Every woman deserves to be adorned with beautiful jewelry.  However, diamonds, which form a major portion of beautiful jewelry are extremely expensive.  Have you ever wondered why diamonds are that expensive.  Are they really that rare?  Do they really have more brilliance than alternative stones?

 The invention that diamonds are rare and valuable is a myth that is created by a cartel.  Until the early twentieth century, diamonds were found in only a few remote riverbeds in India and Brazil.  At that time,  only a few hundred pounds of diamonds were mined per year and they were rare.  However, in the late 19^th century, huge diamond deposits were discovered in South Africa and before long, diamonds were being mined and produced by the ton.  At that point, the markets were saturated with diamonds inducing fear among the British Diamond financiers that their investments were endangered. 

Cubic Zirconia (Synthetic Diamond) Bracelet

 To merge and maintain the supposed scarcity of diamonds, these investors created the merged De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. in South Africa. Over the years, De Beers took complete control of the diamond trade and therefore created a monopoly that totally controls what we pay for diamonds similar to the way OPEC controls the price of gasoline.  Diamonds are not in reality that scarce but are made scarce by a monopoly to drive their prices up just like there was no shortage of oil last summer but supplies were limited by OPEC during the high demand season driving  prices up. 

 Diamonds in our jewelry stores are no more scarce than many other gemstones that sell for a fraction of their cost.  Gems like Alexandrite and Tanzanite are far more rare than diamonds but don’t demand the same

Cubic Zirconia Pave Flower Ring

outrageous prices.  Furthermore, the beauty and brilliance of diamonds is equaled or exceeded by the beauty and sparkle of moisanite and cubic zirconia sold at a fraction of the cost.  So why buy diamonds?

 Since they have  no flaws or imputities like diamonds, cubic zirconias have more sparkle and have the color and  clarity of a perfect diamond.  A jeweler recently said “The diamond rings in our store are displayed together with the Cubic Zirconias (CZs) and people think they are diamonds.  Why pay more for diamonds or mossanite when cubic zirconias are much more reasonable in cost.”  Most Walmart stores do the same thing in their jewelry area.  I challenge you to visit and see for yourself if you can tell the difference. 

Not too long ago, ABC’s 20/20 presented a comparable cubic zirconia and a perfect $50 million diamond to an expert in New York’s diamond district.  The expert spent significant effort examining the two stones and after some time declared both stones were counterfeit proving that, in most cases, even experienced jewelers can’t tell the difference.

Cubic Zirconia is a synthetic or manmade likeness of a real diamond.  Many fashionable styles of rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings are available in cubic zirconia.  They are affordable, radiant, beautiful and stunning making them even more attractive.  They make you feel elegant and frugal because

Semimounted Synthetic Emerald and Diamond Cubic Zirconia Earrings

you saved a lot of money.

 Even movie stars are ditching their diamond earrings for cubic zirconia in protest of the  problem with blood diamonds.

 Cubic Zirconia sparkle as much or more than diamonds and jewelers require special equipment to distinguish them from diamonds.  Buy cubic zirconia jewelry and treat yourself to something beautiful in a way that is within your budget.  They are designed to replicate a flawless diamond costing hundreds of times more.

 Also, you don’t need to fear losing a stone that costs $10,000 when you wear cubic zirconias.  You can enjoy wearing them in a much wider array of venues than diamonds.  You can feel beautiful and sophisticated in more places and events and show your taste for beautiful jewelry.

 You deserve it.  All women deserve beautiful jewelry.  Whether you’re a stay at home mom, a college student, or business woman, beautiful cubic zirconia jewelry can be part of your wardrobe.

Paraiba tourmaline is a stunningly vivid green to blue gemstone that was discovered in 1981  by Heitor Dimas Barbosa in the remote Brazilian state of Paraiba.  Owing it’s fascinatingly beautiful color to to the combination of copper, paraiba tourmaline is one of the world’s most beautiful gemstones (Please click on the links in this post to see this amazing gemstone).

These beautiful stones exhibit extraordinary vivid scintilating color with a stunningly firy brilliance once they are skillfully cut.  Today, these rare gemstones are highly sought after and are amoung the most expensive gemstones in the world with fine 1 carat stones often worth more than $10,000.  Paraiba tourmalines are much rarer than diamonds.

In 2001, additional deposits of paraiba tourmalines were discovered in Nigeria.

Paraiba tourmalines are rated in a fashion similar to the 4Cs method used for diamonds (Rated for Carat Weight, Color, Clarity and Cut).  The most prized stones have a neon blue color.

