Five Ways to Bring New Life to Old Jewelry

September 2nd, 2014 by Wixon Jewelers

Bringing new life to your jewelry collection is a lot easier than you think. Often times we choose to wear our favorite ring, engagement ring and pendant all the time, leaving some beautiful pieces stuck in a dark jewelry box. That’s no place for an heirloom diamond ring or an old gemstone pendant. Revive those pieces and make them something you show off to everyone.

1. ADD SOME SPARKLE

A special occasion is the perfect time to bring new life to a wedding ring. Create a more meaningful ring by adding two side diamonds to a solitaire setting symbolizing your past, present, and future as a couple. Years ago he picked out your wedding ring, mark that special anniversary by upgrading your diamond or have your existing diamond set in the ring you’ve always wanted!

2. BRIGHTEN IT UP WITH COLOR

Adding color gemstones is another way to make that piece more unique and one you’ll want wear. You can choose a gemstone for its rich bold color or for the belief of what it will bring to the wearer. For centuries, Rubies have represented love and passion while blue Sapphires promise honesty and loyalty. There are so many gemstones to choose from; you’re sure to find the perfect one to bring new meaning to your vintage jewelry.

3. CREATE SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW

Sometimes that vintage piece is too small or just not your style but that doesn’t mean you have to leave it in the jewelry box. One of the best options is to have a custom piece of jewelry created specifically for you. Take the gemstones from your grandmother’s necklace and have them reset in a pendant that features the birthstones of your family members.

That long strand of pearls you inherited can be converted into multiple bracelets, a layered choker or even an entire suite of earrings, ring, pendant and bracelet. We all have some pieces that we just no longer want but that doesn’t mean you can’t have the diamonds and gemstones reset into individual pieces that you can give to your children or grandchildren as a gift that they will cherish for years.

4. BRING IT BACK TO LIFE

An easy way to enhance your jewelry is to have it professionally cleaned and inspected. We’re happy to do it for you, free of charge. Not only will we clean and buff your pieces, we also thoroughly inspect the gems and settings. Your pieces will look like brand new and your gems and diamonds will have that bright sparkle you’ve missed!

5. TRY NEW STYLES & LOOKS

In some cases you don’t need to do anything to revive your jewelry, you just need to wear them. Now is the time to mix and match metals and also styles, from vintage to modern. By doing this you can create a unique look. Everything from layering necklaces, bracelets or even rings can add contrast to any outfit. Once you start you’ll realize you have a lot of variety and you’ll start to love all your jewelry again. You really can’t go wrong unless you wear ALL of your jewelry at once– after all, we don’t want you to end up looking like Mr. T.

As Salvation Army volunteers in Holland tallied their red kettle donations on Wednesday, they discovered a golden surprise – one worth more than $1,100.

Volunteers discovered a Canadian Maple Leaf gold coin – with a face value of $50 -- as they sifted through the kettle donations at its community center on Dec. 16.

"I was shocked," Jeremy Monteith, Salvation Army's development director for Ottawa County, said on Friday, Dec 18. "You always hear about Salvation Army receiving gold coins, but I've been here for 10 years and this is the first time it's happened here."

Salvation Army officials brought the Canadian coin to Holland Coin and Jewelry to have it appraised on Thursday.

Chris Miner, owner of the coin shop, confirmed that the coin is 1-ounce of pure bullion (gold), and holds a retail value of $1,120.

"It's a nice donation for them," he said.

For years, anonymous donors have dropped gold coins in Salvation Army's red kettles across the country. The coins – some of which are accompanied by a note – generally reach over $1,000 in value.

The coin plopped into the red kettle at the Family Fare grocery store location on Washington Street in Holland did not include a note.

"We have no idea who gave it, but we are very thankful for it," Monteith said. "It just shows that people are very generous and trust the Salvation Army to use donations like that in the correct way."

Monteith said they plan to sell the coin to a dealer and put that donation money toward the services they provide for those in need.

Last year, the Salvation Army in Holland – which serves southern Ottawa County and all of Allegan County – had 11,000 individuals inquire about needing assistance, including food, clothing and rent and utility bills. They predict about the same amount this year, according to Monteith.

The bells of Salvation Army's Red Kettle drive began ringing throughout the nation on Black Friday. Christmas Eve day is the final day for the 2015 holiday season donations.
With more than 30 red kettle locations in the Holland area, all of the money raised at those sites will remain local, Monteith said.

"It was just exciting to know that we get to be part of this and provide a lot of services to a lot of people," he said.

