Most Recent Posts 
![[]](/clipart/main-cat.gif) February 2010 - Find A Gem Show Near You! | by Robyn Hawk
|  | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2010:1-28--QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA: Wholesale and retail show, "Desert Gardens International Gem & Mineral Show"; Desert Gardens RV Park; 1064 Kuehn Rd., south side of I-10, along frontage road; 9-6 daily; free admission; crystals, minerals, rough, polished, jewelry; contact Sharon or Sandy, Desert Gardens RV Park, 1055 Kuhen St., P.O. Box 2818, Quartzsite, AZ 85346, (928) 927-6361; e-mail: info@desertgardensrvpark.net; Web site: www.desertgardensrvpark.net30-12--TUCSON, ARIZONA: Business to Business Gem Trade Show; Gem and Lapidary Wholesalers Inc.; The Gem Mall, 4475 S. Country Club.... | | View full article... |
| Recycled Jewelry Workshop with Simply Jess | by heatherskowood
|  | Necklace made of discarded metal + plastic bangle bracelets + lobster catch(Collaboration H. Skowood Jewelry + Simply Jess Jewelry)
Necklace made of plastic "J" charm, beads, metal heart charm + chain from discarded jewelry (Collaboration H. Skowood Jewelry + Simply Jess Jewelry)
Discarded jewelry to make heart charm bracelet (below) (Collaboration H. Skowood Jewelry + Simply Jess Jewelry)
Finished heart charm bracelet made from discarded jewelry(Collaboration H. Skowood Jewelry + Simply Jess Jewelry)
Discarded chain, locket + key from a.... | | View full article... |
| Interlude: Learning How To Be Perfectly Boring With An Endmill! | by aulë
|  | Hi, all!
For the last few weeks I had been putting some effort into machining the additional parts to convert my Sears Craftsman from a wood lathe into a jewelery lathe.
I ran into a very bad snag, when I discovered that the pulleys I was going to bolt onto my end support inserts to support the X axis ways screw were made of such hard steel as to be undrillable!
Can't bolt 'em! Sorry!
So, I had to figure.... | | View full article... |
| Collector Day Features "The Will Larson Collection" | by Robyn Hawk
| | The show at the Westward Look has become an annual pilgrimage for me and my friends Margo (in turquoise - Gemologist) and Roni (Geologist, GG and Co-Founder of the Jeweler's Ethics Assoc). Here the girls are schmoozing with Gail Spann - who refers to us as the Three Muskateers. Jim and Gail Spann were the featured collectors at the 2009 event.You can't say enough good things about this woman - her mineral photos and drawings grace the pages of Mindat,.... | | View full article... |
| Super Bowl Challenge 2010 - Forfeiting the Game | by Laurie Jane Kern
|  | I was all set to work on my bowl this morning when over our coffee I was told "Take A Day OFF!!
I goofed off a bit of the morning but at around noon I went back to the copper and stakes but holding the copper with my right hand (with the hurt thumb) was hard. So I gave up.
Sorry folks -the Quarterback in on the injured list and the game has been forfeited. I
Even though I am.... | | View full article... |
| 2010 Class Schedule | by jerryscavezze
|  | Hi Fellow Metalsmiths,
Well the Holidays are over, the New Year is upon us and we are thinking about the future. Classes are beginning to fill, just wanted to give you a shout and let you know what we are doing this spring.
Below is a class schedule for upcoming classes at our school. Email us with interest or questions.
Jewelry 101 Intro. to Jewelry - Jessica Kidd - Teaches basic skills, Sawing, soldering, a little forging and bezel setting.... | | View full article... |
| Ink on the Page | by gingermeekallen
|  | What good is a book?
After all, we can find just about anything on the internet these days, right?
