Gems and more gems

Update

2010-01-28T09:12:00.003+01:00

In regards to the previous post: The store in question is not a member of The Norwegian Goldsmith's Association (Gullsmedforbundet).

I had contacted the Goldsmith's Association hoping that they could discuss this problem of mislabeling with the store, but unfortunately since the store is not a member, they cannot do anything about it.

Mis-representation

2009-12-10T19:07:00.004+01:00

It is not often that I get worked up with something at work, but when it does, I fume. This is what happened to me today.

After a meeting with a customer, I was walking up Bogstadveien and saw a new jewellery store had opened. I walked in to check it out. Great design, modern looking and lots of possibilities.

When I was looking at a display case, I noticed that a lot of the jewellery was marked Zircon which is a natural mineral and not to be confused with Cubic Zirconia which is a man made material.

I asked a lady that worked there if these stones labeled were indeed zircon or cubic zirconia. She said they were indian zircon (???!! which doesn't mean anything to me!) and then confirmed to me that they were indeed cubic zirconia (CZ).

I suggested nicely, that she has to re-label everything as this was misleading to customers- they will think they are buying a natural gemstone instead of man made material.

She then told me that Norwegians don't know the difference and don't care! And that they don't sell zircon in Norway, it is all cubic zirconia.

I then blew up and said that you can't mislead a customer into thinking they are buying one thing and they are getting another. I explained to her that I was a gemologist, member of the Goldsmith's Association, a Norwegian Appraisor for jeweller, etc. That this is about consumer rights and very misleading to the end consumer.

I got her name and as I was doing so, another sales lady got into the conversation - she said there was no room on the labels to put "cubic" in front of the zircon and would re-label (although I wonder if she will).

The frustrating thing is seeing such blatant mis-representation of stones and not caring about the consumer.
It's unethical - especially when you know you are doing this. In Norway, a lot of consumers are very naive and think that if you go into a jewellery store, they are the experts and would never mislead you, but this is not always the case.

I have heard people call Cubic Zirconia a synthetic diamond! WRONG! Two totally different stones !!!

Unless you are a goldsmith or a gemologist, a salesperson will not have that kind of expertise (they can have a degree of expertise through courses and experience - so I shouldn't be so black and white about this), but a gemologist has studied various colored stones / diamonds and it is an ongoing process. We have to keep updated with treatments, new stones, mines, etc. in the market. A goldsmith / silversmith are the ones actually making the jewellery---and some have an additional education whether it be as a jewellery designer, filigree, or stone setter or even some gemology courses.

I always say the best customer is the educated customer.

One thing I have learned when I was studying gemology was disclosure -to always disclose treatments, and what the stones were. I am always discussing this with my customers - types of stones, treatments, about the market, etc. etc. It is my passion. It is my job.

So the next time you go into a jewellery store, ask the salesperson if that really is a zircon or is it cubic zirconia and see what they say.
I dare you !! :-)

Pendants

2009-07-15T19:10:00.004+02:00

I am working on expanding the silver pendants you have been receiving in your mails.

I thought I should put some photos up of them - email me with any questions!

I have to be better...

2008-10-06T13:44:00.004+02:00

At writing in my blog. A friend asked me last week how my blogging went and I was a bit embarrassed to admit that I hadn't posted since the spring and even that was a small post!

As I was completing an order, I decided to write more about business topics, design ideas and anything else that may be of interest.

We are coming upon the Christmas season and the big topic in the news the past few weeks is the economy. How can we all make this to our advantage was the first thing in my head. I believe creating jewellery to resell and give away as gifts is a great thing to do in any economy. Selling is perhaps the hardest part, but in Norway, there are markets, homeparties, and stores which can take your jewellery in. Although I am not an advocate for having jewellery on commission at stores (never done it, and no plans to do so), I don't see any reason not to do it in these tough times. It may be your entry point into the store and until things get better, it's a win-win for both parties.

Please send me a mail if there are topics we can discuss here... I will try to post more often and even when I get reports from abroad on tips or business ideas, I will try to remember to share here.

Trends for 2008

2008-04-13T16:23:00.001+02:00

Trends for 2008:

Rose gold
dangling earrings
big gemstone pendants
floral themes
brushed metal
hammered textures

Colored diamonds -- browns, champagne, pink, yellow, greens and blues.

Colored stones have taken off and we in Scandinavia are seeing a trend to more and more colors.

KD Elegance by Linda Ruud

2007-11-07T14:10:00.000+01:00

What is your background?
I started as an artist; a painter. I was a student with Oddmund Raudbergetwho is a sculpturer and painter here in Norway. He taught me the principlesof realistic painting.
I worked as a painter for approximately six years, before studying graphic design which then lead to a two year web design/webmaster education.
Ever since I was a child, creativity was emphasized. I have beendrawing for as long as I can remember and into crocheting and knitting from an early age.

When/why did you get started with jewellery?

