Happy New Year!

 

All of us at Saori C. Jewelry Designs wish you and yours a happy and prosperous 2016! Thanks much to our customers, employees, and friends for their help and support!

 

Thanks for another great year!

Hi all,

We here at Saori C. Jewelry Designs just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and to thank all of you for your continued (and increasing!) support that has made this year our most successful ever. We couldn't do it (obviously) without our wonderful customers!

This year saw some changes for us. We upgraded and expanded our production space, which will allow us to increase the breadth and depth of our jewelry offerings starting in 2015. Now that the economy and the metals market have calmed a bit, we will also be introducing more high-end lines and individual pieces for our customers. Keep an eye open for them!

Unfortunately, with every positive comes a negative. Early in the autumn, our beloved shop mascot and doggy friend Peppa the standard poodle passed away after a long fight with cancer. Everyone feels his loss, and we all agree that the shop is just too quiet without him. Still, we know that he is happily running around in Heaven, playing in the snow like he always loved to.

We miss you, Peppa!

Thanks again to everyone for all your help (and for the wonderful kind emails and cards about Peppa), and we are all looking forward to helping you find your perfect jewelry in the new year!

Yours,

Saori

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.

Welcome to the Saori C. Jewelry Designs blog!

Hi everybody! Welcome to our blog!

2010 will mark the ten-year anniversary of the launching of the Saori C. Jewelry Designs Web site, http://www.saoric.com/. We want to thank all of our customers, friends, and everyone else for their support over the years - we're going as strong as ever, and we couldn't have done it without you!



Please continue to watch this space in the coming weeks and months for news updates, insider's tips, behind-the-scenes looks into our new jewelry lines, and maybe even a contest or two!