A New Option For Your Jewelry Clasps

Magnetic Clasps

One of the more recent innovations on the fine jewelry market is magnetic clasps. Although when they were first introduced they had a reputation for being the latest gimmick or fad, lately they have begun to be appreciated as a great help for folks who have difficulty manipulating traditional clasps, especially in cases where arthritis, diabetes, or other conditions could cause difficulty.

At Saori C. Jewelry Designs, we have done several fine jewelry and bridal jewelry pieces with magnetic clasps recently, and have received nothing but positive feedback from our customers about their ease of use. Also, as the market for these clasps grows, many very stylish varieties are now available in many metals and styles.

 

There is one important thing about magnetic clasps that needs to be remembered, though, and that is how to open them. The best way is to open the clasp like you would open an egg you just cracked: holding on to either side and pulling down (not out!) so that the top opens first, then the bottom. This puts torque only on the clasp itself (which is designed to take it), and not on your necklace. You should never attempt to open a magnetic clasp by pulling horizontally on it. The magnet is strong enough that most likely you will break the necklace before the clasp comes apart.

Next up: More about pearls. Stay tuned!

It's Our Anniversary!

Ten Years Online!

September marks the ten-year anniversary of http://www.saoric.com/, Saori C. Jewelry Designs' online site! It's hard to believe that it's been that long. In that time we've made a bunch of new friends, helped many, many brides with jewelry for their special days, moved the brick and mortar business once, and redesigned the Web site four times.

As some long-time customers will remember, this was the original logo for the Web site. Looks a bit different now, doesn't it?

I also wanted to announce that, as part of our anniversary, we're having a special this month at Saori C. Jewelry Designs. All orders postmarked between September 1 and September 30, 2010, will receive free UPS Ground shipping! For full details and restrictions, please take a look at www.saoric.com/orders.htm.

We really want to thank everyone for your business and your support all these years! For a business like ours, word of mouth is the most important form of advertising, and as trite as it sounds, it's true: We couldn't have done it without you!

Pearl Buying Trip

Touring Tokyo's Pearl District

The Saori C. Jewelry Designs buying team recently returned from a pearl buying trip to Tokyo. When it comes to cultured saltwater pearls, we use only the best, and to get the best, you have to go to the source: Japan.

Tokyo's pearl district is a fasciniating place - there are literally dozens of pearl wholesalers and retailers within a couple of square kilometers, catering to all different tastes and price ranges. We were looking for top-quality white pearls for bridal jewelry, so that's what we were focusing on. We talked to several wholesalers in the area, and in addition to establishing some great connections and getting some great product, we also picked up a lot of insider insight into the cultured saltwater pearl business.

We were also extremely lucky to score a meeting with the head of one of the largest pearl wholesalers in Japan, who kindly shared his wealth of knowledge with us, not only about the industry, but about pearls and the pearl making process. Turns out a lot of what you think you know about pearls is probably wrong. Stay tuned. :)

Gold Jewelry Guide

Gold, gold plate, gold-filled, and vermeil. What’s the dilly-o?

While we’re on the topic of materials, another common question we get here is “What’s the difference between solid gold, gold plate, gold-filled, and vermeil? Are they all the same? Which is better?” First, they are not all the same. As to which is better, well, that depends on what you’re looking for and what you want to spend on it.

Solid gold is the most obvious, as the name describes exactly what it is. All gold, no fillers. All gold jewelry pieces we make at Saori C. Jewelry Designs employ only solid gold. Because, by nature, solid gold pieces contain more gold than any of the other three varieties, they tend to be the most expensive.

Of the remaining three, gold plate is the most common and usually the least expensive, as it has the least amount of gold in it. In gold-plated jewelry, an extremely thin layer of gold is deposited on a base metal (often copper or nickel) using electricity (hence the term “electroplating”). Because the layer of gold is so thin, it can easily wear off with heavy polishing. As well, the base metal tends to gradually bleed through the gold layer, and so people with copper or nickel allergies should beware of gold plate.

Gold-filled is the next step up. Gold-filled jewelry is made of a layer of gold pressure-bonded to a base metal. The thickness of the gold layer in gold-filled pieces is regulated by the US government, and can be hundreds to tens of thousands of times the size of those in pieces that are plated. A common mark you would see on a gold-filled piece might be “1/20 14k GF,” which means that the layer of gold is 14 karat and the gold makes up 1/20th of the total piece by weight (the minimum allowed by law). Because gold-filled jewelry contains much more gold that gold-plated jewelry, it can be quite a bit more expensive.

Last, and least common these days, is vermeil. Vermeil is also regulated by the US government, and consists of sterling silver plated in at least 10 karat gold of a specified minimum thickness (2.5 microns, in case you were wondering). There is less gold in vermeil than in many gold-filled pieces, but since the base metal is higher quality (sterling silver), prices can be comparable. However, very few jewelers make vermeil pieces anymore, so if you come across some, you’re most likely antiquing.

Fine Bridal Jewelry

It’s All In The Ingredients


A huge factor in the price of any piece of jewelry is obviously what materials have gone into it. This is especially true in bridal jewelry, where recent trends have tended to favor showier pieces that, to keep them in the average bride’s price range, are being made with less expensive ingredients.