Call me a romantic, but I’m the one who argued in a graduate-level journalism class that the internet would never completely replace newspapers because there is something about the crinkle of the paper and getting the ink on your hands. That was in 1991 or 1992, when the internet was just a notion. (I should have known then that I would.... | | View full article... |
| Laura Bucci giveaway at curls and coffee | by k.o'brien jewelry
|  | I come spreading the joy and goodness of a giveaway over at curls and coffee. The artist of honor is Laura Bucci. I discovered her work while searching on etsy for an unusual cozy to fit around my travel mug. Yes, it seems strange to get a cozy for a travel mug, but my stainless steel mug didn't have a rubber sleeve on it and it kept trying to wiggle through my mittened hands. It is most important that I have my morning.... | | View full article... |
| Bra for a Cause | by Michael Johnson
|  | Here are a few pictures of the finished bra designs for the “Bra’s for Breast Cancer Fund Raiser.” I didn’t get a chance to make a more professional photograph of these before Lora took it to Tuscaloosa’s Druid City Hospital’s annual Bra’s for a Cause fund raiser, but these show off Lora’s beautiful contribution to the project. Bidding will begin on the 8th, and I will be on my way back from Tucson at that time. Once again, please keep.... | | View full article... |
| Quest for Fire. | by hansmeevis
|  |
Remember the movie"Quest for Fire"?
Well this has got nothing to do with that.
That movie came to an abrupt end after the invention of the Bic lighter.
This is in search of CZ lamination fire. So now you know.
Above are the laminated preforms.
I cut this one in the Wilf Ross rectangular cut.
This is the second one I have done.
The first one I put in a Niobium and Gold pendant.
In this cut there.... | | View full article... |
| Call for Entries – Halstead Bead Grant | by Robyn Hawk
| | Call for Entries – Jewelry Design Business Development GrantHalstead Bead, Inc. is calling for entries to its fifth annual Business Development Grant competition for new American jewelry designers entering the bridge jewelry trade. The deadline for packet submissions is June 9, 2010. The winner of the 2010 Grant will receive $6,000 in cash and jewelry supplies as well as other benefits.The Halstead Bead Jewelry Business Development Grant differs from other jewelry industry competitions and awards because of its emphasis on.... | | View full article... |
| Go High-Touch, Low-Tech When Communicating with Jewelry Buyers | by davidweiman
|  | With so many options for communicating with customers and prospects of your beautiful handcrafted artisan jewelry, it's a wonder anyone can figure out what to use first.
Should you text? E-mail? Twitter? If you do contact them by e-mail, should you use their "regular" e-mail account, or their Facebook e-mail account? If you have an iPhone, should you just call the prospect, send an e-mail or a text, all of which you can do right from the iPhone?
As technology.... | | View full article... |
| Dror Galili - Innovation in the Diamond Industry | by Robyn Hawk
| | Dror Galili is well-known within the diamond industry as Vice President, Business Development of the leading global diamond group, Almod Diamonds, and as Regional Director of its subsidiary, Almod Namibia. For the past few years, his energy and vision have been instrumental in opening new horizons for Almod Diamonds, ensuring its steady growth and bringing it to the next level.A native of Israel, Galili is a third generation diamond industry professional. His grandfather was among the pioneers of Israel’s diamond.... | | View full article... |
| Further North to Idaho 2 | by richardcarew
|  | About two hours north of Pocatello, Idaho lies the small village of Spencer. There are several opal mines in the area but the first one has an interesting story behind the discovery. Some deer hunters were lost one fall in 1948 and they stumbled upon this place where there was opal "float" just laying around on the surface. Now Spencer opal is very bright and these guys knew they had something right off the bat. Spencer opal comes in what.... | | View full article... |
| Product Review: Pepe Disc Cutter | by Beth Wicker
|  | I'm a tool freak, something my dear husband has realized. So for Christmas one of the presents he got me was a Pepe Disc Cutter so I could cut my own discs instead of laboriously trying to saw them out. I am finally getting some time to "play" with it, and absolutely love it!
Here is a picture of it:
[caption id="attachment_202" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Pepe disc cutter"][/caption]
It comes with a very nice little wooden stand which holds all the.... | | View full article... |
| More rings | by lynneglazzard
|  | Three rings in three consecutive days. I began with the opals that have been lying in a box in my workbench for a few years. I bought the opal in matrix at a trade fair about 5 years ago and decided to pair it with a small opal triplet which was in the same box. Then I realised I had become interested in the bezel settings again. I used to make bezel settings all the time but haven't done this.... | | View full article... |
| Scott Kay's BioBlu27 Update | by stevenadler
|  | Last October Scott Kay introduced his new line of SK-Cobalt with much fanfare comparing the virtues of his BioBlu27 alloy to popular Tungsten Carbide. The assertion made was that Tungsten-Carbide will fracture on hard impact and that Carpenter Technologies BioBlu27, a Cobalt/Chrome alloy, would likely last a lifetime. Both are true and accurate statements. In fact Cobalt / Chrome alloys in the ASTM class of F75 like BioBlu27 have been used for many years by the medical industry and by.... | | View full article... |
| Jewelry Rendering and Counter Sketching Class! | by parisjc
|  | Do you have plans for Summer 2010?
