Gemstones

We love gemstones here at Monty’s, and we’re passionate about hand-picking the best gems for our customers. All of our stones are ethically sourced, and come from beautiful locations around the globe.

So what is a gemstone technically? A gemstone is usually a precious or semi-precious piece of mineral crystal, however certain rocks (such as opal) and organic matter (such as pearl) are also used in jewellery and therefore classed as gemstones.

Gemstones are ranked by hardness using Moh’s Scale. Diamond is the hardest and scores a 10, whilst pearls score a 2.5.

What we truly love is the vibrant diversity of colours found in our natural gems, and range of textures and accents that make our gemstones unique.

Whilst we offer precious stones such as diamonds, sapphires, and rubies within our collection, we also offer a wide range of beautiful and affordable gemstones.

Metals

Sterling Silver

Silver is a beautiful and striking metal that has been used to create jewellery throughout the ages.

We love to use our Sterling Silver to showcase our beautiful gems, as well as using it for standalone jewellery such as earrings.

On a practical level, pure silver is too soft to use for jewellery and so is commonly combined with 7.5% by weight of other metals to create Sterling silver. Our Sterling silver is 92.5% purity.

Sterling silver retains the aesthetic of pure silver, whilst ensuring jewellery is more durable for daily wear. It can tarnish however, so it’s best to reference our ‘Jewellery Care’ guide to keep it looking new.

Vermeil

Vermeil is Sterling silver that has been plated with a layer of gold, striking a balance of quality and value when used to create jewellery. Industry standards state that the gold portion must be 10 carat or above, and we use 14 carat gold as standard at Monty’s.

Gold

Gold is inextricably linked with glamour, opulence and quality.

The warmth and depth of colour of gold acts as the perfect partner to our high-quality stones when creating one of a kind jewellery.

Like silver, pure gold is not ideal for jewellery making and is commonly mixed with other metals to increase it’s strength and durability. The mix of raw gold and other metals that make up the alloy is signified by the caratage number. 

For both our ready-to-wear and bespoke jewellery, we use 9 carat (375) and 18 carat (750) gold, which due to their strength are the optimal caratage for jewellery. We use single mine origin (SMO) gold which is ethically sourced. The five key themes of SMO gold are:

• Good corporate governance
• Progressive employment practices
• Strong health and safety procedures
• Committed environmental stewardship
• Responsible community engagement

We also often re-model our customers’ gold into bespoke jewellery, which is a great sustainable way to create a new piece.

Platinum

Platinum has been used since ancient times, and is the strongest of all metals used for jewellery.

Its strength and resistance to tarnishing make it a popular choice for wedding and engagement rings, and the ideal setting for diamonds and other gemstones. People also appreciate platinum for its qualitative, weighty feel.

Platinum is very commonly mixed with other metals, however platinum used in jewellery is usually of higher purity than gold. The platinum that we use is at least 95% purity.

Hallmarking

A hallmark:

• Is a set of component marks applied to articles of the precious metals gold, silver, platinum or palladium.
• Means that the article has been independently tested.
• Guarantees that it conforms to all legal standards of purity (fineness).
• Guarantees provenance by telling us where the piece was hallmarked, what the article is made from, and who sent the article for hallmarking. 

Assay Office Mark:

This mark tells you which Assay Office tested and hallmarked the article. 

The historic image of the leopard’s head, the town mark for London, and the mark of the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office, continues to be internationally recognised as the stamp of approval and guarantee of quality from the renowned home of hallmarking. 

The leopard’s head mark of London has been used by some of the finest craftsmen in history, on some of the most prestigious and celebrated works.