Stones have different hardness levels measured on a scale from 1 - 10 called the Mohs hardness scale. This scale determines how strong the mineral of the stone is aka how much pressure &/or heat it can take before it breaks, cracks or chips.

Soft stones like amber are measured as a 2, stones this low on the scale can be scratched or damaged by fingernails, therefore should not be worn for everyday wear. Pearls and turquoise sit at a 3.5-5 on the Mohs scale, they can be damaged by other harder materials like metal (again not suitable for everyday wear). Stones like opal, topaz and amethyst all sit between 6-8 on the hardness scale. Although sitting at the middle of the scale these stones can be damaged quite easily and therefore not recommended to wear everyday.

In saying all of that I wear all my stones all the time, these are all recommendations for a reason, if you love that ring and it means more to wear it and risk the damage than not have it on you — you do that.

1. Measure the inner diameter (inner circle of the ring where the metal touches your skin) of another ring that fits you flat on a ruler. Or tie a string around your finger and unfurl the string to measure inner diameter of your desired ring size.

2. Use sizing chart to match the inner diameter with the size of the ring. I use this ring size chart for my rings: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0639/4989/7957/files/SHIELS_Ring_Sizer.pdf?v=1721262611

Depending on the stone you can get some fading of colour, damage the surface of the stone (get rid of the shiny appearance), drain it off its colour or make it prone to chipping.

Opals: solid white and black opals can have different reactions to water, because opals have tiny air bubbles that help form the stone it can trap water in these pockets and as a result dull the colour of the opal (no more shifting rainbow shines).

Opal doublets or triplets should not be worn in water, as these are layered with glass, thin opal and a black backing — if water gets into any of those layers your risk breaking the whole thing essentially. (I have lost opals like this and its so tragic, usually the opal just falls our and you are left with the black backing which is super ugly). Just keep opals to sometime wear and avoid washing your hands with them on.

I strictly use sterling silver metal. Sterling silver can be worn in oceans and water for long periods of time without turning your fingers green. Sterling silver is suitable for everyday wear.

Sterling silver can tarnish over a long period of time through everyday wear. Tarnish can start off as a yellow tinge in the corners of a piece and can eventually turn your silver pieces a dull grey/black colour.

However this tarnish can be polished off with a silver polishing cloth.

To prevent tarnish keep silver pieces away from water, steam (eg. bathroom) or other chemicals (for example I have a salt lamp next to my bed and my rings tarnish 2x as fast if they are next to it). Keep them in a air tight container in a dry dark spot, avoid stacking rings with stones as the stones/metals can scratch each other.

As I am only in the beginning of my jewellery making journey I am not confident enough in my skills to bring other people’s ideas to life just yet. However if you see a piece on my website you like and you would like something similar or different stones I am more than happy to oblige. Just go to the contact section of my website and fill out a custom form.

I unfortunately do not to refunds or returns.