Ever had a fabulous piece of jewelry that you don’t often wear because it’s nearly impossible to fasten? If you’re like me, those tiny, little, spring rings manage to slip right out from your fingers just as you almost have it in place! Or the try-to-close-it-backwards-in-the-mirror game and go cross-eyed? How about wrist twister? Not a fan? Neither am I. I have neither the patience nor the nails to spend time fidgeting with tiny, stubborn clasps. Whether a necklace or bracelet, we want a secure clasp that’s easy to fasten! Without revealing my age too much, (ahem,) my experience with jewelry goes back to childhood, especially remembering playing in my aunt’s and grandmothers’ jewelry boxes. Aptly, my first job as...
Are you ready to tackle this one? Might I suggest a nice red blend to sip while perusing this article? Perhaps I’ll do just that while attempting to cover this plethora of information. Let me begin with good ol’ gold, Au on the periodic table from the Latin, aurum, that beautiful yellow metal that has started and ended wars, what man has lusted after since its discovery. What makes gold so precious? While a soft metal, gold stays pretty - it can be scratched and nicked and bent and dented, but it never loses its lovely color. It doesn’t tarnish. Look at the artifacts from King Tut’s tomb - yep, still pretty after all these millennia. Same with ancient coins...
Here in northern Illinois, the leaves are beginning to change color, birds are migrating, the crops are being harvested, summer blooms are fading and the hues of fall are emerging in rich golds, amber, russet, chestnut, maroon, oranges, warm reds, aubergine, the list goes on and on. What colors remind you of autumn? With the change in seasons, out come our cooler-weather wardrobes of layered-looks: sweaters, jackets and boots. As our clothing gets a little heavier, our accessories usually need to as well. Layered and longer necklaces pair well with a variety of necklines. Long necklaces are lovely with an open jacket and lengthen the line of our figures. Shorter necklaces work well with open necklines like button-ups and v-necks and...
Have you ever wondered what sterling silver means or how it differs from fine silver? There are a couple of theories as to where “Sterling” got its name and they go back hundreds of years. The first theory is that when coiners from east German states, also know as Easterlings, brought their efforts to improve the quality of coinage to England during Henry II’s reign (1154-1189) their shortened name, sterling, came along with them. The second theory is likely more plausible, that it comes from the Old English word stoerling, meaning “coin with a star” for small stars on old Norman pennies. Regardless its origin, “sterling” is a word associated with jewelry, silverware and .925. Why the .925 stamp on sterling? Sterling...
I was wondering where to begin blogging and thought that since quality is important to me as a consumer and as the creator of a product, that I would share my ideas on it with you. I’m hoping that through this blog you’ll get a better understanding of what you’re purchasing and from whom. First of all, it is important to note that while I am an artist (and everyone knows artists are a little loopy but we technically are in our “right minds” according to brain dominance studies,) that I am also very detailed and methodical, traits which, when combined, create something glorious: beauty that lasts. The Oxford dictionary defines the noun, quality, as “The standard of something as...
