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This is probably a long overdue blog entry.  I talk so much about gems, but never about what you should and should not do once you receive the jewelry I make for you.  This tip sheet has the basics.

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Even though I don’t get this question a lot, since I teach ethics, it stands to reason that the ethical sourcing of gems would be a concern of mine. And it is. But if we consider the question carefully, it is obvious that even if we could all agree on what “ethical sourcing” meant in this context, it doesn’t take much thinking to realize that the demand to only use ethically sourced gems is nearly... Continue reading

As many of you know, I went back to Germany (and also Italy) for part of June and July, visiting family and taking a much needed break from work and jewelry. But what would a trip be without at least a little gem shopping? So I made another appointment with the Sri Lankan in Idar Oberstein who sold me those awesome spinels last summer.
 
This time I took my dad along for the ride. Ulterior... Continue reading

I’ve heard it time and time again when people show me their valuable jewelry: “this ring was appraised at…,” followed by a nice high numerical figure.  “Cool,” I say.  Politely.  While secretly rolling my eyes.  Why?  Because those appraisals, most likely, are too high.  They are done for insurance purposes and calculate full replacement value, or close to it: the amount the insurance will pay you... Continue reading

A few weeks ago I told you about the 1 carat sapphire I got through the internet.  I finally got it back and I got an answer.  Generally, with a sapphire, you can approximate origin by color.  The more vibrant and dark colors are usually African, the very dark blackish blues are Thai.  But the teal colors now often come from Africa as well, no longer just Australia.  Sri Lankan stones, by... Continue reading

I often get asked by customers if I would be willing to set their stones.  These days, I mostly turn them down.  And I find that many other Etsyans do the same.  You may find this strange, but for the jeweler, there really are only downsides.

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Questions about casting are starting to come up more often, as I am increasingly moving toward custom orders these days.  So let me dispel the mystery.

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It happens mostly at craft shows, though sometimes on Etsy as well.  “Can you do a little better than that?” or “Will you have any sales coming up soon?” are some polite attempts at getting me to come down from a price that didn’t work in a sufficient markup for a discount in the first place. 

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Everyone in my craft group has an Etsy shop, one is even an Etsy co-founder.  Some have been in the Indie craft scene for over a decade.  But everyone is a hobbyist.  At one of our recent meetings, someone asked if you could actually make a living with an Etsy shop.  There are no studies on this, so we all took our best guess: unlikely.

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