Frequently Asked Questions

In-stock pieces leave our Austin studio within 1–2 business days via UPS. Domestic delivery typically lands in 3–5 business days with UPS Ground; expedited and overnight options live at checkout. Made-to-order pieces — most cascade earrings and one-of-one nautilus styles — are built in 4–6 weeks, and we'll email you a precise ship date within 24 hours of your order. Tracking drops in your inbox the second the UPS label prints.

Please note: Lily Frank Jewelry cannot assume responsibility for any additional duties and fees incurred with your order.

Tracking lands in your inbox the moment your UPS label prints — and again when it's out for delivery. Every order lives under My Orders when you're signed in. Can't find the email? Check spam first (UPS notifications sometimes route there), then email shop@lilyfrankjewelry.com — we'll resend within a few hours during Austin business hours.

Unworn, original condition, all packaging intact — return within 14 days of delivery for a full refund or store credit. Made-to-order and final-sale pieces aren't eligible (flagged "Final Sale" on the product page before you buy). Refunds post to your original payment method within 5–7 business days of our studio receiving the return. Worn, altered, or fragrance-touched pieces can't be restocked.

Email shop@lilyfrankjewelry.com with your order number. We send a prepaid UPS label within one business day (free for orders in the US and Canada). Drop the parcel at any UPS Store or schedule a pickup. International returns are buyer-paid; we recommend a tracked service. Once it hits our Austin studio, refunds land in 5–7 business days.

You can cancel or change any order at any time before it ships from our Austin studio. Email shop@lilyfrankjewelry.com with your order number and we'll catch it before the UPS label prints. Once it ships, we can't intercept — but you can return for a full refund (see Return Policy above). Made-to-order pieces can be cancelled up to 24 hours after order placement, before production starts.

Yes — limited drops and restock-pending pieces are available for pre-order, with an estimated ship date listed on the product page. Payment is charged at checkout (locks your spot in the queue). You'll get an email the moment your piece ships from the Austin studio. Want to pre-order a piece that's not currently listed? Email shop@lilyfrankjewelry.com.

On any sold-out product page, tap "Notify Me When Available" and drop your email. The second a restock lands — or a made-to-order run wraps — you'll get a one-line email with a direct buy link. We don't spam: these alerts only fire when the exact SKU you wanted is back.

Every order ships in a signature Lily Frank Jewelry box designed to be gifted as-is. Add a complimentary handwritten gift note at checkout (up to 250 characters), and we automatically exclude pricing from the packing slip. Complimentary gift wrap is included on every order — no upcharge, no checkbox, just one fewer thing to think about.

Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Afterpay (4 interest-free installments on orders $35–$1,000). All transactions run through Shopify's PCI-DSS Level 1 certified checkout — the same security standard major banks use. Currency is USD; international cards convert at your bank's exchange rate.

Your card issuer may charge a foreign transaction fee (typically 1–3%) since we process in USD — we don't add any markup on top. Customs duties, VAT, and import taxes vary by country and are the buyer's responsibility, collected by UPS at delivery or by your local customs authority. Reach out before you order if you'd like an estimate for your country.

Enter your code in the "Discount code or gift card" field at checkout. It applies before tax and shipping. One code per order — we don't stack. Codes can't be applied retroactively after order placement, so paste before tapping Pay. Expired, used, or not working? Email shop@lilyfrankjewelry.com and we'll sort it.

At checkout, select Afterpay as your payment. Your order is split into 4 equal interest-free installments charged every 2 weeks: first payment at checkout, three thereafter. No credit check, no interest if paid on schedule. Available on orders $35–$1,000 for US shoppers. Your jewelry ships immediately — no waiting for installments to clear.

Pearls & shells: real freshwater pearls (Grade A/AA where applicable) and vintage or deadstock seashells — primarily nautilus, with occasional cowrie, abalone, and conch. Sourced from sustainable suppliers; no live-reef harvesting. Metals: .925 sterling silver (hallmarked), 14k gold-fill, and solid 14k gold on select made-to-order pieces. Settings cast locally in Texas, then hand-set in our Austin studio.

Every piece is hand-set in our Austin, Texas atelier, where founder Afsaneh Taki — formerly with Carolina Herrera and Marc Jacobs in New York — designs each style and oversees production. Sterling silver settings are cast locally; pearls and shells are individually inspected, color-matched, and set in small batches. Made-to-order pieces are produced on demand to reduce overproduction waste. Visit our About page to learn more.

Recycled paperboard outer boxes, protective inserts, and a signature Lily Frank Jewelry interior keepsake box built for long-term storage of your piece. Designed to be curbside-recyclable wherever possible. Gift-ready out of the carton — clients call it the prettiest unboxing they've had in years.

Treat it like skin: off before showering, swimming, sleeping, applying lotion, perfume, or sunscreen. Store flat in the keepsake box it arrived in (humidity is the enemy of pearls). Polish silver with a soft microfiber cloth. Never use silver-dip cleaners on pearl or shell pieces — they strip the nacre permanently. Deeper cleaning needed? See the next question, or email shop@lilyfrankjewelry.com — we'll walk you through it.

Wipe with a soft, dry cloth after each wear — body oils and perfume cloud the nacre over time. For a deeper clean, use a microfiber cloth lightly dampened with distilled water (not tap — minerals etch the surface). Never use ultrasonic cleaners, jewelry dips, or solvent-based products on pearls or natural shells. Restring knotted pearl pieces every 2–3 years with regular wear — we offer mail-back restringing through our Austin studio. Email shop@lilyfrankjewelry.com for a return label and quote.

