How to Create Your Own Handmade Silver Jewelry

October 20, 2011 – 2:38 pm

Handmade silver jewelry keeps on growing in popularity. There are many reasons for this. First of all, sterling silver jewelry is long lasting and beautiful. Also, many styles you find in gold or platinum are cost prohibitive, but in sterling silver, they become relatively inexpensive. It’s important to make sure though that you are buying good quality pieces regardless of the price.

In order to understand that, it’s important to know how silver jewelry is made, so that you know what quality to look for. So in this article we will explore how to make your handmade silver jewelry and in the next one, we will explore how to check the quality.

The most difficult part of making your jewelry is actually deciding the design and getting together your tools. First of all, decide what you want to make. In this example we will do a simple pair of gemstone earrings. Get together the following items:

2 Sterling Silver Head Pins
6 Gemstone beads (center drilled)
4 Sterling Silver beads (center drilled)
2 Sterling Silver Ear wires
Round Nosed Pliers
File
Wire Cutters (nail clippers will do in a pinch)

The first step is to string your gemstone bead, then a silver bead, and then again a gemstone bead onto your head pin. Next, take your round nosed pliers and put one of the arms on top of the last bead. Take your wire and wrap it over the arm and wrap it around the head pin. Make sure you leave a little bit of room on top of the bead. Then, remove the pliers and wrap the wire around the straight part of the head pin. You should wrap around going downwards at least three times. Cut off the extra wire that is sticking out with your wire cutters or nail clippers. If you run your finger over the wire that you just cut, you will see that the end of the wire is probably very rough. If it is, then take your file and file away the roughness. You can keep running your finger over the end until you think it feels smooth enough.

Next, take your ear wires and loop them together with the loop you made at the top of the beads with your head pins. Take your pliers and close the loop on the ear wires so that the gemstone part doesn’t fall off.

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By ben | Posted in Just Jewelry | Tagged | Comments (0)

Factors to Consider When Choosing Your Wedding Ring

October 16, 2011 – 7:26 pm

Buying any type of bridal jewelry can be an overwhelming endeavor. Choosing wedding rings jewelry can be an especially daunting task. After all, the wedding ring is the everlasting symbol of your eternal love and will be worn prominently on your finger for many years to come. So many people devote endless hours searching for the perfect engagement ring and don’t even give a thought to their wedding band until the last minute.

When thinking of a wedding band, the first thing to keep in mind is what a wedding ring symbolizes for you. Traditionally, a wedding band is worn closer to the heart, on the same finger as the engagement ring. The wedding ring is a symbol of eternal love; a circle which has no beginning or end, much like the love that is openly acknowledged and celebrated by the lucky couple on their wedding day.

Choosing wedding rings jewelry that compliments your engagement ring and symbolizes your love and life is not easy. There are a few main factors to consider when making this decision:

* Perfect Match: Some rings are designed to fit together. You will commonly hear these referred to as bridal sets. The concept of the perfect fit is a beautiful analogy that can be used to describe the lucky couple as well.

* Distinctive Combinations: The theory that opposites attract is not limited to just people. If you like eclectic mixes or simply do not like traditional matches, then choosing a wedding band that is not an exact match to your engagement ring is the way to go.

* Happy Medium: The majority of people are in between the Perfect Match and Distinctive Combinations. The way that they are able to achieve this look is simple. They choose a contour wedding band which is not an exact match to their engagement ring, but compliments its design.

So when buying your wedding rings jewelry you’ll need to decide what style represents you the best and what you will feel comfortable wearing for the rest of your life. At the end of the day, the wedding ring should be something that compliments your engagement ring as well as your personality.

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Rings Fine Jewelry – Using Marking to Value Your Precious Piece

October 15, 2011 – 7:24 pm

Rings fine jewelry markings are used to identify the composition of the metal used to make your piece of jewelry. Identifying the type of metal goes a long way in knowing how to value your precious piece of jewelry.

How to Identify Markings on Gold Jewelry

In order to easily determine what your piece of jewelry is made of, you can look at the markings.

24 Karat: Pure gold is stamped 24K or 999 indicating it is 99.9% pure gold. Beware when purchasing 24 karat gold jewelry. In its purest form, gold is too soft and malleable. It is not a good choice for most jewelry.

18 Karat: 18 Karat gold is stamped either 18K or 750 to indicate it is 75% gold.

14 Karat: 14 Karat gold is stamped either 14K or 585 to indicate 58.5% gold.

10 Karat: 10 Karat gold is stamped 10K. It may also be marked 417, but is less common.

KP: KP means Karat Plumb. This means that your item is exactly as marked. If it is stamped 585, then it is exactly 58.5% gold. If it is stamped 583, then it is exactly 58.3% gold. In order to be stamped 14 karat, the item must contain a minimum of 58.3% gold. If it contains 58.5%, then it is still considered 14 karat. Stamping the item KP means that if it is stamped 585, then its composition is exactly 58.5% gold.

