Which Metal? Part 4: Durability

Posted by fjewelrystore.com on December 28th, 2006 — Posted in Jewelry Articles

Another factor to consider is durability: how will the metal stand up to wear? How long will it last before it needs repair, or disintegrate? Consider archaeology — sometimes all we know about a prehistoric culture is in the gold objects they left. Pure gold is basically incorruptible, while silver will corrode quite easily. You may not care about what will happen to your jewelry after thousands of years, but the wearability of the metal will affect your choice of materials. A ring to be worn every day should probably be made of gold or platinum, rather than silver, especially if it is to be set with an expensive stone.

So what does all this technical information mean to the designer? It means that you need to understand the characteristics of the various metals so you can make intelligent choices.

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Diamond Engagment Rings - How to Choose?

Posted by fjewelrystore.com on December 27th, 2006 — Posted in Jewelry Articles

After being together for some time, you’ve decided that it’s time that you two should get married. But before that, you need to propose to her. To do this, you will need to have the perfect diamond engagement ring to accomplish this. It has to be something that shows your love and dedication to her. This is something that you don’t do often, and you want it to be as romantic as possible so that she will say “yes”.

The process of picking the perfect dimond ring is therefore of utmost importance. You cannot do this without spending some time learning about diamonds and ring metals and how to differentiate between authentic and synthetical diamonds. There’s nothing wrong with fake diamonds, but you don’t really need to break your bank just to buy a real expensive diamond for your engagement ring.

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Which Metal? Part 3: Strength

Posted by fjewelrystore.com on December 21st, 2006 — Posted in Jewelry Making

The next physical proper to consider when designing is strength. This factor has four parts: the hardness (resistance to being impressed), malleability (how much it can be worked without annealing), ductility (the ability to be drawn into wire without breaking), and tensile strength (how much stress it will withstand before breaking). Again, each alloy of each precious metal will have different characteristics. For instance, pure silver is slightly harder than pure gold, but certainly much softer than lower-karat alloys. Gold is both more malleable and more ductile than either silver or platinum. But platinum has more tensile strength than either gold or silver, meaning that very delicate wirework in platinum will hold up much better than either gold or silver.

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India’s Jewelry Trade is Trying to Break into the Japanese Market

Posted by fjewelrystore.com on December 16th, 2006 — Posted in Jewelry News

Indian jewelry products will be showcased at the upcoming International Jewelry Tokyo show in January. The jewelry has been specifically designed to suit Japanese styles. Following the show, the jewelry will be showcased at 50 sales exhibitions across Japan. The selection is expected to reach 300 retailers and 50000 consumers.

The campaign, “Romance of India” is being launched by The Gem&Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) in collaboration with Taj Enterprise in Tokyo. Taj is headed by the Japanese jewelry designer, Kazuo Ogawa.

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Jewelry Metals

Posted by fjewelrystore.com on December 12th, 2006 — Posted in Jewelry Articles

Gold

Pure gold is 24kt (karat) and is extremely soft. Most pieces of gold are 18kt, 14kt, or 10kt. Gold may be white or yellow in appearance and each have the same properties with the exception of white gold being mixed with different metals to give it a white color. The same karat weight system is used for both white and yellow gold. Gold filled jewelry is the next best thing to solid gold. Gold filled jewelry is manufactured by laminating a sheet of gold over a base metal.

Platinum

Being heavier, more rare and more durable than gold, platinum is the most precious metal used in jewelry and is very expensive. Platinum will never tarnish or wear out and its light color makes it popular for jewelry. Platinum settings make white diamonds appear very bright. It is an excellent metal for people who are allergic to other metals.

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Birthstones

Posted by fjewelrystore.com on December 10th, 2006 — Posted in Birthstones

For centuries gemstones have been linked to the months of birth. It is a folk lore that wearing your birthstone will bring good luck. There is an endless selection available for those interested in their own birthstone or the stones of their children.

January - Your birthstone is a lustrous, rich red Garnet.

February – The stone that marks your special month is the Amethyst. A beautiful clear purple stone.

March - If you were born in March your birthstone is a blue, blue-green or green stone known as the Aquamarine.

April - Babies born in April are truly blessed for their birthstone is the dazzling diamond. The most coveted of all birthstones most are colorless but colored varieties do exist.

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Which Metal? Part 2: Weight

Posted by fjewelrystore.com on December 9th, 2006 — Posted in Jewelry Making

When designing jewelry, the metal’s physical characteristics must be considered, one of which is weight. The pure form of each of the precious metals is an element, meaning that its molecules cannot be further broken down into separate atoms.

