Jewelry FAQ & Care Guide

I make it myself, in Tbilisi. The workshop and the shop are the same address, 13 Abano Street in Abanotubani, and the bench is in the room next to the counter. If you are in the city you can walk in and watch the work.

Every piece goes through one pair of hands from beginning to end. I choose the rough stone, cut it, and set it in 925 sterling silver. There are no factory molds here and nothing is sent out, so each setting is built around the one stone it holds and no two pieces are identical.

I have worked with natural stone since 2019, and I know my suppliers personally.

Yes. Every stone I set is natural and worked by hand in my Tbilisi studio. There is one exception: black moissanite, which is a laboratory-created stone, and the listing says so clearly.

I choose every rough stone myself and I have known my suppliers personally for years, so I know where each stone comes from. Nothing here is bought blind from a bulk lot, and every stone is cut and set in my own studio in Tbilisi. None of my stones are dyed. One is heat treated: my aquamarine. I do not heat it myself, the heating happens before it reaches me, and every other stone here shows its own color. I explain the whole thing in my article on aquamarine.

Close, and never identical. The design repeats, the stone does not. I cut and set each stone one at a time, so the pattern, the depth of the color and the way the light sits in it are its own.

With labradorite and moonstone that difference works in your favor. A photograph holds one angle, and labradorite's flash appears at one angle and vanishes at another. The piece in your hand does more than a picture can.

What stays the same is the design: the setting, the silver darkened in the hollows and bright on the raised parts, and whether the surface is left matte or polished.

Yes. Every piece is solid 925 sterling silver, made for everyday wear.

Sterling silver is an alloy of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, which give it strength. Pure silver is too soft to wear, so 925 is the standard for jewelry that lasts. In mine that 7.5% is copper, and it is cut and set in my own studio in Old Tbilisi, by the same hands that cut the stone.

Yes. My silver is 925 sterling: 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. The copper is what makes it hard enough to wear, because pure silver is too soft to hold its shape.

Sterling is not mixed the same way everywhere, and some alloys use nickel in that 7.5% instead. Mine has none.

I will not call it hypoallergenic. That word has no agreed standard behind it. Nickel free says exactly what is in the metal and what is not.

Yes, it will, and that is normal. Silver reacts with sulfur in the air and forms a dark silver sulfide film. It happens to every sterling piece and says nothing about the quality of the metal.

One thing matters more here than on a plain silver chain. On most of my settings the silver is darkened in the hollows and left bright on the raised parts, and that contrast is what makes the texture read from a distance. A polishing cloth across the raised surfaces brings the brightness back. A dip or a hard scrub pulls the dark out of the hollows as well, and the piece goes flat.

Between wearings, keep it dry and in its box or an anti-tarnish bag, not loose in a drawer.

Every ring I make with a natural stone has an open band, and it fits US sizes 5 to 9 (EU 49 to 59). The two ends stop short of each other, away from the stone: press them closer and it tightens, ease them apart and it opens. That is why there is no size to choose at checkout.

Adjust it off the finger, and move the band rather than the setting. Silver is soft, which is what makes an open band possible, and the same softness is why it is better set once and then left alone.

Take it off, for all three.

Amethyst, aquamarine, rose quartz, jade, tourmaline, moonstone and labradorite are hard and not porous, and water does nothing to them. Obsidian is glass, so water is harmless but a knock is not. Lapis lazuli is porous, but warm soapy water is fine for it. Two of mine are different. Malachite is sensitive to acid, ammonia, heat and hot water. Pyrite oxidizes in damp, so it should go back in its box dry.

Pools and the sea are worse than a shower. Sleeping is mechanical rather than chemical: a setting can catch on the sheets.

The rule is simple. Jewelry goes on last and comes off first.

By hardness, malachite, obsidian and lapis lazuli need the most care. Moonstone and labradorite need more than their hardness suggests.

