Finally caught my breath!!

Well, it has been a long time since I posted here, life has been very busy with travel, jewelry making and just enjoying the children as they grow.

I have been focused on improving the grade and complexity of my jewelry. Many varieties and colors of small accent stones really add a lot of flavor to my work. Bead setting, channel setting, prong setting and flush setting the small stones is enjoyable work and gives the large stone additional color contrast or a color companion. I now have over 150 designs that I am working from and each of those has variations as well so my selection is really starting to bloom.

I am immersed in creating new designs, more post to come! All the best, Lee

Nothing Like an Earthquake to Ruin a Shopping Day!

Yep, now I know, do not go shopping in an area that was all shook up the night before.

Vendors just do not go to work the day after a catastrophe.

The few we did find told horrific stories. One friend had 17 people that he knew die that night, several while running inside their cement house before it fell on top of them. Very sad.

We live less than an hour from Burma where there was a quake of 6.7. That evening I was sitting in my office chit chatting with our teenage daughter. Both our eyes widened as we scanned the room full of objects shaking and we said in unison "EARTHQUAKE!" then jumped up and headed for the front door. I barked orders for everyone to "get outside, NOW!" With kids scrambling for the door in front of me, I grabbed up two little ones by the armpits and made my way onto the porch with them both screaming in terror of the unknown. The wooden stairs to reach the ground shook violently or else my knees wobbling added to it as we crowded down them to get away from the house. The sounds of objects falling onto the wooden floor of the house was encouraging me to move more swiftly. Normally the house has provided us with comfort and safety but in an earthquake it is only a danger. As we reached the ground we were shouting about the corn field that sits next to the house, our best destination, then the earth stopped shaking. We stopped running and sat down on some benches in the front yard and looked back to the house. It looked fine. We were fine too, just a couple of the kids crying. We decided to just stay outside for awhile and breathe. I opened the front gate and moved the family car outside and parked along the road far from the area that the house would land in were it to fall. We did sleep inside that night, all of us fully clothed and ready to run, but it was very common the next day to hear that many people had slept outside with the mosquitoes for fear of the structure coming down on top of them in their sleep. I did leave all the bedroom doors open and made sure the path to the front door was clear. At 6:30 AM a small tremor made me spring to my feet while still in dream state just in time to realize that it had stopped already.

It had not occurred to me that our planned day of shopping on the border would have been better planned to be a later day. It was a ghost town. No miners brought rough stones in for us to look at, not one. We sat at an empty rented desk apparently just to make conversation with the locals. About 90% of the shops and vendors areas were locked up. Ruby Lane had just one vendor. I did manage to find enough goods to pay for the trip but all in all it was a pathetic shopping excursion.

We are, however, humbled by our own good fortune. It is very easy to be thankful just to be alive and have your family safe in such a situation. Our wooden home suffered no damages but the temple just a kilometer away lost a large piece of cement. Several Thai friends commented about how the houses of times past would be better for these times as they were built from bamboo (very flexible compared to cement) and the roof was straw so it would not hurt even if it fell on you in your sleep.

May you all be well and safe, my friends, best regards, Lee

Stars in Your Eyes?