When evaluating whether a stone is a paraiba tourmaline look for a turquoise color exhibiting flashes of green and brilliant fire from within the stone.  The stone should appear to glow from a bright spot within the gem when it is in bright light.  You can see this gemstone from across the room.

Observe the stone in different lights.  Paraiba tourmalines will sparkle even in dim light.

If you are planning to purchase a Paraiba Tourmaline, seek the counsel of a certified gemonlogist.  Since these stones are so rare and their price is so high, it is prudent to know what you are doing when you purchase one.

If you purchase or own a piece of paraiba tourmaline jewelry,  it should be stored in its own seperate bag within your jewelry chest to prevent it from being scratched by harder gemstones within your collection.  Do not use an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner on paraiba tourmaline.  Use ionic cleaners or soapy water and a soft brush to clean paraiba tourmaline jewelry.

Your Source for Fine Jewelry

The world has changed in recent years and now, silver jewelry is playing a much larger role in jewelry.  We’ve discovered that silver jewelry can be just

Filigree Celtic "eternity knot" Pendant in Sterling Silver

as elegant as gold when cleaned properly.  In fact, highly polished silver has an attribute of being much more reflective than gold.  However, when it is exposed to the elements, silver will tarnish over time through oxidation.

Silver, a soft, white lustrous metal, is commercially available in a number of alloys.  The most familiar of the alloys is Sterling Silver which is comprised of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper.  Items that bear the label fine silver are 99.9% silver and the new argentium silver is always at least 92% silver. 

The new silver alloy gaining prominence because it rarely needs polished is argentium silver in which a small part of the copper of sterling silver is replaced with argentium.  This small portion of argentium makes the resulting silver virtually tarnish proof.

Even with the presence of this new silver alloy, the most prominent alloy found in today’s jewelry is sterling silver.  With this reality, it’s important to

Bali Style Black Onyx Bracelet in Sterling Silver

learn and apply measures to prevent our sterling silver jewelry from tarnishing.

Silver oxidation is caused by exposure to sulfur, oxygen and also the salt residue from the wearer’s hands.  Therefore, full enjoyment of your silver jewelry will require that you be careful not to expose the pieces to some chemicals and that you take special measures when storing and cleaning your silver jewelry.

Lotions, perfume, oil, hair spray, bleach, ammonia, alcohol, finger nail polish removers with acetone, turpentine and any home product which includes sulphur should be avoided.  You should also keep your silver jewelry away from cardboard, newspapers, tape, felt and wool which in most cases contain sulphur.  Also, you should not wear your silver jewelry in the shower.

If badly tarnished, you can remove the tarnish using a solution of baking soda and salt in steaming hot water.  If your jewelry has gems or pearls,

Yellow Sapphire Set (simulated)

check to see if these chemicals and temperatures are safe to use with them.  Also, if your jewelry has an antiqued silver finish like the yellow sapphire set shown here, you should not dip it in this solution but polish it using only the Sunshine polishing cloth mentioned below.   If all is clear after checking the gemstones and whether the piece is antiqued silver, add just a bit of salt and baking soda to the very hot water and drop your silver in.  The disappearance of the tarnish from the silver will be evident.  When finished, rinse your silver piece in water and dry it.   You can apply  this technique to pieces such as the filigree Celtic heart shown above.  This piece is sterling silver and is not antiqued.

Once polished, occasionally wipe your silver with a Sunshine Polishing cloth (available at:  http://www.sunshinepolishingcloth.com/.  These cloths are professionally impregnated with chemical cleansing agents and microabrasives that are very effective at polishing silver.

In storing your silver, there are certain things that can slow its tendancy to tarnish.  If placed in your jewelry box, the small moisture absorbing inserts in medicine bottles or tarnish preventing squares can assist in stopping tarnish.  Also, putting a piece of chaulk with your silver piece will  reduce it’s tendancy to tarnish.  You should always store your silver jewelry in small plastic bags to prevent scratching.

I hope this information is helpful to you in caring for your silver jewelry and would like to hear any comments you might have regarding your experiences in cleaning, polishing and storing your silver jewelry.

Because diamonds are so valuable, a uniform scoring system is needed to compare one stone to another. The 4Cs method for evaluating a diamond’s value was created by the Gemological Institute of America for this purpose. This method evaluates the Carat weight, clarity, color and cut of each stone providing metrics for comparison of value between stones.

Carat Weight – Diamonds, like other gemstones, are weighed using a carat metric. One carat is equivalent to .2 grams and in diamond terms is expressed as 100 points. Because diamonds are so valuable, the carat weight in most of the jewelry we wear is 1 carat  (100 points) or less.