Each has its own symbol on the periodic table. Gold is Au (for aurum, Latin for gold); silver is Ag (the Latin for silver is argentum); and platinum is Pt. Each of these elements has a definite specific gravity, which is a measurement of density (the ratio of mass to volume), expressed in a relationship to the density of water. By definition, the specific gravity of water is 1, so each metal’s specific gravity shows how much more than water that metal would weigh, given an equal volume. For example, the specific gravity of 24-karat gold is 19.32, meaning that a piece of 24-karat gold is 19.32 times heavier, and denser, than a body of water of equal volume. The specific gravity of fine (pure) silver is 10.49, that of platinum is 21.45. Therefore, a one-square-inch sheet of 20-gauge pure gold will weigh almost twice as much as the same size sheet of fine silver, but about 10 percent less than the same size sheet of platinum. Each alloy of gold, silver, or platinum will have a different specific gravity, depending on the proportions of the metals in that alloy. That one-square-inch sheet of 10-karat gold would be only slightly heavier than the silver sheet, since the specific gravity of 10-karat yellow gold is 11.6.

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Most Popular Search Phrases: Diamond Jewelry

Posted by fjewelrystore.com on December 9th, 2006 — Posted in Online Jewelry

Diamond - A clear transparent precious gemstone composed of pure crystallized carbon which has been highly compressed over millions of years. Diamonds are the hardest substance known to mankind. They are valued because it is difficult to produce a faceted diamond and when properly cut they have high refractivity and brilliance.

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Which Metal? Part 1: Color Factor

Posted by fjewelrystore.com on December 8th, 2006 — Posted in Jewelry Making

What will it be – gold, silver, or platinum? Jewelry designers have a number of things to consider before making a choice. Several factors enter into each decision; one of the most basic is which metal to use. Many jewelers prefer to work only in gold, while others confine themselves to silver. And now, platinum is becoming more popular, adding a third possibility. A growing number of metal artists also enjoy working in all three metals, often combining two or more metals in the same piece. There are some inherent differences among the metals that must be taken into consideration when designing for each: color; technical aspects such as weight and strength; workability; the cost of the material; current fashion preferences; and last but not least, if you are a professional, market value.

Of course, there are also designers who work with other metals, such as copper alloys, nickel, aluminum, steel, or refractive metals like titanium, but for the purpose of this article, we’ll stick to the big three — the most popular metals by far.

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Sothebys New York Jewelry Sale Results

Posted by fjewelrystore.com on December 8th, 2006 — Posted in Jewelry News

Tapping into the holiday buying frenzy, Sotheby’s New York held its sale of Magnificent Jewels on December 6, 2006. The auction sold 79 percent by lot and 62,8 percent by value, garnering $18,419,280 against a presale estimate of $22 million to $29 million.

The one day sale also included Castellani & Giuliano — The Judith H. Siegel Collection. This portion of the sale, which sold 96,8 by lot and 97,7 percent by value, realized $7,404,799 against a presale estimate of $3 million to $4 million. The grand total for the day was $25,824,075 the largest jewelry sale at Sotheby’s New York since October 1997, said Lisa Hubbard, international jewelry department chairman, North and South America.

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Rhodonite

Posted by fjewelrystore.com on December 6th, 2006 — Posted in Jewelry Articles

Disdaining ecology and parentage, some minerals always look the same: gold, silver, pyrite, realgar, malachite, and azurite, to name a few, are always easy to spot for what they are. Other minerals, possibly more sensitive to temperature, pressure, acidity, and solution concentration as they form, may look very different depending on where they grew and can be difficult to identify properly. Rhodonite belongs in this group.

In some incarnations, rhodonite, a manganese mineral, is a rich-pink to rose-colored massive material, such as the historic occurrence in Sverdlovsk, Russia. Impressive rhodonite carvings were perhaps the second choice of the Czars as wedding presents with which they burdened many of the royal families of Europe, the first choice being giant urns and tables covered with a mosaic of stunning green malachite, also mined in Russia. Among the choicer products of the famous Ekaterinburg lapidary shops that turned out items for the Czars were rich-red plates of solid, massive rhodonite.

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Jewelry - Sites to See, Part 1

Posted by fjewelrystore.com on December 3rd, 2006 — Posted in Online Jewelry

www.lapidaryjournal.com - Lapidary Journal was the first gem and jewelry-making magazine in the world, dedicated to gems, jewelry arts, beads, minerals and more. This is an indispensable site for jewelry, gem, bead, and fossil devotees.

www.gemstone.org - The International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) has produced an excellent, informative site, compiling articles from various sources, advice on buying stones, judging a stone’s quality, and cleaning and maintaining your treasures.

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