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Care and Cleaning for Jewellery

If you received a wonderful gift of jewellery for Christmas this year, you will definitely be interested in these cleaning and care tips to keep your items sparkling like the day you received them!
Keeping your items clean from the daily dust, oils from your skin and soap trapped behind the stones will help the gemstones sparkle like they did when they were new. To clean the majority of gemstones you can run them under slightly warm water, add a touch of mild soap and use a soft toothbrush to get behind the stones.
Some gemstones require special cleaning and will not tolerate commercial cleaners or heat. Refer to the list below and when in doubt feel free to call us or just use luke warm water and a very soft brush.

Always remember when cleaning any jewellery to cover the drain or use a bowl placed a good distance from the sink!
Now your jewellery is clean remember to store it all separate in a jewellery box so that items with harder stones like a diamond will not damage a softer item such as a beautiful strand or pearls.

The History of Birthstones

    In honour of a brand new year and a brand new year of birthdays, we thought it would be interesting to find out where the tradition of wearing a birthstone actually came from.
    According to most gemstone scholars, the origin of the modern birthstone list originates from the Breastplate of Aaron (Aaron was the brother of Moses). The breastplate was a ceremonial garment that was adorned with twelve stones, each representing one the twelve tribes of Israel.
    Over time, the list of twelve stones became linked to the twelve astrological signs, then to the twelve months of the year.

    The actual custom of wearing birthstones became popular in fifteenth or sixteenth century Poland. The tradition suggested that every month the corresponding birthstone should be worn, as its powers were heightened during that month. So to receive the full effects of the powers of the birthstones – you would need to get one for every month and rotate them through the year!
    Since the ancient peoples didn’t classify the gemstones the way we do, there is debate as to what the actual gemstones in the breastplate were. Because of this, different cultures have created different lists depending on their interpretation.   In 1912 the Jewellers of America made an effort to create a standardized list of birthstones. The “modern” list is the most widely recognized and used today.
    The newest addition to the modern list was made in 2002 when Tanzanite was added as a birthstone for the month of December.

If you are interested in learning more about your birthstone, come in and see us anytime!

Gemstone of the month

Garnet is a beautiful stone, that has been in use and respected since the Bronze age. It has been said that even Noah used a large garnet lantern to help him steer his ark through the night. Many explorers were known to carry garnets with them as a protective talisman as they were believed to protect the wearer from evil and disaster
The name "garnet" has various possible orgins – it may come from a Middle English word ‘gernet’ meaning ’dark red’, or Latin word ‘granatus’(which translates to grain), which is a reference to the pomegranate - a fruit having seeds that are similar size, shape and color to some garnet crystals.

When garnet is mentioned, the colour most commonly associated is a rich deep red colour. The almandite garnet is the most widely known as it is the most commonly used and most abundant.
It comes as a shock to some to know that garnet is available in a wide range of hues, from beautiful greens to electric oranges.
Some of the more unique varieties of garnet include:
Spessartite Garnet – a beautiful and radiant orange version of garnet which is only mined in a few locales in Africa.
Tsavorite Garnet – a rich deep green hued stone that was discovered in 1967 near the Tsavo National Park in Tanzania.
Demantoid Garnet – a rare lime green variety know for its dispersion, which is higher than that of a diamond, giving the stone a radiant appeal. This stone was a favourite of Russian jeweller Carl Faberge.
Rhodolite Garnet - a luscious raspberry coloured stone with its name origin from the Greek word meaning ’a rose’.

There is a colour of garnet for every taste and every personality and they are a piece that can be enjoyed for years to come.

Feature product of the month

As we all celebrate and welcome the New Year, here at Poag Jewellers we are excited to celebrate our new arrivals! One of our favourites for this year is a beautiful band style ring. The ring is designed in 18K white gold with stunning yellow gold accents. The ring showcases seven bezel set natural colour diamonds in various shapes and sizes. The diamonds through the centre of the ring have a total weight of 1.15 carats. The ring is finished with a row of diamonds along either side. The fifty-six round brilliant cut diamonds have a total weight of 0.28 carats.

This piece would be a gorgeous and versatile New Year’s piece as its breath taking colours will accent many different styles and designs of clothing. If you are interested in the colours of the natural diamonds there is also a matching drop pendant and earrings!

Famous Gemstones

Colour for 2010

    This is the story of the Golden Jubilee diamond. It is the largest faceted diamond in the world, weighing in at a whopping 545.67 carats! The stone was designed and cut by master diamond cutter Gabi Tolkowsky.
    It was discovered in 1985 at the Premier Mine in South Africa, its original rough weight being 755.5 carats (approximately 150 grams). It was given the name the “Unnamed Brown” and was cast aside due to its undesirable brown colour. Luckily the stone was unearthed at the same time as the legendary “Centenary” diamond (the world’s largest D-Flawless diamond). The Centenary was of such importance, DeBeers developed cutting tools specifically to cut the stone. The only problem was that the new tools needed to be tested before the Centenary was fashioned– so the stone that was used was the “Unnamed Brown”! To everyone’s surprise, Tolkowsky was able to transform the stone into a beautiful fancy yellow-brown fire rose cushion cut.
    It was presented to the King of Thailand in 1997 to honour the 50th anniversary of his coronation and was renamed “The Golden Jubilee”. The stone is currently part of the collection of Thai Crown Jewels and there are plans to set it into a Royal Scepter or Seal.

    For the upcoming year of 2010 it has been announced that the fashion, home decor and over all colour is turquoise.
    The mixture of the vibrant blue and the medium green hue creates a relaxing, luxurious tropical vacation from everyday stress and troubles. It is said that turquoise is a “deep compassion and healing colour, and a colour of faith and truth, inspired by water and the sky”.
    The bright energetic turquoise colour can brighten any room or bring to life many outfits. If you plan on updating your closet in the New Year you may also want to find pieces you can accessorize with such as a turquoise pendant, earrings, ring or even a bracelet.
    Turquoise is a gemstone that requires special care when cleaning. To clean your items you never want to place it in an ultrasonic cleaner or with chemical solutions such as ammonia, as it is a very porous stone that can absorb chemicals and even soap. The build up of those chemicals and soap could slightly change the overall appearance of the stone.You can just simply use a moist cloth to wipe down the gem.
    Come in and check out our selection of turquoise pieces today!