Marcasite Silver Jewellery Today

Marcasite silver jewellery: silver and gemstone rings, sterling silver earrings, bracelets and pendants are some of the hottest fashion accessories today! Marcasite silver jewellery is enjoying an unprecedented popularity with today's fashion conscious public. Marcasite silver jewellery complements fashionable clothing due to the way it sparkles and shines and catches natural and artificial light so beautifully.

Marcasite is a metallic pale yellow / brass colour mineral and is traditionally set in Sterling (925) Silver creating beautiful, classic jewellery. Cleopatra was known for wearing Marcasite and believed it helped preserve her beauty. Queen Victoria wore Marcasite rather than diamonds for over forty years. Marie Antoinette also showed a strong preference for Marcasite. Marcasite has again risen in popularity in recent years due to its` endearing beauty and stunning value for money.

Silver has been used since ancient times for jewellery making, but has not survived as well as ancient gold because it tarnished and decomposes. There have been times, however, when silver was "in"; we are going through such a vogue today.

Silver is the most common of the precious metals. Fine silver is pure silver, which is seldom used for jewellery because it is too soft. Sterling silver is 925 parts silver to 75 of copper, the alloy most often used. Silver weighs about half as much as gold, has greater flexibility, but is not as malleable, it has always been less expensive as well. A comparable piece of gold jewellery might cost four or five times that of a piece of sterling silver jewellery.

The current fashion trend toward black clothing has made silver jewellery more popular than ever. Silver likes to be worn; it stays cleaner & shinier through movement and friction. So sterling silver is a perfect accessory for today's fast paced lifestyles. Much like gold, sterling silver needs to be cleaned.

Care and Cleaning of your Marcasite Silver Jewellery

1.) For daily cleaning it is recommended to use a simple jewellery polishing cloth that is impregnated with special jewellery cleaner. These are widely available and are very easy to use. Store your cloth in a plastic zip-lock bag, and keeping your jewellery drawer or armoire. It is a good idea to have one cleaning cloth for gold and one for silver.

2.) For a slightly more "in-depth" cleaning you may want to use warm soapy water and a clean cotton cloth - ensuring that you very thoroughly dry the piece after cleaning (as moisture will promote tarnishing).

3.) For cleaning badly tarnished silver, here's a neat little trick we use at QT Silver - (i) Use a soft brushed toothbrush with warm water and some standard toothpaste and very gently brush the piece.

(ii) Rinse the piece thoroughly with clean water.

(iii) Dry the piece thoroughly and polish with a cotton cloth.

Here are Some Tips for Greater Enjoyment of your Marcasite Silver Jewellery

1.) Are your silver chains all tied-up in knots? If so, here's a nifty little trick for straightening them out. Dust your chain with a little talcum powder and then try to unknot it. If the knot is stubborn, place a small drop of baby oil on a sheet of wax paper. Lay the knot in the oil and work it out with two pins; then clean the chain as instructed below.

2.) Always apply make-up, perfumes, oils or colognes before you put on your jewellery.

3.) Store your jewellery in a dark and dry place, as both light and moisture can hasten tarnishing.

Hope you have enjoyed this brief piece and has perhaps encouraged those unfamiliar with marcasite jewellery to search some out a good place is at my own website

http://www.qtsilver.com

Some examples of Marcasite Designs

Been extremely busy adding new items to my website so have had little time to update my blog (not to mention 3 kids off school for the summer hols!).

Some of the designs are marcasite equivalents of some timeless classics - such as the hoops pictured above.

Some are a little more unusual and are designs inspired from period jewellery of the Victorian, Edwardian and also the Art Deco periods. Some examples are shown below;

Hope people like the pics - comments welcome and feel free to check out our extensive range of marcasite jewellery at http://www.qtsilver.com

Cleaning Marcasite Jewellery

Marcasite Jewellery should only be cleaned with a mild soap and water solution, and then wiped gently with a soft cloth (preferably cotton). To keep the naturally dark areas, be sure to clean it gently. This type of cleaning solution will be fine on whatever stones the jewellery has set within it.

Marcasite definition - the mineral Marcasite is a grey*, lustrous mineral, a sulphide of iron resembling pyrite or common iron pyrites in composition, but differing in form. (* The colour of marcasite ranges from dark grey to almost black regularly with sparks of yellow or gold throughout the stone. As with all natural stones, the colour can vary somewhat.)

What’s in vogue now, as far as silver and marcasite are concerned, is “the vintage” look. Turn of the century to the early 30’s inspired designs mixed with 21st century freshness. It’s a fun and nostalgic blend. Look for it on all fashion divas everywhere!

Take a look at http://www.qtsilver.com/ for lots more items with a 1930's "Vintage" feel/style.

Marcasite Jewellery

Started this blog as the weather is shocking and I was at a loose end.

My blog is going to largely centre around marcasite jewellery - it's history, development of designs over history, etc. etc.

My interest stems from actually selling silver marcasite jewellery myself - through my Ebay shop - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/QT-Silver and more recently through my own website http://www.qtsilver.com/

- would be more than happy to here any comments people have on my site if they get the chance to take a look.

Now I have declared my self-interest I will, for today, just provide some very basic details about actually what marcasite is:

Marcasite is a metallic pale yellow / brass colour mineral and is traditionally set in Stirling Silver creating beautiful, classic jewellery. Cleopatra was known for wearing Marcasite and believed it helped preserve her beauty.Queen Victoria wore Marcasite rather than diamonds for over forty years.Marie Antoinette also showed a strong preference for Marcasite. Marcasite has again risen in popularity in recent years due to its` endearing beauty and stunning value for money.

For a more technical and detailed definition check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcasite

- always a good source of info - although not 100% reliable on some subjects I have found.