Shopper's Guide: Jewelry Engraving at S&S

Shimmer & Stone offers quality engraving for a select number of items available on our web site at www.shimmerandstone.com

All your engraving requests are undertaken in-house at Shimmer & Stone by our experienced engravers, who utilize both machine and hand engraving techniques to personalize your order.

Although we do not accept returns on engraved items, engraving accuracy and standards are guaranteed by Shimmer & Stone.

Please find as follows further information and frequently asked questions (FAQ's) in reference to the engraving options, policies and guarantees at Shimmer & Stone.

Your Engraving Satisfaction Guarantee

Shimmer & Stone guarantees the quality and accuracy of our engraving.

Although we do not accept returns on any engraved or personalized items, we assure our customers accuracy and quality in the engraving on their purchase as follows:

1. If any errors have been made on your engraving (i.e. engraving that differs from what you have submitted in your order) Shimmer & Stone will re-engrave a new order for you and ship it out to you with a pre-paid return label for you to send the incorrectly engrave piece back at no additional charge.
   
   
2. If you receive an engraved item that is structurally damaged (chipped, dented) we will re-engrave and replace your item immediately and ship back to you at no additional cost.
   
   
3. If the engraving is engraved at a slant/angle or is not uniform in character spacing, we will re-engrave a new item and ship it to you at no additional cost.

Should you notice any errors in your engraving or structural damage to the item, please contact customer service immediately at 1-888-85-STONE or email us at info@shimmerandstone.com and a representative will assist you in resolving the issue.

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Engraving Techniques Utilized by our Engravers

Our engravers have over 20 years of experience in jewelry engraving and utilize both hand and hand articulated engraving machines.

Engraving jewelry is an art that requires technical proficiency, precision and an understanding of the aesthetic of the item being engraved.

Due to the structural and material differences from one piece of jewelry to the other, an engraver has to take into consideration positioning of the engraving in relation to the piece being engraved. In addition, a skilled engraver must consider how the particular piece will be worn so that the engraving can be read correctly whilst on the wearer.

Hand Engraving:

Hand engraving techniques are used on select items that cannot be placed into an engraving machine due to the design features of the piece of jewelry. Hand engraving entails the utilization of a "Graver", which is a chisel like tool used by an engraver to cut into the metal or surface of the item being engraved. This technique results in a more "un-precise" and handwritten looking result in the engraving, which may look rustic, but can also be unique and beautiful.

Machine Engraving:

Machine engraving utilizes engraving machines with stencils or specially crafted plates (for logo's and other custom work) and sometimes CAD assisted engraving machines. At Shimmer & Stone our engravers prefer utilizing hand operated engraving machines which they feel, provides more tactile feedback to the engraver and provides 'real time' feedback of positioning and depth of engraving whilst engraving the piece, which allows the engraver room to make adjustments. Those details, in addition to possible errors like spacing, vertical or horizontal positioning are often issues that occur when utilizing CAD equipment for engraving, as the piece is placed in the machine and engraved at one stretch, which if the placement, for instance is off . . . will result in a completely ruined piece of jewelry.

Of the two techniques, the engravers at Shimmer & Stone utilize a combination of both techniques so that the resulting engraving is uniform, positioned correctly and also engraved at an adequate depth that will last for a long, long time and not fade.

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Returning Engraved Items

Shimmer & Stone does not accept the return of any piece of jewelry that has been engraved or personalized.

We do, however, guarantee the accuracy and quality of our engraving and should you receive your order incorrectly or inaccurately engraved from what you have specified in your order, we will immediately re-engrave or replace the item you your received at no additional cost to you.

In addition if you find that you have, by some remote chance (as each item that is shipped our is quality checked before being packaged), received a defective item and it has been engraved, we will immediately replace that item at no additional cost to you.

Uncertain about an item?
If you are not completely certain about the item your are considering for purchase we recommend that you purchase the item with no engraving. Once you receive your order and if you find that you are satisfied you can ship/mail (be sure to use a traceable method) it back to us to have it engraved.

Once we receive your item it will take 2-3 business days to process your engraving (standard engraving rates as listed on that particular item's page will apply) and the item will be shipped back to you at no additional cost.

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Engraving Processing Time

Engraving on Monograms, Initials and Inscriptions take 2-3 business days to process before your order ships out.

