Lloyds Jewellery

For todays blog, here is just one of many questions we are sent each week. We were contacted by a lady through Facebook with a query about what would be the best metal for her husbands wedding ring…

• Customer: Hi. We are looking for a wedding ring for my partner. He is keen on a D shaped which is polished on the outside and brushed in the middle. He’s hasn’t decided on whether to get platinum, palladium or white gold as unsure which is best to get for him as he is a carpenter. I was just wondering if you sell anything like that. Thanks, Jules

• Lloyds: Hi, sure we sell all kinds of wedding rings, as standard they are all polished but we could have it brushed on the inside as a special order, you just need to be sure on the ring size and width first as you can’t send them back once they are customised, we could always supply one as standard and have the inside brushed for you once you know you will be happy with it.

For someone who is very handy and plans on wearing their ring all the time I would definitely recommend either Platinum or Palladium. 9k White gold is naturally a light yellow colour and is plated (using Rhodium) to look bright white/silver. This will wear off and so needs re-plating over time. 18k White Gold is a better option but again this also needs plating as it is more of a grey colour naturally (these colours are due to the types of alloys used in gold jewellery).

Platinum will be the most durable metal, it is stronger than Gold and also has the advantage of not losing weight; when platinum is scratched or polished for example the metal does not separate from the ring (it simply pushed across the surface) unlike gold, so you can polish a platinum ring forever and you will always have the same amount of metal, so you won’t loose any value. Palladium has many of the same properties as Platinum (it is in the Platinum family) however is it a lot lighter (60-70%), some people prefer the weighty feel and prestige of Platinum but Palladium is cheaper. Platinum holds up better than other metals on impacts, so it is more difficult to dent, this may be a good choice for a carpenter.

Once you decide on a metal you just need to decide on the width of the ring you would like, 5-6mm is popular for gents wedding bands. They are also available in different depths/gauges:

Light (approx 1.3mm

Medium (approx 1.7mm)

Heavy (approx 2.1mm)

Medium tends to be the most popular. The deeper the ring, the heavier it will be, and therefor more valuable.

Here are some cost examples to help you decide, these are all based on a 5mm wide D-Shape Wedding Band, Medium Weight in Size T. Price based on current metal prices 25/05/14.

9k White Gold: £224

Palladium: £299

18k White Gold: £524

Platinum: £814

Once you settle on the type of ring you would like just let me know and I will look around for the best price. Let me know if you would like a price in any other specification or if you have any further questions

Kind Regards.

• Customer: That’s great thank you Matthew. I’ll speak to my OH when I get home. If I get a picture of what he wants i presume that’s is easier for you to price? I’m pretty sure of the ring I want so being able to get them both from you would make more sense. With the platinum, would it end up losing the brushed effect over the years & can it be fixed? We have been told by another jeweller that once palladium is scratched there is nothing that can be done to fix it? Can palladium be engraved? Thanks.

• Lloyds: They do say Palladium is a jewellers nightmare, you need to know how to work Palladium so you may need to take it to certain jewellers, but as far as I know scratches can be removed, there would be no reason that you would lose the brushed effect, and they can be engraved. I’ll have to ask my jeweller more about it on Tuesday.

Platinum and Palladium in fact scratch easier than gold, but platinum metals are stronger against impact, it’s quite strange.

Having thought about it, 18k white gold may be a good choice. Our 18k white uses Palladium as an alloy, so you get the white characteristic of Palladium whilst still being less prone to scratches.

It’s a tough one, but I would mainly advise not to choose 9k white if it will be getting plenty of wear.

• Lloyds: Hi, I spoke to my jeweller today and he confirmed that there is no disadvantage to Palladium, it can be polished or engraved. It’s just a hard metal so it can take more work compared to Gold. There isn’t really a disadvantage to using Palladium in my opinion. People go for Platinum as it is a prestigious metal, prized by the worlds leading jewellers, everyones heard of it and knows that it’s expensive, so it’s more of a luxury item. It is more expensive by the gram than Palladium, it’s also a more dense metal so you require more of it to make the same ring. Platinum, Palladium or 18k White Gold would be fine for you, it may simply come down to how much you are comfortable spending. Let me know if you would like a quote or if you have any further questions.

• Customer: Hi Matthew, thank you for all that. I’ll send a picture of what my OH is looking for if you can give us a quote in all 3 metals as he still isn’t 100% sure which he wants.

