Ruby Sterling Silver Oval Pendant

Ruby

July's birthstone and one of the four renowned 'precious' stones (together with sapphire, emerald and diamond), it's value is determined using the four 'c's - clarity, cut, carats and colour. Although this gemstone's name comes from 'ruber', latin for red, many of the bright red rubies on the market are heat-treated to create this shade. At Two Skies most of our rubies keep their natural pink, burgundy and purplish tones, and with our Trapiche Rubies you'll also see their natural hexagonal shapes.

Sterling Silver

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.