Nikki Stark Jewellery

News

Moissanite, a diamond substitute

Moissanite is a synthetic diamond substitute which has recently started to become more popular in the jewellery market.                                                                              ...

February's Birthstone - Amethyst

February's birthstone amethyst is a variety of quartz, as are an awful lot of things. It comes in various shades of purple and violet from very pale to dark. I have occasionally seen a very pale a...

Gemstones for beginners - Cabochons

A few months ago I wrote a post on faceted gemstones, and this month I am following up with a couple of facts about cabochons. The name comes from a middle French word for head, and refers to a st...

Anatomy of a ring

January's birthstone - Garnet

Garnet, the birthstone for January, can sometimes be seen just as a cheap substitute for Ruby, but it's a really beautiful stone in it's own right. The name comes from a middle English work for ...

Happy New Year! - Recent Rings

I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year break. This poor blog has suffered horribly through the mad rush that was December. I though I would share a few of the commissions I sent o...

December's birthstone - Turquoise

Turquoise is the birthstone for December. It is the oldest precious stone having first been set into jewellery 7,000 years ago. The Aztecs and Incas believed it could bring good fortune, and it is ...

November's Birthstone - Topaz and Citrine

November babies have a choice of 2 birthstones, Topaz or Citrine.  The name topaz comes from the Greek name for St John's Island in the Red Sea where an orange stone was mined. In the middle ages ...

Giveaway Time! - Win a £100 gift voucher

To celebrate the fact that I now offer gift vouchers I am giving away a £100 voucher! Good Luck Everyone!  a Rafflecopter giveaway To purchase a gift voucher follow this link....

Sample Sale

       There are around 60 items available at big discounts in my sample sale!                                   Request access here to have a browse                                            ...

October's birthstones - Opal and Tourmaline

October babies are particularly lucky when it comes to birthstones. Not only do they have two to choose from, tourmaline or opal, but tourmaline comes in a wonderful range of colours Opals are a ve...

Hello October

It's certainly Autumn this week, the air has that lovely fresh feel. In typical back to school style I have treated myself to a new diary from Kate Spade at John Lewis in an attempt to feel organi...

Sterling Silver - a brief introduction

This weeks blog has a couple of facts about silver. Most of the silver jewellery sold in the UK is sterling silver. This is 92.5% pure silver, with the rest being made up of copper. The copper adds...

September's Birthstone - Sapphire

September’s birthstone is the Sapphire. Sapphires are of course one of the world's most precious stones, the most expensive examples being beautiful blue stones from Kashmir.  Sapphires come in all...

The 5 key decisions to choose your wedding band

When discussing wedding rings I very often hear the phrase 'I just want something simple'. No stones? No unusual shapes? No radical materials? No problem, there are just 5 key decisions you still n...

Wedding rings

Here are a few of my recent wedding rings from this summer.  This 18ct yellow gold ring is a hand shaped court band, with a soft curve added by hand to the inside of a piece of 'D' shaped wire. Thi...

August's Birthstone - Peridot

Peridot, the birthstone for August is one of very few gems only to appear in one colour, green. The intensity can vary and the most valuable stones are a dark olive green. It used to be mistaken o...

One Day Designers Sale

On Thursday this week I'll be at Craft Central for the One Day Designers Sale with a selection of sparkly things at some reduced prices! Here is a sneak previous of a few of the pieces I will have...

Gemstones for beginners - Facets

Following on from my introduction to gemstones, here is a little information on cutting. On a basic level stones are generally either cut with facets, or into cabochons, which have a flat back and ...

July's Birthstone - Ruby

July's birthstone, Ruby is one of the traditional precious gemstones alongside sapphire and emerald. Rubies are technically the same as sapphires, all other colours of this specific mineral are kno...