I was always looking for new creative challenges. It was about two years ago when I purchased beads and made a necklace, a bracelet and earrings for my mother's birthday--from that moment, jewellery making and exploring different ways of designing has lead to the style I have today.

What is your inspiration?
A design usually begins by choosing one or more colors before working out the idea of shape. Then there's the question of what kind of materials to use- Swarovski, sterling silver, freshwater pearls etc and how to combine them into something interesting.
My designs are inspired by nature which is where all form and color arepresent. A basic shape: a circle, a diamond shape or a flower. The idea may be simple, but often turns into intricate patterns. Nearly every time when I work on one design another one develops. It's a stream of ideas and with all the materials available for jewellery making today, the possibilities are endless.

Linda's website is http://www.kdelegance.com/

AGTA: Blue Topaz and NRC

2007-08-05T11:49:00.000+02:00

I am just going to give a quick description of this issue as this is ongoing.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently stepped up enforcement of irradiated gemstones. As a result, several major jewelry chains and department stores in the United States are considering, or have already stopped selling blue topaz.

Accoring to AGTA: "To the best of our knowledge, there has not been a single confirmed report of cancer or radiation poisoning as a result of an irradiated gem over the past few decades. We have no reason to believe that any significant quantity of dangerous gemstones is in the market today. However, since there have been a handful of sightings over that period of gemstones with potentially harmful radiation, we are taking the prudent step of reminding all AGTA Members that if they handle deep blue topaz, they should do their own radiation checks.

NRC rules do require documentation of all irradiated gems. A paper trail of sources must be maintained, similar to Kimberley Process. All members are strongly encouraged to identify their inventories by vendor and date of importation. Typically, older stocks will already have had radioactive decay, and may be easier to sell or document as safe. Intermingling inventories may complicate the ability to sell existing stocks. All new imports (legal or not) must be clearly identified by vendor and date, as should sales to manufacturers and retailers."

I encourage you to ask your vendors if you are dealing in ANY irradiated gemstones. All treatments should be disclosed.

Irradiated Gemstones

2007-08-05T11:35:00.000+02:00

Many gemstones are treated in one way or another. Heat treatment and dyeing are the most common treatments.

Irradiation is also common in many gemstones, particularly blue topaz.

Irradiation means pounding material with subatomic particles or radiation. Sometimes irradiation is followed by heating to produce a better or new color for the gem.

Blue topaz is the most common example. Although blue topaz occurs in nature, it is quite rare and pale in color.

Today irradiation of blue topaz has created shades not found in natural blue topaz; prices are very reasonable for irradiated blue topaz since there is a great deal of competition in the wholesale end of this market. If you could find an untreated blue topaz, it would sell for a price comparable to untreated Imperial Topaz.

Tourmaline can be irradiated to darken pink stones into red ones; these are indistinguishable from natural red ones.

Off colored diamonds can be irradiated and heated and turned into intense greens, yellows, blues, browns & pinks. These stones are fairly common.. Irradiated diamonds will sell for much less per carat than the naturally colored ones of comparable color, clarity grade, and size

Cultured pearls can be irradiated to produce gray or blue colors; but dyeing in these colors is more common. Irradiated pearls will sell for about the same price as the dyed pearls, this should be well below the prices asked for pearls with very fine colors.

Disclosure : A vendor should always disclose any known treatments or enhancement and record it on your invoice.
Most vendors are very honest and forthcoming, but it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ASK.

Favorite Colored Stone (gemstone)

2007-04-30T21:49:00.000+02:00

I often get the question "what is your favorite colored stone?"

I would say pearls-- especially tahitian pearls. They come in a wide variety of colors/hues that are absolutely stunning and except for the new chocolate pearls, they are all natural in color. When I started my business, I began importing pearls in 1999 to the jewellery industry in Norway. That was a little over 8 years ago!

Now I do a variety of other colored stones and diamonds which fascinate me to no end!

Black Diamonds

2007-03-08T21:24:00.000+01:00

I just heard from a customer that black diamonds are going to be a hot item this year.

Nowadays, black diamonds are typically enhanced. Black diamonds are genuine diamonds treated with radiation to make their color appear black when they are actuall very dark green. To observe the very dark green color, a fiber-optic light source can be placed near a thin edge of the diamond (such as the girdle or culet). This allows the light to illuminate some of the interior of the stone. The very dark green color that becomes visible is commonly seen in enhanced black diamonds and not in natural diamonds.

A natural black diamond has color that is the result of numerous inclusions. Most of these inclusions are graphite. Due to the high amount of these dark inclusions, natural black diamonds are generally opaque. Also, because of these high inclusions, the diamonds very easily fracture and are difficult to cut thereby making them difficut to polish and finish.

An enhanced black diamond is a natural diamond that is treated to obtain uniform color. It is typically much better quality than a "natural" black diamond due to the nature of its inclusions. Enhanced black diamonds are stunning when set with contrasting white diamonds. To receive a black diamond is to receive a genuine diamond.

Imitation Gems

2006-11-21T12:42:00.000+01:00

An imitation gem is any gem that looks like a natural gem and is used in its place.