Perhaps I am old fashioned but I prefer a Star Ruby or Star Sapphire cabochon over any faceted gem I have ever seen. Old fashioned in the sense that faceted stones are a relatively new style of cutting compared to cabochons that have been the style for thousands of years. The cutting style, however, is not the key to my admiration as the true beauty of the star gem is indeed the phenomenon of light called asterism. A six ray star that glides all around the surface of the dome as one tilts it in the sun. Pure natural magic to my eye.
The more perfect is the star, the more mesmerizing is the effect. Several factors will determine the look.
The play of light is caused by the hexagonal shape of the crystal structure often made of silk-like Rutile inclusions found in corundum. The exception to Rutile silk is Hematite platelets seen in black sapphires from the Thailand/Cambodian border. If the stone is too clear the silk or the platelets will not be enough to make a star so we need the inclusions. When we are fortunate enough to have both Rutile silk and Hematite platelets we will have a double six ray that is naturally aligned to show a 12 ray star with alternating colors in the rays. The Rutile will often show white or light blue rays while the Hematite will often show yellow or even orange rays.
The star will be centered only when the gem cutter correctly orients the axis perfectly so that it is perpendicular to the face. Many stars are thus off center but this is of little concern as long as it is fairly close so one does not have to search hard to find it.
It is best when we can see all six rays. Often an inclusion will block the view of one ray or hair line fractures will distort the star to some extent. Many times the dome of the cab will be flatter than ideal and cause the star to become broader and less than sharp.
The exact dome combined with the necessary clarity and the axis oriented correctly will allow us to see a sharp star with the rays reaching all the way to bottom of the stone.
As in all colored gems, it is the color that dictates the price when all other factors are equal. The color highest in demand for a star is, without a doubt, red. Red corundum is better known as Ruby and a star Ruby of fine character is truly an exciting and rare gem that will command the highest price of all stars. The stronger the red, the better, however, often pink and purple will be secondary colors. Mogok Burma is the very top of origins that such red Star Ruby gems have been found.
The next most favorite color in the world for a star will certainly be blue. There is a great deal more blue than red star Corundum in the world and this we call Blue Star Sapphire. The finest blues come from two places, Sri Lanka and Mogok Burma. Sri Lanka is famous for its Ceylon blue while both locations have produced what is referred to as 'cornflower blue', the top blue in Corundum.
The most common colors found in natural star Sapphires are black and gray. It is far easier to find a fine quality stone in these two colors than any other. A few star gems are naturally purple, pink, green, yellow, orange, brown or white as well as a mix of shades and tones. Often the purples and pinks are also called Ruby like the red with Purple Ruby being called a masculine ruby and a Pink Ruby being referred to as a feminine Ruby. Usually these two colors are called Sapphires in America.
Today many star Ruby and Sapphire are heated to clear some excess inclusions which can sharpen the star. Borax flux is usually added to the recipe in order to heal some cracks. Too high of heat will eliminate the star and this practice is common when the dealer has a higher demand for faceted gems than he does for stars. Often a star needs no heat and is thus left completely untreated. On the other hand we have repaired stars that have been heated with leaded glass, a less desirable product, however still very beautiful in the short run. I wrote earlier in this blog about the leaded glass treatment done to stars, please refer to it for more tips and information of treatments.
A star can be lab created even in a natural stone. It is diffused into the surface of the polished cabochon and could be polished off in a re-cut. These diffused stars are usually easy to spot as they show in most any light and usually have wavy or crooked rays. These lab created stars are also seen in synthetic corundum, the most famous being called a Linde Star, a trademarked name. Production of these synthetics was stopped by the Union Carbide Company in the 70's when the Asians made so many synthetic sapphires with diffused stars available so cheaply that it was no longer worth it to make them with American labor. Today they are still produced in Asian countries as the demand for low cost Star Sapphire and Star Ruby is still strong. Medium grade Star Sapphires and Star Rubies are in constant demand as they are very affordable and have so much flashy character for the money.
Star Sapphires and Star Rubies of all grades have enjoyed a surge in demand as they are often more intriguing to look at than the more common gemstones. I could not begin to count the number of request I have had over the years for blue star Sapphires.
The demand for high grade natural star gems is even stronger these days than it was in the past as these rare gems have become even more rare as supplies have dwindled. My wife is a huge fan of Star Ruby thus I am always on the lookout for prized red star corundum. I acquired a stunning example recently, mounted in a gold ring, and was so impressed with it that I wanted confirmation from a laboratory that it was genuine and not diffused. I took it to AGIS laboratory in Bangkok, an organization that is famous for being reliable and is better priced than the most famous, GIA. Normally on a visit to a lab one only gets to talk with an office clerk that sits behind a security window, however, when I went in to pick up my report on this particular Star Ruby a gemologist came out of the back to shake my hand and talk to me. He was excited about the stone and proceeded to explain to me that three gemologist had studied it and they all concluded that this was a natural star with no evidence of treatment found. In his words, this was "the nice one". I decided to put this one away for awhile.
Stars will always hold a special place in my heart whether they are in gemstones or in the night sky. Fond memories of coming home from work late at night then laying on the mowed grass of my Ohio home with my young sons at my sides all gazing up at the bright star-filled black sky, dreaming together and being ever so thankful for natures wonders and the love of family. Somehow stars and their brilliance seem to hold this magical feeling that gives us hopes and visions of a bright and shining future. Wear yours in good health!

