In the past year, my business has increasingly developed toward custom projects and quotes.  This brings with it a lot of design challenges, and in order to simplify matters a bit on my end, let me share with you some useful information about gemstone melees and how to think about designs involving them.  A melee is considered any gem that is 3mm and smaller. 

First, note that not all gems come in...

This little video clip came about largely by accident.  I just started playing with some of my gems to see if I could fit the right sizes onto my new Art Deco pendant and Debbie started filming and shooting photos.  So I decided to use the video and show you how I decide which gems go where.

As you can see, this pendant is cast in 14 K yellow and not rose gold. According to my latest survey (thank...

As I continue to build my own website, my brand, and of course, develop my personal style, I am working towards collections based on themes.  Now that the holidays are coming up, let me take you through the collections I have right now and also tell you about the projects that are under way.  Suggestions are welcome!

 

Hexagon Collection: As you can see from my listings, this collection is well under...

Several months ago I took on a project that involved setting a customer’s diamond, an old miner, into a ring completely designed from scratch. My customer, Lynne F. works as a marine biologist in Florida and wanted a motif that involved sea horses. And I wanted to see if I could make this happen. Obviously, there’s nothing out there design wise I could borrow from, and these sea horses would have...

As you see more and more of Brandy’s CAD (computer aided) designs in my shop, I thought it might be time to explain the design aspect of the process a bit more.  This will also help you if you are interested in placing a custom design order that requires CAD.

When do you need CAD? CAD is extremely useful when you don’t want to make a design from scratch in metal, and especially when you have an...

If you are used to working with only faceted stones, you’ll find that cabs and rose cuts are an entirely different animal.  Very little of what you know transfers over to the non-faceted gem world.  Cab pricing and weighs are different, they are judged on a different scale, and most commercial settings don’t work.

First, be aware that cabs and rose cuts are not usually clean gems. The facet grade...

I get requests for custom work every week, and, of course, sometimes there are fiscal surprises on the part of the customer.  I might quote $250 just for labor, not counting silver, gold, or a gem.  Here are some things that help avoid the surprise and let you calculate ahead of time, starting from the least labor intensive to the most.

Using a finished piece and popping in the gem: a number of my...

I’ve now converted an antique stick or bar pin into a wearable piece of jewelry several times, and I’ve learned some lessons in case you want to try the same.  Here are the 10 most important ones.