Yowah Natural Opal Sterling Silver Pendant

Our Yowah Nut Opals come from Brandy Gulley mine, which is one of the few mines left operating in Yowah, thus this material is becoming very rare. Our friend Avon has a lease on this land but when the material is gone, it's gone! Swirls of opal with great fire or colour and swirls of potch opal banding are intertwined with Hematite (dark brown), Iron Ore (Burgundy) and Ironstone (Brown, or Brandy, in colour - hence the mine name!). These days seeing as there is not much material to be found, the old mining workings are being dug up using an excavator to find what material was left or not noticed by days-gone-by miners.

Why do silversmiths use 925%? Measured in parts per thousand, pure silver (999%) is too soft so silversmiths mix it with other metals to make it it harder. The purer the metal, the higher the polish, but it is a lot softer (thus less durable). The harder the metal is, the more hard wearing the jewellery is, but it will also tarnish easier as it has less silver content. Therefore, the silver industry set a standard percentage content for fine silver (925); what we know as "sterling silver". At Two Skies our silversmiths use 925 (sterling) silver for ring shafts and moving parts, and a very high 950% on our stones settings, which enables us to get a strong jewellery item with a beautiful and secure stone setting, without any gluing. Each piece of our jewellery is hand stamped with our Two Skies Hallmark alongside the recognised industry 925 Hallmark.

Relax - you can shop with confidence at Two Skies.  If you change your mind, simply get in touch to let us know you want to return one or all of your items within 7 days of receiving your order, and we'll get a replacement/refund arranged - no quibbles!