Anne V Massey
Forget-me-Knot Studs
Forget-me-Knot Studs
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These knot-shaped earrings give an anticlastic twist to a classic design. Whether in elegant silver or part-plated with yellow gold, these wearable sculptures would make a wonderful gift to mark a life milestone. "Dress up" for a special occasion and make a statement with these mirror-image studs, or celebrate tying the knot.
- Handmade from Britannia silver.
- Choose from two colour options, part plated with 24 carat yellow gold or all-over silver.
- Each stud measures about 1.4cm x 1.5cm.
- Each pair is subtly different due to the hand-making process.
- Secured by a Sterling silver butterfly.
These cleverly designed, graceful little earrings belong to the same range as my Forget-me-Knot brooch and Forget-me-Knot pendant. Because they are made by the process of anticlastic raising they feel very light in wear. You can wear them for any length of time without discomfort. Both classic colour-ways look good with any fabric, print or plain, bold or understated.
They can be cleaned by this simple method, which uses ordinary household items and avoids harsh chemicals, and moreover protects the satin-matte finish.
Free gift wrapping can be selected from the Cart. Just click on View my Cart; it will be under the list of pieces ordered.
Postage is free. Your order will be posted at no extra charge by Royal Mail Special Delivery (within the UK only). I am happy to ship outside the UK - I will pay the postage but the buyer will be responsible for any fees, duties or taxes which may be levied for delivery. My aim is to post in stock items within 5 working days. Made to order items take 2-4 weeks. I will send you the tracking number for the parcel. I am currently not posting to countries in the EU due to the complexity of the new rules.
If you have further questions or concerns, you can email me at info@annevmassey.com.
Care information
Care information
Silver tarnishes over time. Pieces which are gold plated all over (gold vermeil) may need cleaning every now and again; although gold does not tarnish, the silver underneath may. All my work is best cleaned by methods which do not involve rubbing, which causes the jewellery to lose its semi-matte finish and gradually makes it become shiny. My favourite involves using readily available household items - hot water and bicarbonate of soda with aluminium foil in a heatproof glass or ceramic bowl or a stainless steel vessel. Even better, it's sustainable! You can re-use old foil - repeatedly! - but it needs to be clean. You can clean more than one piece of jewellery at a time, but as this is an electrochemical process each piece needs to be in contact with the foil. It doesn't matter which way up the foil is. The hotter the water, the faster the reaction goes. Enough bicarb should be used to cover each piece. This won’t damage the gold plating on wholly- or part-plated pieces, but boiling water should never be poured directly onto pieces which incorporate stones; some stones can be damaged or even destroyed by thermal shock. You can use hand-hot water in this case, or - more effectively - bring the piece(s) up to boil from cold in a stainless steel saucepan. There are many versions of this technique available on the internet, and also many sites which have information about stones and their vulnerability/resistance to thermal shock.
The first two images show a pendant before and after cleaning by this method. 
The next series of images shows a more heavily tarnished brooch. The images are taken at 20 minute intervals. As you can see, the brooch never becomes as clean and bright as the example above.
This technique works best if the piece is not too heavily tarnished.
Storing your jewellery properly can help retard or prevent tarnishing. Direct sunlight, humidity, chlorine and hairspray all accelerate tarnishing. Storing the jewellery in a box in a dry room (not the bathroom, for example) will help keep it looking bright and fresh. The jewellery should not be worn to a swimming pool, and hairspray should be applied before putting jewellery on. Salt (including from perspiration) can also react with silver, so it should not be worn for swimming in the sea.
If you don’t mind losing the surface “bloom”, you can use a commercially available cleaner such as Goddard’s foaming paste, or even toothpaste, with a soft toothbrush.
Much of this information is taken from Masamitsu Inaba's article Tarnishing of Silver: A Short Review in the Victoria and Albert Museum's Conservation Journal, January 1996 Issue 18. Many thanks.
