Deja-vu (et lu!) Diamond Post

You may have noticed that I didn't make a blog entry about April's birthstone this month. Well, that's because April's stone is the Diamond, and most people already know a great deal about that stone. More important, I wanted to bring back an earlier post about making a claim in a class-action suit because the deadline is nearing fast. So, the original post is below:


There's news in the diamond world. Once again, a class-action suit has been filed against De Beers for antitrust violations on behalf of diamond dealers and consumers. The resulting settlement means you may have some money coming your way.

As an aside, did you know that diamonds are not rare? De Beers, acting under different names in different corners of the world, owns much of the diamond industry in South Africa, controlling product and spreading a myth of scarcity in the market.

So, if you have diamonds and fit the settlement criteria, you might see a bit of cash out of the deal. Here is some information taken from the informational website created to discuss the settlement.

Who is eligible to make a claim? "All persons located in the United States who purchased any diamond or diamond jewelry or other products containing gem diamonds for personal use and not for resale between January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006. For example, Consumers include people who purchased diamond jewelry to wear or to give as a gift."

So, anyone who purchased diamonds, ANY diamonds (De Beers and all other brands) may be eligible to receive from 6% to 60% of her money back.

You must file by May 19th of this year.

For more information on filing a claim, see:

https://diamondsclassaction.com/

Coral and Turquoise Pendant Necklace

Photos! We need more photos!

It's Friday night (Saturday morning, now!) and I just strung together this really cool necklace, if I do say so m'self. It's another of the pieces I've been seeing in my head this Spring, but not around anyone's neck, so I thought I'd try my hand at creating one. I used 14mm red coral rounds (and I love the texture you can see on these beads) and a very, very large chalk turquoise pendant.

First, I started with a fancy-pants sterling silver toggle clasp connecting the red coral.



I tried long and hard to get some attractive shots of this necklace and it was tough going. The colors (especially the red) didn't come across well.






I photographed on both a black and a white background. Which one looks better to you?





Without a live model, I can't show you what the piece looks like when worn around the neck. The necklace is short--approximately 17 inches long. In the photos, it looks like it hangs, but in reality, it encircles the neck, with the pendant in line with the coral beads, not hanging below them. This shot gives you a bit of a sense of that.


I think this necklace will look great during the summer months and the saturated colors means it will also look great when the weather gets colder again (which can't happen soon enough for me. I love autumn!)





I'm hopeful this piece will find a buyer right away--it's too nice to be tucked away in a drawer until the holidays. Plus, color blocking is very in right now and this necklace definitely fits that bill.


















Price: $38.

Noble Metals Quiz Answers!

I do so love quizzes! Well, no, I really don't because I get performance anxiety but I like WRITING quiz questions.

And here are the answers.

1. Silver is a noble metal. Noble metals are those metals that resist oxidation/corrosion. Base metals do not share that property. B

2. Platinum is the least malleable of the precious metals. It's an extremely durable and dense metal. A

3. White gold is an alloy of gold and nickel. C

4. Fine silver has more pure silver content than sterling or nickel silver--it's almost pure silver (99.9 parts in 100). Sterling is 92.5 parts per 100 and nickel silver contains no silver at all (it's named for its color). Sterling silver is an alloy of silver and copper, and nickel silver is an alloy of nickel and copper and sometimes zinc. B

5. Pure gold is 24K. A



"Anonymous," you took the cake here, but then again, you said you did some research. But I say: anyone who participated is a winner, in my book--er, blog, at least!

Thanks!

So, my final exam for Jewelry Essentials has arrived in the mail, and my proctor is holding onto it 'til I sit down to take the test next week. I wanted one more weekend of studying, since I've been busy with other things and haven't reviewed my past assignments. I'm confident I can pass, but I'll readily admit that a few of the more technical things still really confuse me.

Wish me luck! I'll let you know how I did.

Noble Metals Pop Quiz

So, as you know, I've been working on my diploma through the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). And you know what? It's hard! Harder than I expected. But very interesting. And I thought I'd share the love. I'm going to give you a little multiple-choice metals quiz to see what you know.


1. Which of the following is a noble metal:
A. Copper
B. Silver
C. Iron

2. Which of the following is the least malleable precious metal:
A. Platinum
B. Gold
C. Silver

3. Which of these metals is added to gold to create white gold:
A. Silver
B. Copper
C. Nickel

4. There is more silver content in:
A. Sterling Silver
B. Fine Silver
C. Nickel Silver

5. Pure gold is:
A. 24K
B. 14K
C. 10K

Ok, pencils down! Please hand your answer sheets to the front (or, add your reply in the comments section). I'll give everyone a few days to respond (I'm looking at you, kid!)

N.B. These questions are based on my reading of GIA materials but are not taken directly from the material or assignments.

A Little Praise Goes a Long Way...

I won't lie--my work was praised and I want to share it with all of you. It's sort of like the old: If a tree falls in the forest koan--if no one reads the praise you got, did you really get it? Well, sure I did, but that doesn't mean I can't share. This was posted yesterday by the buyer who bought the turquoise patina necklace. I'm very flattered.

