Picketts & Pursers

read moreIt is rare to find such a comprehensive, exciting and diverse range of merchandise under one roof. Fine jewels, silver, watches and clocks sit alongside china & glassware. We have contemporary and period designs including an extensive range of fine second-hand jewellery and silver. We undertake all forms of specialist repairs, remodelling and valuations. Over many years we have invested in staff education enabling our team to offer you the best possible product knowledge and advise. Our desire is to offer a truly outstanding personal service in all aspects of the jewellery trade.

read moreWe undertake all types of valuations including insurance, probate and sale between parties. Jane Emsley, our in house registered valuer, uses the Appraiser System with digital photographs of the valuables, a method approved by most of the country's top insurance companies. We recognise the ever growing demand for corporate presentations as an incentive and to reward employees and associates. We have a fine selection of gifts suitable for all types of presentations including long service awards.

read moreIf you're looking for a great way to add some class to your mantlepiece, one of our attractive carriage clocks might be just the way to do it. Have a look below to see just some of the timepieces we have to offer.

read moreIf you have a special occasion coming up, or if you just want glassware you can bring out with pride at dinner parties and family occasions, you need look no further. Have a look at our range of glassware and crystal below.

read moreWhether it's for a family member, close friend or work colleague, you want a gift that shows them you care. We have arranged a selection of gifts to cater to any tastes, suitable for all occasions. Have a look below to see for yourself.

read moreThis guide is designed to give you a brief overview of the journey that a diamond takes from the heart of the earth to becoming the stunning item of jewellery; full of brilliance, mystery and the ultimate gift of love. We shall begin our look at diamonds at the very beginning of time, long before dinosaurs, no less than 500,000 years ago for it was then that these amazing natural stones were first formed by the great heat and pressure of primeval volcanic action. The chemical composition of the extraordinary crystals formed in the molten rock was pure, crystalline carbon and when these crystals grow they produce the hardest natural substance known to man - the substance we call: Diamond.

read moreColour is the third of our five factors, which, together with the quality of the cut and the clarity, determine the value of a diamond. The best colour for a diamond is no colour at all and, to the untrained eye, most diamonds look colourless. As with clarity, the colour of a diamond is judged using two main scales - CIBJO is the European system and GIA the American. The more universal GIA scale lists the top colour as "D" with the other colours denoted by descending letters of the alphabet. The judgement of diamond colours, though subjective, is based on comparison with a "Master Set" of stones.

read moreTransforming rough diamonds into the bright, sparkly gems with which we are so familiar did not begin until the fifteenth century. The early discoverers of diamonds in India over 2,500 years ago, focused on the double pyramid, octahedral crystal, as shown here, but of course broken crystals were also discovered and some of the natural facets on these stones showed how a diamond could sparkle if only it could be cut. It was not until early stone cutters discovered that you could use another diamond, and the diamond dust generated by the process, to grind facets onto stones that the path towards the modern brilliant cut diamond began.