Rare Faceted Ruby

Have you ever shopped for the best faceted ruby money could buy in Bangkok Thailand? Well, maybe not the very best but let's say a pigeon blood red, unheated, eye clean and over 5 carats. Sounded impossible to me.
Ruby is a category 3 gemstone which means they are almost always included and that has little effect on value. We expect rubies to be included. The only eye clean ruby I had ever seen were very small sizes and leaded glass filled rubies. Normally ruby is heated to help clear away some inclusions. Unheated and eye clean are generally never used in the same sentence to describe any ruby over a carat.
Though I do sell mostly ruby and sapphire, I previously never had any reason to bother asking what the very high end goods cost or even what was available. This last week I got a call to meet with an associate in order to find the answer.
After raising a lot of eye brows and listening to quite a bit of stammering ruby dealers, I did locate a stone that I doubted would be for sale that filled the bill. Over 6 carats, pigeon blood red, eye clean, unheated, untreated, from none other than Mogok Burma. The cut was good but I was surprised to see that the symmetry could have been improved with very little weight loss. Had to smile but refrained from shaking my head.
What does such a gem cost? Well, since I was not the actual buyer I am not in a good position to say but I will say that one can buy a nice home in many parts of the world with the price of just one carat of this six carat stone. I could not be sure if it was any influence of the price tag or simply the stunning beauty of this stone that made my heart beat so strongly. It compared to once while I was hunting and had hidden myself inside of a pine tree then had a huge 12 point buck white tail deer come within six feet of me and snort while looking right at me. I didn't move a bit but my heart pounded so strongly that I thought he would hear it. While looking at that ruby I also had to wonder if anybody there could hear my heart pounding as I certainly could. It would be interesting to make such a stone into a ring so that one could look at it whenever things got a little too quiet.

