Here are some questions we're often asked
Here are some questions we're often asked
It depends on a few factors. Once the deposit is paid, we work our hardest to get it completed within 3-6 weeks. This is due to the clients already in the works.
Repairs usually take 2 weeks or so. Restorations are in between as they require a fair bit more time.
These are some industry recognised alloys of gold used for jewellery.
24ct is pure gold, straight out of the ground. (Think of it as 1000 parts)
18ct gold refers to gold that has been alloyed (melted and mixed) with other metals to make it a more durable metal for jewellery, but still maintains a high gold content. (18ct is 750 parts, with 250 being other metals).
9ct gold is similar to 18ct, but it has less than half gold content (9ct is 375 parts, with 625 being other metals).
There are other such carats of gold, such as 14ct (585) and 22ct (916).
The more gold content, the softer and denser the metal is. With less gold content comes rigidity, less weight and a lower price.
We are located in the Campaspe Shire of Northern Victoria, but distance doesn't limit us. We have had creations for places like Geelong and Narre Warren. Being close to New South Wales, we are also not limited to Victorian work.
Contact us and let us do a quote for you today!
Absolutely!
Every client is different.
That is why we are prepared to work with any level of concept.
If you have a very good idea of what you want in your new piece, that's great!
If you have absolutely no idea of what you want in your new piece, that's also great!
A few simple questions definitely gives us an idea of what you like and don't like when it comes to jewellery.
Rest assured, whether you know what you want, or you don't know, you're in very capable hands.
Absolutely! Send us a message via facebook: m.me/celestialjewelleryaus
or Email: celeste@celestialjewellery.com.au
with a photo of your jewellery, and what you need done, and we can go from there!
The short and skinny of it is absolutely! We call this 'Remodelling'.
Usually yellow gold plays well together, even combining 18ct and 9ct.
Usually platinum works too.
Usually white gold doesn't play well together. This is down to the different white metals in the alloy used to make white gold 'white', as all gold comes out of the ground a pure yellow. There are some exceptions to this, but more often than not it doesn't work.
Here's what we mean when we say combining does or doesn't work;
When it does work, the gold melts well, doesn't work-harden too quickly, and has no or minimal cracking.
When it doesn't work, the metal doesn't melt well (looks more like water in the crucible than molten metal), work-hardens very quickly, and has surface or deeper cracking.
There are some ways to treat an initial remodel, like melting the gold a couple of times, using extra boric acid, and quenching in methylated spirits, but sometimes this doesn't solve the issue, and the gold is simply handed back to the client, or outsourced to a refinery at extra cost.
A story for you;
There has been one occasion where even a yellow gold remodel hasn't worked.
These pieces of jewellery were from the Black Saturday fires, and recovered from the property.
Two white gold rings were restorable and hadn't melted together.
Some yellow gold was destroyed beyond use, including a watch, and a couple of diamonds that were burnt.
Some yellow gold was usable, and we re-melted this with the intention of turning it into a bangle, which had the least possibilities of problems. Upon melting quite a few times, this didn't behave like molten metal. Pouring it into the ingot for manufacturing was unsuccessful, because as soon as we compressed it once, it would split.
In the end, we had to cast it into a flat ingot shape for use as a rectangular pendant, and still it didn't polish up without pits, streaks and varying colour. But the client was happy with the finished result and the effort put in to yield something wearable.
This is a great question! They're honestly like comparing different models of cars - they are all precious metals, but they vary a lot!
Silver is softer and lighter than white gold and platinum.
Meaning if you have a ball the same size in all three metals, silver might weigh 5 grams, platinum would weigh 10.5g, and white gold is in between (depending on 9ct or 18ct). Silver also dints easier than both white gold and platinum. It is a far cheaper metal than either of the others, but wears out over time quicker.
White gold really depends on the alloy, whether its 9ct or 18ct. 18ct, having more gold content in the mix, weighs more than 9ct. 18ct white gold is also currently the most expensive white precious metal used in manufacture of jewellery. All white gold you see in shops is Rhodium plated, which you can either get re-done once it's worn off, or you can leave it. All our white gold pieces are not rhodium plated, so they're the original white/grey colour.
Platinum dints the least, and wears out over time the least too. It's also currently at the time of writing this not as expensive as 18ct white gold, but it weighs more, so it nearly costs the same. As platinum comes out of the ground naturally white, it doesn't require rhodium plating to have that brilliant white look.
So in short - the main difference is longevity, maintenance and price.
This comes up a lot.
We don't like to send photos of your pieces before you have them in your hands in person. This includes progress photos going up on the website, facebook and instagram, and photos being sent directly to you.
The reason is as follows;
For progress photos, unless you're a jeweller yourself, how the materials start out compared to how they finish is drastically different, and if shown before the piece has been finished, leads to confusion. This is especially true due to the nature of how precious jewellery is to us. Even when you're a jeweller looking at other's progress photos, you don't always know how the pictures will lead to the finished piece.
When it comes to photos of the finished pieces being sent to you before you've seen it in person, it still has elements of confusion to it, so isn't a good idea. As much as we try, we can't capture every beautiful aspect of the piece with a photo or a video. It's like trying to capture someone's whole personality in a photo of them standing straight on looking blank at the camera.
When this question comes up, it's often asked about sapphires and rubies, so this is mostly pertaining to them.
No-heat, non-heated or unheated are all terms for gems that haven't had a heat treatment to stabilise and improve the gem. It has become popular lately, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the unheated gem is better off. Because it's become a popular kind of gem, the price is often higher than that of a traditionally heated gem.
Traditional heating is used to replicate what is called thermal venting in the earth that some gems undergo. Sapphires and Rubie are often heated to over 1000 degrees to improve the clarity and colour, and as the treatment is stable, it's permanent. Heating is exactly how it sounds - nothing is added to the gem.
It has been done for a long time to improve otherwise 'ugly' gems, and if it hadn't been done, there wouldn't be many attractive gems available.
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