and is not permanent.
To clean tarnish from silver you will need the Silver Jewellery Cleaner; Silver Polishing Cloth or the Jewellery Cleaning Wipes.
1. Gather Up Your Jewellery
Gather as much of your jewellery as you can to do the whole lot in one go.
2. Divide The Jewellery To Clean Into Separate Groups.
3. Select your Cleaning Products
Take your chosen jewellery cleaning products, a soft towel and babies toothbrush or and old, clean make up brush. Ideally position yourself at a sink but DO ensure the plug is in or there is a cover over the plug hole (small pieces of jewellery are easily swooshed down the plug!).
4. Work on one group of jewellery at a time, for instance, your silver jewellery without stones.
We clean our jewellery in these groups:
Plain silver, no stones
Silver with hard gemstones - cubic zirconia, blue topaz, etc
We have tried and tested many jewellery cleaning products and these, we find, are the best. We regularly use the following products each day in our jewellers and they are the best products to clean silver jewellery that we recommend to all of our customers.
It's a good idea whilst you have your jewellery in front of you to clean, to check it thoroughly for any knocks, loose gemstones, bent claws, etc. An eye loupe helps to do this (take the loupe up to your eye and bring the item up to the loupe). Always get any damage fixed whilst it's still small - leaving it can cause more expense in the long wrong with more complicated repairs and replacement stones.
We use all the jewellery products listed below ourselves in our jewellers and they are all superb. They are reasonably priced solution to cleaning your jewellery that you can keep for years. If you clean your jewellery items regularly, you won't regret it.
Silver Jewellery Cleaner is a pot of cleaning fluid with a Dip Tray inside which can be lifted out of the liquid. It also has a small brush included to give difficult to reach areas an extra clean.
Silver jewellery cleaning dip is particularly good at getting into crevices and for removing silver tarnish.
But, unlike the Ultrasonic bath, this cleaner will only work on the tarnish, it won’t dislodge debris and dirt.
Perfect for silver chains and silver items with no precious stones, enamel or gems added.
Items with precious gemstones, enamel or stones which have been glued in, this includes any marcasite jewellery, as the dip may dissolve the glue and the stones may come out. (See table below).
This jewellery cleaner should not be used on porous stones, such as amber or turquoise. (See table below).
Please DO NOT use the Silver Jewellery Cleaner on any oxidised silver or Pandora beads or bracelets. This includes Trollbeads bracelets and beads. (Use Precious Jewellery Cleaner, instead).
The solution has a strong odour, but this is the tarnish removing chemical and is no cause for alarm.
Directions for Use:
-Place the piece of sterling silver jewellery into the dip tray inside the tub and lower the tray with the items being cleaned into the solution for 10-15 seconds only. There is no need to extend this exposure time.
-Remove the dip tray with the jewellery in from the pot and hold under running water at room temperature or swill in plenty of fresh plain water
-We sometimes use a soft make-up brush or babies toothbrush (think soft!) to move the liquid into any crevices in the item of jewellery, if needed.
-Dry the jewellery with a soft cloth. We can’t emphasise how its important to dry the item thoroughly – even a little dampness will encourage tarnish
-Buff and Polish with a Silver Polishing Cloth.
The gold, or Precious, jewellery cleaner is specifically for gold, platinum, diamonds and other precious stones. With a little brush, this cleaner is perfect for reaching all the nooks and crannies in your items of jewellery. You will be amazed at how much brighter your jewellery looks after a clean in this solution.
Directions for Use:
- Place a few items at a time in the dip tray and lower into the solution
- Leave for 30 seconds
- Remove, clean with the little brush and give another quick submerge, if necessary
- Remove the items of jewellery from the dip tray and run in fresh, lukewarm water
- Dry the items of jewellery throughly
- Buff with a large Gold jewellery polishing cloth
The Delicate Jewellery Cleaner is perfect to clean:
Used in much the same way as the silver jewellery cleaner above, this cleaner will clean silver in a gentler way but it will not remove tarnish. It is good for those items that are oxidised.
To remove tarnish from oxidised silver, use one of the jewellery cloths below.