Next Day Shipping Orders: Any order that has Next Day (1-Day) Shipping will take 1-2 business days to engrave before shipping out.

Please take this engraving processing time into consideration when estimating delivery as is also reflected in the following visual guide for your reference:

1-Day Shipping
2-Day Shipping
3-Day Shipping
Free Ground Shipping

Key
	Day that the order is placed.
	Days that engraving is processed.
	Days in transit to destination.

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Item Engraving Details

Engraving options, fonts and orientations vary from item to item at Shimmer & Stone. Each Item page provides details on the engraving options available for that item and these details can be viewed by clicking on the "View Engraving Details" link which will open a "pop-up" window/web-page explaining all your engraving options and instructions for that item.

Please note due to some settings on internet browsers (Internet Explorer, Safari, FireFox etc.) pop-up windows may be blocked from opening. If you notice that the engraving details page is not opening one you have clicked on the link, you can either temporarily disable your pop-up blocker -or- hold the control (CTRL) key and click on the link (Command Key + click on the link on a Mac) and the window will open.

How to View an Item's Engraving Details:

Every item that can be engraved features a "View Engraving Details" link found below the item details on the right side of the page.

1. Click on the "View Engraving Details" link

2. A pop-up window will open detailing all that item's engraving options and instructions.

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Engraving Fonts Used

Our engravers use several popular and universal fonts that have been selected based on the criteria of clarity, depth and visibility of detail.

Not all font options listed are available for each piece of jewelry. You can find the available engraving options on each item's detail page, by clicking the "View Engraving Details" link or clicking on the "Select Engraving Font" drop down menu.

The reason for the allocation of specific font options to a specific piece is due to the characteristics, design, and designer's restrictions of the piece being engraved.

Roman Font:

The most popular engraving font, the Roman Font is typically similar to the Times-Roman font style you find on your computer's word processor. The Roman Font is elegant, yet bold and is suitable for both male and female recipients for almost any occasion, and results in deep smooth engraving effect.

The Roman font is recommended for use in:

• Inscriptions
• Initials
• Monograms
• All Uppercase / Upper and Lowercase / All Lowercase

Block Font:

The block engraving font is also another very popular font which has simple and clean defining lines and is most similar to the Aerial font found on your computer's word processor. This font is easy to read and is more often used when engraving item's for men, primarily because of the fact that the traditional military dog tags have always and still are 'punched' or 'stamped' with a block type font.

The Block font is recommended for use in:

• Inscriptions
• Initials
• Monograms
• All Uppercase / Upper and Lowercase / All Lowercase

Script Font:

The Script Font is a cursive font that resembles handwriting and is romantic and softer in style. The lettering is slanted and this font is commonly suited of use in heartfelt inscriptions, and/or use in the engraving of initials. It is recommended that this style of font is not used for an inscription that requires all uppercase lettering due to the resulting spacing between uppercase letters. Lowercase letters essentially join each other.

The Script font is recommended for use in

• Inscriptions
• Initials
• Monograms
• Upper and Lowercase / All Lowercase

Old English Font:

The old english font is more of a bold and vintage styled font. It is bold and decorative in effect and stands out with a curious emphasis. This font works beautifully with vintage or gothic styled pieces of jewelry and if used in an inscription we would recommend using both upper and lowercase lettering for the best and balanced result. Initials or monograms look exceptionally prominent when engraved with the Old English Font.

The Old English font is recommended for use in . . .

• Inscriptions
• Initials
• Monograms
• All Uppercase / Upper and Lowercase / All Lowercase

Interlocking Monogram Font:

The interlocking monogram font is a specialized font that is used primarily in monogramming. This font is large in size and features very elaborate and bold lettering with an artistic design, that makes for a very dramatic and beautiful appearance. This font cannot be used to engrave inscriptions due to the size of the font and is recommended for use on select pieces due to the resulting loss in detail when utilizing this font on smaller sized pieces.

The Interlocking Monogram font is recommended for use in:

• Monograms
• Single Initials

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Engraving Formats Offered

Shimmer & Stone offers a range of formats indicated in the View Engraving Details pop-up pages for each applicable item. The following is an explanation and reference of each format and instructions on how you can submit your engraving online.

