Category: Jewelry

Christian Jewelry: A Brief History

Dating back to the ancient Greek and Roman times, man has often worn amulets for good luck, to ward off evil spirits as well as to pay homage to deity. It’s no surprise that this tradition would be passed down in our lives today in the form of modern Christian jewelry.

We trace the origin of the first Christian symbol, the fish, back to around 54 A.D. during the days of Christian persecution. The fish was an inconspicuous sign that was easy to use as strangers meeting would draw the first crescent of the fish shape and the other would complete the symbol; thus, showing that they were also Christians. Today, we see a resurgence of this figure on bumper stickers, tee shirts and Christian jewelry. Styles like rings, bracelets, anklets even toe rings and spinner rings are all styled with the fish. Its design is widely popular with the younger generation.

Around the 4th century, we begin to see identification with a cross as a Christian icon. Crude crosses were fashioned out of sticks and leather to be worn around the neck as early signs of Christian jewelry made from this image.

Today, modern Christian jewelry offers a huge selection to appeal to every lifestyle. Diamond encrusted crosses are sometimes used as status symbols for the wealthy as well as fashion statements. Sometimes, a simple silver cross pendant can become so much more as in the case of Gemstones of the Holy Bible.

Christian Jewelry: A Gift for All Time

Special gifts of Christian jewelry are always well received as they are generally given by an important family member or friend to a child on an important red letter day.

While trinkets and bibles are often given as a special gift, an engraved cross pendant crafted from fine silver, gold or other metal is usually the first choice for the youngster who is newly confirmed or has just received the first communion. This type of gift is appropriate for both girls and boys and usually has a lasting impression because of the occasion in marks.

Baptism is also another special time for giving and receiving the gift of Christian jewelry. People of all ages enjoy both giving and receiving gifts of this magnitude as it truly is a gift that keeps on giving. The message for the receiver is that the giver supports their beliefs in the hope for a new life.

Sometimes, Christian jewelry is a “me gift” showing a quiet display of ones faith. Some choose to wear jewels with Christian images because they need a reminder that there is a better life that’s everlasting. Finally, crosses, fish, medallions of saints and other religious icons are self given because they are popular fashion statements. You can see today’s celebrities wearing large, showy cross pendants in magazines giving this symbol prominence in other areas besides just faith.

Christian Jewelry: Notable Jewels

Throughout recorded history, Christian jewelry has been an important display of mankind’s strong belief in a better life that’s everlasting in Heaven.

The Jerusalem cross pendant said to be worn by Godfrey de Bouillon, who lead the Christians to victory by capturing Jerusalem in 1099. It later became the symbol of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, which was established after the first Crusade until 1291 when the last remaining territory of the kingdom was taken from the Christians.

Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor, had one of the most famous pieces of Christian jewelry. His notable pendant was said to include pieces from the True Cross and the crown of thorns under a sapphire set with gold. It was said that he referred to his pendant as “Warrior” because he often wore it into battle.

Christian jewelry is found today in one of the finest collections in the world…the Crown Jewels. The image of the cross is found repeatedly in royal jewelry collections because it symbolizes the monarchy’s power and connection with God for over a thousand years. Historically, the Sovereigns who sat on the throne believed wholly that they are anointed by God’s own hand and are given the divine right of kings to rule their people.

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In these times of economic uncertainty, many people turn to precious metals as an investment. Gold jewelry is a good option, since it serves both as an investment and as an attractive fashion accessory. But, there are also pitfalls to investing in gold jewelry.

First, let’s look at the advantages to investing in gold jewelry.

Stability
The best reason to treat gold jewelry as an investment is that its value tends to stay stable over time, and will increase during times of economic stress. In general, when the stock market is going down, commodities like gold and silver are increasing in value. This provides a “hedge” to balance your overall investment portfolio.