The Royal Canadian Mint opened subscription ordering on two series for 2016 that should prove exceedingly popular because each features 99.99% pure silver coins that are sold at their legal tender face values.

Subscription ordering started for collections of silver coins sold at their face values

Included in the subscriptions are three unique $20 for $20 silver coins and two different $25 for $25 silver coins. All the coins will launch separately. The value to subscribers is the Mint’s guarantee of product availability and, it notes, price protection that includes no tax for Canadians and free ground shipping in Canada and the United States.

In the past, both sets of coins have been warmly welcomed due to their innovative and varying designs and because of their affordability.

According to the RCM, the $20 for $20 program will debut in January with a T-Rex silver coin. It will be followed in February by a Batman v Superman™ coin and then in May with a final coin whose design has yet to be announced. Designs for the two $25 coins are also yet to be unveiled but their releases will happen in June and October. Mintages for four of the five coins are unknown at this writing. The 2016 $20 T-Rex Silver Coins is limited to 300,000.

While they have different denominations, both series share major coin specifications that include per coin diameters of 27 mm, weights of 7.96 grams, specimen finishes, and serrated edges.

Ordering

Ordering information and additional details for both series are available on the Royal Canadian Mint website (mint.ca). An affiliate link to the Mint’s page of silver coins is found here. For subscribers, credit cards get billed only when each coin is shipped.

As a lifelong New Yorker, Shawn Warren’s jewelry embodies that cool, understated chic you find on the streets of Manhattan. Raised around the fashion world by a mother who modeled for top fashion designers of her day, Shawn began her own career as a psychotherapist. She traveled widely, built an art collection and private practice, but remained intrigued by fashion. Eventually, she began designing herself, launching her jewelry business in 2003.

Shawn’s jewelry is bold but never over the top, made to fit and flatter a woman on the go. From the eye-catching statement jewels she designs herself to more accessible production pieces, Shawn Warren jewelry is always about accessorizing, not status. Today I’m talking to Shawn about the limited-edition jewelry that has become her signature.

You work with some interesting gem material. Where do you find your stones?

I buy a lot of stones at the Tucson Gem Show. What is so amazing about Tucson is that you have vendors from around the world all under one roof. You can find everything from beautiful colored sapphires from Thailand to rubies from India and emeralds from South America.

What do you look for when you shop stones?

I look for the unusual. I’ve been in this business long enough that certain stones don’t have the same appeal any more, because you see them everywhere. So I’m usually looking for an unusual color, an unusual shape. I’m very drawn to palettes of blues, grays, and greens. They tend to be the stones that not only sell the best for me, but that I find myself most drawn to.

I love the sliced diamond pieces. That seems to have become a signature for you.

The sliced diamonds are particularly interesting to me because they’re very organic. Each one has its own story and the price point is much more compelling than a traditional cut diamond. You can get a lot of look and value. Most people I sell to don’t want to wear the same thing as their best friend. They want something a little unusual. So if you were to get a pair of diamond slice studs, chances are the shape would be unique. It lends a little individuality.

What kind of woman wears Shawn Warren jewelry?

She’s a woman who really likes fashion but is not necessarily looking to broadcast her brand. She’s more discreet. She has a bit of a downtown edge, likes to wear jeans with a great pair of boots. She probably has the newest bag but it’s more likely to say Loewe than Celine. She’s worldly and smart. She exercises. We have a page on the website that describes our philosophy and one of the phrases is “perfectly imperfect.” I like that motto.

On your website, you refer to your mother as your muse. Tell me about her.

My mother modeled for Geoffrey Beene, Halston and Kasper in the fifties. She very much embodied the kind of woman I just described – confident and comfortable. She wore jeans a lot, a woman before her time. She liked beautiful things but preferred them to be under the radar.

What would she think of your jewelry?

She got to see a little of it. She would always tell me straight out which pieces she loved and which pieces she hated. [laughs] She didn’t have a great filter! I think she would have appreciated what’s become of my business.

If we met for lunch, which pieces might you be wearing?

I’m loving these lariat necklaces. You can wear them with many different necklines because you can adjust them up or down. I’m going to do them in a lot of colors, but I tend to prefer more monochromatic pieces myself. I might wear my signature large oval cuff with the black diamonds. It fits really well, grips the wrist and doesn’t move around.

And I love the idea of the floating diamonds so I might wear that Teardrop ring. Another design I’m wearing a lot are the big Portia fan earrings. That top piece fits into your lobe and the triangle extends below.

 Your jewelry looks very easy to wear.