• Monogram
• Initials
• Inscriptions
• Custom

Monogram

The monogram is essentially a motif created by the overlapping or merging of three letters to form one symbol. When it comes to engraving, people commonly use the word monogram to refer to three initials engraved on a piece of jewelry, regardless of them appearing overlapped as a single symbol or as three distinct and separate letters positioned next to each other with some subtle size variation in the lettering.

The traditional monogram has a specific sequential format of the letters making up the engraving as follows, with the center letter being of a larger size than the others:

First Initial - Last Initial - Middle Initial

For example if you were to engrave the initials of Scarlet Savannah Easterwood as a monogram it would traditionally appear as the following sequence as depicted in the several forms and fonts - traditional and other:

Interlocking Monogram	Old English Font Monogram
Roman Font Monogram	Block Font Monogram
Script Font Monogram

Monograms will be centered and engraved on the item of jewelry.

How to Submit Monogram Engraving:

Certain items at Shimmer & Stone can only be monogrammed on one side and not inscribed. One these item pages you will find three fields that allow you to type in the initials you want in your monogram.

1. Type in your letters, in the order you would like them to appear in the monogram. For example, the name Scarlet Savannah Easterwood, you would type in your initials as shown:

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Initials

Initials are similar to a monogram except that all three initials/letters will be of the same size when engraved. Traditionally periods are used to separate initials, however it is a matter of personal preference.

Any item on our web site that can be engraved with an inscription (that provides for "Engraving Text" can be engraved with initials. Initials will be centered on the item being engraved, and sized for an appropriate balanced fit. Below are approximate examples of initials engraved in the available engraving fonts.

Initials in Roman	Initials in Block
Initials in Script	Initials in Old English

How to Submit Initials for Engraving:

1. Select your preferred engraving font from the drop down menu.

2. Type in the initials in the order you want them engraved, in the field provided for "Engraving Text" on the item detail page. (You can also include periods between the letters for effect).

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Inscriptions

Inscriptions are words of text that are engraved onto a piece of jewelry. Due to the size,and design of a certain piece of jewelry, there are character limits that are recommended (you can find these details on each item page, by clicking on the View Engraving Details link).

Depending on the item you select, inscriptions can be engraved in

• One Line, Two Lines and/or Three Lines

engraving can also be done in different orientations:

• Horizontal or Vertical.

Allowances for the number of lines permitted and orientations possible vary by each piece of jewelry, and information can be found on the item detail page by clicking the View Engraving Details link.

Roman Horizontal Inscription	Block Font Horizontal Inscription
Script Font Horizontal Inscription

Regardless of whether you choose to engrave a single line, two or three lines, the engraving will be centered on the item being engraved. Should you require special positioning please let us know by entering your request in the comments box you will find during check out or call customer service at 1-888-85-STONE

How to Submit Inscription Engraving:

1. Select your preferred engraving font from the drop down menu.

2. Type in your engraving on each line provided (certain items may only allow 1 or 2 lines, other may have 3 as shown here) as you would like it to appear engraved.

3. Add to Shopping Bag.

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Custom Engraving

Certain items of jewelry at Shimmer & Stone can be 'Custom Engraved'. Custom engraving refers to special engraving requests such as handwritten messages, hand sketches, specialized line logos etc. Any line drawn or computer generated image, text can be engraved.

Please note that line sketches can only be engraved. Drawings for example such as a circle that is filled with black will only appear as an outline of the circle.

Custom engraving costs a little more than regular monogram, initial or inscription engraving as a engraving plate of your engraving submission has to be made before engraving. There is a flat $35.00 charge for the plate construction and engraving.

We recommend that all submissions are rendered in black ink and sent to us either as a .jpg or .pdf file as an email attachment with your order number in the subject line or faxed over to us at (212) 564-9574.

Signature Engraving	Handwriting Engraving

How to Submit Custom Engraving:

1. Place your order and select "Custom Engraving" as your engraving font

2. If you wish to inscribe the other side of the item please submit your inscription engraving as usual.

3. Add to Shopping Bag and place your order.

4. Note down your order number (shimmerandstone-xxxx).

5. Write down or draw your required engraving in black ink on a white piece of paper and

(a) Fax it to us at (212)564-9574, please remember to write down your name and order number on the piece of paper along with your contact number.

(b) Scan it to your computer and save it as a graphic file (.jpg, .tiff, .png) or as a .pdf file and email it to us at info@shimmerandstone.com, please add your order number to the email along with your name and contact number.

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