December Birthstones

December Birthstones

Happy Holidays

 

Faceted Genuine or Synthetic Zircons or Turquoise

Zircon is a beautiful clear gemstone that disperses bright light in a similar way to a diamond. Our company sells the faceted stone in a pale blue and clear or white. The reasons that zircon is less expensive than a diamond is that it is 7.5 hard versus the 10 hard of a diamond, and it is more brittle.

Turquoise is popular in many places in the world. Archaeologists have found evidence of this stone in jewelry and carvings that date back thousands of years. In the United States the stone is closely associated with Native American Jewelry. From squash blossom necklaces to Zuni cluster pendants and rings to watch bracelets, heishi, fetishes, and earrings, the Southwestern tribes have spread their love of their blue stone to Americans. Generally set in silver, the stones are usually cut to baroque or non standard shapes.

Turquoise in the United States can range from green to medium blue. Americans like the spiderweb or lacey pattern formed by matrix embedded in the stone. This is not the case in most other countries whose clients want Persian blue which is highly polished and does not have matrix. Persian blue generally costs more and is set in gold. Beads are also a popular form of turquoise jewelry. The nugget or bone shapes usually cut in China make an attractive necklace.

Turquoise mixes well with other colored stones. Coral, from "angelskin" to "oxblood" is a classic mate in the United States. Deeper blue stones, such as lapis lazuli and sodalite, set a great contrast to the turquoise color. Silver rondelles, round beads or football shape beads also enhance the stone.

Turquoise has two frailties: it can be scratched, as it is about 5-6 hard, and it can change color when exposed to some chemicals. This is one of those stones that one should not wear cleaning house or changing a tire. Turquoise is sometimes stabilized to keep the stone from breaking easily. Reconstructed turquoise is pulverized stone that has been reconstructed into a stone. There are also some other dyed softer stones used in lieu of turquoise.

If you want a 20% off coupon for the holidays, please contact richardhetzel@dc.rr.com. See these highlighted stones on the home page of www.richardhetzel.com.

 

 

    

Jewelry Measurement Is Not Universal in the Jewelry Industry

           Every secondary public school teacher endures this famous line, "What are we ever going to need this for?"  Students in this age group understand they need knowledge as well as what there hormones are indicating.  One cannot text without words (misspelled as they are), or one cannot setup digital cameras or printers without recognizing words.  Therefore, students know they should read and write enough to communicate.  Algebra formulas make no sense to them because algebra has missing components called variables, and a series of operations have to be done in a specific order to find or use this mysterious and intangible variable.
         Jewelry gem and findings owners use formulas to convert one weight or size into another kind of weight and size.  The jewelry industry has acquired ancient and modern measurements from around the world.  The homophones (same sound, different meaning), karat and carat probably come from the carob seed.  The karat is the fraction of 24 karat pure gold whereas the carat is the weight of a gemstone.  A grain, another small weight, is probably tied to the weight of a grain of wheat or rice.  A troy pound has twelve ounces.  A troy ounce weighs more than an avoirdupois ounce but an avoirdupois pound has sixteen ounces and weighs more than a troy pound.  Pearls are sold by pearl sieve size but are purchased in weights from Japan called mommes.
      Gold chain is often sold by the gram even though spot gold price is quoted by the troy ounce.  A typical problem for me is to buy a gross (12 dozen) of findings in pennyweights (dwt).  If these findings are 14K gold filled, they are 5% of 14K gold which is .588 times the spot price and divided by 144 so that I can sell them individually or in units of 10 or 12.  Add the labor for the part, my profit and adjust to the current gold price, and I have today's selling price.
    Math is the language of science, and science also is very important to gemology.  The Moh scale tests hardness and scratch ability.  I can scratch your glass with my diamond, but you cannot scratch my diamond with your glass.  The scale is similar to the earthquake scale in which an earthquake that measures 10 is not 10 times a 1 earthquake.  It is much more severe.  Specific gravity (how much water is displaced) and refractive indices also verify gemstones.  Chemicals implanted while crystals are growing can determine whether a ruby or sapphire will emerge.  And opal cracks because it has so many water molecules!  All of these qualifiers are measured in numbers.
      After all those explanations, jewelers must love math.  One does not have to do these conversions by hand and calculator anymore.  There are so many math loving jewelers that have set up conversion tables and routines.  A big hug to all of those who have at last made my life a little simpler.