I think a lot about wearability. I prefer jewelry that doesn’t call too much attention to itself but adds some dimension to your jeans or your blazer or the nike jordan shoes. The way women dress now is not so much about special occasion. They want something they can wear day to night, that they’ll be able to get a lot of use from. My jewelry is not just going to sit in a safe somewhere.

One of the favorite coins in my collection is one of tiniest. The half dime was authorized under the Coinage Act of 1792 as the smallest silver denomination. The weight of the coin was just 1.35 grams, which was later reduced to 1.34 grams. The diameter was a 15.5 mm, making it both smaller and thinner than the dime.

I came across this 1829 half dime, which was graded NGC AU 53 in an old holder. While the scan above does not convey completely, the coin is covered in colorful, original toning. Furthermore, the coin displays much greater detail and minimal wear than the grade level would suggest. As a premium example for the given grade, I decided to mark the purchase. I sent the coin to CAC and it received their gold sticker, indicating that the coin exceeded their standards for the given grade level.

Slowly but surely I will attempt to build a collection of the Capped Bust Half Dimes in similar grade and quality. The series is relatively short lived, running from 1829 to 1837. This makes for only nine different dates to acquire. There are no significant key dates for the series so all coins carry a modest price tag for about uncirculated coins.

It's not the most popular series, so not every dealer has a lot of examples available. However, I am sure I will be able to pick up an outstanding coin or two in the coming years.

Russia issued new 100 Ruble Crimea commemorative banknotes

The Central Bank of Russia is issuing new 100 ruble commemorative bank notes that feature the federal cities of Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea.

Nearly two years ago, the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea was controversially "reunified" with Russia by way of well equipped, organized, and trained "self-defense units" that were actually Russian special forces.

The operation to seize Crimea began on February 27, 2014, when an unidentified task force captured several government buildings including the parliament in Simferopol. Within a month, a treaty was signed to annex Crimea and turning the peninsula into a Russian forward operating base.

Front: The "Swallow's Nest" castle, a Crimean landmark

Back: Scuttled ships in Sevastopol Bay

Half Eagle Denomination

The Best of Gemstones

It’s Gemstone June here on the Etsy Blog, which means that we’ve had all things gem-related on the brain! So far we’ve coveredfinding the perfect engagement ring, our favorite gemstones (opal, chalcedony, and turquoise, anyone?), and how to make a crystal planter, and we’re just getting started. Be on the lookout for more about birthstones, rare stones and jewel tones.

To wrap up the week, we thought it would be nice to share some recent gems (pardon the pun), as well as some oldie-but-goodie blog posts. Enjoy!

dsbrennan

Amethyst iPhone case.

Kate Szabone

Putting an (ethical) ring on it.

Dan Picked Minerals

An uncut, Colombian emerald.

“Diamonds” giclee print.

kristinelily

Check out this silver druzy quartz ring. Shimmery!

MIRTA Jewelry

Engagement rings to make your heart sing.

3D-printed diamond cookie cutter!

Origin of the Diamond 4Cs

Every diamond is a miracle of time and place and chance. Like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike.

Until the middle of the twentieth century, there was no agreed-upon standard by which diamonds could be judged. GIA created the first, and now globally accepted standard for describing diamonds: Color, Clarity, Cut, and Carat Weight. Today, the 4Cs of  Diamonds.

The creation of the Diamond 4Cs meant two very important things: diamond quality could be communicated in a universal language, and diamond customers could now know exactly what they were about to purchase.

The Man Made Diamond

A synthetic diamond is man-made, the result of a technological process, as opposed to the geological process that creates natural diamonds. Synthetic diamonds have essentially the same chemical composition, crystal structure, optical, and physical properties of diamonds found in nature. Most synthetic diamonds are categorized as either high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) or chemical vapor deposition CVD diamonds, depending on the method of their production. Since HPHT and CVD diamonds are virtually identical to natural diamonds, differences only become clear when they are viewed by a trained grader in a gem laboratory.

While synthetic diamonds represent a small segment of the market, they are becoming more widespread and increasingly difficult to detect. GIA is at the forefront in meeting this challenge, offering a distinct report for synthetics so that there is no confusion in the marketplace.

How does a GIA Diamonds GIA tests every diamond to determine if it is natural. If a diamond is found to be laboratory-grown, GIA issues a Synthetic Diamond Grading Report, which looks distinctly different from the the standard grading report. As an added precaution, GIA also laser-inscribes the diamond's girdle with a report number and a statement that the diamond has been laboratory-grown.

Gold Blog