Comment:
ha ha, I'm sure she will be the envy of all who see her in her new patina necklace. She already is known for her collection of stunning jewelry, so it is about time she had a Jericas piece in her collection.

For those considering a Jericas Jewelry purchase, the items photograph beautifully, but when you have them in your hand, well, they rise to a whole new level of fabulousness. My first thought about the patina necklace when I took it out of the packaging was that it was a finely crafted piece of art. It exceeded my expectations in every way, and I know the person I'm giving it to will adore it.

April 14, 2008 12:54 PM


Thank you! I'm hoping the lovely buyer can give Etsy some feedback too--shipping time, quality, design, etc.

Amazonite and Onyx Necklace

Shiny black and icy blue--both are cold colors and both look great paired with the other. The blue in these amazonite stones is really beautiful, a chilly robin's egg blue. The stones themselves are naturally multi colored. This necklaces features amazonite stones that are swirls of blues, black, grey and warmer earth tones. I used both faceted (between the amazonite rectangles) and smooth onyx beads to bring out the black in the amazonite, and finished the piece with a diamond-shaped pewter clasp.





I took some fast snapshots on both blue and white backgrounds.






Not surprisingly, the blue in the beads shows up more clearly on a white background. The central bead in the necklace is really striking--there's a very strong jagged line running down the middle of the bead, with dark black on one side and bright blue on the other.



Here you see the faceted onyx beads shining in the sun.



One of the nicest things about natural stones is that even with 2 necklaces of the same design (and I bought enough beads for 2 complete pieces), you will always have an original. Nature is kind of funny that way.



After I finished this piece, I kept imagining it on a friend of a friend of a friend who I have never met, but who lives in Belfast and strikes me as the amazonite type. I don't know why, but she does. Dark black but icy blue, natural but polished...all good things, no?

Price: $38.

Ancient Gold and Turquoise Necklace

Right on the heels of my posting a turquoise necklace comes an interesting CNN story about the oldest piece of gold jewelry found in the Americas.

The piece is a necklace, like mine, made 4,000 years ago, not like mine. It was found in a burial site close to Lake Titicaca. Also not like mine. The beads most likely have a higher gold content than the gold we wear today, and you can see how rich and coppery their color is, as a result. I wish I could say I based my piece off of this one, but it's not true.

The CNN story reports that the piece is some 600 years older than all other pieces of gold jewelry scientists have found in the Western Hemisphere.

The CNN article goes on to say that according to Mark Aldenderfer, the anthropologist who found the necklace, the wearer of the piece may have used this necklace as a status symbol.

Think about that--historical bling! The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Let us hope that the purchaser and/or wearer of my patina necklace will feel her social status climb through the roof. I usually tell people to wear my pieces in good health. This time, I say: wear your necklace in FABULOUSNESS.

Added Some Photos

Hey everyone--I'm tweaking the look of the blog, and I added a group of photos to the right-hand column. It had been so sterile, so bare, and I'm happier with it now. If you're a regular Jericas Jewelry blog reader, you've seen most of the photos before, but if you look closely, you'll see some previews of what's to come...

Turquoise Patina Bracelet

My intent, when I bought the turquoise and copper beads, was to make both a necklace and a bracelet.





Let me explain what chalk turquoise is, for those of you who might not know. Turquoise of almost any kind on the open market today is stabilized. By nature, turquoise is a very soft and porous material and can be easily damaged. It easily picks up body oils and pollutants as well. High-quality material is usually purchased before it sees the open market. So, not all turquoise needs to be stabilized, but most people cannot afford turquoise that doesn't need some help through the stabilization process so that it can be cut by a lapidary.

The southwest-style beads (the rondelles and barrels) are genuine turquoise, but these are stabilized as well as is most turquoise we see on the market.

Chalk turquoise is indeed turquoise, but it's soft material that does not contain copper. Copper is what gives turquoise that rich blue-green color. So chalk turquoise is stabilized and then has its color enhanced. This makes chalk turquoise more affordable but again, it's not cheap. Any stone that has treatments performed on it in order to harden it for lapidary purposes has already had a lot of time and effort put into it. Were all of the flat oval stones in this recent set replaced with similar turquoise of a different grade, my price would at least double.

And, the set:



Price: $28.

Double *pssst!*

This item has now sold! If you click, you'll see it says it's sold out! It's so exciting! I'm so excited! Thank you Etsy, thank you buyer!

*AND* I'm going to the Indian Buffet tonight! Talk about my lucky day.

*pssst*

The patina necklace is now available at my etsy shop. Here's a direct link (I hope!):
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10715796

Turquoise Patina Necklace...Pt. 2

Picking up our story: I chose shiny copper (and copper-finished pewter) beads and a more weathered-looking copper-finished pewter toggle clasp for this necklace. In doing some research (one of the things I like best about having a blog, actually!), I found out that turquoise is a byproduct of copper mining. The dark matrix of this stabilized turquoise is visible in these close-up shots.


No wonder the colors work so well together and why one (copper) often turns into the other (turquoise--or at least that rich turquoise color).

I also like how rustic turquoise can look--it never lets you forget it came right out of the earth.


And, the finished necklace. This piece is longer than some I make, coming in at around 20 inches.
Price: $58.