A young couple recently reached out to ask if I could make a wedding ring for them, using their collection of Family, and Personal jewlery. What a great idea!
Some of the pieces were inherited, while other pieces were gifted to them. 
Even though this is a very exciting project, full of fun and family history, it can be a challenge to knit together a Beautiful project from a collection of Gemstones. 
Sometimes the Gemstones and Diamonds vary significantly in their quality, so that the new piece will not look balanced. 
This particular project is to be a wedding and engagement set. The first step was a thorough cleaning and steaming of all of the gemstone jewelry. After the cleaning was completed, I then graded the quality of all of the diamonds. Many of the pieces were commercial “mall quality” diamonds; one piece with smaller diamonds had top light brown diamonds, which looked good when next to each other, but do not play well next to a bright white diamond. Since we were going to make a pavee band, their juxtaposition would make the color difference obvious to the naked eye. it was a big color difference.
Sorting out the brightest cleanest gemstones and the sizes that could work into a pavee style band takes time and patience. Most of the time comes into matching how well the cuts of the diamonds match. The last thing that you want is to have a beautiful bright field of diamonds only to be interrupted by a flat, dull non reflective diamond. 
The gold however is easy to repurpose. Usually the customer is given a choice of 18 vs 14 K white or yellow gold. The metal is cleaned up , any old solder is removed, and then it is mixed with brand new alloyed metal of the same caratage. 

So all in all, repurposing your jewelry may present a few challenges, but with a patient eye and careful callipers, a beautiful project can come to life. 
It can save you time and money. 
If you have old collectibles that you are not wearing, let’s see what we can do to bring them back to life!

The Sapphire is September’s Birthstone, and is a truly remarkable Gemstone. Corundum is the matrix material, or mother mineral for this stone. Sapphires actually come in a wide variety of colors, and here is why: when the Corundum is hot and fluid, it becomes mixed with other minerals, which gives the Corundum different colors. Hence HEAT is the reason for the multitude of Sapphire colors. In fact, you can choose from any color in the rainbow!
Pictured is a wedding ring with channel set saphires, which is a lovely use of this gemstone. 
Athough blue Sapphies are seen commonly, the Red color of Corundum is known as Ruby! And, the Lotus Flower Pink (with peach overtones) is known as Padaparasha. 
If you are a September baby, you are blessed with a truly unlimited variety of Corundum ( Sapphires) from which to choose! 
Have fun choosing your favorite Sapphire. 

Solitaire Studs of Pearls, Colored Gemstones, or Diamonds add a highlight to your look, by using a punctuation of color and light. 
​Dangling Earrings give movement and length to the appearance of the ear. That little bit of motion adds alot of drama!
Huggy Earrings are very nice. They hug the ear lobe, and have a finished front side and back side. They clip on, and have a taylored appearance. The design styles are limitless, from simple hoops to colored gemstones, some whimsical and some playful. 
Button earrings are usually on the larger side, and because of their size and weight have French backs to hold them upright on the ear. These earrings can feature larger colored gemstones, and there is alot of area to work with. You can work with different forms or designs, from freeform, to geometric, to asymmetrical shapes. These earrings tend to make a BOLDER fashion statement. 

When choosing an earring style, you should keep in mind the shape of your face. Whether your face is round, pear, oval or square in shape, pick a style that flatters your look with a design that accents you beautifully. 

Earrrings are a wonderfull part of the jewelry wardrobe. Discover your style and look your best!

 Corundum: a spectacular mineral that displays every color under the rainbow, with many variations of color and so many nuances. 
Red Corundum is named Ruby. 
This Gemstone is often referred to as the Gemstone of Passion. 
Fiery Red, this gem is RARE because Chromium in the earth’s mantle is extremely rare. The Corundum mineral has to come into contact with the chromium to create the beautiful red color in Rubies. 
Ruby is found Africa, Thailand, Burma.... large gems are very rare, and only a few each year are discovered that are greater than 3 carats. 
July’s birthstone is Fiery with Passion and Radiance!

At LAST there is an affordable and durable, refractable replacement for Diamonds!
At the end of the 19th Century, Henri Moissan discovered a mineral from a fallen meteriorite in Arizona. He took it to his lab, and deconstructed the mineral, and determined that it was silicon carbide. At about the same time, Edward Acheson set about reconstructing silicon carbide in a controlled environment. This brilliant gem is now known as moissanite, whether found naturally or when synthetically created.
MOISSANITE.
It has the hardness of the diamond, at 9.5-9.9 on the Mohs scale for gemstone durability. 
It has as much refraction or ability to SPARKLE as a diamond, and if cut properly it can sparkle MORE.
The patent on the process expired a few years back, so there are alot of competitors in the arena.....not always a good thing because not every company produces Gem Color Cut and Clarity. However, a fine Moissanite of 1 carat retails for around $600 today, versus $6500 for a 1 carat diamond. 
As in all things, educate yourself about the differences, and check it out. 
Your Jeweler will not know the difference between a diamond and moissanite, using a Diamond Meter test, because moissanite appears the same as diamond in this test. However, the specific gravity or weight of the two gemstones is different, the optical character is birefringent (also different), it changes color at 150F, and has different electrical conductivity than diamond. So there are positive ways to differentiate the two gemstones. 
Consider Moissanite for your Fine Jewelry.
Read more about Moissanite:
https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/winter-1997-synthetic-moissanite-nassau

