Gothic Skull Egg Cup in Sterling Silver

Clean your diamond and gemstone jewellery using our specialist jewellery cloth or by running it under warm water and gently brushing it with a soft toothbrush, then drying it with a very soft cloth.

If you are ever concerned about the setting of your diamond or gemstone, it is always best to err on the side of caution and obtain a professional opinion from our team of specialist jewellers.

Soft gemstone jewellery - such as any piece of jewellery made with emerald, pearl, opal, moonstone, labradorite, amazonite, coral, turquoise and any porous gemstones or any gemstone with a sure hardness under 7 - is of a more delicate nature and therefore requires special care.

Clean your soft gemstone jewellery using our jewellery cloth designed for dry use. We advise that you do not leave this type of jewellery in direct sunlight, dry heat or overly humid conditions and avoid getting it wet. Soft gemstones are also sensitive to strong chemicals like hair sprays, deodorants and perfumes - which can discolour them. As the surface of the gemstone is soft, store this type of jewellery separately so that it does not get scratched.

We encourage you to bring your jewellery back to us every year for professional servicing. Our Stephen Einhorn jewellers will take time and care to inspect your jewellery in order to determine the service that needs to be provided. If it is necessary you will receive an estimate for any work that may need doing. We will provide the service as soon as you validate the estimate. For more information please contact our London shop at shop@stepheneinhorn.co.uk or phone us on +44 (0) 20 7359 4977.

Because we appreciate the subtle colour of pure precious metals we choose not to plate our fine jewellery and all of our precious jewellery is fully assayed and hallmarked.

The differences between metals of different types and purity is not just the colour difference - which can be quite subtle - but also differences of weight, density and hardness. 

Metal hardness and density

Because pure Gold and Silver are relatively soft in their pure states various other pure metals are added to the gold and silver to increase its durability and strength - which is what the carat (or karat) mark indicates. This is the same for all Silver and Gold not just ours.

We use Silver that is marked 925 which means that it is 92.5% pure silver with the other metals making up the balance.

For our 9ct we use Gold that is marked 375 which means that it is 37.5% pure gold with the other metals making up the balance.

For our 14ct we use Gold that is marked 585 which means that it is 58.5% pure gold with the other metals making up the balance.

For our Palladium we use Palladium that is marked 950 which means that it is 95% pure Palladium with the other metals making up the balance.

For our 18ct we use Gold that is marked 750 which means that it is 75% pure gold with the other metals making up the balance.

For our Platinum we use Platinum that is marked 950 which means that it is 95% pure Platinum with the other metals making up the balance.

The hardness of the metals is a bit more complicated.

Starting with the White metals, Platinum, White Gold and Silver: Platinum is the Mike Tyson, hard as they come. After which 18ct White Gold is then the hardest followed by Palladium, 14ct White Gold and lastly 9ct White Gold which is slightly harder than Silver.

Yellow Gold: 14ct Yellow Gold is harder than 9ct and 18ct Yellow Gold, which are both as soft as each other.

Rose Gold: 18ct is the hardest followed by 14ct which is harder than 9ct Rose Gold.

If any of our mainline range jewellery can be engraved, it will be accessible from the 'Add Engraving' drop down menu on the product item page.

The price is charged per letter and/or character. You can also choose (if shown) where you would like it engraved.

From here, first choose the engraving style, then type your message. The price is shown underneath your typed message. When you are satisfied that it's correct, click SUBMIT and it will be added to the total price of the item.

It is possible to view, modify and remove also.

Please note that any engraved item is non refundable.

If you require anything non-standard, e.g. a symbol, design, logo or even your own handwriting, this is usually possible and is quoted on a case by case basis. Please contact shop@stepheneinhorn.co.uk.

We also offer a seal engraving service. For example this could be a family crest engraved into a signet style ring, so that it can be used to press into sealing wax or just look pretty as it is. Various examples can be seen in our Bespoke section of all the different types and styles of engraving that we offer.