Discover, learn, and collect: antiques and jewellery secrets revealed.

From family traditions to long-standing assumptions, jewellery has gathered plenty of myths over the years. Some are harmless, but others can actually lead to damaged pieces, poor buying decisions, or missed opportunities. Today, we’re clearing up five of the most common jewellery myths — and revealing the truth behind them.

Myth 1: “Gold Never Tarnishes”

Pure gold doesn’t tarnish, but almost no jewellery is made from pure 24ct gold — it’s far too soft. Most gold jewellery is mixed with metals like silver, copper, or zinc to make it durable. These alloys can tarnish over time, especially when exposed to sweat, perfumes, or lotions. A gentle clean usually brings back the shine.

Myth 2: “Diamonds Are Indestructible”

Diamonds are incredibly hard, but they’re not unbreakable. A strong impact in just the wrong place can chip or crack them, especially around the edges. It’s why jewellers always recommend a secure setting and regular check-ups to keep prongs tight and the stone safe.

Myth 3: “You Should Store All Jewellery Together”

Mixing pieces can lead to scratches, tangles, and chipped gemstones. Diamonds are especially risky — they can scratch almost anything they touch. Storing jewellery in separate compartments, pouches, or soft-lined boxes keeps everything in beautiful condition.

Myth 4: “Silver Turns Black Because It’s Low Quality”

Sterling silver naturally reacts with oxygen and sulphur in the air — it’s a normal process called tarnishing, not a sign of poor quality. In fact, tarnish is easy to remove with a polishing cloth. Wearing silver regularly actually helps prevent it from darkening.

Myth 5: “Vintage Jewellery Is Fragile and Shouldn’t Be Worn”

This one couldn’t be further from the truth. Many vintage and antique pieces were made with exceptional craftsmanship designed to last lifetimes. With proper care, they can be worn daily. The key is to treat them with respect, store them safely, and give them an occasional check-up — the same way you would with modern jewellery.

Busting Myths for Better Jewellery Care

Understanding the truth behind these common misconceptions helps you enjoy your jewellery more confidently. Whether it’s vintage, antique, or modern, a little knowledge goes a long way in keeping your pieces shining and cherished for years to come.

Birthstones are not only beautiful gemstones—they carry history, symbolism, and personal meaning. Each month has a designated stone (or stones) believed to bring good luck, health, and prosperity to the wearer.

Why Birthstones Matter

Whether for gifts, engagement rings, or personal collection, knowing your birthstone adds meaning to your jewellery. Collectors also appreciate birthstones for their rarity, color, and quality.

Birthstone Chart

Quick reference to all 12 birthstones, their months, and colors:

Choosing the Right Birthstone

When buying jewellery as a gift or for yourself, consider:

• Color & Aesthetics: Each stone has a unique hue—choose what appeals most.
• Durability: Some stones, like diamonds, are very hard, while others, like pearls, require gentle care.
• Meaning & Tradition: Many people select stones based on the month, zodiac, or symbolic significance.

Whether as a gift, collectible, or meaningful adornment, birthstones add a personal touch to your jewellery collection.

Jewellery has fascinated humanity for thousands of years. Long before it symbolised wealth or status, it held emotional, cultural, and even spiritual significance. But why are we so irresistibly drawn to sparkle? Why does a gemstone catch our eye in a way almost nothing else can?

From psychology and evolution to storytelling and self-expression, here’s what makes jewellery such a universal obsession.

1. We’re Hardwired to Notice Sparkle

Studies show that humans naturally notice shine and reflections. This instinct may come from our evolutionary need to find fresh water, which often sparkles in the light. It’s a subconscious attraction — our brains react to shimmer long before we process why we’re drawn to it.

This is why diamonds, polished metals, and faceted gems catch attention instantly. Sparkle feels “alive” to us — and our brains love things that appear to move or glow.

2. Jewellery Helps Us Express Identity

Jewellery is one of the most personal forms of self-expression. Whether it’s bold, minimal, colourful, or antique, what we choose to wear communicates our personality before we even speak.