Convenience
If you are looking to invest a small amount, say $5,000 or less, a few pieces of gold jewelry will do about right. Since the price of gold per ounce is many times higher than silver, you can fit this amount in a safe-deposit box (or a shoe box in your basement, if you’re so inclined) rather than a full-sized safe.

Workmanship Value
Since every piece of jewelry is a work of art, the value of a piece of gold jewelry not only included the value of the metal inside, but also the artistic value of the piece. Like a painting or sculpture, a rare piece of gold jewelry can increase in value many times faster than the components it is made from.

Now, let’s look at the disadvantages:

Risk of Theft
A gold-based mutual fund or a stack of bullion in a safe-deposit box are as secure as the institutions entrusted with their care. A heavy gold necklace worn around your neck must be guarded carefully at all times.

Considering the events in the financial world in 2008 and 2009, however, it just might be safer to wear your investment around your neck then to trust it with a large investment firm!

Bulk
This would be the flip side to the convenience listed above. If you need to invest a large amount of money, say $50,000 or more, keeping gold in your jewelry box might not be the best option. This much gold jewelry would require a fair bit of maintenance and care.

Slightly Less Liquidity
Since the value of a piece of jewelry comes in part from the artistic workmanship, you may have a little more trouble getting your money out of a piece of gold jewelry than a bar of pure gold. The value of the metal content is never negotiable, but the artistic value often is. However, as noted above, the artistic value is usually a positive asset.

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Many species of wood have been used for beads because the grain of the wood is beautiful or because the wood is aromatic. These include olive, sandalwood, bamboo, ebony, ironwood, palm, apple, pear, and rose, etc.

The wide variety of wood workers and woods makes for an astonishing variety of forms, sizes, and types of wood beads, which are good components for craft projects like jewelry making. They can be used to make necklaces, earrings, bracelets, pendants, rings, anklets and other types of jewelry pieces.

Working with plain, bare wood beads has its artistic limitations. However, the beauty of these beads is that they are even more customizable than a standard jewelry. Making your own wood beads is not difficult and can be very rewarding, for this can save you a lot of money as opposed to paying for commercially manufactured beads.

Making wood beads yourself is not difficult. However, the process is involved and tedious. Painting the wood beads also make them colorful and suitable for all sorts of decorating projects, meanwhile, gives some protection from scuffing or scratching. Whether using small or large beads, painting will make them bright and suitable for any holiday or special project.

As mentioned before, the plain wood beads limit your wardrobe and decorating choices. Thus, select the proper wood beads for jewelry making turns to be vitally important, for there are tons of different wood beads for tons of different types of designs. Whatever, find a good supplier on wood beads will make you half done on the way of jewelry making.

A suitable wood beads suppliers inventory should be impressive, which carry the latest wood beads accessories to choose from, and always have new patterns to offer as well, because the variety of choice is a guarantee that you will always have the newest, freshest styles.

On the other hand, once you have decided what type of beads are needed the next step is to examine the quality of the beads you are considering for purchase. Check for flaws, shine, color, and cut. Was the hole drilled in the bead properly? Are there cracks? Does the price match the bead?

The last but not the least, try to ask out the supplier for making sure that the price you are getting for beads is not higher than others. Now, it would be much easier for you to make a selection of different styles of wood beads.

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Sterling silver is not so expensive nowadays, but there are still large amount of replica jewelry existing in market, one example is tiffany replica. So it is necessary for the customer to know some easy techniques to determine your sterling silver jewelry is real.

In 1851 Tiffany and Co launched the first tiffany jewelry which contained 92.5% silver. Since then the sterling silver had become popular. Sterling silver can also be called 925 silver, which consist of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other alloy. The added alloy is used to improve the luster, brightness and hardness of the silver.

