If you are browsing the store and you know you want to buy some items but are not sure whether you’re going to purchase them on this visit or the next visit, add them to your Wish List instead of to the Shopping Basket. We will store that information on your computer using a teeny little cookie and the next time you come and visit us, they will still be listed there for you.

When ready to purchase, simply add to the Shopping Basket from within your Wish List and then either continue browsing the store or go to the checkout to pay for your goods.

To remove an item from your Shopping Basket, simply move the mouse over the little ‘x’ and click. It will immediately remove the item for you and update the quantity and totals for you.

When browsing through SCIZOO, simply look to the top right-side of the screen to see which items you have in your shopping cart. As soon as you add an item, the colour of the View Basket button will change to Orange. If you hover the mouse over the button, it will drop down a box which will contain a list of the items in the basket.

We accept payment by credit cards accepted by PayPal.

PayPal is the safest way to purchase online as your card data is not stored anywhere when you make the purchase. Unless you already have a PayPal account, we recommend you use the PayPal “Pay by Card” option.

We also will accept orders placed where you send us a cheque for the goods. However, please be aware we will only hold the goods for seven days for you before the order is cancelled and the goods returned to stock.

You can pay for your order using electronic online payment (also known as EFM or BACS) and as soon as the payment has cleared in our account, the goods will be despatched to you.

Please contact us straight away if you realise you have give us the wrong address. If your order has not been dispatched then we can correct the address before sending. If we have already despatched your order you will need to contact the Royal Mail using our Proof Of Delivery receipt and attempt to resolve the issue with them. It’s always very important to ensure you’ve entered the correct delivery address before you confirm your order.

Once we have received your returned item, and if we have agreed the refund with you, unless you wish us to provide you with an alternative item, we will issue a refund immediately and Email you to confirm. The funds will be credited back to the debit or credit card that you used to make your purchase, or your PayPal account if that’s how you paid originally.

Your item should be received safely if you use Recorded Delivery. You are able to check that it has been received with Royal Mail. We will also send you an Email confirming receipt of the item (and your refund) to the Email address you used when you made the purchase.

Semi-precious stones

To clean stones, wipe with a moist cloth after each wear. Protect them from exposure to hair spray, perfume or cosmetics as certain chemicals can damage semi-precious stones over time. It’s best to store them in separate fabric pouches or wrap them in pieces of soft fabric to prevent scratching. You can also keep them safe in a jewellery box.

Pearls

Wearing pearls keeps them lustrous and iridescent as the natural oils from your skin will give them shine and keep them protected.
Put pearls on last when getting ready and make them the first thing you take off when back home. Keep them away from household chemicals including perfume, makeup and hairspray as they can dull the lustre.
Store pearls in soft fabric bags separately from other jewellery to avoid scratching their tender surfaces.

Sterling silver, gold and diamonds

If silver hasn’t been worn for a while, you’ll notice it takes on a dark, grey-black layer. This is a sulfide build-up due to a chemical reaction that occurs when silver is exposed to the air and humidity.

When cleaning silver, protect your hands with waterproof gloves or silver polishing mitts. Then use a silver dip or a silver polish to clean tarnished silver, always following the manufacturer’s instructions. You can also use a silver cloth or a sunshine cloth. There are also many homemade recipes that can be used to clean silver, but it is always wise to test the method on the back of a piece of jewellery.

To add sparkle back to gold and diamond jewellery, try our special jewellery cleaner that’s suitable for gold, platinum, diamonds and most other precious stones.

Gemstones are crystallised minerals, formed millions of years ago. The most popular precious stones are diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. These gems are normally set in yellow gold, platinum, white gold or rose gold.

Diamonds and the ‘4 Cs’

The quality of a diamond is determined by the ‘4Cs’:

• Carat (weight)
• Colour
• Clarity
• Cut

Carat

The size of a diamond is measured in carats. One carat is divided into 100 points e.g. 50 points weighs 0.50ct (1/2ct).