Directions for use:
-Place one piece of jewelry into the dip basket and lower into the cleaning fluid.
-Leave submerged for up to one minute (longer is not necessary).
-Remove the dip tray with jewelry and rinse the items thoroughly in room temperature water.
-A cleaning brush is provided to get to the difficult-to-reach places.
-Dry the jewellery with a soft cloth.
-Polish with one of the Jewellery Polishing Cloths.
The Ultrasoft Jewellery Polishing Cloth is wonderful for all silver including oxidised silver like Pandora jewellery, Trollbeads, Thomas Sabo, and other charm beads. It will remove tarnish and polish and buff silver pieces.
It can on its own or also be used after dipping jewellery, since the piece has been dried.
We use these cloths every day in our jewellers, along with the jewellery wipes below.
It is also useful for Watch Straps, Silver Plated jewellery, Silver jewellery with semi-precious stones, Antiqued Sterling Silver and fashion brands.
It’s a great item to have at home and very easy to use with a noticeable difference after a quick polish.
The Ultra-Soft Silver Jewellery Polishing Cloth is made of thick, natural and gentle cotton. With two layers – one cleans the jewellery and one buffs. It also applies an invisible barrier to delay new tarnish from forming.
Directions for use:
– You should use the light violet cloth to gently rub the tarnish from the silver jewelry.
-Do not be alarmed at the black marks that appear on the cloth, it is only due to the chemically treated micro-fine polishers being activated with the tarnish appearing on the cloth.
-After a thorough cleaning, the darker outer cloth should buff the item.
-The cloth can be reused repeatedly and should not be washed or laundered. Even after extensive use, it can still work effectively. Only replace and repurchase a new cloth when you notice that your jewelry is no longer being cleaned or shined by the cloth.
This is another product that we use every day in our jewellers. Jewellery Cleaning Wipes are probably our most go-to jewellery cleaning product.
As well as silver and silver-plated items, including oxidised silver, these products can be used on gold/gold-plate, rhodium-plated jewellery, gemstones, costume and fashion jewellery and even watches.
The Jewellery Wipes are perfect for cleaning Pandora bracelets, beads and jewellery. Also Trollbeads bracelets, beads and jewellery and Thomas Sabo jewellery and charms.
The wipes are also perfect for steel, yellow or rose gold and ceramic watch straps.
They contain an anti-tarnish shield to help your jewellery keep its lustre and shine.
Dry and are disposable they can be reused many times – use them until you feel they are not bringing the cleaning or shine they previously used to with your jewellery. We find this is almost until they eventually disintegrate.
Directions for Use:
-Use one cloth, dry, from the plastic case
-Gently rub the jewelry item with the wipe – it will instantly shine your jewelry and remove tarnish. (NB: It is normal that your fingers and even your jewelry will have a residue of black after use – this is NOT dirt).
-You can rinse the jewelry under tepid water to remove any residue and dry thoroughly with a soft cloth – although this step is not essential unless needed.
An Ultrasonic Cleaner , easily available from Amazon, will give your jewellery a very deep clean but it won’t remove tarnish on the surface of the silver.
It cleans by agitating the dirt and breaking it up – you can literally see little bits of debris being detached from the item of jewellery when it’s in the ultrasonic machine.
The advantage of using this is that every part of the jewellery will be reached, with every nook and cranny being cleaned, such as behind the claws of rings.
Because of this, it is particularly good for rings, pendants, earrings and chains – in fact anything that is intricate.
Ultrasonic machines are equally good for your glasses as well as your jewellery and many people refer to them as a wonder-device as they are said clean so well with no damage.
But you do need to take care with these machines.
As they clean by agitating dirt, if you have any loose stones in your jewellery the ultrasonic machine can dislodge the stone and make it fall out.
Therefore we advise you to check your jewellery thoroughly before putting your jewellery into one of these machines.
Never use the ultrasonic machine with marcasite jewellery – indeed you should never get marcasite jewellery wet.
Until recently you could only get your jewellery cleaned in this way professionally by taking it to a jeweller with an ultrasonic machine. But in 2018 a home-use ultrasonic device became available. Now sold on Amazon, these machines are highly rated.
