Sometimes we wonder how Karen does it. She’s a full time mother of 3 active girls, and a full time CAD designer/jeweler at House of Diamonds. It’s amazing how many plates she’s able to keep spinning at the same time.
Being a Jeweler
Did you know that 85% of the jewelry we sell is custom work that is designed and created on site?
Karen consults with our clients, does all of the computer aided design work, and runs all of our prototyping and 3d printing equipment. She follows each job through our studio to make sure it’s finished to our high standards.
She works with our diamond cutters on a daily basis to ensure that our customers get exactly what they want.
There’s anywhere between 30 and 60 custom jobs being processed through our studio at any given moment.
Being a Mom
Gene and Karen’s youngest daughter Tallia is 4 months old. Anyone with a newborn understands the amount of time it takes to feed and care for them. Karen is often at her design station with Tallia in her lap. Or going to doctor appointments. Or just giving her hugs.
Until summer break, Alexis and Reagan were going to two different schools and competing on two different soccer teams. Keeping up with their schedule and making sure they’re getting to where they need to go can be a full time job by itself.
Superwoman
Gene refers to Karen as “superwoman.” We don’t know how she keeps everything running, but she does. She’s loved by her family and her clients and it just wouldn’t be House of Diamonds without her!
Recently, 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.
June 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.
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.
Established 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.
It’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.
People 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.
Karen’s Two Full-Time Jobs – Jeweler and Mother
Sometimes we wonder how Karen does it. She’s a full time mother of 3 active girls, and a full time CAD designer/jeweler at House of Diamonds. It’s amazing how many plates she’s able to keep spinning at the same time.
Being a Jeweler
Karen consults with our clients, does all of the computer aided design work, and runs all of our prototyping and 3d printing equipment. She follows each job through our studio to make sure it’s finished to our high standards.
She works with our diamond cutters on a daily basis to ensure that our customers get exactly what they want.
There’s anywhere between 30 and 60 custom jobs being processed through our studio at any given moment.
Being a Mom
Gene and Karen’s youngest daughter Tallia is 4 months old. Anyone with a newborn understands the amount of time it takes to feed and care for them. Karen is often at her design station with Tallia in her lap. Or going to doctor appointments. Or just giving her hugs.
Until summer break, Alexis and Reagan were going to two different schools and competing on two different soccer teams. Keeping up with their schedule and making sure they’re getting to where they need to go can be a full time job by itself.
Superwoman
Gene refers to Karen as “superwoman.” We don’t know how she keeps everything running, but she does. She’s loved by her family and her clients and it just wouldn’t be House of Diamonds without her!
Public Service Announcement : Don’t Get Robbed In Your Own Home This Summer
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.