The name ‘carat’ comes from the carob tree. Carob seeds were once used as units of weight because of their uniform size and weight – the weight of an average carob seed is 200mg, equal to one carat.

Colour

Diamonds are found in all colours – mostly yellowish to white, or brown.

Bold colours like green, red, blue, canary yellow, violet, strong brown or two-tone are extremely rare and costly. These are grouped as fancy coloureds.

The colour grading scale ranges from colourless to light yellows. The difference from one grade to another is very subtle.

Clarity

Perfect clarity in diamond means that it’s free from all surface blemishes and internal inclusions. Most diamonds will have minute imperfections.

It is commonly believed that a dark inclusion in a diamond is a carbon trace, but this isn’t the case – these dark inclusions are tiny minerals which have grown as the diamond has formed.

If the diamond’s clarity and brilliance is affected, the light transmission may be reduced and then the value will decrease.
Polished diamonds without any inclusions under a 10 x lens are considered as flawless or loupe clean. These are rare and very costly.
Inclusions visible with larger magnification are not taken into account for grading.

Cut

The grade for cut, the type and shape of the cut, proportions and symmetry as well as the outer marks are all taken into consideration.
The most popular is brilliant cut which has 58 facets.

A well-cut diamond will produce more sparkle, and light will be reflected from one facet to another, then dispersing through the top of the stone.
 
 

Pearls

There are two types of pearls used in jewellery – natural and cultured.

Natural pearls are formed naturally, without any human intervention and are very rare and expensive. Cultured pearls are not imitations but are cultivated on oyster farms.

To create a cultured pearl, a tiny bead is implanted into the oyster, and gradually, over time the oyster coats the bead in many layers of natural minerals and proteins known as nacre. It is the nacre that gives pearls their beautiful lustre and colour.

Pearls come in lots of different shapes:

Round: the rarest and most valuable
Button: slightly flattened
Drop: referred to as tear drops, ideal for pendants
Baroque: unique and interesting shapes

The larger the pearl, the more valuable it is. The most valuable pearls in our assortment are South Sea and Akoya; black Tahitian pearls. Cultured pearls grown in rivers are called freshwater pearls. They vary in colour and shape and are less expensive than sea water pearls.

Lustre is the primary characteristic by which pearls are judged when shape, colour and symmetry are equal. The unique lustre of pearls depends on the reflection, refraction and diffraction of light from the translucent layers. The thinner and more numerous the layers in the pearl, the finer the lustre.
 
 

Freshwater and saltwater pearls

The pearl oyster lives in the sea while the fresh water pearl mussel lives in fresh water.

Saltwater pearls are grown within pearl oysters in oceans. Today, saltwater pearl oysters are cultivated in protected lagoons and volcanic atolls.

Natural freshwater pearls are formed within various species of freshwater mussels living in lakes, rivers, ponds and other fresh water. Although freshwater and saltwater pearls may look quite similar, pearls from the sea are more highly valued than freshwater pearls.

Tip
Pearls should be worn as often as possible, as the natural oils in the body keep them shiny and lustrous.

Semi-precious stones

For an alternative to more pricey precious jewels, semi-precious gem stones are a great choice. Stones like amethyst, citrine, garnet, topaz, quartz, amber, chalcedony, lapiz lazuli, aquamarine, peridot, and agate come in a profusion of kaleidoscope colours and patterns.

Sterling Silver

Silver is the most common of the precious metals. It is popular and not as expensive as gold, although stronger and lighter in weight. However, it can tarnish as well as scratch or bend easily. Sterling silver consists of 92.5% silver and 7.5% base metal for strength.

Gold

All our fine gold jewellery comes in 9, 14, 18 or 24 carat gold. We also do gold-plated jewellery, which is when a layer of gold covers silver or another base metal.