Now you can give your jewellery a deep, deep clean in less than 15 minutes in the comfort of your own home.
Any modern charm bracelet such as Pandora, Trollbeads, Chamilia will need cleaning regularly.
In order to do so, you should remove all the charms from your bracelet. Between the charms and, in particular, within core can be a perfect place for debris to collect and, particularly with the importance of stringent cleaning due to the Covid-19 outbreak, these hiding places need to be thoroughly cleaned.
For Pandora bracelets and charms excluding any enamel or oxidised pieces, we recommend using either warm water and a mild detergent, such as washing up liquid, with a soft baby toothbrush or using the Delicate Jewellery Cleaner rinse each charm and dry on a soft cloth.
You can use the Jewellery Cleaning Wipes on oxidised pieces and charms with enamel in.
We always finish with the Ultra-Soft Polishing Cloth.
Oxidised silver is 925 sterling silver which has had an extra step added to the manufacturing process to give it a slightly blackened finish, or patina, giving it a slightly antiqued look. It has been increasingly used in modern jewellery – much of Trollbeads jewellery is oxidised.
What you don’t want to do with oxidised jewellery is to dip it in Silver Jewellery Cleaner – this may strip the oxidation from the surface of the item.
The best way to clean oxidised silver is with warm water and detergent (again, don’t use this with glued stones or pearls, marcasite or enamels) and a soft babies toothbrush. Dry thoroughly and buff with an Ultrasoft Jewellery Cloth. We also regularly clean oxidised jewellery with Jewellery Wipes – these are great to use between washing.
A good alternative to detergent and water is Precious Jewellery Cleaner – it also has the advantage of being able to be used to clean your gold jewellery.
We advise you to store your jewellery in little grip-seal plastic bags – this prevents the air getting to the items and it oxidising. We keep all our silver items that aren’t on display in this way.
Another good idea is to pop an anti-tarnish strip in the bag with your stored jewellery item. These do need replacing infrequently, but they are relatively cheap.
Keep your little bags of jewellery in a good jewellery box or store the bags inside a nice sturdy box.
We hope this has given you some idea of the very best products to use to clean all types of your silver jewellery.
We’d encourage you to clean your jewellery regularly – you won’t regret it.
If you have any questions, we are here to help so please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments below.
April 14, 2024
April 11th was apparently National Pet Day and it made us think of how we love to honour and celebrate our pets by wearing animal and pet-themed jewellery. We have a few brands that make pieces depicting our furry friends and they are always very popular.
In this post we thought we'd highlight some of those best-sellers.
A number of brands over the years have made items with a paw print on them. There is something so cute about a little paw. Clogau Gold make a wonderful set featuring silver, rose gold incorporating their rare Welsh gold and every piece has one of the pads set with a sparkling white topaz gemstone.
The solid bronze sculptures that we've stocked for many years are always popular and make great gifts for men. We have many more pets and other animals in the collection that we stock
These whimsical and delightful resin figurines are modelled on Albert Dubout's famous drawings. He was a French illustrator and caricaturist and each of this collection of cats sum up the character of cats and their funny ways.
Our ever-popular Radley watch collection with the little Radely dog charm always wins peoples hearts.
Radley Watch in Raspberry Leather
For those of us who have lost a beloved pet, and there are plenty of us who remember our dear pet with a wrench of our heart, we have an option of some memorial jewellery pieces. If you have have any of your pets ashes you can fill these piece of jewellery yourself and carry him or her with you at all times. Many people find this wonderfully comforting. We also have an option to order pieces which have the ashes incorporated into coloured resin and set within the piece of jewellery.
Silver Memorial Paw Print Locket
Not that we need reminding but National Pet Day may encourage us to think about the wonderful benefit our pets bring us - they truly are little angels (even when plastered in mud!) that open even the most closed hearts.
Give your pet a little cuddle from us.🐾 ❤️
December 19, 2023
Whether we have one or a collection of crystals, we are told that they regularly need to be cleansed and charged. You may have wondered why do we need to do this? Or how often should we cleanse our crystals? And what is the best way to cleanse them?
