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Why do you feel that your business is relevant in today’s world?
Hand-Crafted compared to mass produced, is One-Of-A-Kind and personalized to a special individual to be cherished by the receiver for a long time to come. Mass produced is a filigree of sameness with no individuality.
Professionally finished
Of the three terms listed, the highest level is “professionally finished.” This means the work is actually done by, or supervised by, a professional to ensure the best results. The term is used quite often in the world of Artisan Jewelry to describe work done on custom pieces made of natural metals and minerals. The pieces are always finished with rounded ends on the wire, no scratches, and all loose ends tucked under.
Handcrafted items are indeed made by humans, but above and beyond that, the term indicates the application of skills, techniques, and handiwork which denotes uniqueness and professional quality. Examples of handcrafted components include those with intricate designs or made from natural minerals from the earth, lamp worked glass, polymer clay, glazed ceramic, porcelain, painted wood and many more natural materials.
Statement jewelry is any kind of jewelry that allows the wearer to make a big, bold, distinctive, stylish declaration of their personality: that they are interesting, unique and command your attention.
What is a Mineral?
A mineral is a naturally occurring substance that is solid and inorganic represented by a chemical formula. Each mineral will always have the exact formula composition. That is what identifies it from a rock, which can be an aggregate of minerals or non-minerals and does not have a specific chemical composition. A diamond is a rock, but a rock is not a diamond. The difference is the composition of naturally occurring substances which create the diamond and the rock. The diamond always has the exact same composition of minerals and a rock never has the same composition of minerals and / or non-minerals.
What is a Slab?
A slab is a mineral which has been sliced from its natural shape into flat pieces, usually about 1/4 inch thick. Kind of like slicing a ham. Depending on the size and shape of the outer mineral, many slabs may be cut from the same mineral specimen. All with differing colors showing on the flat sides and shapes for the edge.
What is a Cabochon?
A Cabochon is a slab which has had a specific shape cut out of it, depending on the color and design of the mineral. Kind of like cutting cookie dough shapes. Most Cabochons are cut into oval shapes. Some are cut round, square, triangle, or donuts. The edges are smoothed, the top side is domed, and its back side left flat. They are cut in all sizes from the size of a dime to a very large belt buckle. All Cabochons are polished to a very bright shine to show off the design and color of the mineral.
What is Wire Wrap?
Wire Wrap is a technique to surround the Cabochon in wire for the purpose of containing it so that it can be worn as a pendant to show off the mineral design and color. The Bail is that portion of the wrap where the chain or cord will go thru the wrap for the mineral to be worn as a pendant. Usually a square wire is used to contain the mineral in a wrap and more than one wire is used. Since several wires may be used, they need to be wrapped with a smaller wire at different intervals around the wrap in order to hold the square wire in place. These smaller wire wrap-a-rounds are called bundles. Beads and/ or other materials may also be added as a part of the design of the whole piece.
What are Woven Beads?
Woven Beads are beads usually of a small size. Manufacturer’s give them sizes of 10/0, 8/0, and 6/0. Retailers also call them 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, and 5mm. The mm being millimeters. Woven Beads are used to decorate around minerals and other materials to create a pendant. These small beads are sown onto a backing while creating the design. Last, a permanent backing of suede or leather is sown on to cover the sewing threads and complete the edge of the design.
Is any glue used in the woven bead pendants?
NO glue is used in the design or creation of any woven bead pendant on this web site. All beads and decorations are sown onto the woven bead designs. To cut down on expense, felt has been used for the permanent backing on some pendants. Leather and suede is very expensive.
What is Bakelite?
This is a name the Australians coined for synthetic resin made from phenol and formaldehyde. Used a great deal in the 1920-1940 costume jewelry age. Bakelite is usually plated to give it a gold or silver look.
What Wire metal is used in wrapping the Cabochons?
The only wire used on the Cabochon wire wrap pendants is Sterling Silver, Red Brass, or Copper.
The wire used for the bails on the Woven Bead pendants is Sterling Silver, Red Brass and/or Copper. Many of the bails on the Woven Bead pendants are created out of the same beads used in its design.
What is Plating
Plating is a surface covering in which a metal is deposited on a conductive surface. Plating has been done for hundreds of years; it is also critical for modern technology. Plating is used to decorate objects, for corrosion inhibition, to improve solder-ability, to harden, to improve wear-ability, to reduce friction, to improve paint adhesion. Jewelry typically uses plating to give a silver or gold finish. Gold plating is a method of depositing a thin layer of gold on the surface of glass or metal, most often copper or silver. Britannia metal is an alloy of tin, antimony and copper developed as a base metal for plating with silver.
What is Polymer Clay
Polymer clay is a type of harden-able modeling clay based on the polymer polyvinyl chloride (PVC). It comes in a variety of colors, worked by hand and is usually combined in various mixtures of styles and shapes to create all types of jewelry and decor.
Define Gemstones
A gemstone or gem (also called a fine gem, jewel, or a precious or semi-precious stone) is a piece of mineral Crystal, which, when cut and polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli) or organic materials that are not minerals (such as amber or jet), are also used for jewelry, and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity is another characteristic that lends value to a gemstone. Apart from jewelry, from earliest antiquity engraved gems and hard-stone carvings, such as cups, were major luxury art forms. A gem maker is called a lapidary or gem-cutter: a diamond worker is a diamantaire.
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