The Materials Behind Every Parkford Piece

14K gold — and why not 10K or 18K

14K gold is 58.5% pure gold, alloyed with other metals for strength and color. It's the standard for fine jewelry in the US for good reason.

18K is beautiful but softer, which matters for everyday wear and for holding stones securely over time. 10K has more alloy than gold, which can make it more susceptible to tarnish depending on the alloy composition, and it carries less intrinsic value.

14K sits in the right place: warm in color, hard enough to last, durable enough to hold stones securely, and valuable enough to matter. Our alloys are nickel-free — nickel is the most common cause of metal allergies in jewelry, and we don't use it. A small percentage of people still react to gold regardless, often due to body chemistry or exposure to chemicals like perfume or makeup near the piece — but eliminating nickel removes the most preventable cause.

Sterling silver

Sterling silver (925) is 92.5% pure silver — not an alloy invented for jewelry, but a naturally occurring element mined from the earth. It's bright, white, and beautiful as a precious metal in its own right, with real intrinsic value. Not white gold, which requires rhodium plating to achieve its color. Not platinum, which is extraordinary but significantly heavier and more expensive to work with. Sterling silver is its own thing — and it earns its place.

It's also the base for our vermeil pieces — real gold over real silver, never over brass or base metal. For more on how vermeil works and why we use it, read Why We Use Vermeil — And What That Actually Means.

Natural gemstones — chosen for color and precision

We work with a wide range of natural gemstones — sapphires, emeralds, tourmalines, tiger's eye, lapis, and more, including an extensive selection of birthstones. The range changes with each collection.

For colored gemstones, color is the most important characteristic. A stone with slight inclusions can be more interesting, more alive, and more genuinely natural-looking than a lab-grown stone. We select each stone by eye, for color first.

Cut matters too — and here precision is non-negotiable. Our designs require stones that are accurately calibrated and well cut. Colored stones are notorious for off-sizes, thick girdles, and uneven proportions that make them difficult to set or unsuitable for certain settings. When stones are even fractions of a millimeter off, it shows — especially in a row of baguettes or any design where stones sit in sequence. We are careful about what we accept. The quality of what goes in determines the quality of what comes out.

We don't use lab-grown colored stones, moissanite, or synthetics. Those are appropriate for fashion jewelry — pieces you wear for a season. We're making something different.

Natural diamonds

We use natural diamonds. For most of our pieces we work with GH color and SI–VS clarity. GH is near-colorless — and in yellow gold, the warmth of the metal makes higher color grades indistinguishable to the naked eye. SI–VS clarity at the sizes we use — mostly melee, 0.1ct or smaller — means beautiful, brilliant stones that don't compromise on sparkle. Cut is what drives that sparkle, and we select every stone for it.

Lab diamonds are increasingly common and will only get more so as the technology advances. Many assume they're the greener choice — but the energy required to produce them is substantial, and that claim is widely debated. We use natural diamonds because rarity and origin matter — to us and to the lasting value of the piece.

Natural diamonds come from the earth, formed hundreds of millions of years ago. They are a finite resource — genuinely scarce, genuinely valuable, and worth passing down.

Why it all matters

There's a difference between putting on a $30 dress and putting on a $1,000 dress. The feeling isn't the same. One is fine for the moment. The other changes how you carry yourself.

Fine jewelry works the same way. When the materials are real — actual gold, actual silver, actual stones from the earth — you feel it. Not just because it looks better, but because it is better. It has weight, history, and value that doesn't disappear.

That's what we're making. Pieces worth keeping.

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