An imitation gem can be made of a variety of materials including glass, plastic, and assembled combinations of natural and artificial materials. In fact, any material that is not the natural colored stone but that looks like it can be considered an imitation and used in its place.

An imitation does not have to be created by human hands. Natural gems can be used as imitations.

Manufactured glass is an age-old gemstone imitation that's still used today. The material's ability to imitate a variety of colors makes it hard to distinguish at first glance the gems it imitates. Also, very common in bead shops would be cherry quartz, strawberry quartz, blueberry quartz, and pineapple quartz-- this is all glass manufactured in China. There are many others, but I suggest you ask your supplier for more information.

Plastic if often used to imitate gemstones in inexpensive fashion jewellery. However, plastic has been used as convincing imitations of amber, pearl, coral, jade, turquoise and lapis. Plastic is not durable - it melts easily during repair work and scratches easily because it's so soft.

Everyone in the colored stone trade benefits from knowing about synthetics and imitations and representing them accurately. Sharing product information about synthetics and imitations helps gem buyers and as well as consumers make informed choices in today's complex colored stone market.

In the jewellery industry, the term disclosure means selling goods for what they are. Disclosure should be essential to good business practices. For the sake of consumer confidence, it is important for the industry to disclose the truth about what is being sold every step of the way.

Synthetic Gems

2006-11-21T12:30:00.000+01:00

A synthetic gem is a laboratory creation with essentially the same chemical composition, crystal structure, and properties as its natural counterpart.

At first sight, a synthetic gem resembles a natural gem in color, weight and a host of other characteristics. However, a gemologist can detect clues to help them tell the difference between natural and synthetic crystals.

Contrary to what you might think, the word "synthetic" does not mean fake. The term comes from the Greek for "to put together." People "build" or "grow" synthetic crystals. They do this by using chemicals that, given the proper environment, arrange themselves into crystals of essentially the same structure as crystals that grow without human intervention.

Knowing whether a gem originated in a mine or in a laboratory is crucial for anyone who buys or sells colored stones.

Treatments and Disclosure

2006-11-16T21:41:00.000+01:00

Until fairly recently, the average customer was not aware that most commonly available gems are treated to make them marketable. If it weren't for treatments, many gems wouild only be affordable to the wealthiest customers. For example, white sapphire can be heated to turn a beautiful blue; most emeralds are filled with oils or resins to improve apparant clarity; and
freshwater pearls are commonly bleached and then dyed.

Treatments are important as without them, many of the more popular gemstones such as rubies, emeralds, sapphires, tanzanites and topazes would not be marketed if treatments did not exist to improve them.

Treatments can:
Deepen, change or remove color
Improve clarity
Create phenomena nd desirable inclusions
Improve luster
Improve durability

Most customers will accept gem treatments if they are ethically disclosed and explained in a positive way. For the most part, it's not the fact that a stone has been treated that causes controversy, but whether or not the treatment was adequately disclosed. Disclosure means fully informing a buyer about any treatments or suspected treatments. This includes telling them about any durability considerations.

Disclosing all treatments is the honest and ethical thing to do. If you do not know whether or not a gem has been treated, assume it has been. Most gemstones have been treated in one way or another.

What is a Gem?

2006-11-08T23:01:00.000+01:00

Most gems are minerals and to be a gem, a mineral must be beautiful, durable and rare.

Minerals are natural, inorganic substances with characteristic chemical composition and usually with a characteristic structure (amber and fire opals are exceptions)

Gems can be organic, produced by or derived from, a living organism. Examples of organic gems are pearl, coral, amber and ivory.

Gems can be inorganic, composed of or arising from, non-living matter.

Whether gems form within the earth or from animals/plants, they are referred to as natural gems. This distinguishes them from minerals being produced in a factory/laboratory.

Gem colors pass in and out of fashion just as clothing colors do. Sometimes, clever marketing increases a gems popularity. For this to succeed, the gem must be available in larger quantities and it must be attractive that customers will find it attractive.

This fall/winter, onyx has been very popular as well as smoky quartz. Pearls are a classic which never goes out of style and mixed with other materials, updating this classic has never been more popular!

Just Back!

2006-10-31T11:56:00.000+01:00

I just got back last week from a 2 1/2 week trip to Hong Kong. Now it's back at work (lots to do preparing for the Christmas season), but I already miss it. I was busy working and spending time with friends back "home", and now I am struggling to get used to the 25 degree temperature change.

Hong Kong is always full of impulses -- when I go to fairs or just looking around in the shops, so many ideas whirl around in my head -- products to sell elsewhere, new prospects for startups, etc. etc. People in Hong Kong are so creative when it comes to starting businesses - the people who have stands at the AWA fair this year as well as St Johns are just an inspiration to others -- there were cashmere sweaters, cards, jewellery, purses, paintings, etc. Everyone is so supportive of each other and what they do.

More later on different gemstones (colored stones), tips on jewellery, trends, etc.