Melinda Mulcahy

Melinda Mulcahy introduced these original, inspirational and whimsical personalised gifts encapsulate your love in precious fine silver in 2009 and have fast become some of the best selling products with internet and catalogue giant Not On The High Street, to date. They have been featured in numerous UK press and independent blogs including:

Editors voted "I pick you" plectrum in Top 10 Valentines gifts for Men 2011.

Self taught in the art of fine silver crafting, over the last 3 years Melinda has honed all processes, often mistaken for sheet metal, when in fact it's a clay product.

Concepts for each design are based on fanciful ideas like with the Daddy's Stash dish, designed to collect the change often shrewn on her Husband's bedside table. In fact, most ideas start as a whimsical thought for someone she knows like the Postcard with Love, originally sent to her Mother who lives in Australia, the golf ball markers for her golfing mad Father & Brother who also live in Australia, the plectrum for her guitar playing Husband and the shabby hearts originally for her young children and their friends.

Fine Silver precious gifts are made from a 100% recycled .999 Fine Silver clay (more pure than .925 Sterling Silver) which is in fact a bi-product of the motor industry. Each creation a lovely weight and texture often with slight natural imperfections, shape and size variations occur during the firing process, which lends a rustic handmade uniqueness and charm, to ensure no two are the same.

There are 12 different hands-on processes:

A stamp is made with an individual's personalisation.
The precious clay is sculpted into shape and stamped.
Each creations is left to dry over night.
Carefully hand sanded as these items are like egg shells when unfired.
Fired in a kiln at 750°C for 4 hours then left to cool.
Once cooled it is brushed with a metal wire brush to remove the remnants of clay.
An oxidising formula is applied to highlight the design.
Elbow grease is applied for rigorous hand sanding taking 30 minutes working down through 6 different sandpaper grades
Each item is tumbled in a barrel with a cleaning agent for 2 hour.
Final polishing with silver impregnated cloth
Finishing touches are added like a keyring, necklace etc.
Items are individually wrapped in soft tissue paper for protection before complimenting gift box is tied with ribbon ready for dispatch.

Always read the terms and conditions before purchasing. All Personalised items are commissions that are made to order which can not be resold, therefore are non-refundable/non-exchangeable.

Fine silver can only be stamped on one side.

Care

With great pride Melinda hand crafts every item of quality and luxury with time, attention to detail and precision, they are not mass produced, so of course wants you to be completely satisfied with your purchase.

The materials have been itemised on tags so customers know exactly what it is before carefully packaging. Natural precious materials are often soft and delicate so are prone to damage, wear and tear, which is why purchases should be treated appropriately to ensure longevity and will require some aftercare to maintain it's brilliance and splendour.

Clean carefully with a good silver polish cloth. Fine Silver dishes should be cupped in hand to avoid pressure points.

Always keep jewellery separated especially when storing or transporting to avoid stratching so it's best to use a good quality jewellery roll or compartment cloth lined box.

Keep out of sunlight, as some natural gemstones can lose their colour!

Avoid jewellery getting wet. Take off jewellery especially bracelets when cleaning or washing up.

Avoid chlorinated water which will strip the lustre of precious materials.

Chemicals found in everyday products such as hairspray, makeup, beauty creams, detergent, perfumes etc can accelerate tarnishing and may affect the look of the jewellery. Build up can occur on gemstones so wipe off with cotton or linen cloth.

Precious metals can be polished with a good silver or gold polishing cloth taking care to handle carefully. Vermeil is 22ct or 24ct yellow gold micro plated onto solid sterling silver, so requires a gold cloth.

Softly rub shells and pearls with a light oil such as linseed.

Gold Vermeil is 24ct yellow gold micro-plated over solid sterling silver. All gold vermeil products are made in bali and then gold plated in the U.S. for the best quality plating.

All Pearls on this site are cultured, nurtured with a helping hand, grown in large fresh water lakes of China. Keishi is a famous brand name of pearl, known for their lustre and natural unusual shapes. Dyed pearls are lower grade pearls that have been dyed to cover up imperfections. Where possible I describe the type, shape with each creation.