Color – The value of each diamond is also determined by it’s color. The most valuable diamonds are colorless. Most diamonds we purchase are near-colorless or very slightly yellowed. Diamond color is graded by comparing each stone to the color of known stones. Color rating is expressed using the letters D-Z with D being colorless approaching Z as the color increases. Many of the color differences in grading diamonds are invisible to the untrained eye but the grades can represent significant value in regards to cost.  <Diamond Color Video>

Clarity – Diamonds form deep within the crust of the earth through processes that are imperfect. Therefore, most diamonds contain small internal inclusions such as bubbles or knots and/or external blemishes such as scratches. According to the GIA’s grading scale, these elements of clarity are graded with 11 scores ranging from FL (flawless) to I3 (more prominent inclusions). This grading is done under x10 magnification.   Most of us have never seen a flawless diamond.  <Diamond Clarity Video>

Cut  – The high precision 58 faceted cut contributes more to the diamond’s allure than any other attribute.  Three attributes determine the quality of a

58 Facet Round Brilliant Diamond

diamond’s cut:  brightness, fire and scintillation.  Brightness is a measure of the reflected light, fire is a measure of the spectral dispersion of different colors of light, and scintillation is a measure of how much the diamond sparkles when moved.  These three attributes of cut determine the cut portion of the diamond’s value.  <Diamond Cut Video>

Your purchase of diamonds will likely occur in association with the most special events of your life such as marriage proposal, anniversaries,  or as a holiday gift.  The evaluation of which engagement ring to purchase is an important task facing those considering marriage.  Rings for anniversaries or holidays involve choices from among more styles of rings.  In all diamond purchases, it’s important to be sure of the

Wide Variety of Diamond Jewelry

authenticity of the diamond jewelry you are purchasing.

The  Gemological Institute of America’s diamond grading method is accepted widely for it’s precision in rating the value of a diamond.  Always ask for a GIA certificate when purchasing your diamonds.

                  <Jewelry by Mark>

Spring and summer are times when you should evaluate your wardrobe and jewelry. During this time, evaluate what outfits you’ll be wearing most over the next several months and what jewelry will work with each outfit.

In assembling your jewelry wardrobe, focus first on earrings. Since earrings frame your face, they play the most prominent role in detrmining how you will be perceived.

In considering earrings, you should first evaluate the shape of your face by pulling back your hair and taking a picture looking straight on.   Print the picture and, with a highlighter, draw a line in the picture along your hairline and the edge of your face  forming the general shape of your face.  Look closely at the resulting shape and classify it as oval, round, square, rectangular, or heart shaped.

In choosing earrings, you should purchase the most flattering earrings in accordance with your face’s shape.

Green Amethyst Earrings from Bali

Oval Faces – Since Jewelry frames the face, the perfect earrings can create the illusion of a perfectly shaped face. Some face shapes are  attractive with several types of earrings.  If you have an oval shaped  face, you can wear most any earrings.  

Women with other face shapes should make their faces appear to be

Champaigne Garnet Dangle Earrings

oval by properly framing their faces with their hairdo and carefully selected earrings.

Round Shaped Faces – women with round faces should use drop or dangle earrings giving length to their faces. By avoiding circular shapes and studs, these women can reduce the perception of roundness.

Heart Shaped Faces – Wear chandelier earrings, teardrops, oversized earrings or hoops if your face is heart shaped making the chin appear wider and increasing the oval appearance of your face.

If you have a heart shaped face, Chandellier earrings are a good choice, iving the illusion of flowing from the bottoms of the earlobes, chandellier earrings come in various lengths and shapes.

Square or Rectangular Faces – Wide spirals, drops and wide oval

Wide Oval Carnelian Earrings

shaped earrings carry the eyes of your beholder away from the squareness of your  face. If your face shape is long and rectangular you should avoid long dangles.

Other Considerations – In addition to considering the shape of your face, there are a number of other factors that should be included in selecting your earrings.

Small Earrings in Green Swarovski Set

Larger women should avoid small earrings and tiny women should avoid large earrings. Stud earrings giving the illusion of floating on the earlobe without a connection are good choices for the small woman with a rectangular face.  Hoops, chandeliers and other larger earrings are better choices for larger women especially if they have face shapes that are square.

The purpose of earrings is to attract the viewer’s eyes to the wearer’s face creating a unique and flattering impression. Therefore, you should choose earrings with stone colors or other materials properly matching your eye color, skin color and hair color.

Square Gold on Silver Earrings

A good friend’s opinion in evaluating your face is useful in helping you determine whether the warm colors of gold, brass, or copper flatter you more than the cool colors of silver or white gold.   Determine which colors of gemstones flatter you most and make the metal part of your earrings match the settings. Pearls and gemstones match nicely with any metal color.