Freshwater, South Sea, and Akoya pearls are three distinct pearl types — different oysters, different waters, different price points. Akoya pearls come from saltwater Pinctada fucata oysters in Japan and China — small (6–9mm), bright white with rose overtones, near-perfectly round. South Sea pearls come from larger Pinctada maxima oysters in Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines — the largest pearls cultured (10–18mm), in white to gold, and the most expensive (often $1,000+ per pearl). Freshwater pearls — the kind we use most at Lily Frank — come from freshwater mussels in China, in any shape (round, oval, button, baroque), in white, peach, lavender, and pastel pinks. Freshwater delivers the look of South Sea at a fraction of the cost, which is why we pair them with our nautilus shells. All three are real pearls, graded A through AAA on nacre thickness, surface clarity, and luster (GIA standard).

A baroque pearl is any pearl that isn't perfectly round — irregular in shape, asymmetrical, often with a sculptural twist or organic curve. The term comes from the 17th-century European Baroque art period, which prized drama and imperfection over symmetry. Most baroque pearls are freshwater, where natural variation in the mussel produces unique forms. Each baroque pearl is genuinely one of one — no two are identical, which is why we love them for nautilus-and-pearl cascade earrings: the irregular pearl complements the natural curve of the shell instead of competing with it. Baroque pearls are graded the same way as round pearls (nacre thickness, surface, luster) but valued separately because the appeal is sculptural, not symmetric. Most of the pearls in our Austin atelier are baroque — selected for their character, not despite it.

Yes. Every nautilus shell in our collection is vintage, deadstock, or naturally sourced — primarily from estate sales, antique markets, and surplus inventory from old shell-and-pearl trades. We do not harvest from live reefs or buy from suppliers who do. The chambered nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) is listed under CITES Appendix II, meaning live-reef harvest is internationally regulated — and we don't participate. Our shells are already aboveground — collected decades ago, often pre-dating current trade restrictions, given a second life as jewelry instead of sitting in a drawer. The vintage-sourcing standards Afsaneh built as a sourcer for Urban Outfitters define how every shell enters the studio: provenance verified, age confirmed where possible, sustainability prioritized. It's slower than buying mass-farmed shells. It's also why every nautilus piece is one of one.

Short answer: no. Pearls and shells should stay dry. Pearls are calcium carbonate (nacre) — the same material as eggshell — and they're vulnerable to chlorine (pools), salt (ocean), perfume, lotion, sunscreen, and prolonged exposure to hard tap water. Chlorine etches the nacre permanently. Salt water and sweat dull the luster. Soap and shampoo build a film that clouds the surface. The order of operations matters: pearls go on last after makeup, perfume, and hair products have fully set, and pearls come off first before showering, swimming, or sleeping. A quick wipe with a dry microfiber cloth after each wear removes body oils and extends the life of every piece. Treat them like skin (see Q16). With this routine, a pearl piece holds its luster for decades; without it, the nacre clouds within months.

With proper care, a baroque pearl piece lasts decades — often a lifetime, often longer. Pearls are organic, made of layered nacre that the oyster (or mussel, for freshwater baroque) builds slowly over years. That same organic origin makes them sensitive to chlorine, salt, perfume, and prolonged dryness — but it also means a well-cared-for pearl ages gracefully, developing a deeper warmth and patina rather than wearing down like a stone. The thread is the limiting factor, not the pearl. We recommend restringing knotted pearl pieces every 2–3 years with regular wear (yearly for daily wearers, longer for occasional pieces) to prevent thread fatigue. Our Austin atelier offers mail-back restringing — email shop@lilyfrankjewelry.com for a return label and quote. Care guide in Q16; pearl-specific cleaning in Q17.

Three different metals, three different price points, three different durability profiles:

• Solid gold is an alloy of pure gold mixed with other metals (copper, silver, palladium): 14k = 58.3% gold, 18k = 75% gold. Most expensive, most durable, never tarnishes, lasts forever.
• Gold-filled is a thick layer of solid gold (≥1/20 of the piece's total weight, per US FTC standard) mechanically bonded to a brass or sterling core. Far more durable than plating; wears 10–30 years with normal use.
• Gold vermeil (pronounced vehr-may) is a thick layer of solid gold (≥2.5 microns, per FTC) electroplated onto sterling silver — not brass. The most accessible option in fine jewelry; with proper care, lasts 5–15 years before showing wear.

Lily Frank Jewelry uses .925 sterling silver, 14k gold-fill, and solid 14k gold for made-to-order pieces. We don't use plain electroplating.

".925" means sterling silver — an alloy that is 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals (usually copper, sometimes germanium for tarnish resistance). The hallmark is required by US FTC standards for any piece sold as "sterling," and you'll find it stamped on the back of every Lily Frank piece next to our LFJ shell logo. Pure silver (99.9%, also called fine silver) is too soft for jewelry — it bends and scratches. The 7.5% copper makes sterling durable enough for everyday wear while keeping the bright white-silver finish that pairs beautifully with pearl and shell. With normal care (off before showering, polished with a microfiber cloth — see Q16), .925 sterling silver lasts decades and only develops a soft patina with time, which most people prefer to brand-new shine.

Both are aboveground. Both predate modern reef-harvest restrictions. The sourcing path is what differs. Vintage shells are pre-collected pieces with provenance — sourced from estate sales, antique markets, collectors' inventories, and decades-old shell trades. They've often been out of the ocean for 30, 50, sometimes 80+ years. Deadstock shells are unused commercial inventory — surplus from old jewelry runs, leftover supplier stock that never made it into production, materials that aged out of a previous era's collections. Same final use, different paper trail. Both are central to how Lily Frank Jewelry operates: we don't buy new harvested shells, period. The sourcing standards come directly from Afsaneh's years as a vintage sourcer for Urban Outfitters, where provenance and ethical procurement were non-negotiable. Every nautilus piece you see in our Austin atelier was already out of the ocean before we touched it.