Category: Buying

Trinket File guides to buying jewellery: construction checks, sizing, earring comfort and what survives daily wear before you spend.

Plain bands worn on two hands resting on white linen

Everyday Jewellery: What Survives Daily Wear

The jewellery that survives daily wear is not the most expensive jewellery. It is the jewellery with enough metal in the right places. Two pieces can carry the same hallmark and the same price, and on

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A stud earring with its butterfly back in close up

Earrings: Metals, Backs and Everyday Comfort

An earring is chosen in a mirror, in seconds, and then worn for ten hours at a time. The judgement made in the mirror concerns how the piece looks from the front. The parts that decide whether it is c

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Three slim gold rings with sapphires lined up on a white surface

Ring Sizing and Fit: Getting It Right First Time

A ring size is treated as a fixed property of a finger, like a shoe size with a number attached. Fingers do not hold a size. They swell in heat and after exertion, thin in the cold, and change over ye

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Hands forming silver links over a bench with pliers and a blowtorch

How to Check Jewellery Construction Before You Buy

Most of the attention in a jewellery purchase goes to what a piece looks like from arm's length. That is the part the maker has designed for. The part that decides whether the piece still looks right

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