Whilst there is no scientific proof that crystals help in healing, with many many in the scientific community stating that any benefits may be purely from the placebo effect, many people still love and get great pleasure and support from their collection of crystals. Those that do, want to look after them and get the best from them if possible.
In this article we hope to answer all the questions you may have about the intended reasons we cleanse and charge our crystals.
Crystals are said to conduct energy, so we want to ensure that the energy that is stored and transmitted from your crystals is high-level, clear and unhampered.
For millennia, humans have devised rituals where we cleanse ourselves and objects of the old and invite in the new. From religious rituals such as baptism and communion, to cleansing before a meal or occasion, there are obvious practical and hygenic reasons we do this as well as strong psychological beliefs associated with cleansing ourselves of the old, ready for the new.
In the same way that we feel so much better after cleansing our bodies, how we feel relief from “cleansing” our minds and dealing with problems and issues by letting them go, we also feel re-energised after cleaning our homes and the spaces we live in, as well as the objects we have around us.
Many of us love having crystals around us, we love their natural beauty and any inherent energy they may possess. We want to ensure they aren't “dulled” in any way by holding onto stale and negative energy they may have absorbed. So we have devised rituals to cleanse and re-charge our crystals.
Cleansing a crystal is intended to clear it of any absorbed negative or stale energy, to take it back to its inherent potential and enable the crystal to be cleansed and ready for recharging. Cleansing a crystal is a way of “washing away”, if you like, of the old ready to be replaced with the new.
Charging a crystal is where we hope to re-energise a crystal so that it may emit, if it does, its inherent vibration, unhindered. We can set intentions, say a prayer or visualise the crystal to help us in the way we intend and “reactivate” the crystal.
There are many ways we can cleanse and recharge a crystal and some methods do both, cleanse and recharge. Here we’ve listed them, in no particular order.
1. MoonlightProbably the most well-known method for cleansing your crystals, moonlight - particularly a full moon is believed to “bathe” the crystal with feminine, healing energy.
Moonlight is associated with a calming withdrawal into emotional healing, recuperation and introspection. The moon has, for centuries, been linked to feminine intuition and mysticism. For this reason, moonlight is the best way to cleanse and reenergise those crystals that are associated with emotional support and intuition. It is perfect for crystals used in meditation.
During the full moon the moon energetic effect of the moon is at its strongest and this is an ideal time to cleanse and recharge your crystals.
Place your crystals ideally outside where they will be in direct moonlight for several hours, or overnight. Ideally place them on a rock, grass or soil (a natural surface so that they can be grounded).
Failing that, you can place your crystals inside on a window ledge - the intention is still there.
Direct moonlight is the best, but a cloudy night is also fine - in much the same way that the moons effect on the earth doesn't stop in those places where it’s cloudy!
The earth is very energising - there are many who now promote walking barefoot on the earth to ground and re-energise our body. In the same way, placing crystals in the earth are said to cleanse and re-energise them.
We offer a word of warning … mark the spot where you have placed your crystals or place them in a container with soil inside and cover them over with soil, allowing the top of the container to protrude. I have lost a couple of crystals (years ago!) from placing them in soil in the garden to cleanse overnight, convinced (incorrectly, as it turns out) that I’d remember where I put them!
Natural running water, like a stream would be perfect. Many times I have cleansed my crystals under a running tap. Whilst some will say that our tap water is full of chemicals, I consider it pretty pure and I “intend” the crystal cleansed as I hold it under the water.
This method is not good for those crystals that are better kept dry, like selenite, kyanite or halite.
Salt water has been used for centuries to “draw out” unwanted energy. If you live near the ocean, grab an empty bottle and collect some seawater and soak your crystals in this. Otherwise add some sea salt to fresh water. Allow your crystals to be submerged in the salty water for at least 12 hours and up to 48 hours. Rinse well and dry afterwards.
Again, avoid this method with soft crystals.
For the same reason that salt water works well, sea salt is wonderful for cleansing crystals. Making a lovely display in pretty coloured sea salt is not only a great way to cleanse your crystals but looks fabulous.
Brown rice is believed to absorb negative energies and is good for those crystals that offer protection and nurturing. Place the crystal within the rice, so it is submerged, leave for 12-48 hours and dispose of the rice afterwards.
