It's Been Awhile.....

18k and 22k yellow gold with blue chalcedony and rubies.

Some of you may know that I recently had some shoulder surgery.  Hence the delay in the writing of any articles here.   I am, as of today, out of my sling and able to type once again.  I should be back on my bench in a few weeks, something I really want to get to.  Since I was 16 I haven't spent this long off my bench and, given how much I actually like making jewelry, I'm a little frustrated.  But it's more important that I get the shoulder fixed properly so I can get back to regular productivity. Fortunately I had some warning on the operation and I was able to get a fair amount of new stock out before I went under the knife, so there is no lack of wonderful things here for people to enjoy.

There are some changes happening in my world of jewelry right now that I would like to discuss. The first is that gold has continued to fall in price, albeit slowly.  However there are now a majority of pundits claiming that it will continue in this direction (it had been about 50/50 up/down until recently).  Because of this I am telling anyone who has been considering turning in gold scrap towards something new that now is definitely the time to do it.  It's looking less and less likely that by waiting you will get more for any scrap.  And given that the holidays are coming it would be a good time to turn some of that old metal into something new.  For those of you who don't know, I will take in scrap anytime and put a credit in your name in our accounts until you decide what you want (you don't have to use the credit immediately) so it's not too early to think about it if there is something new you would like for the holidays. 

The second issue is that my suppliers are recently back from the large Hong Kong gem and jewelry show.  They have all come back with reports of sharply rising prices on colored stones, especially the better, high end material.   Gemstone prices in the past had been somewhat stable (except for opals which have been going up rapidly for a number of years) however they now seem to be making up for lost time.  Sapphire, ruby, opal, tourmaline are all going to see price spikes as soon as the dealers old stocks are sold off.  Again, if you're looking at making a major purchase of one of these gem materials, sooner is probably better.  My opal dealer reported he could find only twenty stones that weren't priced so absurdly high that he actually bought them. 

My new German carved drusy moon face supplier was back in town recently and I made some new purchases from her.   I now have a matched pair of the faces for a pair of earrings that will go out shortly after I am back on the bench.  I also got some beautiful ruby beads, an amazing (unfortunately only .58 ct.) orange sapphire with an unusual cut that just makes it yummy, some carved blue chalcedony for a new pair of jellyfish earrings and a few other odds and ends.  If you're interested in seeing any of the new material please stop by and take a look.  I should be back on here a little more regularly from now on. 

Have a great Columbus Day weekend!