Category: Jewelry

As a new jewelry maker, you might be wondering about gold wire and what all the different terms mean. Here are some questions I often get from new jewelry makers:

What is gold wire useful for?

What’s the difference between gold solder and gold wire? And just how do i care for my gold jewelry?

There are numerous of types of gold wire.

Gold-plated wire is copper or some other base metal coated with a thin plate of 10 to 14 kt gold. The plate easily comes off over time, can be scratched off, etc. so I wouldn’t recommend using gold-plated wire.

Gold-filled wire is frequently used by jewelers and artisans. Gold-filled metal is made by pressure-bonding a layer of gold to a base metal core. Gold-fill usually has a copper base covered in thicker layer of gold, usually 14 kt. The gold does not easily get removed from the base. Jewelry made with gold-filled wire will look like new for a very long time and can be cleaned and polished without being damaged. This is the wire I use when I use gold in my designs.

Another term you may come across is vermeil.

Vermeil is gold-fill with a sterling silver base. to my knowledge, you can’t get vermeil wire.

All wire described above can be used in jewelry making. Wire wrapping, making bead links, making clasps, you name it. If you can make it with silver or craft wire, you can use gold wire.

Gold solder is something different entirely. Gold solder is used in the soldering process. Gold solder does come in wire form, as well as sheet, but never use gold solder wire for anything other than soldering. Gold solder is much too soft, and is meant to only be used to fuse gold components of a piece of jewelry together.

Caring for your gold jewelry is pretty straightforward. You may find a bit of tarnish. Gold itself doesn’t tarnish, but gold for jewelry is always an alloy – it’s the base metal the gold is mixed with that’s discoloring. Here are some cleaning tips:

Cleaning Gold Jewelry

To remove tarnish: To clean gold jewelry that does not include any soft gemstones, pearls or crystals put the gold jewelry into warm sudsy water containing a few drops of mild dishwashing liquid such as Dawn, Ivory or Simple Green, and rub gently with your fingers or a cotton swab. Do not use toothpaste or baking soda to clean gold jewelry. Rinse your gold jewelry thoroughly with warm water and dry with a cotton cloth. Before storing, let the gold jewelry lie flat and air dry completely, overnight if possible. Moisture speeds the tarnishing process so it’s important to make sure your gold jewelry is dry before putting it away.

Machine cleaning: If your gold jewelry still looks dark, it may need aggressive machine cleaning. Most jewelers have some type of automatic cleaning equipment, such as an ultrasonic, ionic or steam cleaner, and experience using it so they can give you advice about whether such cleaning is safe for your specific piece of gold jewelry.

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Jewellery has become the most demanding and loveable item. Big numbers of jewellery shops are opened nowadays. Its increasing demand let the people feel the need to open jewellery shops in streets. It may be said that it is now being sold door to door because when we left one street and just enter in to the second, we can see little shops that have all necessary variety of jewellery. Jewellery items for all body parts are now extensively manufactured in artificial, steel and in other precious metals too. Both men and women love to buy jewellery. Body jewellery is becoming most popular item amongst all. The reason behind its popularity and vast scale purchasing is that it is extremely fashionable and loved by youngsters. It is available in large variety. Most common types are lip, nose, belly, eyebrow rings etc. To use this kind of items people need to pierce their body section.

Generally body jewellery is worn on belly and known as belly bars. Different belly bars are available in different designs, quality and value. Some belly bars are often made with pure gold. Many body bars contain gems like cubic zirconia. This gem is used to wear buy young women because these are very beautiful and affordable. These are also made with stainless steel that really sparkles and looks cool on low ages. These are also available in intimated animal designs that are very cute and liked most.

Eyebrow rings have also become popular and only used by youngsters. Some wears two and some wears three at the end of eyebrow. These rings are available in many precious and semi precious stones and as well settled with worthy gems. Usually it is the most recent trend of western countries.

Nose rings are the traditional items and were used in ancient times. Egyptians used to wear it. Especially the queens and princesses use these rings to adorn themselves. In the beginning these were too big in size and become smaller as the time passed. Then it was worn in old African cultures and in Asian cultures too. Today these are traditionally worn by both cultures. Then westerns inspired and now used to wear this by few modifications and alterations.