The Importance of Gold Jewelry Markings

Value

Gold jewelry markings are very important for several reasons. First of all, it allows you to easily identify what an item is made of. This is very important to help you determine if the price of that item is fair or if the seller is asking too much.

Identification

Most people do not live in the same place for their entire life. If you purchase your rings fine jewelry from your local jeweler and then decide to move away, the markings on the inside of your ring tell their own story. They tell your new jeweler what materials to use if they need to do any sizing or any other type of repair to your piece and they also tell him the manufacturer if their stamp is there. Sometimes they can send your item back to manufacturer for repair for minimal shipping and handling fee. Several designers offer lifetime warranties on their rings, so having that stamp on the inside of the ring identifies it as their own.

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ART CARVED RINGS

October 14, 2011 – 7:17 pm

Art Carved wedding rings and class rings jewelry are amongst the most sought after on the market. Purchasing wedding rings and class rings is considered one of the most important purchases a couple will make throughout their lifetime, so it’s important to do a lot of research and soul searching before making any decision. Part of the decision making process should include getting to know the leading bridal and ring designers and their product.

Art Carved Rings: A Legacy
It was formed in New York in 1850 as a high-end manufacturer of wedding rings and engagement rings. They developed the first seamless wedding ring, offering the bride and groom the most comfortable and well made wedding rings possible. They have expanded and grown over the past 150 years, adding a few new divisions to their repertoire, including Class Rings jewelry and Birthstone Jewelry divisions. Their rings section is of course, what made them so well-known and respected in the jewelry industry.

Selecting a Wedding Ring
Their rings can be purchased either with diamonds or as plain engraved bands, all available in Platinum, Palladium, Gold, Tungsten, Titanium and some more exotic options like Green Gold. The majority of Art Carved rings are made with Comfort Fit technology. Comfort Fit technology means that the inside of the shank is curved outward. This manufacturing technique gives the wearer ultimate comfort, making it easy for somebody to get used to the feeling of it on their finger.

Finding Rings
Their rings are available at many jewelry stores through the United States through authorized representatives. To easily find one of these authorized representatives, a convenient store list is available on their official website.

Art Carved Wedding and class rings jewelry are some of the best made in the bridal market. Their selection of styles is very elaborate, and varies from classic and plain to ornate and unique.

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But Why Cubic Zirconia In The First Place?

October 13, 2011 – 7:20 pm

You maybe thinking to yourself why anybody would want to buy cubic zirconia jewelry in the first place? Well that’s exactly what I am going to discuss in the blog post today! So get ready to hear some interesting ideas on why you should go with CZ over Diamonds! The fact is there are many people who do choose it and have very valid reasons.

One interesting story comes to mind that you all may find fascinating. A couple got married, the husband had bought a diamond ring valued at $4,000+. Not bad! Well here comes the bad part of the good story. They went on vacation for their honeymoon and the wife ended up losing the ring on the beach along with a cubic zirconia bracelet. They filed a report and everything but never heard back, four grand down the drain!

So the first reason is the price difference. Would you rather lost a $4,000 ring or a $40 ring? Most people answer that they would rather lose nothing – but if you had to pick one, we all know which one hurts less! Instead of buying that ring they could’ve paid their mortgage for a couple of months, which is sad in this economic times. We’ve heard many stories like this, where people lose rings in: robberies, restrooms, sinks, showers, parties, and the list goes on & on.

So next time you purchase something, be sure to think about the alternatives as for 10% of the price you can get a piece of fine jewelry that looks just as good and saves you time, effort, energy, and most importantly money in the long run!

Pear Cut Blue Cubic Zirconia Cocktail Ring

Pear Cut Blue Cubic Zirconia Cocktail Ring

Sterling Silver Rhodium Finish Heart Pave Anniversary Ring

Sterling Silver Rhodium Finish Heart Pave Anniversary Ring

Rhodium Silver Cubic Zirconia Wedding Band

Rhodium Silver Cubic Zirconia Wedding Band
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Let’s Discuss Adularia

October 12, 2011 – 5:01 am

I love mixing things and having a great outcome. When you mix hard work, dedication, and an idea to do something great outcomes success. When you mix eggs, milk, chocolate chips, and a bunch of other stuff outcomes chocolate chip cookies and brownies. The point is those things alone taste or look horrible. But when combined greatness can be achieved.

A very similar thing happens with Adularia. This is a very well known form of moonstone which comes in silver bracelets cabochon. What’s cool about this is it has both a white and blue tint combined. If I had to pick one jewelry term to favorite this would be it becomes the whiteish and blueish vibe is superscilious in comparison to everything else. This type of jewelry became vogue in the Art Nouveau and has since then gone down in style.