• Sentimental wearers choose pieces with emotional stories
• Bold wearers use jewellery to make a statement
• Vintage lovers appreciate history and craftsmanship
• Minimalists express elegance through simplicity

Jewellery lets us curate how we wish to be seen — sometimes even how we feel inside.

3. Sparkle Represents Status and Achievement

Throughout history, jewellery has been used to represent power, wealth, and social position. Crowns, royal regalia, and gemstone-encrusted clothing all served one purpose: to shine brightly enough to signal importance.

Even today, engagement rings, gold chains, and heirloom pieces carry similar symbolism — not just beauty, but meaning.

4. Emotional Connection: Jewellery as Memory

One of the most powerful reasons we love jewellery? It holds our memories.

Heirlooms passed down generations, lockets containing tiny treasures, wedding rings worn daily — jewellery becomes part of our personal story. The sparkle isn’t just visual; it’s emotional. It reminds us of people, moments, and milestones.

5. The Feel-Good Factor

Jewellery doesn’t just look good — it makes us feel good. Wearing something that sparkles can boost confidence, elevate mood, and make everyday outfits feel special.

Putting on jewellery is a small ritual that signals self-care, celebration, or even empowerment. Sparkle is uplifting — it’s no coincidence we associate it with joy, love, and luxury.

6. We Love Beauty — and Jewellery Is Miniature Art

From antique pieces handcrafted centuries ago to modern designs, jewellery is wearable art. The precision, detail, and craftsmanship reflect human creativity at its finest.

People are drawn to beauty, and jewellery offers beauty in its purest, closest form — something you can admire, hold, and keep forever.

Conclusion

Our love for sparkle goes deeper than aesthetics. It’s instinctive, emotional, cultural, and personal. Jewellery connects us to our history, expresses who we are today, and becomes part of the memories we’ll cherish tomorrow.

No matter the era, no matter the style — the human attraction to sparkle isn’t going anywhere.

Jewellery does more than accessorise — it captures a moment. Over the last 100 years each decade introduced distinct tastes, technologies, and cultural influences that shaped how people wore and valued jewellery. Below we walk through the defining trends of each era and why they still matter today.

1920s — Art Deco Glamour

The 1920s ushered in clean lines, geometric shapes, and confident modernity. Platinum and diamonds were used to create striking contrasts and precise forms.

• Platinum settings & bold geometry
• Onyx, emerald and sapphire contrasts
• Long sautoirs and decorative brooches

1930s — Romantic Revival & White Metals

Designs softened in the 1930s with more floral motifs and filigree. White gold emerged as an accessible alternative to platinum.

1940s — Bold Retro Jewellery

Material shortages and changing tastes brought chunky, sculptural pieces and a warmth of gold tones.

• Large cocktail rings
• Rose and yellow gold
• Synthetic stones and dramatic silhouettes

1950s — Hollywood Diamonds & Mid-Century Elegance

Post-war glamour fuelled diamond clusters and elegant parures — think pearls, coordinated sets and classic silhouettes inspired by film stars.

1960s — Space Age & Bohemian Divergence

The 60s delivered two main currents: futuristic minimalist metalwork and relaxed bohemian styles featuring natural stones and long, flowing designs.

1970s — Gold Chains & Organic Shapes

Seventies jewellery embraced warmth and presence: chunky chains, tiger’s eye, amber, and freeform designs became everyday staples.

1980s — Maximalism & Statement Glam

Big, bold and unapologetic — oversized earrings, layered necklaces and colourful, costume pieces ruled the decade.

1990s — Minimalist Chic

The 90s pared things back: thin chains, small solitaire pendants and a focus on understated elegance that still influences current minimal jewellery trends.

2000s — Y2K Sparkle

Early millennium kitsch and glamour brought rhinestones, nameplates and playful, trend-driven jewellery back into youth culture.

