Frequently Asked Questions

Processing Times

I aim to produce and ship all made to order items within 2 weeks of the order being placed (see below for custom orders and hallmarked items), however this may increase during busy periods. Any ready to ship items will be sent out within 2 days.

Standard postage is £4.50 for Royal Mail 1st Class (free on all orders over £75), upgrades to Tracked24 (£5.00) and Special Delivery (£8.50) are available at checkout. Orders containing 3 or more items may be sent via courier.

Custom or Personalised Orders

As all items are made to order (unless otherwise stated), custom or personalised orders are definitely welcome!

If you'd just like a small change to an existing design (for example, a hammered ring band instead of plain), or for items that state they can be personalised, feel free to leave a message at checkout with the changes/personalisation that you would like!

For more complex changes or completely bespoke pieces, just send me a message with your ideas/requirements using the Request Custom Order form and we can go from there. Please note these orders may take longer to prepare due to extra time needed to design, source materials, etc.

Sizing Details

I try to list all sizing details in my item descriptions (stone sizes, ring band thickness, etc.), however if you were looking for something slightly different just send me a message using the Request Custom Order form. Rings can be made to any UK size - if you are unsure of your size, I have ring sizers available to purchase here

Care Instructions

I include a care guide and silver polishing cloth with all orders to help you keep your jewellery looking its best, however this only covers the silver. If your jewellery contains gemstones, I have included instructions for cleaning the stone(s) in the listing descriptions for you to refer back to.

Packaging

All items are sent in a branded jewellery box, along with a silver polishing cloth and care guide. This is then wrapped in tissue paper to keep it safe inside the postal box.

I'm working towards making all of my packaging eco-friendly/recyclable and as such try to avoid unnecessary plastic as much as possible.

My business cards and care guides are made from recycled card and are sturdy enough to keep for future reference, or can be easily recycled.

I seal all postal boxes with recyclable paper tape, and the stickers I use to seal the tissue paper surrounding your items are made from recycled paper and are fully recyclable (I also compost the backing paper so nothing is wasted!) - unfortunately my postage labels are not currently recyclable, however they can easily be removed from the postal box in order to recycle the rest of the packaging.

My jewellery boxes are eco friendly and FSC® certified - the FSC® mark guarantees that all materials come from an FSC® forest, where no more wood is cut down than the forest can reproduce. This means better protection of the animal and plant life, and all foresters have proper training, safety equipment and a decent wage.

Hallmarking

The Gem Shed is registered with the Birmingham Assay Office.

It is not required by law for sterling silver to be hallmarked unless an individual piece weighs over 7.78 grams. Most of my pieces are below this weight and will not usually be hallmarked (with the exception of wedding bands) - however, I am more than happy to arrange for any of these pieces to be hallmarked at your request (please note this will add an additional 2 weeks to the processing time and incur an additional cost).

Any pieces weighing over 7.78 grams will be sent for hallmarking in accordance with UK law, and this will be indicated in the listing description along with any effects this may have on dispatch time.

Read more about hallmarking here.