Myrna, from richardhetzel.com
     




     

Deception in the Jewelry Business

Deception in the Jewelry Business

We all want our great grandmother's red stone ring to have a genuine ruby set in it. It is similar emotionally to believing that I am a prince or princess that is not being raised by their real parents. The Kingdom of Zoom is going to find me, and I will be somebody. In the past, when a friend or acquaintance asked me to look at these precious legacies, I was reluctant to tell them that the stone was synthetic. I did not make friends with the truth, but the truth is that the technology of creating synthetics has been here since the 19^th century.

I was breaking a fantasy by being honest. My great grandmother was either coming from Europe on a ship in steerage or crossing the country on a Conestoga wagon depending on the maternal or paternal side. The person requesting the analysis probably did not have great grandparents that were royalty either.

As a professional jeweler or craftsperson, we need to create a well crafted and beautiful piece. Deceiving the recipients of our work by stating that the stone is a smoky topaz instead of a smoky quartz diminishes our credibility. If the customer insists that the stone has been called a smoky topaz by another dealer, I would remark that the term is a nickname. A similar problem that I encounter from the public is alexandrites that are purchased south of the border. These jewelry pieces are sold as alexandrite jewelry and not synthetic alexandrite jewelry. The stones are beautiful, but people are fooled by their own fantasies.

For me, the worst injustices occur in the descriptions about metals. On television, I see coins that are 14K gold filled being sold as if they are 14K gold. I will go into this further in a blog about weights and measurements. As an example, a one ounce 14K gold coin has 5% of 58% of 24 Karat gold (which is pure gold). At $1200 an ounce that coin is worth $34.80 in gold. That is fairly distant from $1200 an ounce. When the customer realizes the deception, he/she feels hurt or angry or both. Another fraudulent practice is the selling of total weight pieces, particularly diamonds, as if the piece has one exceptional stone. In gemstones, size and quality make a huge difference in value.

I think it is very dangerous to sell gemstones and precious metals as investments. Many big name retailers play the deception game. The truth comes out in the pawn shop. The metal is only worth the metal, and diamonds have a standard pawn value, usually a dollar amount by the point. In jewelry as well as any adornment, emphasize the quality of craftsmanship and the beauty of the components. Integrity brings the customer back

ALTERNATIVES TO SETTING GEMSTONES IN 14K GOLD

      With the price of gold soaring, jewelry artists are going to need to be not only creative in their art but in the metal settings and findings that they use.  Unless they are thinking about using gold foil stickers for rings, (I got the idea from a small child),  jewelers need to rethink affordability.  Mainstream buyers were stretching their budgets at $200 at ounce gold to purchase pieces.  Gold  is now priced between $1100 and $1400 an ounce.

     Silver has also risen in price.  Although customers and designers of jewelry are uncomfortable with rising prices, silver is definitely affordable. Silver is  recognized in the precious metals category along with platinum and gold.  Whereas gold cannot be pure to use in jewelry because of its pliability and affordability, sterling silver is 92% pure.  Silver also requires less heat to size rings or to solder.  Silver is a good second choice unless the customer does not like white metal or has allergies to its alloys.

      There are other materials to enhance gemstones that craftspeople can use and customers can afford as long as the seller is honest about the metal content.  The discussion of deception is coming up in my next blog.  Gold plated and gold filled certainly are attractive alternatives to 14K gold.  Sizing becomes an issue because additional work needs to be done to maintain color after an adjustment is made.   In any case, the glitter remains as well as the affordability.  I will also discuss the difference between plated and filled soon.

     In the past,  hobbyists set their jasper, picture rock and other interesting "rock jewelry" in base metal findings to lower the cost of manufacturing.  Jade, amethyst and other cabochons were also set in base metal.  The same dies that stamped out gold, silver, gold-filled, etc. jewelry settings and findings are used for base metal settings.  Please comment on whether you feel that it is appropriate in today's precious metal markets to use these base metal findings with gemstoness.  I will post your responses.

    You are always welcome at www.richardhetzel.com.