Author: Corinne

Make Mother’s Day her favourite day of the year with A Silver Circle Design! Few of us know the origins of this holiday, but the concept began in ancient Greece and Rome with festivals for mother goddesses. The holiday then became associated with the Catholic Church and the dedication to Mother Mary. Although the holiday is now commercialised, it’s an important reminder to appreciate and thank our mothers.

Whether your mum loves Elegant, Earthy, Funky or Quirky designs we’ve got her covered!

For the Elegant Mother who loves sleek lines and simple structures we recommend choosing a classic piece from our Domed or Textured Collections.

The Domed Patterned Earrings Medium ($90) are a great way to express simple elegance. The discs feature roller imprinted patterns, which catch the light bringing depth to the patterns and reflect a lustrous shine.

The Textured Small Pendant ($70) is another good option which uses a simple circle form to enhance the unique pattern created through the processes of reticulation. This process melts the top surface of the silver to create interesting bumps and lines that vary in severity and pattern every time. This piece is excellent for everyday wear.

We recommend clean lines and warm tones for the Earthy Mum. Something from the Branch or Gold Reversible Collections would be perfect for a free-spirited mum who loves expressing herself with elegant natural pieces.

The Branch Earrings ($140) combine simplicity, warmth and texture. These earrings feature beautiful Red Gum branches that have a slight red colour over the dark brown base. These earrings are perfect for a mum that loves nature.

The Large Round Reversible Pendant ($100) represents unified balance through its circular shape and is made from a bonded metal which is one side Sterling Silver and one side 18ct Yellow Gold. The mix of these metals mean that the pendant is reversible and able to have gold one day, silver the next depending on your outfit.

For the Funky Mum, we recommend vibrant colourful pieces. Help her add a pop of colour to her outfits with something from our Resin Collection or the Stone Bar Necklace.

The Resin Round Drop Earrings ($70) are perfect for adding some colour to any outfit. Made of solid sterling silver, these earrings feature a domed circular shape filled with a clear resin set with crumpled metal leaf giving a beautiful depth and shine to the piece. The earrings use Copper, Silver or Gold leaf in clear resin or covered with a vibrant translucent colour.

The Stone Bar Necklace is effortless elegance ($45). With a simple design and ultrafine closed cable chain, this necklace can be easily integrated into any jewellery collection or look. There are six options available, which can be worn together or own their own. Choose mum’s favourite colour from Amazonite, Amethyst, Aquamarine, Citrine, Pearl, Red Carnelian.

For the Quirky Mum, we recommend checking out our Miniatures and Figurine Collection for the perfect piece to suit her style. Both collections play with scale, which creates an elegant but interesting look.

The Chair Pendant ($300), which is made of solid sterling silver, is both a piece of sculpture and jewellery. The simple elements and clean lines make it a timeless piece. Designed to hang from the top left corner, this piece sits flat against the body, but on a slight angle.

The Oval Earrings with Figure ($165) are a playful addition to any outfit for a guaranteed talking piece. Made of solid sterling silver, these earrings feature small figurines within a larger oval shape.

These are just a few suggestions but feel free to browse the site for some other great gift options for your mum. No matter what kind of mum you have, we hope that she has an amazing Mother’s Day!

We all know that it can sometimes be hard to keep your jewellery in top condition. We’ve decided to help by providing you with some options to clean your pieces. We recommend several methods to preserve the finish of your jewellery – a silver cloth, silver dip, avoiding heat and properly storing items.

Silver Cloth is a fabric used to prevent tarnish on sterling silver items. Tarnish usually occurs when compounds in the atmosphere chemically react with the silver while jewellery items are in storage. The cloth is imprinted with jeweller’s rouge – a fine polishing compound – and is safe to use on all items. You can even use a silver cloth to polish chains. The best way to use a silver cloth is to gently rub the piece of jewellery on the cloth using circular motions until the tarnish comes off. Don’t worry if your silver cloth starts to discolour – it will continue to work until it is torn apart from wear. Make sure you don’t wash them though as this can cause the cleaning compound to be washed off the fabric!

Some places to find a silver cloth would be a jewellery store like Prouds, or less effective versions may be found at supermarkets like Woolworths.

Silver Dip Some silver items are more difficult to clean and polish with a silver cloth because of their unique shapes or sizes. For those items, and chains, it’s easiest to use silver dip. This process takes less than five minutes but is sure to make a huge different to the finish of your jewellery. To clean your items, you start by dipping or swabbing them with silver dip, rinse with soapy water and then dry with a soft cloth to regain the shine. Make sure to wash your hands thoroughly after use. To get an even better shine, use your silver cloth immediately after using silver dip.

Some places to find a silver cloth would be a jewellery supplier or store like Prouds.

Avoiding Heat is most important for your resin pieces, like our Resin Pendants and Studs. Sunlight/heat over 40oC can cause the resin to expand and warp so make sure to keep the resin away from the heat to avoid damage.

Storage While it’s fine to store items that are regularly used in open containers for ease, it’s best to store special occasion items that aren’t worn often in closed containers. When you touch your jewellery the oil in your skin transfers to the items and can cause them to tarnish by reacting with the copper in sterling silver. Keep your items in a fabric-lined jewellery case to avoid tarnish from unnecessary touching of pieces and prevent scratches.

These methods can take a matter of minutes but will make a huge difference to the look of your items. We hope that you find some success in restoring the shine and colour of your pieces!

Now you can showcase your love for texture even more as we have added to the Domed Patterned Collection. Expanding on the range of simple and elegant earrings in Studs and Medium or Long drop earrings. We have introduced rings, cufflinks and pendants in the four patterns of matte, lace, mesh and thread.

Exploring how different textures work on metal, we produce the collection using varying fabrics and papers to create interest and depth. Firstly the process begins when a small sheet of metal is taken and putting it through two heavy rollers we imprint the different textures onto the metal. Next the circle shape is cut out to form a small disc. Now we create the domed shape using a dapping block and punches the patterned metal is formed into the unique dome. The flat circle is placed into the block and using the punches and a hammer the rounded end of the punch forces the disc into a dome shape. Creating a dome helps in reflecting the light off the already light-catching pattern. Now the the dome is ready to be soldered to either a band for a ring or created into a necklace.

Each pattern in the collection is unique and no two products will be the same. Our matte finish is the more subtle texture in the range. When the metal is rolled with paper it creates a fine dimpled effect that is more delicate and smooth than our other patterns. Also a more intricate finish is the lace pattern, the fabric produces a small geometric effect on the metal that creates contrast between the lines where the lace was and the smooth shine of the unaffected metal. The thread finish is similar to the lace but a bolder pattern, the thread produces deeper lines and a more random assortment of larger shapes. Finally the mesh pattern beautifully reflects light through each tiny organised square of the finish.

In order to offset the fine and intriguing patterns of this collection our new items are designed to highlight the textured domes. Our mens cufflink stands out as the dome shape allows it to sit out away from the shirt cuff, creating an interesting gap of space that is unlike any other cufflink we produce. The necklace features the patterned dome suspended on a small silver link chain.While our new rings support the domes on a simple, straight silver band. Both the necklace and rings are perfect for layering and stacking with our other jewellery. Wear them by themselves or pair the Domed Patterned Ring with either the Plain or Twisted Ring for more contrast in texture and shape.