Edinburgh Sea Glass Sterling Silver Faceted Pendant with Peridot and Garnet

Edinburgh Sea Glass

Adam scoured the beaches at Granton, Edinburgh for these sea treasures. We usually see sea glass in a mattified state, due to the sands and seas buffing away at the once sharp pieces, making them smooth and of a frosted appearance. Adam, always liking to be a bit different, hit upon the idea to treat the sea glass as he would any other gemstone – by cutting, faceting and polishing, an expensive process usually reserved for semi precious gemstones. The result is wonderfully sparkling, beautiful sea-born jewels in many different colours! Once old wine bottles, beer bottles, medicine bottles, ornaments and other lost belongings, this Edinburgh Sea Glass has been reborn into a highly desirable little piece of Edinburgh's history!

Peridot

Peridot is August's birthstone. This gem has been mined for thousands of years, is mentioned in the bible, and was apparently a favourite of Cleopatra's! Peridot is one of the few gemstones that occur in only one colour: an olive-green. The intensity and tint of the green, however, depends on the percentage of iron that is contained in the crystal structure, so the colour of individual peridot gems can vary from yellow, to olive, to brownish-green. Peridot is considered a very joyful, warm, friendly stone that can ease anger and jealousy, as well as encouraging open-heartedness.

Garnet

January's birthstone, Garnets are known to have a warm, deep red that is similar to that of a Ruby, and is often mistaken for one to the untrained eye! When you think 'Garnet', images of sparkling red gems probably come to mind, but there are actually Garnets of many colours, with the rarest being colourless, peach, and green. Used in adornment for over 5,000 years, Garnets were popular in ancient Egypt from around 3100 BC, being used as beads in necklaces as well as inlaid jewellery (gems set into a surface in a decorative pattern). Garnet’s many myths frequently portray it as a symbol of light, faith, truth, chivalry, loyalty and honesty.

Sterling Silver 925%

Why do silversmiths use 925%? Measured in parts per thousand, pure silver (999%) is too soft so silversmiths mix it with other metals to make it it harder. The purer the metal, the higher the polish, but it is a lot softer (thus less durable). The harder the metal is, the more hard wearing the jewellery is, but it will also tarnish easier as it has less silver content. Therefore, the silver industry set a standard percentage content for fine silver (925); what we know as "sterling silver". At Two Skies our silversmiths use 925 (sterling) silver for ring shafts and moving parts, and a very high 950% on our stones settings, which enables us to get a strong jewellery item with a beautiful and secure stone setting, without any gluing. Each piece of our jewellery is hand stamped with our Two Skies Hallmark alongside the recognised industry 925 Hallmark.