Eyeglass Chain Kilkenny Marble & Pearl Sterling Silver Collection

170.00

Eye Keep – Gemstone

What’s Special about the Glasses Chain

Our Eye Keep is made from the finest gemstones of Kilkenny Marble and Cultured Pearls and an Irish Sterling Silver ring to keep and hold your glasses.  The ring has been stamped by the Dublin Assay Office and this hallmark is your guarantee of quality craftsmanship and quality materials.

A little piece of history…

Kilkenny Marble is a beautiful dark fine-grained carboniferous limestone found in County Kilkenny in the south-east of Ireland.  It is black in colour and speckled with light-coloured fossilised remains of sea creatures that became compressed into the seabed over 350 million years ago.  It has been quarried just south of Kilkenny since the 17th Century and has been used to adorn buildings of note as well as pave the city with highly polished flagstones which would glisten when wet, giving Kilkenny the name of the Marble City.

As well as being used in buildings around Kilkenny, Kilkenny marble has been used to make the headstone of Daniel O’Connell in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, the altar of St. Patrick’s Church, Belfast and the plinth of the 2015 tomb of Richard III of England in Leicester Cathedral.

Cultured Pearl

A Pearl is a hard-glistening iridescent object formed within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusc and has been highly valued as a gemstone and object of beauty for centuries.  The most valuable pearls are natural pearls and they form spontaneously in the wild, are extremely expensive and rare.  The development of cultured pearls which are human creations made these beautiful gemstones more widely available and now 99% of all pearls sold today are cultured pearls.

Sterling Silver

Silver has a long history.  The first evidence of silver mining dates back to 3000 BC to Turkey and Greece.  Today most of the world’s supplies of silver comes from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Peru and Bolivia.

In Ireland, the Silvermines in Co. Tipperary is unique amongst Irish mines for two reasons.  Firstly, it contains argentiferous lead and commercial amounts of copper, zinc, barytes and sulphur.  Secondly, for its longevity. Mining at Silvermines dates back as far as 1298 when Italian miners came in search of silver.  The last working mine was closed in 1993.

Size: 61 – 64cm (24 – 25in) sizes vary, see below

25mm Sterling Silver Teardrop Ring

Colour: Black & White

Please note: All beads in the Marble & Pearl Collection are handmade so there are variations in sizes between each piece.  Each Marble & Pearl Eye Keep is made as an individual piece of jewellery. If you are interested in a piece and it is out of stock on the website please contact us and we can make one to order.

1 in stock

Description

Eye Keep Kilkenny Marble & Pearl – Collection

We are a small Irish family business creating luxury handcrafted accessories that tell a story.  All our products are handmade in our studios in Dublin using the finest quality materials. Our handmade eyeglass holders known as Eye Keeps address the problem of where to keep your glasses when not on your face.  The Kilkenny Marble & Pearl and Irish Sterling Silver Eye Keep is a beautiful piece of functional jewellery. Worn around the neck like a necklace with a ring, it allows your glasses to sit safely ensuring they are close to hand at all times.  In reality, it is a necklace for eyewear.

The Eye Keep is ideal for anyone who wears reading or occupational glasses and perfect for your sunglasses. Our Eye Keeps come in everyday casual wear where we have cord eyeglass holders. We also make high-end jewellery pieces to include beaded and pearl eyeglass holders, so there is one to suit all occasions.  They come in a wide range of colours too.  The Eye Keep comes with a velvet pouch.

We love and appreciate the story behind each of our products and want to share that with you.   We have taken the time to select the right materials to make each one of our Eye Keeps so that you can experience today, that small piece of history that existed long ago.

Our Kilkenny Marble & Pearl Eye Keep is made from the finest gemstones of Kilkenny Marble and Cultured Pearls and an Irish Sterling Silver ring to keep and hold your glasses.  Colour, Black and White

Our Products

At Woods & Byrne we use 925 Sterling Silver in all of our Eye Keep Silver collections.  Each handcrafted piece features the stamp of the Dublin Assay Office.  This is your guarantee of quality craftsmanship and quality materials. Dublin Assay Office

There are different purity levels of silver

Fine silver or .999 level of purity. This is pure silver and lustrous.  It is also very soft and not very suitable for jewellery.

Sterling silver or 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of another metal, usually copper.  This silver must contain 92.5% pure silver to be called sterling silver.  Sterling silver is used in jewellery and tableware.

Silver-plate on the other hand is a thin layer of pure silver plated over a base metal.  This is a more affordable option to the more expensive forms of solid silver.

A little piece of history…

This beautiful black marble is found in Kilkenny in the south-east of Ireland.  It was used to pave the city of Kilkenny and the highly polished flagstones glisten when wet. This gave Kilkenny the name “the Marble City”.

Kilkenny marble has been used to make the headstone of Daniel O’Connell in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.  More recently it was used as the plinth of the 2015 tomb of Richard III of England in Leicester Cathedral.

The most valuable pearls are natural pearls and they form spontaneously in the wild, are very rare and expensive. The development of cultured pearls which are human creations made pearls more widely available.  Now 99% of all pearls sold today are cultured pearls.

In the beginning… According to a study published in the Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics in September 2012, silver, like gold formed in stellar outbursts called supernovae.  The study found that exploding smaller stars produced silver while the bigger stars produced gold. These metals exploded onto the Earth.

Silver has a long history.  The first evidence of silver mining dates back to 3000 BC to Turkey and Greece.  Today most of the world’s supplies of silver comes from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Peru and Bolivia.

In Ireland, the Silvermines in Co. Tipperary is unique amongst Irish mines for two reasons.  Firstly, it contains argentiferous lead and commercial amounts of copper, zinc, barytes and sulphur.  Secondly, for its longevity. Mining at Silvermines dates back as far as 1298 when Italian miners came in search of silver.  The last working mine was closed in 1993.

Silver has many applications and uses as well as in making jewellery, coins and tableware.  Silver is used for making mirrors as it is the best reflector of light. It is also used in electronic and electrical circuits.  And it played a big role in making early photography possible.  What you may not know is that silver also has antibacterial properties. Silver nanoparticles are used in clothing to stop bacteria digesting sweat and producing unpleasant odours.

Dimensions

Approx 61-64cm (24 – 25in) long  (lengths may vary slightly as cultured pearls vary in size)

25mm Sterling Silver Teardrop Ring

If you would like more information on this or other products please contact us here

Care of your Eye Keep

How to keep your Gemstone Marble & Pearl Eye Keep clean:

Perfumes and cosmetics can affect your Eye Keep so we advise avoiding contact with these and wiping away any residue if any come into contact with your Eye Keep. 

To clean your Eye Keep:

Gently rub the gemstones with a damp lint-free cloth to remove any dust or dirt.

Keeping your Sterling Silver clean and shiny:

Your Sterling Silver Eye Keep has been plated with Sterling Silver so is anti-tarnish.  Therefore it should only require a buff with a soft polishing cloth to remove finger marks to keep it clean and shiny.

It is advisable to avoid contact with cosmetics, moisture, humidity and sulphur compounds as these can all cause Sterling Silver to tarnish.  Should this happen, use a silver polishing cloth to polish your Sterling Silver.

 

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