After polishing, the sterling jewelry can show a very pretty metallic luster. It can also be set with precious stones to become a high-end jewelry. To maximize profits, some jewelry maker may mix cadmium, iron, copper or other cheaper metals in silver. For example, the fake cheap tiffany jewelry is produced at a very low cost, while sold with the price of real tiffany jewelry. Although this phenomenon is not widespread, but consumers should still have some way to identify silver jewelry. When a customer buys sterling silver jewelry, he can use the following 5 ways to determine the sterling silver jewelry is real.

1. Checking the color:
The higher purity of silver, the whiter color the jewelry has. Real silver jewelry usually shows a uniformly brightness. While it will show blue gray if mixed with lead or show brisk red if mixed with copper.

2. Checking the weight:
The density of the silver is slightly larger than other common metals like copper and lead. So checking the weight of the sterling silver jewelry can be the initial step. If a jewelry has a large size but relative light weight, it is probably made of other metals.

3. Checking the hardness:
The hardness of silver is lower than copper, but higher than lead and tin. Using a pin to scrape an inconspicuous place in jewelry, if it is very difficulty to leave a mark on the surface, the jewelry is probably made of copper. If a mark can be made by scraping and the mark is also very obvious, the jewelry is probably made of lead or tin. If the mark is not so obvious, then the jewelry is probably made of silver.

4. Checking the metallic sound:
The real sterling silver metallic sound is usually light, soft and clear. While other metals are usually sharp, boring.

The above four methods are effective in most cases. But the best way is to do chemical test directly. This test can be performed by some official authorities. When customer buys tiffany silver jewelry, he or she should also check whether the tiffany jewelry has some relevant certifications or not.

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Display is the utmost important part of selling jewelry at live events like the Tucson jewelry show. A lot depends on display. The more attractively you can display, the greater will be its impact on visitors who pass by or enter your booth. If you intend to sell your quality jewelries to a lot of people, you have to show them your jewelries first. -Seeing is believing-, so you have to take every step to make your collection look the best at the show you are exhibiting in.

You have to provide your potential customers the opportunity to carefully examine and try the ornaments they like. It is advisable that you display your collection on different levels as in shelves. This would ensure that your potential customers don’t get bored when they browse your offerings. Plus, this also helps display necklaces and rings in the way they should be displayed. This style of display is now adopted by almost all jewelers in every international gem show.

Use display cases. There are dedicated cases for necklaces, earrings, rings and so on such as earring holder, trees, jewel boxes, trays etc. Keep one thing in mind – if the product looks good, it will sell good.

Make sure your collection includes something for every budget. All kinds of people come to the Tucson jewelry show. Therefore, you must appeal to many, if not all of them. If you specialize in a particular variety of jewelry such as silver or diamond, you need to offer ornaments of different price ranges. But if you don’t specialize in any particular variety, rather yours is a collection of assorted metals, stones, beads etc, you need to target people with different spending capacities.

The market is highly competitive, and so are the prices of jewelry. A display arrangement that allures is one of the few shots you have to sell your products. You will find several designs and styles of display items in the market. Research and buy the ones that you think will do their job best. If your booth is not as spacious as others’ in the international gem show, you have to devise a way to display as many products as possible without looking crammed. Put the best of your collection at the most prominent position. To create interest, you must use lighting and background set up effectively. Arrange the lighting and background in a manner that makes the jewelries glow. Proper lighting and background arrangement can grab the attention of visitors.

It is extremely important to change the look of your booth a few days or so. You don’t have to change the entire thing. Just shift some cases and shelves. An ornament for sale must look tempting to the onlooker. When someone looks at the ornament admiringly and handles it extra carefully, you know you’ve got their attention. But until someone does, you have to work towards it.

Not all jewelries are for everyone. Some items would appeal to some whereas others simply wouldn’t. You have to understand which of your products would appeal to which customer and arrange them accordingly.

Jewelry display is more than just decoration. In the past few years, the importance of jewelry display has increased exponentially. Not just Tucson jewelry show, go to any international gem show and you will notice the difference in the display techniques. The right display technique can take your business to new heights.

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