Earrings are also the part of body jewellery. As we know it is also an old cultured item and still used nowadays just like nose rings. Many beautiful designs with different metals and gems are now available. Because of the modernity of time the earrings have become so light weighted that no one feel their weight while wearing it and are so thin, near to the thickness of a page.

Two more items that are newly introduced are tongue rings and lip rings. Tongue rings are worn right in the middle of tongue that needs to pierce it. And lip ring are also worn in the center of lower lip where a cut is appear. Mostly these rings are available in stainless steel because it remains inside the mouth that cannot damage its color. For instance if a ring made with gold is used that may fade its color due to the food that chewed inside may tangle with it and hygienic food can create reaction with gold, which may infect the whole mouth.

The only drawback of these items is that you must have to pierce your body parts otherwise you cannot wear them.

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Being a most popular type of jewelry used in the world today, silver is loved and worn by almost all kind of people. It is inexpensive and too soft to wear as jewelry. Though there are a lot of reasons for preferring a silver jewelry, on the other hand there is also a major drawback with it. Yes, silver tarnishes and turns black. It leaves dark black, blue, purple stains on your fingers, wrists and neck. It can even leave stains on your dresses and everywhere it touches. Okay, now what makes a silver jewelry to tarnish? If you say it is water, the answer is not precisely yes!

No matter, whether the silver is pure or mixed, nothing stops silver from tarnishing. When a sterling silver chain jewelry is exposed to the air and atmosphere, a chemical reaction takes place creating silver sulfate that happens to be the root cause for leaving the black mark on your finger or neck. It is the nature of silver to react to chemical and there isnt really much to do about silver tarnishing. However, by plating it with a thin layer of metal protection, tarnishing can be prevented to some extent.

Chlorine can be said the major culprit that causes serious tarnish on silver jewelry. Chlorinated water is everywhere and this is the reason for the misconception that water makes silver jewelry to tarnish. Polish would coat the piece and add a certain amount of limited protection. It is not just the chlorinated water that makes silver chain necklaces to tarnish but anything like wool, rubber bands, latex gloves, oils from your hands and fingers, ammonia, carpet padding, air pollution, perfumes, and hair sprays make a silver jewelry tarnish. Few food items like onions, mayonnaise, salad dressing, eggs and salty foods can even make silver tarnish.

You can prevent tarnishing by storing your silver jewelry in individually sealed poly bags or zip lock bags. Store it with under cute little silica gel packs that helps in removing the moisture from the air. Cleaning your Sterling Silver Chain Jewelry with warm water and drying it with a soft cloth after you wear it, will remove any oily residue and slow the process down as well. Some people also advise storing your Jewelry with chalk just because it absorbs the toxins in the bag.

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What’s better than making jewelry? How about saving money while you’re doing it? Beads, wire, stones and tools can add up to a mighty sum. Jewelry tools and jewelry supplies can add up to a small fortune if you let it. Here are some great ideas for saving money on beads and such.

1. Shop Around and Do Some Research.

It’s good to shop around and see where the deals are. Us creative folks tend to be quite loyal, but there is nothing wrong with looking outside your usual supplier for your beading needs. There are a lot of great sources online, and be sure to sign up for newsletters to get those money saving email notices.

2. Buy in Bulk When You Can.

Buying in bulk can save you a bundle. This doesn’t only apply to rice and toilet paper. You’d be amazed of how much you can save by buying a certain amount of beads, wire, chain… My favorite supplier has deals at certain price points for beads, and if you are buying sterling silver or gold sheet or wire, I don’t have to tell you about the bulk price breaks there, do I? You’ll need this stuff eventually, so in the long run, you save time too!

3. Watch for Garage Sales.

Other people’s junk can be a jewelry maker’s treasure. Don’t necessarily look at an item “as is”. Remember that everything can be taken apart and used for its spareparts.
Old costume jewelry necklaces for example can be taken apart and components can be reused. What about old watches? The Steampunk movement has made watch parts a hot commodity. Even if you don’t do the Steampunk thing yourself, you can barter watch parts with another crafter to get stuff she doesn’t need, but you do!

4. Check out Thrift stores.

Other than bell-bottoms and romance novels, there are other great finds in those mothball-smelling treasure troves. They are one of the best places to find old costume jewelry, and I’m talking CHEAP! And if you’re really lucky and determined, you might even find some actual vintage pieces.