Written by: Matthew Lloyd

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Rose Gold continued to rise in Popularity over last year and we think you will continue to see more of it during the new year, while you’re here you can also check out our Precious Metal Guide for info on other popular precious metals.

Here we have put together some info to give you an idea of the properties of Rose Gold and how it get’s it’s rich colour so you can decide if it’s right for you.

Rose Gold is simply an alloy of traditional yellow Gold. When Gold is alloyed with copper it gives a red hue, depending on the copper content, the depth of colour can be changed; the higher the copper content, the deeper the red colour, which is why it is often referred to as red or rose for dark to mid hues, or pink gold for lighter red tones. Rose Gold has all the same properties as yellow gold and is ideal for all types of jewellery and watches, you may want to read our info on Traditional Gold at the bottom of this post for a more in depth look in to the properties of Rose Gold.

This beautiful Gold alloy is currently very popular and fashionable, it is also popular to wear rose gold along side white and/or yellow gold to make stylish designs. 18k Rose gold generally consists of 75% Gold to 25% Copper, a small amount of silver may also be added. Rose Gold was first made popular at the beginning of the 19th century in Russia which is why it was once referred to as Russian Gold. Since then, Rose Gold has continued to grow in popularity and has became a fashionable alternative to white and yellow Gold.

Traditional yellow Gold…

Gold is surely the most famous precious metal, used in jewellery and coin making for thousands of years and even before recorded history. Pure gold is the most malleable of any metals which makes it great for jewellery making, that and because is has a beautiful deep lustre and shine. Pure Gold has such high malleability that it is not always practical to be used on it’s own for jewellery making, therefor it is rarely used without being alloyed with other harder metals. The term karat refers to the purity of Gold i.e. how many parts Gold to alloy, 24k is classed as pure Gold. The most popular variations in the UK are 18k and 9k. Gold is usually alloyed with other metals such as Copper, Silver and Palladium to alter the hardness, colour and other properties such as value. The lower the karat, the less valuable the metal depending on weight.

Like Platinum, it is also resistant to corrosion and oxidation. Hundreds of tons of earth must be processed for a tiny fraction of Gold. Strangely, all the gold ever mined is said to have came to earth from asteroids after it’s formation. Naturally occurring gold is close to the earth’s core as it sinks due to its density, this gold is far out of reach. Most people know Gold is expensive, but when you know just how rare and precious Gold is, you will have a whole new appreciation for your jewellery.

Written by: Matthew Lloyd

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This is a question we got asked every now and then, and in some ways it can be a difficult question to definitively answer. So a customer is looking on our website and wants to order a diamond ring, they are however slightly worried, after all what is to stop a website taking your money and simply not sending goods? The internet is an every day part of life these days and people purchase items online without much thought however you may think differently when spending a lot of money.

Of course we could go on about years established, positive reviews, good reputation, members of British jewellers Association, Safer Jeweller Council, PCI-DSS compliant and secure checkouts but we just wanted a way to say YES, if you shop with us you are completely covered.

We are now full members of Trusted shops, when you order with us, Trusted shops guarantee your order to arrive or they themselves with refund your purchase up to £2500. All you need to do is fill in the guarantee form at the end of checkout. See the information below or the link the the informational video for more details on Trusted Shops.

lloydsfamilyjewellery.co.­uk has fulfilled over 40 quality criteria in order to obtain the Trusted Shops Trustmark. These criteria are undergoing continuous development by independent consumer protection and data protection specialists. The observance of these criteria is regularly verified by commercial law specialists and IT experts.

With over 13,000 certified merchants, Trusted Shops has been the leading trustmark for online shops with integrated buyer protection including the Trusted Shops Guarantee, a money-back guarantee – guaranteed by renowned insurance companies – since 1999. The Trusted Shops Seller Ratings enable buyers to assess the quality of a shop in order to make this apparent for other visitors. The Trusted Shops Seller Rating comprises the reliability rating awarded by Trusted Shops and the customer reviews pertaining to the seller over the last 12 months in the following categories: delivery, goods and customer service. More information at: www.trustedshops.co.uk.

www.lloydsfamilyjewellery.co.uk/secure-shopping

See our Trusted Shops certificate and info video…

Written by: Matthew Lloyd

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So why bother blogging about wedding rings? Surely a wedding ring is just that; a gold ring… so they should all be the same price unless one is bigger than the other, well that brings us onto our first point which we will get to. The truth is there is a massive difference between seemingly identical rings, which also makes a big difference to both quality and value. We want to get across here that not all wedding rings are created equal, and that we only choose the very best while still maintaining incredible value.