2010s — Personalisation & Dainty Stacking

Rose gold, initial necklaces, birthstones and stacking rings made jewellery personal and mix-and-match friendly.

2020s — Sustainable, Vintage-Forward & Maximalist Revival

Today’s jewellery scene blends nostalgia with modern values: recycled metals, vintage shopping, and the resurgence of chunky 70s/80s-inspired pieces sit alongside fine minimalism.

Decade Highlights Gallery

A visual snapshot of the trends above — replace these placeholders with your own images sized to 600×600px for a consistent grid look.

Why These Trends Keep Returning

Trends reappear because they speak to cultural shifts: economic conditions, celebrity influence, technological advances and a collective desire for identity. Designers remix the past with present-day values — whether that’s sustainability, individuality, or a fresh take on glamour.

How to Wear These Trends Today

Mix and match: pair a single bold retro piece with delicate modern layers, or combine heirloom items with contemporary designs. The best looks are personal — they borrow from history but feel authentic to you.

Conclusion

From the geometry of Art Deco to the personalised stacks of the 2010s and the sustainable vintage revival of today, the last 100 years of jewellery show an endlessly creative, cyclical story. Whether you’re a collector, a seller, or simply an admirer, knowing these trends helps you spot great pieces and wear them with confidence.

Every collector has a story, but few are as wonderfully ridiculous as The Great Victorian Spoon Heist. In the late 1800s, households, tea rooms, hotels and even railway eateries kept reporting missing teaspoons. Not jewellery, not paintings — teaspoons. Theories ran wild, newspapers churned out breathless columns, and people started to suspect everything from thieves in bowler hats to supernatural spoon goblins.

A Crime Wave Nobody Saw Coming

Tea was central to Victorian life. With several pots brewed a day in many homes, teaspoons were constantly in circulation. Which is why it caused such a stir when they began disappearing in large numbers. At first, suspects included:

• Tea-obsessed burglars — why not, if you liked teaspoons?
• Servants selling spoons on the sly
• A national shortage (panic-buying, anyone?)
• A spoon-eating ghost — genuinely suggested in at least one small local paper

Meet Britain’s Most Unlikely Criminal: The Magpie

The true explanation turned out to be far less human and far more avian. Magpies — irresistibly attracted to shiny objects — had taken to swooping down and carrying off teaspoons from windowsills, garden tables, and open kitchens. One paper cheerfully reported that magpies were “building entire mansions of stolen cutlery.”

The Government Steps In (Yes, Really)

By the 1880s the problem had become widespread enough that an inquiry was commissioned to study losses of silver items. Officials noted teaspoons disappeared at an astonishing rate — far more often than other small silver objects. The image of clerks compiling spoon-loss statistics is, frankly, heartwarming.

Victorian Countermeasures

Victorians reacted with a mixture of practical invention and comic ingenuity:

• Chaining teaspoons to trays — a surprisingly sensible deterrent
• Swapping to wood or pewter for outdoor tea service
• Stamping spoons with big hallmarks so they’d be less tempting
• Closing windows while stirring — to outsmart winged thieves

A Collector’s Delight: The “Magpie Survivors”

All this spoon-chicanery had an unexpected upside for modern collectors. Because so many spoons were lost or repurposed, surviving intact Victorian teaspoons are relatively scarce and often labelled (with a smile) as “magpie survivors.” They’re charming, historically intriguing, and a great conversation piece at any antique fair.

Why We Love This Story

It’s absurd, charming and utterly human. The Great Victorian Spoon Heist is a reminder that history isn’t only grand politics and wars — it’s also small domestic dramas, funny mishaps, and the odd magpie with a taste for silver. The story is perfect for antiques lovers because it blends social history, material culture, and humour in equal measure.

Want to Share Your Own Ridiculous Antique Tale?

We’d love to hear it. Whether it’s a piece with a ghostly provenance, an item rescued from a bin, or something a bird once tried to make a nest out of — send us a photo and a short note. We’ll feature the best (and funniest) stories on the blog.