Viridian Gold Nuggets

From time to time I will be writing about jewelry quality, or lack thereof, with actual examples from my files of jewelry items which illustrate quality issues. For this post, I have selected an emerald and diamond ring which was part of an evaluation shipment we received from a potential supplier. This supplier, by the way, was rejected because even though most of their jewelry items were of acceptable quality, there were quite a few that just don't make the grade, in our opinion. So we figured that if the supplier was OK with sending us this kind of junk, then there was no way we could trust them! Anyway, this item illustrates several important points to look for in a gemstone ring. First of all, the emerald is genuine, but it is absolutely terrible in quality. "Clean" emeralds (that is, gemstones with few internal flaws, or inclusions) are very rare nowadays, so they command a high price. This particular gemstone is completely "occluded", that is, it is opaqu

We have recently added quite a few highly-detailed family-oriented gold charm pendants to our store. These are actually small pendants, and are fitted with a pendant-like bale. But, because they are approximately 3/4" square, they can also be worn as charms on one of our charm bracelets or charm-holder pins . There are quite a few "message charm" designs, which communicate sentiments of affection for Mom, Grandma, and Sister, as well as general heart-shaped designs! And, we also have some special Children and Teen Charm Pendants , suitable for expressing friendship, parental and Godchild relationships. The charm pendant can also be worn around the neck on a pendant chain, making a beautiful necklace suitable for all ages! Since these are also considered pendants, their purchase qualifies for a 20% discount on one of our select pendant chains--just click on the button on the item's description page.

In an earlier post, I discussed the care of sterling silver jewelry. Here, though, I wanted to expound on the virtues of a common modification of sterling silver--rhodium plating. For years, rhodium has been used to plate white gold items to make them even whiter--the plating does not change the gold content. In fact, rhodium is many times more expensive than gold, and even more expensive than platinum, on a weight-basis! Since sterling silver is white, but tends to tarnish, the rhodium plating, which is also white, serves to block the oxygen in the air from attacking the silver (which is what causes tarnishing). One example of a rhodium-plated piece is our Sterling Silver Friendship Heart Necklace, #2064 , which includes a sterling silver chain. But, not all sterling silver items will benefit from rhodium plating, because sometimes the patina that the tarnish lends to silver is highly desirable, especially when it is allowed to darken the recesses of a design in a piece of sterling si