Nickel Free Jewellery from Ten Pound Jewellery

The term jewellery is derived from the word jewel, which was the English version of the Old French word "jouel" which started to be used around the 13th century. It is a personal ornament, such as a necklace, ring or bracelet made from jewels, precious metals or other substances. We can trace the word even further back to the latin "jocale", meaning plaything.

Jewellery is one of the oldest forms of body adornment. These Nassurius shells which were shaped into beads are over 100,000 years old.

Although jewellery has been made out of almost every material known to man and has been made to adorn nearly every body part, it was also used as wealth storage and the pinning of clothes together.

Approximately 5000 years ago Jewellery making started in Egypt,
Italy, China and South and Central America, and over the centuries it came to be a sign of social or religious rank and wealth.
This magnificent, if heavy, golden headdress made of golden leaves dates from 2600-2500 BC and was excavated from the tomb of Queen Pu-Abi's. Those basic methods of reproducing jewellery from 5000 years ago are still employed to this day.

In Renaissance Italy, jewellery making reached the status of a fine art with many Italian sculptors training as goldsmiths. From the 17th century the decorative function of jewellery again came to the fore, overshadowing its symbolic significance. By 1930, industrialization in New York brought jewellery within the reach of the middle class by creating mass production processes.

As with most products, supply and demand create the high prices that some jewellery items command as well as the scarcity of the raw materials. Precious metals such as platinum and gold are more expensive than silver due to their scarcity and high costs to mine. Gem quality diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires are also very expensive due to their scarce nature and high mining costs.

Precious Metals

Precious metals have been a part of human civilization for thousands of years. Although they were often believed to have mystical powers, precious metals were most attractive as a store of value (money) and for their beauty. Over time, precious metals came to symbolize wealth, power, and strength.

Their scarcity, attractiveness and physical qualities make precious metals a prized part of any jewellery collection. The best-known precious metals are gold and silver. Others include the platinum group metals: ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and platinum, of which platinum is the most widely traded.

Gold

Gold has the longest and most history of all precious metals and scarcity gave it great value in early civilizations. It has been the foundation of many monetary systems and remains important to our economy even today.

Pure gold is too soft for ordinary use and is typically hardened by alloying with silver, copper, or other metals, to make a stronger gold alloy, and these are now used in many countries making interesting jewellery

The quantity of gold in given alloy is measured in carats (k), Pure gold is 24K: 18K gold is 75% gold and 25% other metals. Each karat is equal to roughly 4.17% of the total of the alloy.

As the “K” weight drops it indicates a higher percentage of other base metals and become more durable less yellow. Sometimes gold that is a lower karat weight will be plated in high karat gold to enhance the colour.

Always check when buying gold jewellery that it is stamped with a karat mark.

White Gold

White gold had the same properties as yellow gold, but it has been mixed with different metals to give it a white colour. White gold containes such metals as nickel, zinc, or even platinum. Don’t confuse white gold with platinum - platinum is much rarer than gold and more valuable.

Sometimes white gold is also plated with an even whiter metal, such as Rhodium (a very rare member of the platinum family) to enchance its appearance and often you will see both white and yellow gold set side by side, this is call two tone.

Platinum

Platinum is the most precious metal commonly found in jewellery. It’s rare, heavy and more duable than gold, although Iridium and Ruthenium is sometimes mixed with platinum to add strength. It’s not sold according to karat weights.

People allergic to other metals will choose platinum because of it’s purity and it’s appearance - when set against very white diamonds it appears very bright. Because of its increasing popularity, more and more leading jewellery designers are working with this metal.

Silver

Silver is much more plentiful than gold and has been around since 1300 when Edward I of England established an early trade practice rule for the silversmiths. Sterling Silver must consist of 92.5% of pure silver, alloyed with 7.5% copper, and most jewellery is made from Sterling Silver. Silver tarnishes which makes it less poplular in some forms of jewellery.

Always check for Hallmark when buying silver.

Rhodium

Rhodium is one of the family members of white gold. Rhodium is generally used as finishing plating on white gold jewelleries where it creates a "bright white" coating over the white gold. Rhodium is used in our products to create a "white gold effect" and it also provides excellent protection from exposure. Platinum plated jewelleries are not as shiny and eye-catching in appearance as those which are Rhodium plated.

Gems

Diamonds

Diamond is not only the hardest natural material known to man, it has long held a special place in our hearts (Diamonds are a girls best friend aren’t they? And Diamonds are Forever!) – just the very word conjures up images of brilliant gem stones, wealth and glamour.

