Category: Metals and stones

Trinket File guides to metals and stones: hallmarks, fineness marks, settings, gemstone judging and what you can check yourself.

Gold rings set with coloured stones along the band

Settings Explained: Prongs, Bezels, Channels and Pave

A setting is usually chosen for how much of the stone it leaves visible. That is the wrong criterion, or at least an incomplete one. The setting is the structure that holds a brittle stone inside a me

An open pearl oyster shell holding a single pearl

Pearls and Organic Gemstones: Judging and Care

Pearls and the other organic materials used in jewellery are graded with language borrowed from diamonds, which is where the confusion starts. A mineral stone is judged on colour, clarity and cut, and

A ten-times jeweller's loupe on a plain surface

Judging a Stone: What You Can Check and What You Cannot

The gemstone trade runs on the gap between how a stone looks and what it actually is. Colourless stones can be diamond, moissanite, cubic zirconia or glass, and the difference is invisible to the nake

A gold chain with its open clasp photographed in close up

Chains, Clasps and How Fastenings Fail

A necklace that disappears is usually assumed to have been stolen or to have broken in some dramatic way. The common ending is quieter than that. A chain is found tucked inside a collar with every lin

The sterling hallmark and maker's mark stamped on a silver fob

Gold, Plated, Filled or Solid: What the Marks on a Piece Mean

A stamp on a piece of jewellery is a declaration, not a guarantee. It is still the single most useful piece of information you have, and the difference between a piece that survives daily wear and one