METALS AND STONES

Our jewellery is made from silver, vermeil, yellow, white or pink gold and set with semi-precious or precious stones.

Some definitions...

SEMI-PRECIOUS AND PRECIOUS STONES

There are four types of precious stone: diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald.

The other, gem-quality stones, which may include some of organic origin (coral, cultured pearl) are considered semi-precious; they are officially described as ‘fine stones’. Today the old term ‘semi-precious stones’ is still only used in English. And for us there are two reasons for using the same – visitors to the shop often confuse ‘fine stone’ with ‘fine pearl’; and the unique charm of ‘semi-precious’ evokes the ‘demi-mondaine’ mistresses from the worlds of Proust or Maupassant – less expensive but often just as stunning as their noble counterparts, they are also objects of desire...

PRECIOUS AND SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES

Brunehilde ring set with a labradorite.

PRECIOUS AND SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES

Brunehilde ring set with a pink tourmaline.

DIAMONDS

Diamonds exist in various colours, ranging from white to black with shades of yellow, brown and grey – jonquille, honey, cognac diamonds.... Their value depends on their purity, weight and the quality of the facetting, which determines their sparkle, plus the beauty of their colour.
The latter depends on the expert’s eye when it comes to coloured diamonds.

DIAMONDS

The family of white diamonds is subject to an internationally recognised assessment model. This involves precision rating scales for measuring each component defining the quality of the stone.
Excepting blue, green or red diamonds, so rare only a few exist worldwide, ‘white’ (clear) diamonds are the most expensive.

UNCUT DIAMONDS

Tiny uncut diamonds on the Forever necklace.

FINE AND CULTURED PEARLS

Natural pearls, otherwise described as fine pearls, are produced naturally without any human intervention, both at sea and in fresh water. Their high price is dictated by their rarity - originally such pearls were worn exclusively by women in high society.
Due to growing demand for pearls, they are now cultured artifically in large quantities. Today cultured pearls represent 90% of the international pearl industry.

CULTURED PEARLS

Cultured pearls are not imitations of this precious matter, but an organic process provoked by human intervention: man forces the pearl oyster to produce pearls by introducing a foreign body into its shell.
For fine pearls, the foreign body enters the oyster by accident. In both cases, to defend itself the oyster neutralises the intruder by secreting concentric layers of nacre around it. The finer and more numerous the layers, the more opalescent the resulting pearl.

TRIO OF GOLD: YELLOW, WHITE AND PINK

These terms describe the combination of metal and fine gold used to produce 18 carat gold (also called 750/1000 gold) in jewel making. Pure gold (1000/1000 or 24 carat) is too easily deformed.
For 1000 thousandths, regardless of its final shade the gold will contain 750 thousandths of fine gold, and, depending on its colour: 125 thousandths of silver and 125 thousandths of copper for yellow gold; 200 thousandths of copper and 50 thousandths of silver for pink gold; 170 thousandths of palladium and 80 thousandths of copper for white gold (also called grey gold).
Note: since the use of nickel is now forbidden in jewel making, white gold combined with palladium alone produces the final white (or grey) shade after rhodium plating. This process of electrolysis may, depending on the type of skin (e.g. acidity) in contact, last for years or require further treatments over the years.

VERMEIL

This term is used to describe 925 sterling silver covered with a layer of gold at least 5 microns thick (compared to 'gold-plated', which has no minimum thickness and can cover any non-precious metal).
If the surface of a piece of vermeil jewellery has worn off over time, we can recoat it.

Hallmarks

The hallmark (or maker’s hallmark, or responsible person’s hallmark): engraved inside a lozenge, its design is unique to each craftsman. Established in 1797, this lozenge certifies French manufacture. Imported items have a hallmark inside an oval lozenge. Take a magnifying glass to check our hallmark on your piece of jewellery... here it is:
The certifying hallmark: imposed and billed by the State Guarantee Service, certifies the ‘percentage of metal’ meets French norms: the eagle head for 750/1000 gold (i.e. 18 carat gold), Minerva head for 925/1000 silver, dog head for 950/1000 platinum.
Exempt from this hallmark: gold or platinum items weighing less than 3 grammes, and silver items less than 30 grammes; however they must still carry the maker’s hallmark, by which the craftsman attests his or her work conforms to its official description.

SHOP COLLECTIONS GIFT LIST EMMANUELLE MADE IN ZYSMAN HD PHOTOS  WORKSHOP     -      METALS AND STONES     -      PRICES You need to upgrade your Flash Player and enable Javascript to view this content » You need to upgrade your Flash Player and enable Javascript to view this content »   - Why is our jewellery never on sale? - Why doesn’t the shop offer customers any of those so-called privileges known as "private" or “press” sales? - What are sales? They are discounts offered during a legal period in order to off load unsold goods. - So what awaits the VIP, arriving with one of those flyers that bombard our letterboxes, at one of these “private” events? Let’s take a closer look… - Models from the previous year’s collections - Models or colours that haven’t worked or won’t work during the season – professionals don’t need to wait until the end of the season to know what will sell and what won’t. - The same models as those in the shop… but cheaper! A miracle! What’s going on here? - Theory A: the brand has mass reproduced one or several of its basics in just before the “private” event. Although manufacturing TO SELL AT DISCOUNT is illegal, it is common practice and used for models that right from the start carry the highest benefit margin for the manufacturer. And these margins may even rise further by negotiating rates with suppliers or craftsmen, or by simply increasing what would be the fair price, in order to fake a promotion or discount at a later date. Upping prices prior to a promotion is even common practice in major retail stores. - Theory B: the brand manufactures… far from home, using workers or craftsmen who may earn as little as €20 a month. This low pay practice doesn’t impact the prices in shops – if the products are luxury goods they are priced accordingly. In this case the margins are so astonishing that such sales, rather than a generous gesture by the manufacturer, are in actual fact cleverly planned marketing campaigns. Again, these so-called sales only concern certain types of articles. - Create a false sense of complicity by offering a “privilege” to all. In reality, people who buy in the sales are not VIPs but rather victims of cleverly planned marketing campaigns, and often end up buying items he or she doesn’t really like, at the beginning of the season… - In our shop you are a true VIP, but for different reasons: - Firstly because of the warm welcome and attention to your needs we always try to provide. Our role is to advise you when asked. Flattery and pressurising customers to buy simply isn’t our style. - We can always reproduce a model you liked from a previous collection, so we never resort to the tactic “it’s the last one” in an attempt to get customers to purchase. - For large orders you can pay in installments - The prices of our jewellery are fair and justified – from the small silver charm on a simple fastening to gold and diamond items, depending on the fluctuation in the prices of precious metals. - All our jewellery is cast, assembled and set in Paris. - Finally, our reliable after sales service is at your disposal for life to maintain, repair or bring your jewellery back to life!