Metal weight: There are a range of precious metals used in wedding rings today, we specialise in the most precious; Gold and Platinum. It goes without saying that the heavier the material, the more there is of it and the more you will pay. There are many shapes, widths and sizes of wedding rings, all of which will have a different weight. This is one thing you need to look at when purchasing your wedding ring; company A are selling a 2mm wide D-Shape wedding ring at 2.7 grams for the same price as company B, however they do not specify the weight… you could be getting much less for your money compared to company A. At Lloyds we use Medium weight rings however they are slightly heavier than standard to give a quality weighty feel. We can also make rings heavier or lighter according to your own specification.

Methods of manufacture:

Made by Hand: The longest used method of manufacturer for hundreds of years. The chosen precious metal is smelted into a long strip of the desired length according to ring size. The thin gold strip is passed through a rolling mill to give the required shape, the two ends are then melted together using the correct solder. Filing and polishing then give the ring its final form and shine. This method will appeal to people who prefer the age old method of which a single craftsman has taken time to make by hand. It does however have it drawbacks, they are generally more expensive and you can’t get the precision of some other forms of manufacture, plus there will forever be a join in the ring (unless your ring is crafted from a single block of gold) which may be prone to crack or separate if not done properly where as the methods listed below form a ring as a single piece.

Casting: A wax ring is made by carving out the desired shape from a single block of wax or my having the wax rendered by machine using computer designs, this is then used to create a mould. The metal is poured into the mould which is spun to remove air bubbles. Once the casting has been done, the stem is cut, this is the excess metal from the point in which the metal was poured. The stem and rough edges are filed down before the ring is polished. The benefits are that the ring has been created to the exact size required, there has never been any joining, cutting or resizing. There can be disadvantages however, the process in which the casting is done must be precise, they need to be casted to the correct temperatures in order to prevent pitting (small holes in the metal).

Milled (CNC): This is the newest method for making wedding bands and the most precise, a block of Gold or Platinum is placed in a CNC (computer numerical control) machine which is a large machine consisting or a series of milling tools which create the ring using pre-programed computer controls to carve the ring from a single piece of metal.

Conclusion: We use the CNC method for our wedding rings to give the most precise manufacture available. Most of our engagement and other settings on the other hand are precision cast as CNC machines can’t yet replicated the high level of detail required for such small items such as tiny claw settings.

Precision of settings:

We also offer diamonds set into our wedding rings, which is extremely popular today for obvious reasons. It is extremely important that settings are precise as to not come loose and fall out later down the line. Diamond setting is a skilled process and requires years of practice to get right, cheap settings can basically consist of blunt prongs which are bent over a stone. Settings should be prepared for the correct size and shape of diamond, our diamonds are, you guessed it, set with precision under the microscope to ensure each stone is set in the exact place, securely and positioned to maximise brilliance.

We can set diamonds to any design in any of our plain wedding ring styles, choose your shape i.e. d-shape, court, flat court etc and choose a diamond design, we can also make to your own specification.

We also offer engraving for our wedding rings.

Supporting UK business & craftsmanship:

Our wedding rings are made in the UK to exacting standards by some of the UK leading wedding ring manufacturers enabling quick supply at the highest quality.

I will leave you with our declaration shown next to each wedding ring shown on our website:

We work with some of the finest jewellery craftsmen to ensure your ring is of the highest quality, we feel our Wedding Rings rival any from the best know brands and at a fraction of the cost. Our wedding rings are cafefully cast with precision using the highest grade alloys to exacting standards; they are filed, polished and finished to the highest quality. We use heavier than standard gold content to ensure our rings have a substantial, quality feel. 100% of production is carried out here in the United Kingdom, all our Wedding Rings are stringently tested and stamped by one of the four UK Assay offices to ensure it’s finess. We want you to be assured; when you decide on a Lloyd’s Wedding Ring, you are getting the finest craftsmanship and materials at the best value with expert service and after sales care.

Visit our website for many of our wedding rings styles or email us for details at sales@lloydsjewellery.co.uk, or call us on 0800 002 9905.

Written by: Matthew Lloyd

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