JEWELLERY INFORMATION Silver name jewellery
We make our silver name jewellery from the highest grade of sterling silver, 925/1000. This is the finest quality. Silver is a soft, white, natural precious metal. It is durable; it does not rust or decay. Silver is easy to work because it is a soft metal.

Silver is mined in Canada, the United States, South America and Australia. In contrast to gold, silver is seldom found in its pure, native form. It is usually found in combination with non-precious metals such as lead and copper. The blend undergoes refining to separate the pure silver from the other metals. 

Pure silver is too soft to be made into jewellery or utensils. It would wear thin or bend too easily. To solve this, silver is melted together with other metals, such as copper. This yields an alloy. The amount of pure silver in an alloy determines the silver grade. The silver grade that we use is 92.5%; we make our silver name jewellery from the highest grade sterling silver, 925/1000.

Gold name jewellery
We make our gold name jewellery from 14 carat gold, 585/1000. Gold is a soft, bright, yellow, natural material that was formed millions of years ago by enormous pressure in the deeper layers of the earth’s crust. 

Although gold was first discovered in river beds in Asia and Africa, nowadays gold is primarily obtained by underground mining. This is an intensive and difficult process. At a depth of 3000 metres, an average of three tonnes of ore must be mined and processed to obtain 100 grams of gold. Gold is rare, in part  because it has served as a means of payment since the 6th century AD. 

Pure gold is a soft metal and so it is difficult to make into jewellery. To harden it, pure gold is mixed with silver or copper, for example, yielding gold alloys. In Europe, the amount of pure gold in a piece of jewellery is expressed in thousands. Pure gold, better known as 24 carat gold, has a gold content of 1000/1000. 14 carat gold, which is 58.5% pure gold, has a gold content of 585/1000. The rest is usually silver or copper. Gold derives its colour nuances from the various metals it is blended with. Red gold is the result of an alloy with copper and white gold comes from the addition of copper or palladium.

Assay mark for genuine gold or silver
Our collection is monitored in accordance with the Dutch Assay Act. All pieces of gold jewellery are made from 14 carat gold and so they bear the assay mark 585. The silver jewellery is made from sterling silver and has the assay mark 925.

The purpose of the Assay Act is to protect consumers from being cheated and to protect businesses against fraud and unfair competition. For this reason all objects made of precious metals must be assayed before being offered for sale. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs has designated an organisation to carry out the assays: Waarborg Platina, Goud en Zilver N.V. Some items are exempted. Pursuant to Articles 5 and 6 of the Assay Act and Article 5 of the Assay Regulations, objects made of gold that weigh less than 1 gram and objects made of silver that weigh less than 8 grams are exempted from assay.  You can find more information (in Dutch) on the Waarborgkaart, a chart showing the assay marks. Click here.
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