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Ring sizing

To find your ring size, you can:

Ring sizing is a lot like shoe sizing — the most comfortable size will depend on style, material, and season. Remember that fingers can swell up in warm weather or after eating salty food! So it is normal for rings to feel slightly tighter or looser from one day to the next.

I like to buy the ring size that matches the middle finger of my non-dominant hand. It's the most versatile size for me — even if my ring size changes from day to day, I can still switch the ring to a different finger.

I am happy to include a ring sizer for free with any order. If you would like one, just let me know in the order notes.

 

How durable are dainty rings?

All rings are made from solid precious metals, alloyed specifically for use in daily wear :) This means that even the daintiest details are relatively quite strong, and should never break!

However, due to their size, these fine details do sometimes get caught on things, which can cause snags in sweaters or other knit fabrics. I recommend extra care during sweater season, especially with the Peony Ring and Songbird Ring.

There is also a small risk of the littlest details becoming bent if your ring has a bad run-in with something equally solid. This kind of thing usually only happens by accident, and not through daily activity. If you have any rings with a prong setting, those teeny prongs carry a similar risk of bending - this is a normal (and low) risk in fine jewellery! If any misfortune does happen, you can easily have the ring restored by myself or a local jeweller :)

As an example, I typically wear my rings during errands, cooking, or washing up. For safety - more for my hands than the rings themselves - I take my rings off when I'm working with tools, playing sports, or doing outdoor activities. I also take my rings off when I sleep to avoid scratching anyone!

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask away :)

 

What's the difference between solid gold, gold-fill, gold vermeil, and gold plating?

Solid gold

Pure gold (24 karat) is a natural resource with wonderful properties. When it is alloyed with other metals like silver or copper for use in jewellery, you get the different gold karats (22K, 14K, and so on). Solid gold jewellery usually refers to items made with these alloys, with 14K representing the midpoint of quality (52.5% pure gold alloyed with other metals). The alloy is important because it gives the metal strength and durability, reducing the likelihood of scratches or deformation to the jewellery over time. Under trade law, the lowest karat that can be sold under the term solid gold in Canada and the United Kingdom is 9 karat; in the United States it is 10 karat.

Gold Fill

14K gold-fill is a thin layer of 14 karat gold fused to a base metal, typically jeweller's brass. The fusing of the solid gold layer and brass base uses heat and pressure to change the molecular bonds between them, so the resulting material is pretty strong! Gold-fill holds up much better than gold plating (when scratched, gold plating can flake right off, but gold-fill will not). Gold-fill production is also regulated in the US, requiring a minimum percentage of pure gold in the final product.

Gold Vermeil and Gold Plating

What about gold vermeil and gold plating? Both use plating to create a layer of gold over a base metal. Gold vermeil refers to gold plating done over a base of sterling silver, and all other gold plating is essentially unregulated, with any amount of gold done over any type of base metal. Because the chemical bonds created during plating are relatively weak, gold plating is the most prone to becoming worn off in a short time.

Which material is best?

In terms of quality, the order is generally something like this:

  1. Solid gold
  2. Gold-fill
  3. Gold vermeil
  4. Gold plating

For you the wearer, the main difference is usually about whether your jewellery will tarnish or change colour with time.

While pure gold never ever tarnishes or changes colour, the alloys used for solid gold jewellery can develop tarnish over a long, long time (think 20+ years). In this case, the oxidation process that creates tarnish is happening to the silver/copper/other metal parts of the gold alloy. But nothing for you to worry about - solid gold is very easy to polish and have it looking like new! I would think of solid gold as something that works the best generationally: the inherent value and material integrity means that it can be kept and saved and continuously remade into something new.

Gold-fill holds up a lot better than gold plating, as plated metals can flake off the base; but unlike solid gold, gold-fill can still develop tarnish in due time (think, 1-5 years, depending on how you store and care for your jewellery). The gold outer layer can be polished just like regular solid gold, and should last a very long time with good care. I would say that gold-fill is a very good compromise between cost and quality!

Gold vermeil and gold plating have the widest range of quality. Being unregulated, some producers can offer a thicker plating over a better quality base, while others will sell the cheapest material they can find. As a material, I think gold plating really feeds into the cycle of fast fashion and disposability; the main reason I don't work with it is that it cannot be easily maintained. Once plating has worn away, it is very difficult to have it re-done; and with unknown quality/content of the base, it's rare to have the metal saved and made into something new. (Gold vermeil is slightly better, as it can be saved as silver scrap, though it is still not as durable as gold-fill).

 

Jewellery care

Please be gentle with your jewellery. The care guidelines here are extra-cautious: designed to help keep your jewellery in the best possible shape with minimal need for repairs or other maintenance.

Realistically, you can expect most jewellery to experience some amount of wear and tear over time. The good news is that precious metals are wonderfully resilient and take easily to polishing or other repairs.

 

Cleaning

You can clean your jewellery with a soft brush (like a makeup brush) and a bit of dish soap dissolved in water. Rinse thoroughly, then pat dry with a soft cloth.

Solid gold: For buffing away surface scratches and restoring a super shiny finish, I recommend adding a jeweller's Lustre Cloth to your order.

Gold-fill: For cleaning tarnish from the gold-filled findings used in my beaded jewellery (Tiny Flowers), you do not need to use the Lustre Cloth from my shop. (The compounds used for gold polishing cloths are too strong for gold-fill). Instead, my current favourite option are these polishing cloths from Muji, which are produced in Japan using the same process and quality of the Lustre Cloths!

 

Things to avoid

Avoid wearing jewellery at the swimming pool or while using cleaning chemicals. Chlorine and bleach are damaging to precious metals over time.

Avoid wearing rings while playing sports or doing physical work. This will keep your fingers safe and prevent the ring from being bent.

Avoid wearing beaded jewellery (Tiny Flowers) around water.

 

Pearls and opals

Pearls and opals are especially delicate because they are not actually stones (opals have a similar composition to glass). Put them on after perfumes, lotions, and other jewellery, to protect from discolouration and scratches.

 

Etsy

My work can also be found under NatalieHoJewellery on Etsy.

The main differences between ordering here vs. Etsy:

  • Pricing: Etsy prices are higher, as they include platform fees and other deductions that Etsy takes from each sale.
  • Sales tax: I am not required to collect sales tax through my website (based on Canadian small business regulations). Etsy collects sales tax on behalf of all sellers and remits these taxes to your local government. Note that sales tax is different from import tax.
  • Reviews: You can read public reviews by verified customers on my Etsy shop. I don't currently maintain a review system on this website, but you can always write to me with feedback!