Metals and Gem Stones

Precious Metals

Stamping for Precious Metals:
Platinum items: 950PT
Palladium items: 950Pd
18ct gold items: 750 or 18kt
14ct gold items: 585 or 14kt
9ct gold items: 375 or 9kt
Sterling silver items: 925
Silver items: 800
   
Stamping for other Metals:  
Stainless steel items: 316L Stainless
Titanium items: Titanium

Diamonds

The 4 c's are used to evaluate a diamond - carat, cut, colour, clarity. Diamonds are measured in carats (which are 1/5th of a gram). There are 100 points to one carat. Cut is one of the most important aspects to consider when choosing your diamond which determines the sparkle of the stone. The most popular diamond shape and cut used in jewellery is round with a brilliant cut. Other cuts include emerald, princess, triangle, marquise, pear, heart, radiant and oval. The colour is graded from D to Z. D is the top of the white range (the best colour) through to Z being a light yellow. Good colour is D (rare) and F, G and H (good high white range). Fancy coloured diamonds can range from green to red, blue, pink, canary yellow, orange and amber. The clarity of a diamond refers to how many imperfections or inclusions are in the stone seen with a loupe with 10 power magnification. These are measured as follows:

FL: Flawless
IF: Internally Flawless
V VS1, V VS2: Very Very Slightly Imperfect
VS1, VS2: Very Slightly Imperfect
SI1, SI2: Slightly Imperfect

Stones of the Month (other charts may have different gemstones)

January: Garnet, Rose Quartz
February: Amethyst, Onyx
March: Aquamarine, Red Jasper
April: Diamond, Rock Crystal
May: Emerald, Chrysoprase
June: Pearl, Moonstone
July: Ruby, Cornelian
August: Peridot, Aventuerine
September: Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli
October: Tourmaline, Opal
November: Topaz, Tiger's Eye
December: Turquoise, Zircon

Stones of the Zodiac

Aquarius: Turquoise, Hawk's eye 21 Jan - 18 Feb
Pisces: Amethyst, Amethyst Quartz 19 Feb - 20 Mar
Aries: Red Cornelian, Red Jasper 21 Mar - 20 Apr
Taurus: Rose Quartz, Orange Cornelian 21 Apr - 20 May
Gemini: Tiger's Eye, Citrine 21 May - 20 Jun
Cancer: Chrysoprase, Green Aventurine 21 Jun - 20 Jul
Leo: Rock Crystal, Golden Quartz 21 Jul - 22 Aug
Virgo: Yellow Citrine, Yellow Agate 23 Aug - 22 Sep
Libra: Smokey Quartz, Orange Citrine 23 Sep - 22 Oct
Scorpio: Blood-red Cornelian, Sard 23 Oct - 22 Nov
Sagittarius: Blue Quartz, Chalcedony 22 Nov - 21 Dec
Capricorn: Onyx, Quartz cat's eye 22 Dec - 20 Jan