In selecting your earrings, you also need to consider which type of clothing – casual, business casual, formal you will be wearing most. Casual clothing goes better with shiny metals and burnished metals are more dressy.

Earrings for business dress should follow a number of additional rules. Since the business woman wants to project an image of power and respect, earrings that jingle or flirty earrings should not be worn with business attire.

Silver earrings can go with most any outfit from casual to formal.  Silver’s affordability  and this versatility make it the number one choice for earrings and other jewelry.  Silver also goes with most any gem you might choose.

I hope this information is useful in helping you plan the jewelry accessories for your wardrobe.  Careful selection of your earrings can contribute  more to your beautiful appearance than any other piece of jewelry.

When people hear the name Swarovski, they think of beauty, pleasure and ambiance. Jewelry made of Swarovski Crystal uses a wide range of elements from the Dorado coated crystals to the stunning rainbow spectrum of Auroria Borealis crystals, whose clarity and optical precision are stunning.

One of the most striking uses of Swarovski’s crystals is in pave jewelry. In pave pieces, the stones are set very closely together with no metal showing. The more faceted surfaces there are in the pave surface, the more brilliantly the surface glows. Considering that some pieces of pave have as many as 1500 tiny crystals, the spectral brilliance is stunning.

In pave settings, the precision location of the stones is accomplished by the use of a bur to cut the seat for each stone in the already shaped surface of the jewelry. Once these seats are drilled, the surface of the metal in each seat is rhodium plated to give each crystal it’s ultimate brilliance.

The shimmering elegance of pave jewelry, once the mark of only the rich and famous, is now very affordable through designs using Swarovski crystals.

Green Sunburst Dangles

Swarovski also produces a number of other jewelry components including dangles. I’m showing a couple of pictures here to demonstrate the versatility of these elements. The first picture is a sunburst dangle in green. From this the jeweler can create a number of jewelry pieces such as the earrings shown or the pendant.  

Another example is the gold  angel dangles shown in the next picture.   The Swarovski elements utilized in these earrings use a clear crystal for the angel’s face and Gold crystal for the angel’s body.  The elements are set in gold plated brass which are integrated into gold plated earwires.  The dangles also make nice pendants.
The last example is a set of teardrop shaped Swarovski elements in

Swarovski Pink Dangles

light pink crystals as shown.  These elegant pink Swarovski elements are in the shape of teardrops.  Bails were added to provide a means for connecting the earrings to earwires and for hanging the pendant.

Swarovski elements can be assembled into a wide array of jewelry pieces that satisfy most any taste.

Matching jewelry can enliven the style of a wardrobe bringing dash and brilliance for every event from casual activities to special occasions. Sets of interchangeable earrings, pendants, rings and tennis bracelets in a number of gem colors add panache to every outfit.

Matching jewelry of gems from amethyst or swiss blue topaz to high grade cubic zirconias set in gold or silver are exceptionally attractive and affordable for most any budget.

The well groomed jewelry collection should include at least one matching set of fine estate quality gold jewelry. This set should include the ring, bracelet, matching earrings, pendant and chain and additional matching sets in silver.

Unique styles of jewelry such as pearls, Swarovski Crystal and Bali add additional class or romance to outfits.

Various combinations of matching pearl jewelry can lift a complexion and bring light and radiance to a woman’s face making her appear years younger. Variations on drop pearl earrings and pendants will be part of the rage this year along with modern twists interspaced on precious metal jewelry.

Green Swarovski Matching Set

Another great style for matching jewelry uses first grade Swarovski crystals. New design ideas and luxurious crystals make matching sets like the green one shown here make this jewelry stunning and pretty. For those who want additional matching elements in their outfits, matching Swarovski crystals are widely available as embellishments to clothing, shoes, belts, purses, and other wardrobe items. In these accessories and clothing, crystals are being utilized on detachable items such as buckles and on collar necklines.

Bali Garnet Set with Matching Tennis Bracelet

Fine handmade gold and silver jewelry produced in Bali is characterized by unparalleled detail, intricate patterns and the cultural heritage of the Balinese people. Simple yet sophisticated, Bali jewelry is often embellished with a number of authentic gems from cabochons like Carnelian to topaz and tourmaline. Handcrafted, this jewelry has an awsome mix of elegance, quality and romance. Women with matching sets of Bali jewelry in their collections love the immeasurable interest and drama it brings to their appearance.

These are only three of the many types of matching jewelry.  We will discuss other types in future posts.