Venetian Glass, also known as Murano glass is handblown glass filled with precious metals, either silver, white or yellow gold to enhance the colour of the glass imported from the Island of Murano near Venice, Italy.

Personalised Gifts are made from a clay product, when fired solidifies to become .999 Fine Silver, stamped on back as .999FS. Read how these fine silver gifts are made under crafting.

.999 Fine Silver is the most purest, highest silver content you can buy, unlike Sterling which has more base metal content for strength hence the numbers used to define it. Therefore Fine Silver is much softer and prone to marking.

All other jewellery components on this site, unless stated otherwise, including keyrings is made with .925 Sterling Silver.

Gemstones

All gemstones have been cherry picked with careful inspection to ensure they are of the best possible quality for the price, keeping within the reasonably priced bracket.

Special care should be taken with gemstones, as some are more delicate than others. You can check the materials used against the Mohr's scale and details below which are a guide only:

Diamonds – hardest material known to man. The Diamonds on this site are more roughly cut into tiny beads from diamonds which are graded lower than traditional “set” diamond jewellery on the diamond scale used to grade colour and flaws. For example Black Diamonds usually can not see the internal quality by the naked eye, so on the traditional diamond scale their clarity would be zero! Only recently have Black Diamonds been used in jewellery making and Melinda was one of the first to use black diamond beads. These diamond beads are still measured in carats, CT.

The gemstones list below is in alphabetical order, as they are classed as semi-precious on the Mohr’s scale:

Gemstone name	Mohr’s scale	Colour	Birthday	Description
Amazonite	6-6.5	Light aqua/green		Milky appearance with a waxy texture. Named after the Amazon river although surprisingly no deposits have been found there. Often mistake for Jade. Is know to sooth nerves.
Amethysts	6	Purple	February	It’s colour symbolises the “Spirit of God” it symbolises trust and piety. Found in abundance throughout the world thereby keep prices lower, however, recent scientific finding conclude the construction is stratified, resulting in varying colour intensity. This explains why there are relatively few large cut amethysts of an evenly distributed dark colour.
Apatite	5	blue		Recent finding of neon-blue colours from Madagascar have made this a popular stone, except for it’s softeness.
Aquamarine	7.5-8	Light aqua	March	A very sort-after stone which is reflected in the price. It’s fine blue shades compliment almost any skin tone. Known for it’s immaculate transparency and magnificent shine, a favourite amongst designers.
Carnelian	6.5-7	Orange-red, brown		Amongst the Chalcedony/Quartz family, one of the twelve stones mentioned in the bible, making it one of the oldest. Often mistaken with agate, you can tell Carnelian by look through a light for cloudy colour distribution whereas agate is lined. Increasingly rare to find natural carnelian. Knows as the talisman for good luck.
Chalcedony	7	various		Known as a type of agate – it’s natural colour is a milky dull colour which is heat treated to produce vibrant colours which are now used across the jewellery market. I am generally steering clear of this product in future designs as I don’t believe it’s colours are stable enough to be classed as precious jewellery.
Chrysophrase	6-7	green		Predominately known as the Australia Jade, this gemstone was used to make seals and signets by the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. The rarest of the Chalcedony/Quartz group therefore one of the most expensive semi-precious. Alexander the Great was one of it’s greatest admirers
Citrine	7	Golden	November	Also known as golden Topaz, it is the cheaper version! Well priced and hard wearing. Belongs in the large family of Quartz.
Coral	3.5	Red, orange		Organic material formed on reef in sea water, derived from the same material as pearls. Prone to effects by cosmetics etc.
Diamonds	10	various	April	Certain colours make diamonds the rarest gemstone in the world, the red diamond for instance there are only 20-30 known to exist. The hardest.
Emerald	7.5-8	green	May	Known to promise luck and well being. known of it’s radiant colour, inclusions tolerated. Used in Egyptian times, these stones at their best, can often be more expensive than diamonds!
Garnet	6.5-7	various	January	They have a great sparkle and colour. Most known as deep wine colour known as Rhodolite, bright red is much rarer, yet often used in antique jewellery. Newer colours recently introduced like cinnamon brown (Hessonite) and Green (Demantoid garnet) was very popular with Russian nobility.
Hematite	5.5-6.5	Metallic silvery gold		Known as a grounding, healing stone. A silvery, shiny opaque stone resembles metal. Often used in it’s crystaline ore form for it’s unique structure.
Iolite	7-7.5	Light Violet blue		Known as the Viking’s stone as it was used in navition by Viking explorers. Watery violet blue, similar in colour to a sapphire.
Labradorite	6-6.5	Grey		Known for it’s iridescence or play of colours, an optical phenomenon or light shift. Often mistaken as a moonstone.
Lapis Lazuli	5-6	Blue		One of the oldest known gemstones to be used in jewellery, the stone of truth. A deep royal blue with golden inclusions of pyrites which shimmer like little stars. An immeasurable stone in the art world, used as pigment ground up to produce the “ultramarine” of the Old Masters.
Moonstone	6	White, grey, browns	June	Characterised by an enchanting play of light, or iridescence. Strengthens our intuition and our capacity to understand. Should be handled with care.
Onyx	6-6.5	various		Belongs in the large family of Quartz, known for it’s crisp colour.
Opal	5.5-6.5	various	October	A type of chalcedony quartz. Was widely used in Greek and Roman times. Known as the mood stone. There are various types, but I currently only use the moss opal for it’s affordable price and soft milky wax like shine.
Peridot	6.5-7	Lime green	August	Egyptians exhausted deposits in the Red Sea and only recently in mid 1990’s Peridot deposits were located in the Kashmir region, making it a “modern” stone. Known for vibrant rich green translucent colour. Known as a summer gemstone.
Prehnite	6-6.5	Sage green		The first gemstone to be named after it’s discoverer. Milky translucence, with yellow tinges. Said to encourage composure and forgiveness. Excellent for mediation.
Quartz	6-7	various		The chameleon of gemstones, known to as the “stand in” for rarer stones in history. So many gems fall under Quartz like citrine, amethyst, tiger’s eye, chalcedony.
Ruby	9	Red, cheaper versions in purple	July	Second to the diamond. Radiates warmth and a strong sense of vitality. It is in fact an extremely rare gemstone which is why they are used to decorate the insignia of many royal households.
Sapphire	9	Royal blue	September	The colour of trust. Known for it’s magnificent colours, transparency, refractive properties, but also its constancy and durability. Yellow, purple, pink, green, orange or white sapphires, the blues are known as “Fancies”. The most valuable are genuine Kashmir stones.
Spinel	8	Red & black		Known as the great imposer as many famous rubies in crown jewels around the world are actually spinels. The most famous is the Black Prince's ruby, a magnificent 170-carat red spinel that now adorns the Imperial State Crown of England in the British Crown Jewels. But it is in fact rarer than the rubies they imitate. vBlack Spinel is often mistaken for a type of Garnet for it’s price yet on the Mohr’s scale is actually much harder. Spinel is an unusual stone that reflects the light like a diamonds yet is much less expensive than it’s counterparts.
Tanzanite	6.5-7	Violet blue		Only found in one place in the world, the famous house of Tiffany have made it the most coveted stone in the world.
Topaz	7	Various		Known as apocalyptic stones, intended to protect against enemies and as a symbol of beauty and splendour. Often heat treated to obtain different colours like London & Swiss Blue.
Tourmaline	7-7.5	various		The gemstone of love and friendship, almost every tourmaline is unique making it a designer’s choice! According to Egyptian legend, that on its long journey up from the centre of the Earth, this stone passed over a rainbow. In doing so, it assumed all the colours.
Turquoise	5-6	blue	December	An ancient stone, yet always in fashion, it brings good fortune, so known as the “people’s gemstone”. Chrysocola and Howlite comes under this family.