Frequently Asked Questions

My jewellery is available to purchase online through this website and Not on The High Street. I exhibit at crafts fairs and other shows, which are listed on this website: click here. Please email me at machidewaard@gmail.com if you would like to ask me about any of my jewellery. 

If you have seen a piece before and it is not on the website, please contact me, as I may have it. 

All jewellery is posted within 7 working days if I have it in stock. If it is not in stock, it will either say it on that item's page or I will let you know. All jewellery is posted with Royal Mail Special Delivery at no extra cost. If there is a delay, I will let you know.

If you would like an item that is either not currently in stock or is made to order, please contact me so I can let you know how long it would take to make.

Books are delivered with Royal Mail Second Class post. 

Vouchers for classes or jewellery are sent via email as a pdf that you can print. There is no paper sent, only email. 

Fellow jeweller Janet Richardson and I have written a book called Silver Jewellery Making. It was published 1 February 2021. It is a book that we have crammed full with as many handy hints as we possibly could! It leads you through learning the basics of jewellery making with 7 silver jewellery projects. Follow this link to read us discussing the book in the Henley Standard newspaper! If you have any questions about it, please email me at machidewaard@gmail.com. You can also find more information on this website by clicking here.

The short answer is decades! That’s because it takes years to build up the skills to make jewellery, so the finished product is an accumlation of years of learning and improving skills. The first time I make a piece, it takes longer because I have to work out how to make it efficiently and some things might not go to plan. Once I’ve made a piece several times, it does get quicker, but it still depends on the complexity of the work involved. The shortest amount of time a piece will take to make is a few hours and the longest can be many days! If you’d like to see work in progress, you can follow my instagram or blog.

You can see my jewellery on my website, as you can see, since you’re reading this! But for the latest, you can follow my instagram or blog. You can also email me at machidewaard@gmail.com if you are looking for something in particular. You can also join my newsletter- see the bottom of this page!

I do! Feel free to contact me at machidewaard@gmail.com to discuss commissions. If the commission is something that relates to my work, we can work out the details over email or in person. If it’s something that I think another jeweller would be better suited to make, I am happy to give you recommendations.

I source the vast majority of my silver and gold from two suppliers, one of which sells 100% recycled gold and silver (more information here: https://www.cooksongold.com/recycled-metals?ad=mainbanner&slot=1). The other supplier I use to source Argentium silver. Argentium guarantees traceability of its raw silver. It is certified that Argentium is produced using only recycled silver. (Source: https://products.riogrande.com/content/Instruction-Sheets/Argentium-Brochure.pdf) I buy my gemstones from a respected dealer with their own ethical statement, which you can see here: https://wardgemstones.com/ethics-statement

For my packaging, I recently switched to FSC certified jewellery boxes. I use recycable cardboard boxes for posting. I use bubble wrap when I post items, but it’s all recycled in the sense that I have never purchased bubble wrap, I just keep it and reuse it.

Silver and gold are highly recyclable materials and I often make pieces by reusing old pieces of jewellery belonging to either me or a customer.

Website privacy policy

This privacy policy sets out how Machi de Waard uses and protects any information that you give Machi de Waard when you use this website.

Machi de Waard is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

https://www.machidewaard.co.uk/privacy-policy/

Machi de Waard may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 1 May 2018.

What we collect

We may collect the following information:

• email address

What we do with the information we gather

We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

• We may periodically send promotional emails about new products, Jewellery classes and jewellery shows or other jewellery related information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided.

Security

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

How we use cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about webpage traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Yes, I do. You can join my newsletter using the pop up form, the form below or the form at the bottom of any page on this website.