Sunlight is more energising, vibrant and high-energy than moonlight and so suits the energising, uplifting crystals, those that promote growth, resilience and strength.
Place your crystals again on a natural surface, when the sun is at its highest between the hours of 11 am and 3 pm.
Just as you can smudge your home or any space with sage to cleanse it, so you can too with your crystals.
Simply light your sage and hold in one hand whilst passing the crystal through the smoke from the sage. This is quite an intuitive method for cleansing your crystal and you may need to repeat the process until it “feels” right.
Have a heat-resistant bowl nearby to place the smudging stick of sage in as you work between crystals.
Certain crystals, like selenite, clear quartz, citrine and hematite don’t need cleansing and can be used to cleanse your other crystals. Selenite bowls like this one are perfect for this and many people hold their tumblestones in a selenite bowl to keep them cleansed.
It is believed that larger stones, like amethyst geodes, also can absorb the energy of smaller crystals and work well to cleanse them.
This method is based around “intention”. Breathing in through the nose and breathing out in short bursts towards the crystal whilst intending the crystal cleansed and re-energised.
Again this method is for those who are more confident in their own intuition. Imagine protecting yourself and your crystals by bringing down pure, white light, grounding yourself by imaging roots coming out of your feet deep into Mother Earth. Visualise the two energies meeting and dispersing throughout your body and out through your heart centre towards the crystals, bathing them in clear, pure energy, clearing them and cleansing them, removing any old, stale energies and replacing it with pure, white, source energy through the crystals natural energy
Sound has been used for centuries to help and assist heal and balance us. From Gregorian chants to Native Americans, the vibration of sound is used in many rituals even today. The Solfeggio frequencies have long been associated with healing us on many levels.
Crystals placed in or around a tuning fork or a singing bowl are thought to absorb the energy of the sound waves and re-attune. Again, visualising the crystal being cleansed and re-aligned helps this process.
A regular routine is a good idea as it can be surprising how many months can go by before we may think to repeat the process. A full moon is a great visual reminder that most of us notice. Every month at full moon you can quickly gather your crystals and choose the method that works best for you, it doesn’t necessarily have to be moonlight.
We'd encourage you to cleanse your crystals regularly. Not only with they look better but you'll probably feel better for doing so - it's surprising was a mini spring-clean of any area of our home or belongings is very therapeutic.
And it may just have the added benefit of removing negative energy from the crystal itself.
December 19, 2023
Rose quartz crystals are one of the most popular and loved of the quartz crystals. Named the crystal of love, along with the pretty pale pink colour means people buy rose quartz not only for their home but as jewellery, too.
Unpolished rose quartz looks equally lovely on display in the home as well as as a shaped, polished stone - whether that be a shaped like a rose quartz crystal heart, egg or the ever-popular tumbled stones.
This beautiful pink crystal makes pretty jewellery, too. As it can be shaped so well wearing rose quartz is a lovely way of carrying it with you.
As well as being the birthstone for January, rose quartz is also the 5th Wedding anniversary stone.
In crystal healing work, rose quartz is said to hold a gentle energy and placing rose quartz near you is believed to assist with emotional healing by helping transmute negative emotions.
There are many types of mineral quartz - from the deep smoky quartz, to clear quartz but pink quartz, known as rose quartz, is probably the most well known of the quartz family.
This pale pink stone is found abundantly in many places on Earth. Today much of the rose quartz found and sold is from India, Brazil, Madagascar and South America. It is also found abundantly in South Dakota, in the USA. It is easily found due it its natural pale pink colour.
The colour pink has, of course, long been associated with love. From those who love to light pink candles, buy pink diamonds for engagement rings and present pink roses to a loved one. So it's no surprise that this very pale pink stone signified love.
Said to be Rose quartz is the real "love stone", not diamonds, and is hugely popular - both as crystals and as jewellery.
The rose quartz crystals metaphysical properties are believed to be around love and compassion - both romantic love and platonic love. Believed to help the heart chakra many use rose quartz for unconditional love.
Many people wear a rose quartz necklace or carry a tumble stone in a pocket as a way to bring rose quartz healing crystal with them during their daily activities.