Granulated Bali Ring

Bali silversmiths make molds into which they pour molten silver or gold to create the base shape of the jewelry piece. Once the foundation piece cools, they then decorate it with the tiny spheres via granulation. One of the secrets in determining whether a piece of Bali jewelry is authentic is to examine it closely to determine if the decorations appear to be part of the molding process or whether they are rough appearing to have been fused or soldered once the piece has cooled. If the dots or lines on a piece of jewelry bleed into one another, it’s likely that the silver was poured into a mold that had indentations for the surface design.

Granulation, the technique used by the Bali silversmiths, is an ancient jewelry technique where the surface of a piece of jewelry is decorated with small spheres of the same precious metal arranged in a pattern making the piece unique and attactive. Metal alloys above 18 karat gold and sterling silver are best for applying the technique.

At the simplistic level, granulation is the application of one of three techniques to adhere small spheres of precious metal to the piece’s surface. These three techniques are hard soldering, fusing and colloidal soldering. When solder is used, it tends to fill in the corners and fuse the finer details of the design. For this reason, we will discuss only the fusion technique. In the finest jewelry created through granulation, fusion, the tiny spheres are attached to the surface of the piece only at small contact point where the surfaces are fused making them appear to float on the surface of the piece like tiny balls on a smooth surface.

The process begins with the creation of the tiny spheres to be utilized in decorating the piece’s surface. The spheres consist of metal that is the same as that of the piece to which it will be fused. To create these tiny spheres, a sheet of metal is rolled out very thin and cut into tiny 1 mm square pieces. Another way is to cut 18 gauge wire into 1mm segments.

These tiny square pieces or wire segments are coated with charcoal powder. Then the bottom of the melting crucible is covered with a layer of charcoal and some of the small squares or wire segments are sprinkled on it evenly spaced. Additional layers of charcoal and squares or wire segments are added until the crucible is about 75% full. The crucible is then fired in a kiln or oven causing the tiny squares to form small spheres. Once fired, these are cooled.

Bali Rhodolite Garnet Ring

This process is repeated until enough small spheres have been created. The spheres are then sorted by size using a diamond sieve with the smallest holes possible for application to the jewelry piece.

Creating the design on the surface of the piece of jewelry requires great skill and experience. Of the three techniques for fusing the spheres to the surface of the piece of jewelry of the same alloy, Bali silversmiths are skilled in fusing the spheres directly to the surface. In fusing, a sheet of metal with about the same thickness as the diameter of the tiny spheres is utilized to get the most even heat distribution. The granules are positioned into the design pattern using a diluted flux and a fine paint brush. Once in place the entire piece is fired using an oven with reducing atmosphere at the precise point of the melting temperature so the spheres and the surface of the piece of jewelry fuse together.

The stunning appearance of fine granulation is a result of the tiny spheres fused to the surface of the main jewelry piece finely at the tangent point between the base metal and the tiny sphere.

Byzantine Queen's Chain Bracelet

Hi, my name is Steve. I make, assemble and sell unique and beautiful collections of jewelry through Jewelry by Mark, and this is my blog. Since this is my first blog, it will be a learning experience for me so please be patient as I learn this new media.

In regards to jewelry, I believe in “continuing satisfaction”—that the value of a piece of jewelry depends not only on the quality of its materials and the expertise of its craftsmanship, but also on the essence of the artist. You should feel the hand of the artist in the piece of jewelry and the warmth of spirit that remains in the lore of the stones, the intricate designs, and in the traditions of the piece .

Here, we will discuss jewelry creations of the finest materials from natural gemstones to the finest austrian swarovski crystals and will explore the hand of the creator in the design and creation of uniquely beautiful jewelry. We will discuss the uniqueness of jewelry from Bali Silversmithing to Celtic knots and the contributions of many world cultures to our jewelry. In these travels, we will discuss traditional silversmithing, semiprecious gemstones and the warmth of spirit that is in the stones, the silver and in the gold fashioned by the hand of the creator.

As an artist, the mediums of my own jewelry creations are precious metal clay, silver wire and sheets, gemstones, gold and a lot of hard work. In the design of my jewelry, I often hand carve the original of the piece in wax and create a mold for final creation of the piece. When assembling my jewelry, my work includes the location of unique mountings, combining those mountings into designs, purchasing semiprecious gemstones, setting gemstones and finishing the pieces. As an artist, I am humbled by the creativity of others such as the silversmiths of Bali and I spend much time studying the history and secrets of their craft so I might be able to impart a small amount of their genius in my own designs.

Please come on this journey with me and learn, as we go, the techniques, traditions and appreciation of the jewelry we wear. Along the way, as we view the creations of the masters and the lore and wonders of beautiful gemstones, we can share examples of our own jewelry and our experiences in their creation.