When Making a Repair to your Jewelry, the experience of your personal jeweler matters. 
Most often, jewelry repairs require some soldering or welds. 
There are FOUR types of Solders:

• EASY- Low temperature, easy flow/ BAD for durability
• MEDIUM- Medium Temperature, about 1800 degrees, use near gemstones
• HARD- 1820 degrees which is close to the metal melt temperature, usually the best for Quality repairs
• Repair Hard- Very Very close to metal melt temperature. I use this only for ring sizings

If you take your jewelry to a “hands on “ jeweler, your jeweler will be familiar with the different types of solders and welds, and will make the appropriate choice for the repair. 

All too often, the Big Box stores or Mall Jewelers use inexpensive repairs using easy solder where hard solder should be used.  Have you ever wondered why your ring shank cracked, or why the tips on your prongs did not last long? Chances are easy solder was used. I see this frequently when jewelry is brought in for repairs. 

The Queen of the Gemstone World: The Pearl

A Perfect Genstone. Organically birthed, and grown in the Great Oceans and Waters around the world; there are so many to choose from!
Mississippi River Pearls
Biwa Fresh Water Pearls
South Sea Pearls
Pearls are very diverse. There are many different sizes ranging from 2mm to 16 mm.
A wide range of colors from snow white, cream, light brown, pink, dark brown, golden, black, gray silver are available! Pick the color that is best for your skin complexion. 
This Wonderful Gem can be worn casually or Dressed up for any Formal Event. They will look absolutely beautiful!
Pearls can be crafted in many different jewelry settings!
From Classic Solitaire Pearl Stud Earrings, or an elegant Solitaire Pearl Ring, to the simple strand of pearls. Always in Style!

When I began my career in the field of jewelry design, the ARTWORK of jewelry design was organic and fluid. The textures were amazing, using wood, lava flow, and leaves that reflected the Back To the Earth movement of the 60’s. It was exciting and represented a BIG movement away from the 40’s and 50’s in jewelry design.
In the 40’s and 50’s, design was straight forward with lines of diamonds, center stones, and generally yellow gold. 
Forward to the 70’s , which brought BIG yellow gold jewelry with Wide yellow gold bands and Lots of prongs. 
In the 80’s ring fashion changed and showed lots of Channel set diamonds, freeform designs flowing with smooth movement, accented with small diamonds in channels to compliment the center gemstone. 
And then there was the 90’s. BIG Diamonds, 2 carat center stones were all the rage! These designs were taylored to allow the Centerstone to become Centerstage. 
In the 2000’s, the price of Gold hit an alltime high. The field of jewelry design retooled and redesigned: mountings became light and thin! Micropave and small diamonds embellished almost every surface. Designs used very little gold, and A LOT of small diamonds. 
And then there was CAD
Computer Assisted Design: the technology of the day RULES.
Jewelry designs have become neutered, boooooring and cookie cutter. 
One Halo design looks just like ten others, they all look the same. 
I Believe that the ART and Feel of individually crafted jewelry has almost disappeared. 
My Hope is that Individuality begins to reemerge; That REAL design reclaims true artistry in the Golsdmithing Design Arena. 
Afer all, who is really proud of a Mechanical Technical Manipulation that is sitting on their hand, VS a hand made, hand set collection of Gems, with sublte and beautiful Technique. Unique in design, subtle in its imperfection, with organically generated artistry, NOT a DNA cookie cutter model!
People will make the choice. I hope the human eye and hand will prevail over the CAD and Mechanisation that has taken precedence in the last decade. 

Are Your Diamonds Chipped?

If a diamond has been chipped, or if the surface has been abraided, chances are IT CAN BE REPAIRED! The Diamond cutter can rebrut or reround the diamond, and can fashion the gemstone. This process adds the necessary facets to the diamond, that results in a brilliant Gemstone! WOW. 
Depending on the nature of the chip, the diamond cutter decides how much material needs to be reworked, usually less than 10% of the gem. But it depends on how much damage needs repair. 
When completed the repair is not obvious and the Diamond is returned to as new condition. 

If your gemstones are chipped give Michael a call.​

How is a Custom Jeweler different than a Jewelry Store?
A Jeweler makes their inventory and sells DIRECTLY to the public.  Whereas a Jewelry Store , for example in a Big Box Store, or Chain Jewelry stores at the local shopping mall, purchase Jewelry from manufacturers and then resell it to the public. The pitfalls associated with buying from Big Box or Chain Jewelry stores are many.
I see this often when new clients bring their jewelry disappointments in to me, asking for help! What are the pitfalls?
First, the QUALITY is not up to my standard. Second, you will pay a higher price because of the middlemen involved and merchandise markup. Thirdly, your choice of Creative Innovative Jewelry is Limited. You might notice how jewelry at Big Box Stores and Chain Jewelry stores all looks the same, like cookie cutter jewelry. 
You owe it to yourself to seek out your Custom Jeweler for the jewelry that is right for you . 
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