Rose quartz healing properties, whilst not scientifically proven of course, are said to open the heart chakra, assist with pure love energy understandably making it a stone for unconditional love - hence being a great "mothering crystal". It is also perfect as a tool for self love. This is a particularly wonderful act of self-care and self love to practice a rose quartz meditation. Called the heart stone due to its reputation for helping with emotional wounds and emotional healing. A rose quartz heart is an ever-popular crystal purchase.
The ancients used it to bring calm, lift anger and promote compassion.
In times past the healing benefits of rose quartz were believed to help with chest and lung problems, heart and circulatory system (although we wouldn't rely on that these days - please consult your health care practitioner).
Rose Quartz scores 7 on the Mohs hardness scale which means its a durable, robust semi-precious stone. This makes it good for jewellery as well as healings crystals and also means that it is perfect for carving and shaping. Many beautiful miniature sculptures are made from rose quartz.
Rose quartz, being quite a hard stone, means it is durable enough to use in any jewellery as well as tumbled stones for crystal healing. Many like to wear rose quartz on a pendant near their heart as a way of helping to open the heart chakra and attract new love.
When used in jewellery it is usually cut and polished as cabouchons rather than faceted as it doesn't offer the clarity that other pink gemstones have, such as morganite.
There are numerous ways to cleanse your crystals - see our blog post here on this subject.
Scoring 7 on the Mohs hardness scale, you can charge rose quartz with most of the cleansing methods including, of course, a selenite bowl as it it a hard enough stone to withstand all methods of cleansing.
As rose quartz is abundant throughout the world and it occurs naturally in large pieces, it is a relatively inexpensive semi-precious stone.
Rose quartz benefits of being abundant, relatively inexpensive, hard and therefore easy to shape and work with as well as its believed healing properties means there is a place for rose quartz both in the home and adorning your outfit as jewellery.
The rose quartz stone meaning is as beautiful as its appearance and we never tire of this stone. Every collector of crystals will find rose quartz is one of their first crystals they own.
December 19, 2023
Kyanite is a blue-grey crystal, sometimes green and can even be black, is also known as cyanite. Its chemical composition is aluminosilicate mineral, found in aluminium-rich sedimentary rock under extreme pressure, with the chemical composition of Al2SiO5.
Its name Kyanite comes from the word “kyanos”, meaning ‘dark blue’. The blue is a patchy, blotchy blue. It forms long, columnular crystals.
The colour blue is associated with the throat chakra and is therefore believed to help to express yourself and speak your truth. It is used for public speakers, performers and singers.
It is thought of as being a grounding stone and is good for meditation and contemplation on our life choices and path. Some people believe that it reveals and removes blocks to negative patterns that repeat in our lives. It promotes calm and enhances our psychic connection and some use it to promote connection to our spirit guides.
The crystal is believed to not hold negative energies and never needs cleansing.
Many people use kyanite to recall dreams.
It is associated with the Aries, Taurus and Libra.
The distinctive property of this crystal is the two different levels of hardness it has, with a hardness of 5.5 longways and a hardness of 7 across the length of the crystal.
It is extremely heat-resistant and strong. It is therefore used extensively in kilns, bathroom porcelain, cutting wheels and even the insulators in spark plugs.
Whilst kyanite is classified as a gemstone, but you will never very rarely see it set in jewellery from a traditional jewellers. Due to its varying hardness at different angles, it is a tricky stone to cut. For this reason, if you do own any jewellery with kyanite it is best to clean it with a jewellery cloth and not a ultrasound machine which would be too harsh.
You will occasionally find it set in jewellery from a stores that sell crystals and minerals. It can be quite collectible, particularly the rich blue variety.
Sometimes Kyanite can be found with ruby when it is called ruby kyanite. The mixture of the two minerals is believed to result in the supporting energy of them both - emotional healing of old patterns and confident self expression of the kyanite with an opening of the heart chakra for love and passion in your life.
All in all, Kyanite is a little-known crystal which is not only beautiful to look at but has unusual levels of hardness and may offer support in grounding and healing old patterns.
