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Public Service Announcement : Don’t Get Robbed In Your Own Home This Summer

ThiefRecently, a client of ours came into the studio distraught and heartbroken.  Her custom jewelry had been stolen from her home while she was there.

She’d hired a construction company to put in new carpet, paint and do some cabinetry work. That evening, after the crew had packed up and left, she noticed that her jewelry drawer was ajar.

Talk about a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. Several expensive items had been taken.

These items were more than jewelry.  They were a reminder of the love of her late husband who had given them to her.

It’s happening more often.

We’ve had 5 or 6 customers in the last six weeks come in to report similar situations.

A lady was having new windows installed in her home.  When the contractors had left, she noticed that everything in the jewelry box in her closet had been taken.

What should you do if this happens to you?

1) Contact the police and file a report.

2) Provide the police with the most current appraisal of your jewelry.  If you haven’t gotten an appraisal on your jewelry recently, consider having us  do that for you!

3) Contact your insurance company immediately and file a claim.

4) Work with a trusted jeweler to replace the lost items.

Protect yourself.

Make sure to secure your jewelry before having any contract work done in your home. If you have a cleaning service, it would be a good idea to keep your valuables secured while they are in your home.

Born in June? Lucky You! Pearl is your Birthstone.

Karen - Pearl necklaceJune is an interesting month for birthstones… there are actually three instead of just one! The birthstones for June are Pearl, Alexandrite and Moonstone.

Pearls have been used in jewelry for hundreds of years. They were one of the favorite gems of the Roman Empire.  Pearls are unique because they are the only gems from living sea creatures and require no faceting or polishing to reveal their natural beauty.

Pearls are popular gifts for bridesmaids and graduation.

Ten interesting facts about pearls:

1) Pearls are the only gemstone made by living animals.

2) Harvesting pearls from mollusks does not kill the animals, as they can be re-implanted and used to make more pearls.

3) Saltwater pearls come from oysters, but freshwater pearls usually come from mussels.

4) Pearls take their color from the inside of the shell in which they are growing. They range from white to gold, and from purple to black.

5) Virtually all pearls today are “cultured” or “cultivated”. Harvesting “natural” pearls was compromised by water pollution and tsunamis that made it difficult to leave the oysters safely in the water long enough to grow sizeable pearls.

6) Every pearl is unique. No two are alike, and all have some imperfections.

7) The oldest known pearl jewelry fragment was found in the sarcophagus of a Persian princess who died in 520 BC.

8) Cleopatra won a bet that she could provide Marc Antony with a banquet costing more than the assets of a country. She took off a pearl earring, dissolved it in wine and drank it.

9) Pearl farming is know as “Periculture.”

10) In 1916, Jacques Cartier bought his 5th Avenue store by trading two pearl necklaces for the land.

GIA Diamond Certification – Don’t Get Burned, You Get What You Pay For

This story is about GIA diamond grading and making sure you don’t get burned when buying your next diamond.  Before we get into the story, we need to give you the background on the GIA.

GIA LogoEstablished in 1931, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is the world’s foremost authority on diamonds, colored stones, and pearls. A public benefit, nonprofit institute, GIA is the leading source of knowledge, standards, and education in gems and jewelry. Trustworthy businesses adhere to the GIA grading system for diamonds and gems.

So here is a typical story that we don’t want you to go through…

A gentleman came into our store and we guided him through the process of doing a custom jewelry design together.  We helped him select a gorgeous diamond and talked about the process of creating a custom setting.  For this example, the gentleman wanted a 1.2 carat Round Brilliant Diamond, G color, SI1 clarity and we quoted him the price for a GIA certified stone.

GIA Certification ExampleIt’s at this point that you have to trust your jeweler. 

Our potential client went out and bought what he thought was the same quality of diamond from someone else.  He brought it into our store to have us complete the custom portion of the project.  It turns out that his stone was an EGL certified diamond that wasn’t even close to the quality of the GIA certified diamond that we presented.

He “saved” a few hundred dollars, but in reality, he was taken advantage of.  He paid more than he should have for a poor quality stone.

If he would have trusted us and asked for other options, we could have helped him find a better solution for his budget.

Here is the actual GIA report on the stone we’re talking about

Did you know that you can look up the GIA report on any stone they’ve certified?  The stone we’ve been talking about is report #2141996319.  All you have to do is click on this link to see all the details.

So the moral of the story… go with GIA certified diamonds.  And find a jeweler you can trust!  If you have an Angie’s List account, be sure to check out our consistent A rating since 2012!

 

Metal Allergies Aren’t Fun… We Have The Solution!

NickelPeople with metal allergies can have severe skin reactions when they wear jewelry made with certain kinds of metal.  These allergies are usually caused by the nickel contained in the metal.

Various manufacturers uses different quantities of nickel in their metal mix.  That’s why you can have 2 identical pieces of jewelry… one that is fine and one that causes you to break out in a rash.

The reaction may appear as an uncomfortable, itchy, red rash that usually shows up between 12 and 48 hours after first contact with the metal. The affected area is usually restricted to the site of contact, but it can sometimes be found on other parts of the body as well.

Once a nickel allergy has developed, people will likely have this same reaction every time the metal touches their skin.

We Have the Solution!

The best solution to this problem is to choose jewelry made with a hypo-allergenic metal such as platinum.  We also have nickel-free, white gold metal that we can cast and create your custom jewelry with.  It comes in 14kt and 18kt.

 

Born in May? Lucky You! Emeralds are your Birthstone.

If you were born in May, then the Emerald is your birthstone!  The color of emeralds reflects new spring growth, which makes it the perfect choice of a birthstone for May. It’s also the gemstone for twentieth and thirty-fifth wedding anniversaries.

Did you know the name “emerald” was derived from the Greek word “smaragdos” meaning “green stone?”  The first known emerald mines were in Egypt, dating from at least 330 BC into the 1700s. Cleopatra was known to have a passion for emerald, and used it in her royal adornments.

Today, the Muzo and Chivor mines of Colombia produce some of the world’s finest emeralds.  Emeralds come in a vast array of shades and colors of green.  Elements of Chromium in the crystal produce the color.

Be sure to come into the store to see our selection of emerald jewelry or talk about what we could create for you that has emeralds as the focal point.