Inspired Sterling Silver Basket Weave CZ Ring

Inspired Sterling Silver Basket Weave CZ Ring

Inspired Sterling Silver Basket Weave CZ Ring

Inspired Sterling Silver Basket Weave CZ Ring

Rhodium Silver CZ Eternity Anniversary Ring

Rhodium Silver CZ Eternity Anniversary Ring
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Cheap Silver Jewelry

October 8, 2011 – 8:10 pm

Finding meaningful jewelry does not have to be a painful experience.  The first thing to do is to determine your budget.  Once you know what your budget is, then you can usually enter those parameters into web page search engines.  Once you knwo what you can afford, you can then narrow down the parameters and see what’s in your budget that you like.

For instance, if you love engagement rings and want to know what you can afford, decide what your budget is and search the web page.  The enagement ring section on www.silverjewelryemporium.com is full of options.  First of all, depending on your budget you can choose either gold, silver, platinum or palladium.  Once you choose a metal then the next conclusion is to check to see what stones you like.  You choose cubic zirconia or diamond and even colored stones.  Also, keep in mind that any of the styles can be customized to meet what you would like.  You just need to contact tab on the web page to get the answers you want.

Once you decide metals and stones, you should be able to have hundreds of choices.  There are rings starting at $10 on up.  You can achieve whatever look you what and pretty much stay in any budget by playing with metals and stones.

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Sterling Silver Jewelry & Celebrity Looks

October 5, 2011 – 3:01 pm

It’s hard to find anybody that doesn’t feel pressure to want to look good.  In most cases, looking good means spending a lot of money, time and effort on preparing and buying products to look as good as what we see on TV.  And to be quite honest, most of the time, we fail miserably.  What we see in jewelry and clothing does not compare t to what the celebrities look like on TV.  That’s true except for jewelry.  There is no way anybody can know that the sapphire and diamond ring that Kate Middleton got engaged with is not the same one I have on, made of Cubic Circonia and Sterling silver!  Welllll…… they might know once they realize I’m not Kate Middleton, but you get the point, right?

The bottom line is that sterling silver jewelry is the best way to look and feel like a million bucks withthout actually having to spend it.  You can look great in your sterling silver jewelry and have to have no guilt at all.

So go out and buy yourself some beautiful sterling silver jewelry at www.silverjewelryemporium.com.

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Let’s Discuss African Emerald

September 21, 2011 – 4:41 am

Here’s another term also originating from Africa that doesn’t mean what it says. I’ve noticed that this happens quiet often in cz jewelry terms. It is called one thing but it really means something else. I’ll give you an example of this. The school I went to was called Texas High School. The hilarious part of this word is Texas. Why? Because the school wasn’t even in Texas! It had absolutely nothing to do with Texas. No one ever understood (including the founders) why it was called Texas High School. Anyways, I’m sure you get the point and have seen stuff like this.

African Emerald is just like that. To my surprise, it actually is mined in Africa and therefor the first part of that phrase makes sense. The second part makes little to no sense, Emerald. It isn’t an emerald! It’s similar to emerald because it’s a shade of green (doesn’t really look like Emerald though). It’s just a word someone came up with to describe stuff that looks similar to emerald.

1 CT TW Alternating Princess Cubic Zirconia Fashion Band

1 CT TW Alternating Princess Cubic Zirconia Fashion Band

Brilliant Etoile Cubic Zirconia Eternity Ring

Brilliant Etoile Cubic Zirconia Eternity Ring

1 Carat Princess w/ Pave Band Antique Cubic Zirconia Ring

1 Carat Princess w/ Pave Band Antique Cubic Zirconia Ring
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Let’s Discuss African Jade

September 20, 2011 – 4:36 am

Have you ever thought something and then realized things aren’t the way they seem to be. Many modern silver jewelry films have this type of synopsis these days. What happens is you watch the entire movie thinking one thing, and right at the very end everything seems to change and be something else. A great movie to watch that does just this is “Swordfish” in which just that happens. The whole movie displays A and at the very end you realize that it was display B that was going on.

African Jade is the same exact way. You see, African Jade isn’t even really jade! I’ve always wondered why they call it that but no one seems to have an answer for me. It’s a form of garnet which is similar to jade. The other part of the word “Africa” makes sense because African Jade comes from the Southern part of Africa. I wouldn’t be surprised if they called it European Jade (see the joke)!

10x10mm Princess w/ Pave Antique Cubic Zirconia Engagement Ring

10×10mm Princess w/ Pave Antique Cubic Zirconia Engagement Ring

8x10mm Emerald Cut w/ Brilliant Surround Cubic Zirconia Ring

8×10mm Emerald Cut w/ Brilliant Surround Cubic Zirconia Ring

10x10mm Princess Antique Three Stone Cubic Zirconia Ring

10×10mm Princess Antique Three Stone Cubic Zirconia Ring
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