Diamond is a colourless exceptionally hard mineral (but often tinted yellow, orange, blue, brown, or black by impurities), found in certain igneous rocks. The first diamond was reported in 1866. By 1869 an 83.5 carat diamond had been found and was named The Star of Africa. It was subsequently cut into a pear shape brilliant weighing 47.74 carats.

What are carats? The carat weight is simply how much a diamond weighs, but it must be measured in an industry specific way. A carat is a metric measurement that is equivalent to slightly more than seven thousandths (0.007) of one ounce. Diamond weights are measured with the accuracy of a thousandth of a carat but are given a weight that is rounded to the nearest hundredth. Diamonds weighing over one carat are designated as a decimal number up to the hundredths, such as “1.23 carats.”

The Golconda area of Southern India has been the source of some famous diamonds such as the Koh-i-nor (mountain of light 186cts cut to 108.92 cts and now in the Tower of London) and Jehangir. Diamonds are widespread in Brazil, most stones being small but of good gem quality.

White and fancy coloured diamonds, such as pinks and pinkish browns, being mined at Argyle in North Western Australia. Other important producers are Russia, which is now the fourth largest producer, and China.

Costume Jewellery

Costume Jewellery (or fashion jewellery) are imitations of the real Gem Jewellery, using basic metals such as Gold, Rhodium or Silver plated and set with glass beads, rhinestones or even crystals, such as the brand Swarovski, at fraction of the cost compared to Fine Jewellery. It is very popular because of the quality, diversity and versatility.

Swarovski Crystal

Swarovski crystal was created when Daniel Swarovski invented an automatic cutting machine in 1892. A few years later he established a crystal-cutting factory in Wattens, Austria and formed the Swarovski company. Here he made full use of the local hydroelectricity for the energy-intensive grinding processes he had patented. Very soon the Swarovski crystals, known as “pierres taillées du Tyrol” (Tyrolean crystal jewellery stones) were in great demand because of their unique brilliance, quality and precision.

Swarovski crystal contains approximately 32% lead to maximize refraction and in order to create a crystal that allows light to refract in a rainbow spectrum, Swarovski coats some of its crystals with special metallic chemical coatings. For example Aurora Borealis, or "AB", is a very popular coatings because it gives the surface a rainbow oil slick appearance.

In 2004 the Swarovski Company released a new copyrighted cut, Xilion, designed to optimise the brilliance of Roses (crystal components with flat backs) and Chatons (diamond cut).

Nickel-Free Jewellery

Nickel has a long history of usage in both precious metal, costume and fashion jewellery such as watch cases, backs, straps, buckles and zippers, earrings, earring posts and other body piercings. It is used in carat gold jewellery alloys as a whitener and hardener.

However, it has long been known that it can cause an allergic reaction when in contact with the skin and this gives rise to a red skin rash or irritation. This problem has been recognized by the EU countries and there is now legislation in place which limits nickel release from jewellery and other items in close and constant contact with the skin.

Thus, in Europe, nickel white golds are being phased out and being replaced by palladium white golds, although low nickel alloys that meet the nickel release requirements of the Directive are still used. There is no guarantee that a nickel-sensitive person will not suffer an allergic skin reaction if wearing jewellery made from such conforming, nickel-containing alloys!

Japan and China have taken a similar position on nickel. The USA is taking a more relaxed approach, requiring jewellery to be labelled as nickel-containing. Many other countries have not taken a stance on nickel in jewellery and nickel white golds are still widely sold.

You will be pleased to know that all our jewellery at TenPound Jewellery is NICKEL FREE.

Watches

The wristwatch was invented by Patek Philippe at the end of the 19th Century where it was generally thought of as a woman's accessory. It was not until the beginning of the 20th Century that inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont, who had difficulty checking the time while in his first aircraft asked his friend, Louis Cartier for a watch he could use more easily. Cartier gave him a leather-band wristwatch from which Dumont never separated. Being a popular figure in Paris, Cartier was soon able to sell these watches to other men.

During the First World War officers in all armies soon discovered that in battlefield situations, quickly glancing at a watch on their wrist was far more convenient than fumbling in their jacket pockets for an old-fashioned pocket watch. In addition, as increasing numbers of officers were killed in the early stages of the war, Non-Commissioned Officers who were promoted to replace them often did not have pocket watches and so relied on the army to provide them with timekeepers. Army contractors began to issue reliable, cheap, mass-produced wristwatches which were ideal for these purposes. When the war ended, demobilized European and American officers were allowed to keep their wristwatches, helping to popularize the items amongst middle-class Western civilian culture.

Now the watch is more of a fashion accessory than it’s original purpose as a timepiece. Why not have a look at the stylish watches we have to offer at TenPound Jewellery.