Our materials
These armed factions mine the rough diamonds using child labour, and then sell them illegally using the proceeds to fund their illegal military action. This in turn prolongs the wars within these countries, kills millions of civilians and keeps the arms dealers in business.
Diamonds also now carry a fifth C along with the traditional 4 of carat, colour, clarity and cut.
The fifth of Clean will guarantee that the stone is not a conflict diamond.
Links of London
As responsible jewellery retailers, we share the public's concern regarding conflict diamonds. We only purchase our diamonds through respected, well-established, legal channels therefore all diamonds used in Links Of London jewellery are certified and traceable.
All Links of London Sterling Silver is made using an alloy of copper and other base metals. There are 925 parts out of a thousand and 75 parts other metals including copper. All our silver is hand polished. Once exposed to the atmosphere, all silver is prone to oxidation and consequent tarnishing. When this occurs we recommend gentle rubbing with a non abrasive polishing cloth, to renew the original brilliance of the surface – heavier discolouration should be removed using specialist polish or dip except where there are materials that would be damaged by the solution, such as pearls, where silver would have to be cleaned using a silver polish and cloth only. Contact with perfumes, hairspray, chlorinated or salt water and household cleaning products should be avoided. NEVER keep loose pieces together – they will scratch as they contact each other.
Links of London gold jewellery is all 18 carat. This means that 750 parts out of a thousand are gold and 250 parts are alloy, hence the hallmark for 18ct gold is 750. Alloying gold allows specific characteristics to be achieved, most commonly required being hardness or colour variations such as rose or white. Due to the properties of alloys, gold is liable to tarnish. Tarnishing is caused by many substances, more commonly by perfume, aftershave, fluoride in the water or even the acidity in your skin. To keep gold jewellery lustrous and shiny, we recommend that you clean it with a soft Links of London jewellery polishing cloth.
Hallmarks
The Hallmarks of Great Britain have been in use as a form of consumer protection since 1300 AD.
Each of the four customary hallmarks serves a different purpose; to guarantee that the piece is pure, to identify the maker, and to record the year and place of manufacture.
Before the marks are applied, the material must be 'assayed'. or checked for purity, by one of the four UK Assay Offices. All Links of London silver and gold carries the British hallmark - a guarantee of quality for over 700 years.
All metals must be hallmarked and there are 3 compulsory marks:-
The Sponsor’s mark shows who sent the item for testing. For Links of London the hallmark is always LL.
The Standard mark shows the standard fineness of precious metal. For silver it is 925 and for gold it is 750.
And the Assay Office Mark which shows which Assay Office has tested the item.
There are four assay offices in the UK and each bear a different mark. When this is applied to the object it shows that the metal has been tested and where it was tested. The hallmark will also help track the object back in history so antiques can be properly verified.
Since 1478, the hallmark has included a distinctive date letter indicating the year of hallmarking. The date mark is a Letter, lower case or Capital in a shield or box.
The final mark is the Fineness symbol. This is a traditional symbol denoting the fineness of the metal. It is a lion for silver and a crown for gold.
Links of London Diamonds and Precious stones
All Links of London diamonds and precious stones are hand selected for purity and colour. For our jewellery we use GVS1 diamonds which are described as “fine white” in appearance and HIS1 diamonds which are described as “white” in appearance.
Stone set jewellery requires extra care and consideration during wearing. We advise against wearing it when in contact with extreme temperatures and rugged services.
Stones may become loose over time and we recommend periodic examinations to assess the security of settings.
Gentle cleaning is recommended with non-abrasive jewellery cleaner and we advise against ultrasonic cleaning. To clean diamond jewellery, we recommend gentle brushing with a mild solution of one part ammonia to six parts water