Come to Paris, Texas!
The Texas Institute of Jewelry Technology is very excited to be hosting a Jewelry Rendering and Counter Sketching Workshop with Remy Rotenier from August 23rd – 27th 2010.
Remy Rotenier is a prestigious Jewelry designer who first studied jewelry design and gemology in Paris, France where he was born. Remy has had a successful career as a jewelry designer. He has worked as an in-house jewelry designer.... | | View full article... |
| Is Mammoth Ivory and Bone Legal? | by leehulcher
|  | Yes, Mammoth Ivory and bone are legal to find and possess as long as it is not taken off Federal lands. Most Mammoth ivory is found along navigable waterways in northern climates were it has eroided from the earth.
The only legal aspects of Mammoth Ivory and Bone is that certain countries to do not allow it to be imported. And it can not be sold in U.S.A. National Parks.
LeeC.... | | View full article... |
| Coiling Tube useing the Draw Bench | by davidcruickshank
|  | [caption id="attachment_113" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Coiling Tube using the Drawbench"][/caption]
Firstly you have access to a drawbench.
View 8 Photos at end of writing.
This is a novel way of coiling tube that an old jeweller from Hatton Garden, then the centre of the jewellery industry in London, told me about. I still find it hard to believe although I have used it a lot over 35 years.
The silver tube I am using here is 3.85 mm diameter with a.... | | View full article... |
| New Butterfly Cuff Bracelets and "Kamikaze Gnats" | by lianabennett
|  | My banana trees are happily spending the winter in my studio. Unfortunately, they are harboring tiny fugitives - gnats! A few gnats are not a problem, until they find their way into my casting room. I had just finished a new butterfly bracelet and was removing it from the pressure pot, when I found a "Kamikaze Gnat" had dive bombed my final resin pour. My fiancé suggested I list the bracelet at 1/2 price, so I created a 1/2 Price.... | | View full article... |
| Torch set-up hell... | by jay whaley
|  | Not too long ago, I set up a "manifold" torch system in my studio. I needed to put individual jeweler's torches on 5 benches against one wall, and 4 benches on another wall. The group of 5 benches already had a natural gas pipe to access, but needed another pipe for the oxygen.
So not everyone reading this will be interested in how I eventually plumbed half the benches with natural gas and oxygen the others with propane and oxygen,.... | | View full article... |
| Heart on a Stem, Part Two | by shelbyvision
|  | Last year I made a brass and copper heart, and posted about it here. I said in my post that it only took two hours to make, but that must have been beginner's luck, because when I tried that technique again, it was almost impossible to solder, because when heated, the seams tended to open up. So, even though that was an elegant design, I decided if I was going to make more than one, that I would go with.... | | View full article... |
| 2010 Pasadena Bead and Design Show | by Robyn Hawk
| | Today I spent the afternoon at the Pasadena Bead and Design Show at the Hilton. I went to this show the first year it went in...it was a sad - quiet event. I am glad I gave it a second look and very happy to report that the place was packed!!!In all honesty I must admit that I went primarily to support the daughter of some friends - but - once there I really had a great time.Gem Show Tip.... | | View full article... |
| Remembrance of Nancy Howland, an Orchid friend | by Cynthia Eid
|  | Last night, I received an email from Nancy Howland’s daughter, telling me that Nancy died December 12, 2009.
Nancy was my friend via Orchid. We “met” when she posted about some difficulties and successes with granulating fine silver. I remember excitedly suggesting that she try granulating with Argentium Sterling, which had recently become available in the U.S. As nearly as I can figure out, that was early in 2006, because the first email I can find is dated 3/25/2006, when.... | | View full article... |
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