It's the end of the world, and I feel fine.

We all woke up alive this morning and apparently the world hadn't ended.  So let me tell you that no spouse is going to accept as an excuse for not finding a present under the tree: "But honey, I thought the world was going to end!  There didn't seem to be any reason for me to buy something if we weren't going to be here!"  Which means you have exactly four days left to get shopping for something beautiful.  And just in case you're thinking of doing it with me, I will be open all four of those days. 

I always like this time of year.  Not so much because people are buying Christmas presents as that it just seems to bring out the love in people.  And love is what my business is really all about.  How much better is it to give someone a piece of jewelry that they will wear and treasure for the rest of their lives, than another piece of electronic equipment that will be obsolete in two years (or even next year!).  Jewelry doesn't ever get obsolete (well some of the trendy stuff comes and goes but the timeless kind of work doesn't).  But a lot of what I sell this year isn't even Christmas gifts, but just statements of love; engagement rings, replacement wedding bands (people seem to lose them constantly!), and just gifts for being there. 

But if you're still stuck looking for Christmas goods, I'm still here and the earrings above, 18k yellow gold with black South Sea pearls and diamonds would make a great gift for someone.  Come by and say hi!

Store Dog and New Jewels

This is Ziggy.  Those of you who have been in my store know who he is.  He is a mini long haired dachshund and, as you can see, is quite the handsome fellow.  He likes to bark at everyone when they come in my store and when they leave the store.  I like to think he is desperately trying to say hello and goodbye but can't form the words, but in reality it's pretty hard to know what is going through his little pea brain.  So why am I posting a picture of my dog?  Well mainly because I want you all to know that this is a dog friendly store as Ziggy likes to have other dogs come by and visit.  But  also he's just really pretty cute. This photo was taken by FlashFlood Studios and there is a link to their website on the side of my page.

The season is upon us it seems and I have less time to write on the blog than normal so there will be somewhat shorter blurbs coming up.  But I did want to post some more pictures of the new pieces out in the cases.  The earrings here are 18k and 22k yellow gold with Maw Sit Sit.  For those of you unfamiliar with Maw Sit Sit, it's a gem material from Burma and is a conglomerate (it's a combination of minerals).   It almost always has a striking green color with random black splashes throughout and it's fun to say the name too!  By the way the Kuroit boulder opal pendant in my last posting has sold as well.  I have one more piece of it but it is a little more geometrically shaped and while I think I'm going to do a similar style for it, the whole piece may have a more geometric look.  I'm not sure if I will have time to get it made up before the holidays but you never know what might pop out at any time.

More Opal Jewelry

It seems that as soon as I post a picture of something on here it sells, so I figured I would keep up the roll here with some new pieces I have just put out. The Tahitian black pearls pictured three posts ago sold yesterday. This piece is a Kuroit boulder opal in 18k yellow gold.  I really like the Kuroit opals as they often look like little pictures with the way the seams run through them.  I was not a rock collector as a child and my fascination with gems really didn't start until I got into the business as a teenager.  But ever since I started working with gems my interest has only grown. There is always something new out there and with stones like opals, almost every one of them is unique in its own way.  The picture below is a custom job I just made up for a customer who had her own boulder opal. We recut the opal slightly to take off a somewhat less lively end of it (now she has a nice stone to make a pendant out of) and did a takeoff on some of my other opal bracelets.

Your Jewelry Joke for the Day.

A couple was holiday shopping at the mall, and the place was
packed. As the wife walked through the mall, she was surprised
to look up and see her husband was nowhere around. She was quite
upset because they had a lot to do. Because she was so worried,
she called him on her cell phone to ask him where he was. In a

calm voice, the husband said, "Honey, you remember the jewelry
store we went into about 5 years ago where you fell in love with
that diamond necklace that we could not afford and I told you
that I would get it for you one day?" The wife choked up and
started to cry and said, "Yes, I remember that jewelry store."
He said, "Well, I'm in the bar right next to it."

So I don't have a bar next door to my jewelry store but I would still encourage you not to upset your significant other this way. 

By the way, the opal ring posted in my last article is sold already.  This time of year you have to be fast if you want to get some of my best pieces.  The necklace pictured above is 22k gold with Lazare Diamonds in it.  The center stone is a .75 ct. diamond.  This piece is not for sale but I have a similar necklace in 18k gold without the diamonds available.

Opal in Rings

I don't usually like to put opals in rings. Opals are incredibly fragile gem materials (hence some of the superstitions surrounding them) and are subject to damage in rings especially.  However every once in awhile when I see my opal dealer he has a new stone that not only screams out to me to buy it but to put it in a ring.  So, against my own better judgement, I do.  This stone has some incredibly strong orange and orange red flashes in it along with the strong greens and blues. Just remember if you buy this ring from me you're going to have to take much better care of it than your other rings. On the other hand, opals are so fascinating that it is always worth it to take a little extra care of them so that you can own one.