October 14, 2023
The hugely popular Trollbeads promotion that we run twice a year is back!
Spend £80 or more on full priced Trollbeads from our store and receive a FREE silver Trollbeads bracelet with lace lock.
Use discount code: GWPBRAC at the checkout after adding your qualifying purchases and the Trollbeads with Lace Lock - you can select which size you need too.
To select your size choose the size bracelet you need (excluding the 2cm clasp) - the most purchases size and an average size is 17cm.
Spend £95 or more on full priced Trollbeads from our store and receive a FREE silver Trollbeads bangle.
After selecting your qualifying products amounting to £95 or more, select the free bangle and size you need and add the discount code: GWPBANG at the checkout. We'll do the rest.
The offer only lasts until October 29th and is available whilst stocks last.
This is always hugely popular and is a wonderful way to start a Trollbeads journey or acquiring another bracelet or bangle to add to your collection.
We've had some lovely new beads in too, recently, so there's plenty to whet your Trollbeads appetite.
*T&C's: Only whilst stocks last. Offer on now until 29th October. Qualifying spend must be on full priced Trollbeads products. Only one GWP offer per customer.
October 02, 2023
Along with its alternative birthstone, Tourmaline, October has the beautiful Opal as its birthstone.
With its fabulous rainbow of colours, known as a play of light”, this gem forms when rainwater enters cracks in rocks under the surface of the earth.
It has suffered a bad rap with lots of unfair and incorrect superstitions held about it.
Read on to find out more about this stunning precious stone and why it had a bad press.
ChloBo Silver Hoop Earrings with Opal
Opal is the birthstone for the month of October and the gemstone which celebrates the 14th Wedding Anniversary.
Opal comes from the Latin, “opalus” which derived from a Sanskrit word meaning “precious gemstone”, ‘Upala’.
Opal forms when rainwater trickles into cracks within rocks and mixes with silica and then hardens as the water evaporates.
It can contain up to 20% water and, because of this, is quite sensitive to heat.
Opals form in parched, hot areas on earth. About 80% of the world’s opals come from Australia but are also found in Ethiopia and Mexico.
Opal is the national gemstone for Australia.
Gold Pendant with Triple Opals
There are five types of Opals based on their predominant colours - White, Black, Fire (orange), Boulder and Crystal.
Centuries ago, opals were believed to be formed from flashes of lightning.
The gemstone had strong associations with good luck, good fortune, and protection.
People used to have Opal around their home to keep their children safe.
Napoleon Bonaparte presented Josephine with a red opal. Queen Victoria loved opals and wore them all of her long life.
A play of light is where you see flashes of colours, an iridescence, within the gemstone. This differentiates the precious gemstone Opal with the Common Opal.
Spheres make up the gemstone. The size of the spheres determines the colours that are created as the light hits them and has to bend around the sphere. Smaller spheres create one colour, say violet, where larger spheres create another colour like red.
Around the 1890s the most precious of all Opals were discovered in Australia and began entering and gaining in popularity the gemstone market. It seems that worried Diamond traders encouraged rumours of Opals, bringing bad luck.
Sadly, these old wives’ tales remained and are often still believed today.
This bad reputation wasn’t helped with Opal being a soft gemstone (only between 5-6.5 on the Mohs scale). This meant cutting and shaping it became quite nerve-wracking for the gem-setters as, regularly, they ruined gems whilst cutting them through no fault of their own.
We can imagine that this was particularly nerve-wracking after hearing that Louis XI had his goldsmith’s hands cut off after one of his opals was damaged beyond repair whilst cutting it!
The goldsmiths of the day seemed quite happy if stories of bad luck circulated, however untrue, causing their masters not to purchase the gem. They must have dreaded their master bringing them a prized opal to cut!
Opals are flourishing again and there is an enormous demand from China and India. Many young designers are using opals in their designs.
You can find Opal set in silver now, too, which has helped modernise the designs and encourage a younger age group to embrace this beautiful stone.
Great care needs to be taken of opal as it is soft. Store them in a box away from other jewellery which may be harder and may scratch the surface of the opal.
Don’t use strong chemicals to clean them - we recommend the Delicate Jewellery Cleaner here.