Gem & Jewelry Industry

Written by Yvonne Raley

Filed under

AGTA, Eternity bands, eternity bands 101, Ethan Sweet, Fish tail Pave, gem show, hauynites, JCK, pave, Vegas Gem Show

Eternity Band 101, Melee Gems and - YES - Las Vegas

May 26, 2016

Written by Yvonne Raley

Recently I'd been asked by customers to offer eternity bands for some of the melee gems I've been selling on my site. The paraibas and hauynites especially lend themselves to those, and I hope to get more of both at the JCK and AGTA show in Vegas in early June. I'm totally psyched already, this time I want to take a little more advantage of the glitz in between gem purchases - I bought new dresses... Continue reading

Written by Yvonne Raley

Filed under

gem show, hand carving, live demo, sonny grant, stone carving, Stone sculpture artist, Tucson gem show, tucson gem show 2016

Stone Carving with Sonny Grant at the Tuscon Gem Show

Mar 02, 2016

Written by Yvonne Raley

As I'm sure you know, not many thing are made in the US by hand any more, especially small arts and crafts. It doesn't pay the rent, things can be made cheaper elsewhere. So you might imagine my delight when I came across soapstone carver Sonny Grant at the Marty Zinn show in Tucson. I was just strolling across the lawn of the Inn Suites hotel, where the show was hosted, to get a cup of coffee at...

Written by Yvonne Raley

Filed under

4 c's, blog, ebay, loupe troop, refinery, scrap gold calculator, scrap metal blog, scrap value, what is your jewelry worth

What is Your Jewelry Worth?

Nov 21, 2015

Written by Yvonne Raley

I've been wanting to revisit the topic of jewelry appraisal for some time, especially since I see a lot of people now selling their gems and jewelry on Loupe Troop and other websites for "pre-loved" items. Most of the time the items are being sold for less than their value.

So as you probably all know, valuing gold is easy. You just need an accurate postal scale to weigh it, and most online... Continue reading

Written by Yvonne Raley

Filed under

casting, fine jewelry production, jewelry 101, jewelry design, jewelry making, jewelry production, learning about jewelry, metal work, metalsmithing, step by step on how to make jewelry, taba casting

Jewelry 101 - How Stuff Gets Made

Nov 09, 2015

Written by Yvonne Raley

I have blogged about this topic before but in light of the never ending string of convos I wake up to every morning, I think it might be useful to review my production process, what I do and how long it takes, step by step.

1. Design: I design all the pieces in my shop, and I work together with my CAD friend, Brandy, to turn these into 3-D models. I rarely have anything done in metalwork - the cost... Continue reading

Written by Yvonne Raley

Filed under

8 prong setting, bezel set, channel wire setting, differences in settings, gypsy setting, jewelry settings, pave, prong setting, setting technique, settings 101, what to set your stone in

Gem Setting Revisited

Oct 01, 2015

Written by Yvonne Raley

I have written about setting gems before, but in lieu of the fact that so much of my business is now custom, here are a few of the most important considerations worth having at your fingertips.

1. What metal should I use?

The softest metal is Sterling Silver, but setting costs are high in the US, so my personal view is that doing custom setting in the US in silver is a waste of your money. Gold is...

Written by Yvonne Raley

Filed under

2015, cut stone, edison nj, gem & mineral show, gem show, how to cut stone, how-to, rubies, winza, winza sapphire

From Rough Stone to Cut Stone: Part I

Apr 25, 2015

Written by Yvonne Raley

The journey from rough mineral to finished faceted gem has always fascinated me. As a relative novice in the area, there are mostly surprises, but even the more seasoned cutter or gem expert can’t always predict the outcome. On average one loses 60-80% of the gemstone material during cutting. Sometimes more, sometimes less. One has to decide where the cleavages are that will open up during...

Written by Yvonne Raley

Filed under

beading, burr, diamond, flex shaft, Gems, gold, hammer setting, microscope, millgrain, pave setting, prong setting, stone setting, ultrasonic

Stone Setting by Pierre

Jan 22, 2015

Written by Yvonne Raley

I am slowly learning how to add little video clips to my blog so here is my first one. It was my practice piece but then I thought it came out nice enough to share. In this video, Pierre explains how he is prong setting 3mm diamonds into a diamond eternity band. First he opens the ring up underneath, then he drills the seat, pops in the diamond and gently pushes the prongs over the stone. They pop...

Written by Yvonne Raley

Filed under

artisan, B-Corp, B-Corporation, Benefit Corporation, Bike Room, Dog's Allowed, Eatsy, Etsy, Etsy staff, fair trade, handmade, sustainable, transparency

My Visit with Etsy

Aug 18, 2014

Written by Yvonne Raley

So Etsy has a bi-weekly event called Eatsy, where all employees of Etsy eat together. Etsy employees, known as Etsy admin, can invite Etsy members for a visit and a tour, plus meet with various staff members that might be helpful to their shop. I got invited to one last week by Bernadette Sweeney, Director of Community Connections. Etsy is located in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn, which is only a...

Written by Yvonne Raley

Filed under

alexhandengraving.com, art deco, art nouveau, engraving, gemstone, hand engraving, ring, sapphire

Hand Engraving

Apr 06, 2014

Written by Yvonne Raley

Engraving can add a nice personal touch to a piece of jewelry that is special to you. I recently sold an unheated Burma sapphire to Jeannie, who had been looking for one for years. But that kind of expenditure doesn't always leave financial room for a custom design from scratch. So we had to improvise. Jeannie wanted something antique looking but without an astronomical price tag (which is rather...

Written by Yvonne Raley

Filed under

breakage, certified gem, emerald cut, insurance, lab, radiant cut, risk, sapphire, unheated gem

RISK! How to Deal in High End Gems and Not Lose Your Shirt – or the Gem

Feb 23, 2014

Written by Yvonne Raley

Last November, I was approached by an Australian customer to source an engagement stone for her. She wanted a Ceylon sapphire, 4 carats, emerald cut, no heat, with cert. The budget: $15,000. Needless to say I don’t have those kinds of stones lying around. Not in that price range for sure, but I also don’t have the kind of inventory in larger sizes that allows for such specifics. Nonetheless I was...

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Posts & Pages

Gem & Jewelry Industry

Eternity Band 101, Melee Gems and - YES - Las Vegas

Stone Carving with Sonny Grant at the Tuscon Gem Show

What is Your Jewelry Worth?

Jewelry 101 - How Stuff Gets Made

Gem Setting Revisited

From Rough Stone to Cut Stone: Part I

Stone Setting by Pierre

My Visit with Etsy

Hand Engraving

RISK! How to Deal in High End Gems and Not Lose Your Shirt – or the Gem