14, 18, or 22 carat gold over sterling silver is called vermeil. To be considered vermeil, the gold must be at least 10 carat and 2.5 micrometres thick. There’s also gold filled jewellery, which has a thicker (one carat) layer of gold over the underlying metal.

Platinum

Platinum is the most expensive precious metal. It is very strong and has a white, silver colour making it ideal as a mount for diamonds. This is a popular metal for engagement and wedding rings and has become increasingly fashionable in recent years.

Nickel Content

Some customers may be allergic to the nickel content in jewellery. As jewellery is made from a mixture of metals, products might not be entirely nickel free. In order to conform to the ‘nickel safe’ standard, manufacturers ensure that the nickel content is kept to a low level. All jewellery now produced is deemed nickel safe, however, customers who react strongly to nickel should buy gold of a high carat.

Fine Jewellery

Fine jewellery is made from precious metals, such as silver, gold and platinum and precious stones such as diamonds, rubies and sapphires. Some items maybe handmade or hand-finished.

Fashion Jewellery

Is no less “fine” than jewellery with precious gems embedded in it or made with gold or silver. Fashion jewellery uses a range of mixed materials such as resin beads, wood, glass, simulated pearls and metal alloys. All of our fashion jewellery is inspired by the latest trends and by some of the most creative people on Earth.

Account Information

When you create a new account or subscribe to our newsletter, we collect and store your Email address as well as any other information we need to keep to identify you and give you access to our online store. When you enter that data you are agreeing that we can use it to meet our commitments to you and provice the service you’re expecting from us.

Your information may also be used in our internal reports for orders, etc.

Your data will not ever be supplied to a third party. If you would like to know at any time what account information we hold for you, please do not hesitate to ask us and we will let you know.

If you would like to close your account and for us to delete whatever data we have on record for you, this is possible for us to do and we will do this for you on request.

If ever you have questions regarding our security policy, please let us know by Email and we will respond to your query as soon as we can.

Shipping

All orders placed with our SCIZOO online store will be delivered using Royal Mail small parcel delivery. Depending on your choice of service at checkout, you can expect your order, providing the item(s) are in stock, to arrive with you within the time frame selected.

Your item, if it’s in stock, will be packed the same day you place the order and sent the following day.

When your order has been despatched, we will send you an Email to let you know and where appropriate services have been selected at checkout, will include the invoice and tracking details. If you have selected a Royal Mail service which includes deliver tracking, this information will be available to you within your account.

Apart from the standard Royal Mail 1st and 2nd Class postage service, all parcels must be signed for. In the event you choose the standard Royal Mail 1st or 2nd Class service, we will retain proof of postage and this will confim that we have posted the order to you. If you do not receive the order, you will need to Email or contact us for the proof of postage details and then it will be your responsibility to take the non-delivery up with Royal Mail. We will not be held liable for any products which are sent using the Royal Mail standard 1st or 2nd Class services which for whatever reason do not arrive.

International Orders

We ship internationally on demand using Royal Mail International services. All parcels must be signed for and are trackable from within your account.

Please note that customs charges may apply to International orders. Any and all admin/tax/customs duties are for your account. Please ensure before you order that you know how much in the way of additional fees will be applied to your order at your receiving end.

We will not be held responsible for returns or refunds on any parcels where you have refused to pay the Customs charges upon the goods arrival in the country you have specified for delivery.

Returns & Replacements

If for any reason you are dissatisfied with your purchase, please return it to us within 14 days after receipt of the goods. Products must not have been worn and must be in original condition and packaging for an exchange or a full refund. We will not refund the shipping costs unless there is a product or manufacturing fault. Please note that items showing signs of wear or have been engraved, resized, altered or damaged in any way will not be accepted for return.

If you decide to return an item, please send us an Email to let us know that the item(s) will be returned. We will at that time give you a returns reference number and the address to send the goods back to. Any goods which arrive without a valid returns number will not be accepted.