About Gemstones and Precious Metals

People often talk about precious stones as belonging to one group of stones and semi precious stones as members of another, as if there were a factual distinction. But in reality this is hardly the case. There is a thin and flexible line that divides these two categories. Mostly, precious gemstones were considered to be Diamond, Ruby, Emerald, and Sapphire. However, the notion of what was considered “semi precious” was different from one culture to the other, as well as the generally accepted knowledge when it comes to determination and classification of the semi precious stones.

Traditionally, this is a vast category that comprises almost every other stone apart from Diamond, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Opal and Pearls.
There are some 130 types of stones, minerals and crystals that can be considered gemstones of semi precious quality.
This means that in answering the question “what are semi precious stones” we can say that this category comprises at the very least the following crystals and minerals: amethyst, rock crystal, carnelian, rose quartz, topaz, aquamarine, agate, tiger’s eye, tourmaline, aventurine, moonstone, jasper, citrine, ametrine, jade, howlite, hematite, malachite, obsidian, turquoise. There are, of course, many other types of crystals and stones not listed here.
Even some stones that do not (strictly speaking) belong to the group of minerals, like amber, onyx and jet stone, can be considered semi precious stones when making jewellery.
Almost every other stone can be listed in this category if only it can be obtained in relatively good shape in terms of its relative clarity, shape, colour and general visual appeal.

Amazonite

Amazonite is a light mint green to aqua green stone said to be of truth, honour, communication, integrity, hope, and trust.
It is said to enhance intuition, psychic powers, creativity, intellect, and psychic ability.
Amazonite is often associated with the throat chakra, and as such, said to be beneficial to communication.
It is also associated strongly with the third eye chakra.
It is said to align the physical and astral bodies.
It is noted mystically to lessen stress and self-defeating behaviours by calming and building self-esteem.
Amazonite is also said to assist with peacefully making the transition out of this life.
Amazonite is believe in crystal healing to heal emotional disturbances and the after effects of emotional trauma.
It is reputed to have spiritual energy healing powers of preventive energy that’s good for one’s health in general, colic, decreasing heart problems, benefiting the muscles, calcium deficiency, pregnancy, eczema, muscle cramps, helping the nervous system, lessening tooth decay and osteoporosis.

Rose Quartz

The fair and lovely Rose Quartz, with its gentle pink essence, is a stone of the heart, a Crystal of Unconditional Love.
It carries a soft feminine energy of compassion and peace, tenderness and healing, nourishment and comfort.
It speaks directly to the Heart Chakra, dissolving emotional wounds, fears and resentments, and circulates a divine loving energy throughout the entire aura. Reawakening the heart to its own innate love, it provides a deep sense of personal fulfilment and contentment, allowing one the capacity to truly give and receive love from others.
Called the Heart Stone, Rose Quartz may have been used as a love token as early as 600 B.C. and is still an important talisman of relationships.
It is quite effective in attracting new love, romance and intimacy, or in developing a closer bond with family or friends.
It supports connection within groups and community, and carries a high spiritual attuning to the Earth, Universe, and the Divine.
Rose Quartz also inspires the love of beauty, in oneself and others, in nature, and especially that which stimulates the imagination – art, music and the written word.
Prized in the ancient world for its powers of physical beautification, facial masks of Rose Quartz have been recovered from Egyptian tombs, thought by the Egyptians and Romans to clear the complexion and prevent wrinkles.
It was also a stone honoured by the Tibetan and Oriental cultures, and continues to be one of the major carving stones of China.

White Jade

White Jade is a calming, grounding Nephrite jade that also protects the wearer from negative energies.
It brings peace, harmony and luck.
White Jade is also wonderful in the decision-making process, as it blocks distractions, allowing for the best results to reveal themselves (which makes it especially useful for children).
Physically, White Jade assists the body to heal itself, helps with bladder and kidney problems, and eases the pain of arthritis and other joint illnesses, especially in the hips.
White Jade also helps with fluid retention, high blood pressure and imbalances in blood sugar levels.

MATERIALS & TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Gold Jewellery

Pure gold is too soft to use or wear as jewellery.
So it is alloyed with a mixture of metals like silver, copper and zinc to give it strength and durability.
The most common ‘Carat’ options are 9ct – 375, 18ct – 750, and sometimes 14ct – 585.
The higher the number, the higher the purity of the gold.
Gold jewellery, is one of the most popular things to buy personally and as gifts.
Solid gold is available in yellow gold, white gold and rose gold.
Gold jewellery is classic and many of us are lucky to have a little something in our jewellery boxes.
When wearing gold jewellery it has a tendency to sparkle up any occasion and a little shine goes a long way these days.

Sterling Silver

Sterling silver is an alloy of silver. It contains 92.5% of silver and 7.5% of another metal, usually copper. Sterling silver contains 925 parts out of 1,000 of actual new silver. You can mend the ‘925’ stamp on Sterling Silver jewellery. Because new silver (99.9% pure) is generally too soft for producing functional objects, the silver is usually alloyed with copper to give it strength while preserving the ductility and beauty of the precious metal. Other metals can replace the copper, usually with the intent to improve various properties of the basic sterling alloy such as reducing casting porosity, eliminating rescale, and increasing resistance to tarnish.

Stainless Steel (316)

Marine Grade Stainless Steel (316) is a stainless steel often used in marine environments because of its resistance to rust and corrosion. It is also commonly used surgically for piercings and implants. It is an anti-allergy and anti-tarnish steel. The AISI number grade is 316 and refers to the chromium content. The alloy is more resistant to rust than household stainless steels, and hence more expensive.

Ion plating

IP plating is one of the newest and most advanced surface finishing processes now available. It produces a harder and more durable coating with a higher brightness than that produced through traditional plating methods. Experiments have proved that the plating obtained through IP plating is five to eight times better than that obtained through conventional methods in terms of wear and corrosion resistance. Throughout the Jewellery industry IP plating is available in a range of colours, though most commonly used in black, brown, rose gold and yellow gold.

Bronze

While Bronze had its origins in militant uses like spearheads and arrows, it didn’t take the ancient world long to see the potential of bronze as a jewellery material. Today, bronze continues to be an ideal metal for the manufacturing of beautiful jewellery; soft enough to work with easily, but hard enough to last a lifetime. When polished it has a lustre comparable to rose gold, but is more durable and cost effective. Our bronze pieces have a special epoxy resin coating that will prevent discolouration.

Zirconium

Zirconium is an extremely hard metal that is scratch and corrosion resistant. It’s natural silvery colour is similar to titanium and it has the ability to take on a charcoal and even onyx like finish when exposed to high temperatures. Therefore, your dark or two tone zirconium pieces won’t loose their colour as this is a structural change to the metal rather than a plating. With these properties Zirconium jewellery will maintain its ‘brand new’ look for a long period of time and is a tough alternative to titanium.