What color of gold should you use??
As far as nature is concerned there is only one answer, gold colored. There is no such thing as white gold or rose gold in nature, it is all the same color, gold.
Today there is an extremely high demand for 'white gold'. Many people believe this is a natural option. The true demand for this white color comes from two other metals, platinum and silver. The cost of silver is very low but it will need cleaning as it will tarnish over time. Platinum will not tarnish but cost even more than gold.
White gold was created to be able to sell people a white metal that does not tarnish at a lower price than Platinum. A keen marketing idea as people would pay the same or even more for it than traditional gold while the cost of this new alloy was far lower than normal gold alloys thus boosting profits. This keen idea came with a number of problems, however. To become white, this gold was alloyed with a large amount of a base metal, nickel. People are allergic to base metal against their skin. To further complicate matters, the white color from a nickel gold alloy is not pretty as it is more accurately described as gray gold, a marketing plan doomed to failure. So the keen marketing idea of 'white gold' had two problems to overcome, people were allergic to it and it was ugly. They needed to somehow sugar coat this monster in order to sell it thus they came up with the idea that it would be plated with Rhodium, one of the members of the Platinum family.
Rhodium is an extremely expensive metal, far higher than plain platinum but plating uses only a tiny amount so the cost is negligible. It is a very strong metal and is also very chemically resistant. A thin plating of Rhodium over the unappealing white gold makes it look gorgeous thus many people then selected 'white gold' as the color of choice in their gold jewelry. A considerable amount of market trickery was employed and jewelers got richer. It is still going on today.
Ironically, the same Rhodium plating over silver keeps silver from tarnishing and looks and wears exactly like the finished nickel white gold jewelry and at a small fraction of the cost, PLUS the silver is much less likely to create an allergic reaction as the nickel white gold is likely to once the plating wears off AND the silver looks whiter and prettier than the nickel white gold after the plating wears off. Hmmmmm.
Plating always wears off, regardless of what it is, so any plated jewelry needs to be returned to the jeweler periodically for a new 'dip'. Often they will do this for 'free' or just a small cost. Many times customers will make a new purchase with this new visit to the store so this is a win-win situation for the jeweler as it requires little skill to plate something once you are set up to do it.
In European countries where more people had a problem with the allergic reaction to the nickel gold a new white gold was created, palladium white gold. Palladium is a precious metal, unlike nickel which is a base metal so this is a step in the right direction, it would seem. The cost is much higher than nickel white and is even much higher than traditional gold alloys but there is much less allergic reactions with palladium compared to nickel, however, the old problem remains that the color is just too gray. The finished project has little eye appeal as it is not as white as even the inexpensive silver thus the same solution is again employed, rhodium dip.
Can you see the difference in plated jewelry versus non-plated by your eye? Most people can spot it very easily. All our lives we have seen cheap costume jewelry plated with gold, silver and rhodium and many people automatically think 'cheap' when they see that plated look. Nothing can look so elegant as a high polished piece of precious metal, plating can never hope to duplicate that solid dazzling shine. Plating cannot be polished as it will simply wear off so once it is plated it is 'done'.
Now what about rose gold, also called pink gold or red gold? This is simply a gold alloy with a lot more copper and less silver. Copper is the lower grade of the metals used in traditional alloys. When it is increased it will have a redder color but will also give more people an allergic reaction and may tarnish a little as well. It is very pretty all by itself, however, so it requires no plating.
Ever hear of green gold? It is more of a light yellow as it contains only two metals, gold and silver. In 18k it is great to work with as a smith and a purist but the paler color is not popular.
The color of gold most people are used to seeing in the USA is really 58.5% gold with the remainder split between silver and copper. This is 14k yellow gold. The color is improved by adding more copper and less silver but this also makes it more brittle, more likely to tarnish and difficult to work with so in general the remaining 41.5% is split evenly with silver and copper producing a rather washed out gold color.
People are generally pleasantly surprised to see traditional 18k gold alloys as the color is more golden than the 14k they are used to seeing. Traditional 18k is 75% gold with the remaining 25% being half silver and half copper.
My gold smithing instructor makes jewelry for Thai people and generally uses almost pure gold such as 23k which contains over 90% gold and a small amount of silver. It is a very rich golden color and is often thought of as too soft by American standards but almost all Thais wear it and most Thais wear their gold everyday. There is virtually no demand for white gold here as these people believe that the more gold color their gold is, the better. They do not wear 14k and very little 18k. They could never accept the idea of mixing cheap copper into any of their gold. Some prefer silver, however, and some Rhodium plate their silver.
Perhaps I have thrown a tiny wet blanket over the current white gold craze by writing this but in the jewelry business I believe that full disclosure, whether it be about gemstone treatments or metal treatments is simple honesty. I believe many people have been misled about their gold and that is disturbing. Educated customers are happy customers that come back to buy more because they know what they are getting and are making an educated choice.
Wear your jewelry in good health, Lee

How would you chose your jewelry to be made? Most people have no idea that they do have a choice let alone what the choices might be. The reason is absolutely not that people are stupid, they certainly are very intelligent. So intelligent that the ones making jewelry with high production/short cut methods are busy educating people that their methods are great and we need to look no further. Very little information has ever been made popular about what methods are the best because there is little profit in it. Big profits are in high production, not in using tools like hammers, saws and files.
Here is where I don't fit in with the crowd, I do not want to be filthy rich, ever. If you gave me a mega millions lottery ticket that could put millions in my hands my heart would run cold and I would run from such a burdensome responsibility.
I like what I can understand and what I know works the best. Unless I am walking, I have no interest in short cuts. Fire melts metals, hammers flatten and shape metal, saws and files do their obvious task. In the end I have a piece of jewelry that will be strong and true to the owners for generations. This makes sense to me. So here you can see how I spend my time. I have a huge supply of silver and gold coins and bars because, quite frankly, I have always thought banks were not to be trusted much. I do not borrow nor do I loan, thus I have saved over the years. The good thing is that banks can still be trusted and my coins make good jewelry after all.
When you look through my pictures here you will see how I get your piece of Sterling Silver jewelry started. The formation of an ingot is the step prior to when the hammer starts to swing.

Ruby and Glass Castings! Not Ruby carvings!
These are on the market now, the price should reflect the low quality. A loupe can detect the casting seams and have you ever seen more bubbles in a so-called 'ruby'??