Two of these ingredients you see the most of recently are crystals (frequently transparent) and faux (i.e., fake) pearls. Marketers and such for companies who sell these products will tell brides that they will give them the sparkle of diamonds and the shine of pearls for a fraction of the cost of the real things. This is true, to a point. Cut crystals are definitely sparkly, and faux pearls are white and round, but that’s about where the similarities end. Real, natural pearls have a depth and a luster that faux pearls can’t match. Plus, true pearls are not stark white like many faux pearls are – they have a much softer color. Same is true for crystals – they might look good by themselves, but compared to the real thing (be it diamonds or any kind of genuine gemstones) there’s no contest.

Jewelry like this tends to remind me of actors on stage. They look great from a distance, but get up close and they look a bit unnatural from all the makeup. And that, to me, is the worst part of the whole thing: You shouldn’t have to put your bridal jewelry away after the wedding because it doesn’t look good with anything but your gown and that only while brightly lit. You should be able to enjoy your pieces all the time, however you happen to be dressed and for whatever the occasion. Sure, the real thing is more expensive. But trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

Next up: Gold plate vs. gold-filled vs. vermeil. What the heck do they all mean?

Handmade Earring Guide

Handmade vs. Hand-Assembled: Let’s Talk Ear Wires

What are usually called “French wires” or “French ear wires” are one of the most common accessories to a pair of dangle earrings. They are also almost never made by hand. The vast majority of jewelers will buy these in bulk from a finding manufacturer. Why? Because good ear wires are a hassle to make – expensive and time-consuming. Think about it: you have to cut a piece of wire (silver, gold, whatever) to the correct length, bend the curves in it just so, and then somehow either attach a ring to the end or ball up the metal with a torch so that your dangle won’t slip off. Make a mistake with the torch? Then you either cut off the end and try again, which means the final wire will be shorter than you wanted, or you add the wire to your scrap pile and get another one. Lots of bother.

So why make them by hand? Well, even though it’s a pain, there are a lot of benefits to the customer in a good pair of handmade French wires. The first one is that the size of the wires can be customized exactly to the size of the earrings. If the earring pendant is very small, the last thing you want is a huge ear wire – the back of the wire will hang lower than the earring pendant itself. Same is true conversely – you don’t want a really short wire with a long or heavy earring; it just doesn’t look right, and won’t be comfortable.

Another reason is that making wires by hand allows the jeweler to adjust the stiffness of the wire, most frequently by annealing the metal to the desired strength with a torch after shaping. The ideal wire should be able to flex a bit, but should always spring back exactly into place. If the metal is too hard the wire could snap, if it’s too soft it will easily bend, neither of which are good, and neither of which can be controlled very well with prefab wires.

Next is comfort. Since many pre-made French wires are cut by machine, the end of the wire (the bit you put through your earlobe) can often be rough, or in cases of cheaper wires, even sharp. When making wires by hand, however, the jeweler will take the time to file the tip end of the wire smooth and round, so that there’s no risk of it causing pain when going through the ear.

Now of course, all the extra labor and knowledge that goes into making French wires by hand will tend to increase the cost of the final pair of earrings, and it is the customer’s decision ultimately whether or not it’s worth it. But hopefully now, at least, they’ll know what they’re paying for.

Next time: This series continues as we talk about differences in metal and gem quality and how that affects price. Stay tuned!

How to Recognize Handmade Jewelry

Or, Why can similar looking pieces have widely different costs?

Part 1

To kick off our occasional series of posts about jewelry and the jewelry business, I wanted to talk about a question we hear quite a bit at Saori C. Jewelry Designs – “I see lots of earrings and necklaces on different sites that look very similar. How come some of them are much more expensive than others?”

The short answer is, in all honesty, “you get what you pay for.”

The long answer, and what I want to start talking about today, is that there are a lot of factors, including the labor involved in the piece, the quality and scarcity of the materials, the difficulty of the design, and the brand itself.

Let's talk about labor first, as how much (or how little) labor goes into a piece is one of the easiest things for a jeweler to control, and in many cases, one of the hardest things for customers to notice. A good example of this is the difference between “handmade” and what I like to call “hand-assembled.”

“Handmade” means exactly what the word implies – made by hand. If you tell me that your necklace is handmade, then I expect that everything, from the chain to the clasp, was made (forged, hammered, soldered, whatever) by you. “Hand-assembled” is different. If you went out and bought the clasp, the chain, the bangles, etc., mass-produced from a store somewhere, and then just put them together to make a necklace, that’s “hand-assembled,” and that’s quite different. To be fair, very few pieces of jewelry are entirely “handmade,” as most of us aren’t out mining and cutting our own gemstones or refining our own gold and silver, but the degree of “handmade-ness” greatly impacts both the time it takes to make a piece, and the skill and resources (i.e., cost) required to do it. That, as you might imagine, can have a large influence on the final price.

As some jewelers these days use “handmade” when they really should say “hand-assembled,” it’s important for customers to be able to recognize the differences between the two. We’ll look at some of those differences in our next post. Stay tuned!

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous 2010!

It's amazing to think that the new year is here already - time has certainly been flying by...

We wanted to start off the new year by sharing a new design, our Whisper Earrings. These are brand new, and not yet listed on http://www.saoric.com/. They're made of beautiful white cultured freshwater pearls, sterling silver, and blue chalcedony - not a stone you see that often, but we really like the delicate glow and color that it lends to these earrings. Hopfully they'll provide a little "whisper" of happiness to start the year. :) If you would like more information about these, please contact us via our Web site!