Malachite is the softest at 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale, which is why it likes a box of its own. Obsidian is a 5 and it is glass, so it chips in curved flakes. Lapis lazuli is 5 to 6 and porous as well.

Moonstone and labradorite are both feldspar at 6 to 6.5. The number looks safe, but GIA rates moonstone's toughness as poor, and feldspar has two cleavage directions, so a hard knock can split one. Hardness and toughness are not the same thing: nephrite jade is the same 6 to 6.5 and is among the toughest stones there is.

Amethyst, rose quartz, aquamarine and tourmaline are 7 or above and need nothing special.

Wipe the silver and the stone with a soft, damp cloth after wear, and store each piece dry, in the box it came in. Keep it away from harsh chemicals, perfume and swimming pools. Every listing also has a Care tab with the instructions for that one stone.

Yes. Write to me before you order and we will work out what is possible together.

Size is rarely the obstacle. Every ring with a natural stone has an open band covering US 5 to 9, so most people never need a change. Necklaces come on a 45 cm (18 in) cord, and I can make that cord shorter or longer without any trouble.

A different stone in a setting you have already seen is the other request I get. Every piece here is built around one stone to begin with, so a new stone simply means a new setting shaped to it. That is how I work anyway, not an exception.

A custom piece takes 7 to 10 days to make. The quickest way to start is a message or WhatsApp, and I read every one myself.

I can, but I would rather make you a pair. The two stones in a pair are chosen together, matched by hand for tone and for the angle of the cut, and that matching is the work. A single earring made months later from a different stone will sit next to the old one and not quite agree with it. This is handmade and not factory work, which is exactly why the pair is made as a pair.

Write to me first and send a photo. I set the stone myself to begin with, so resetting it is the same bench and the same hands.

If the cause is a fault in the setting or in the making, and the piece is less than two years old, the repair is completely free: the work, the materials and the shipping in both directions.

If the two years have passed, or the damage is not a defect (a prong worn down by years of wear, a cord that caught on something), I still repair it, with no time limit, but the work is charged. I look at the photo, tell you the price and the time first, and start only once you agree.

Full terms: Warranty & Repairs

Yes. Every piece carries a two-year limited warranty from the date of purchase, and it covers defects in materials and workmanship: a solder joint that opens, a setting that was not closed properly, a clasp that stops working. On a warranty claim you pay nothing for the repair.

When the two years are over the piece is not left on its own: I repair my own work with no time limit, simply as a paid repair.

Full terms: Warranty & Repairs

On a warranty claim I cover the shipping in full, both to me and back to you. The fault was mine at the bench, so the cost is mine too.

On a paid repair the shipping is paid by the buyer, both ways.

If the parcel arrives damaged, or the piece is not what you ordered, write to me within 48 hours of delivery and I cover every cost.

Do not send anything before you write to me. I look at the photo and tell you whether the piece needs to come to me at all. Full terms: Warranty & Repairs

Yes, anywhere. Shipping is free on every order.

Each piece is made by hand, so allow 1 to 3 business days before it ships. After that:

• Georgia: 1-3 business days.
• United Arab Emirates: 3-5 business days.
• Europe and United Kingdom: 5-10 business days.
• United States: 7-14 business days.
• Canada, Australia and all other countries: 10-21 business days.

Expedited Shipping is available at checkout for a flat $40.

Yes, once your order has been shipped, you will receive a tracking number via email.

Yes, returns and exchanges are accepted within 30 days of delivery. Full details are in the Refund Policy.

Shipping is free worldwide and tracked, and the price you see is the price you pay for the piece. Whatever your own country charges on an import is separate from that, and it is collected by your customs service rather than by Akra.

Import rules for small parcels differ from country to country and change from time to time, so the only reliable answer is the one your own customs office gives you. Every parcel leaves Tbilisi declared honestly, with the real contents and the real value, which is what keeps it moving.

If you want to know what your parcel will say before you order, write to me and I will tell you.