5. Think Outside of the Bead Box.

As my 6-yewar-old daughter says, we need to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle more. Jewelry can literally be made out of anything, so look around. Bits of ribbon, bottle caps, game pieces, and those old watches once again… getting creative will save you money and result in a truly one-of-a-kind piece.

6. Shop at the Hardware Store instead of the Bead Store.

If you need wire, chains, links and the like, head to the source! Amid countless racks, rolls and hardware bins you will find jewelry fixings at rock-bottom prices. My favorite hardware store jewelry supply is black annealed steel wire in 18 gauge. There’s usually a good supply of copper wire in different gauges at my local harware store too. You will also find other things you can’t live without, such as storage bins and baskets, small hand tools, and soldering equipment.

7. Barter and Trade.

Don’t forget the best way to get stuff for free – by trading your worthless junk for someone else’s treasure. Of course what’s worthless to one isn’t to another, so those beads and wire that you hate might be just the ticket for someone else. There are many jewelry making forums online that have a “barter board”. See if you can’t find someone to trade with there.

8. Group Buys

Another ways to save money is to buy in bulk with others. If you don’t need 5 troy ounces of sterling silver wire but still want that price break, see if you can find someone to go in with you. If you are part of a Bead Society that is a great place to inquire. You can also post classified ads, look on jewelry making forums, or post the request on twitter to see if you can find some thrifty buying partners.

9. Ask for Supplies for Christmas or Your Birthday

Have you ever gotten a birthday gift that just wasn’t all that useful to you? What about that ugly vase or those Halloween seasonal towels that you never remember to take out during the Halloween season. People often hate trying to find the “perfect gift” and would love to have you tell them what you’d like. Don’t be shy with friends and family. They would rather get you something you love and enjoy than buy you another Santa mug at Christmas. Once they know you want bead store gift cards, they’ll be thrilled to not have to think about what to get you.

As you can see, there are tons of ways to save money if you are resourceful. Don’t get stuck thinking you can’t afford the good stuff, because you can if you take some extra effort.

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Jewelry that is currently on trend runs the gamut as jewelry fashion takes on a bolder statement than ever before. Geometric shapes, oversized pieces, tribal fashion and even disco diva looks are certainly in now but what about the woman who wants to update her jewelry case with something trendy yet classy that won’t go out of style once the current trends have? That’s where an online jewelry retailer can help. You can peruse their online catalog at your leisure (without a pushy salesperson looking over your shoulder) and see what pieces are available that can give a nod to what is in fashion but can also stand the test of time. To make it easy, I’ve compiled a list of six jewelry trends to look for that are a little less bold but still can freshen up your wardrobe and help you feel fabulous. Happy Shopping!

Layered look. From bangles to necklaces, the style now is wearing multiple layers. Reality star Whitney Port sparkled wearing layered Tacori bracelets at NYC fashion week this year and Serendipity Magazine recently featured layered diamond Tacori bangles that were paired with a lovely pastel ensemble.

Blue is the hue. Sapphire blue color is on fire now and you can see it showing up in all types of jewelry from rings to necklaces to pendants. Reality star Kourtney Kardashian was spotted wearing a dazzling Tacori blue cocktail ring on the cover of Lucky Magazine.

Dangling earrings. All types of dangling earrings especially chandelier earrings are hot now and add both sophistication and sparkle to any special outfit. Sea inspired. Jewelers looked to the ocean for recent inspiration and it is showing up in earrings, necklaces and pendants. You can find seashells, starfish, and coral twigs among other sea-inspired jewelry pieces. This will surely delight the Aquarian water baby in all of us!

Key to Style. Keys are a trendy fashion jewelry item of late and it represents the universal sign of access. Some women like to wear key jewelry as a symbol of opening doors and access to new opportunities. Tacori Jewelry makes beautiful diamond key pendant necklaces.

Pretty as a flower. Nature-inspired jewelry is big right now and floral motifs fit into that category. There are many pieces that you can find now with a floral shape and these add a bit of spring even in the dreariest of days! Satisfy your need for this jewelry trend or the others above with the help of a online jewelry retailer that offers a variety of beautiful pieces at competitive prices.

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