INFO & JEWELLERY CARE
JEWELRY CARE
Each Found At Sea piece is a truly unique , one-of-a-kind piece of jewellery. Each is made with love, precision and requires a lot of care. The fossilised shark teeth featured in your piece can be between 20-35 million years old. Please be very careful and avoid dropping or hitting the shark tooth in your piece. This can cause them to crack and fall out of the silver wrap. They are very fragile!
Please treat your jewels with the same amount of love that was put in it to be created by adhering to the following care instructions:
SILVER : To avoid silver tarnish, be sure to take your jewellery off when doing exercise, taking a shower, swimming, etc. Chemicals from lotions, chlorine and slat water will all aid towards tarnishing and ultimately weakening the silver.
If you do decide to wear your jewels in the ocean, please rinse with freshwater and dry immediately after ! But do be aware, that the salt water can negatively affect the silver / gold plating / opals / fossil shark teeth and they might not last as long as they would if they were not exposed to salt water.
GOLD PLATED JEWELRY: Our gold pieces are 18k gold vermeil. Gold vermeil is a very high quality, thick layer of gold plating over solid sterling .925 silver base. By industry standard, gold vermeil must have a plating thickness of at least 2.5 microns. This means it will last longer than normal gold plated jewellery, but still requires a lot of care in order to last. To make sure your gold plating lasts as long as possible, please avoid the following when wearing your jewellery:
- swimming in the ocean
- Doing exercise (sweat has a myriad of chemical compounds that will contribute towards the fading of the gold plating)
- Showering
- Take your jewellery off when applying lotions and body creams. Chemicals from these products can aid towards the fading of the gold plating.
- Store in a dry place away from humidity and direct sunlight.
- Every time after use, wipe the jewellery clean with a soft microfibre cloth.
With proper love and care, your Found At Sea pieces can last a lifetime and can even become family heirlooms to be passed on <3
ETHICAL SUPPLY CHAIN
It might take me a bit longer to create, and it might be little more expensive to own a unique Found At Sea jewelry piece . We could have taken the easy and cheaper route, one that is certainly more convenient . But unfortunately in todays world, convenience seems to be too often connected with exploitation, and that’s something I’m not okay with. We are holding ourselves accountable to make sure that every step of our production chain is ethical. Our silver, gold, opals, gemstones are sourced from credible sources that make sure the people and environment are taken care of.
Our pieces are made on the values of respect, quality and giving back. We stand behind the origin of our raw materials and the way our jewelry is made. We are not always perfect, but we are always striving to do better and give back better.
FOSSIL SHARK TEETH
100% Cruelty-Free. All shark teeth used in our pieces are fossilised. THIS MEANS NO SHARK WAS HARMED. Shark conservation is at the heart of our ethos and we do not use fresh shark teeth sourced from fisherman and or fisheries. Most shark teeth are between 6-25 million years old. We source the teeth from reputable fossil hunters throughout some of the world's premier shark tooth fossil deposits. The species and age of shark tooth will be listed under the description of each product.
SILVER
All of Found At Sea’s silver is recycled .925 sterling silver. This means that there is a combination of 92.5% sterling silver and 7.5% copper, creating the silver alloy used in your piece. .925 silver is a lot stronger and less malleable than 100% sterling silver, meaning it will last longer with proper care. Please read our Jewelry Care section to learn how to properly care for your Found At Sea piece so it lasts a lifetime.
GOLD PLATING
Our gold pieces are 18k gold vermeil. Gold vermeil is a very high quality, thick layer of gold plating over solid sterling .925 silver base. By industry standard, gold vermeil must have a plating thickness of at least 2.5 microns. This means it will last longer than normal gold plated jewellery, but still requires a lot of care in order to last. Read our Jewelry Care section to learn more about how to best care for your gold Found At Sea pieces.
OPALS
The majority of opals we use in our pieces are Australian Boulder Opals. We source our opals from a boutique family run opal mines in Australia. Each stone is hand picked by our team and is chosen for the size, unique colour and quality.