Jewellery & Watch News
Call us bias, but we absolutely love Whitby Jet and we love wearing and selling Whitby Jet jewellery. Whitby Jet is one of just a few natural organic gemstones in the world making its properties, lustre and appearance completely unique to any other gemstone. Because of its smooth properties and extraordinary colour, our customers often ask us for advice on how to look after their Whitby Jet jewellery and how to polish Whitby Jet stone.
The colour of Whitby Jet is truly unique, boasting a deep blackness so intense that the expression ‘jet black’ or ‘as black as jet’ derives from the colour of the stone. It has a smooth and very lightweight appeal making it an excellent choice for jewellery. Its smoothness allows it to take on an extremely high polish to the extent that is could even be used a mirror.
But how do we polish our Whitby Jet? Within our workshops in Whitby, our talented team of craftsmen and women work with an incredible range of specialist equipment to help shape, smooth and polish our popular British gemstones. We spoke to Becky, one of our talented jewellers in our Whitby W Hamond workshop and she described the process as follows:
"Firstly a piece of Whitby Jet is checked carefully for flaws before we begin to trim the stone into the shape of the desired setting. We then carefully shape the stone using a grinder and a linishing machine before trimming the surface and polishing to finish".
The sparkle of your Whitby Jet jewellery is designed to last for years but of course we know that everyday wear can reduce its shine. So, here’s some advice on how to polish Whitby Jet yourself and how to best take care of your Whitby Jet jewellery.
How can I polish Whitby Jet myself?
At W Hamond, we have a fantastic selection of professional polishing clothes designed especially for Whitby Jet and precious metals like gold and sterling silver. If you own a piece of Whitby Jet jewellery, we highly recommend ordering one of our polishing clothes that will help restore and refurbish your jewellery to its original state. We also offer a free polishing cloth on all orders over £100.
How do you look after Whitby Jet jewellery?
As well as polishing, there are several other ways you can ensure the sparkle and wellbeing of Whitby jet jewellery. One example is to ensure you put your jewellery away in a safe place when you are undertaking certain chores or activities like cooking, cleaning, exercising or travelling. It is always a good idea to have some form of jewellery storage handy for this reason. You can find jewellery boxes and jewellery wraps available to purchase on our website.
One of the most common ways that Whitby Jet jewellery becomes tainted and loses its shine is when it is exposed to abrasive chemicals. All forms of jewellery including sterling silver, gold, diamond and gemstone jewellery should always be kept away from products like hairspray, perfume and other cosmetic products to reduce the risk of tainting its brilliance.
Whitby Jet jewellery should also always be removed when you are bathing, showering or swimming. The settings used on gemstone rings are often designed to show off the glistening stone and give it access to light. However, these settings can also be easy to clog up with soaps, creams, moisturisers and water which consequently reduces the intensity of a gemstone’s sparkle and can even impact the tension within the setting making it prone to damage.
Professional Jewellery Cleaning Service
No matter how little or often you wear your jewellery, at some point it is going to be necessary to get it cleaned. At W Hamond, we not only offer professional polishing clothes to do it yourself, but we also have a fantastic jewellery cleaning and repairs service where we use specialist jewellery cleaning and polishing equipment to transform your jewellery back to as if it was new.
If you would like to make use of our professional jewellery cleaning service, simply pop into one of the W Hamond stores or send your item to the address below with a covering letting explaining your requirements. You can feel safe in the knowledge that all our jewellery cleaning is carried out by ourselves in our very own workshops, so you do not have to worry about your treasured items getting lost.
Jewellery Cleaning & Repairs
W Hamond Jewellers
112 Church Street
Whitby
North Yorkshire
YO22 4DE
