Making My Brother’s Wedding Rings Part 2: First Steps and What the Heck Does 10 Karat mean?

Sometimes before there can be construction, there is destruction in jewelry making.  Metal must be melted down or in this case, old jewelry must be torn apart.

My brother’s wedding bands are going to be gold, and we’d collected a good amount from various family members, friends and kindly donors who were tired of unwanted baubles cluttering up their jewelry boxes and drawers.  But before we can work with that gold, it has to be verified as gold (as opposed to gold coloured base metal, brass or copper), and all stones and and glue must be taken out.

A bag of collected “old gold”.

So on a chilly Saturday afternoon, I consulted with my goldsmith pal and teacher Trevor to separate the bounty into usable and not usable.

Gold that’s real must be stamped with its karat weight; 10k, 14K, etc.  That number translates into the percentage of gold in the metal.  100% pure gold is just not used for jewelry; it’s way too soft and would bend or break instantly.  It must be alloyed or mixed with other metals to make it sturdy.  Pure gold is often alloyed with nickel, silver, or copper.  As the percentage of pure gold decreases, the strength of the metal increases: so 14k gold will be stronger than 18k.  Fortunately, as the percentage of pure gold  in your alloy decreases, the price of the metal also drops: so 14k will cost less than 18k.

So what do those numbers mean exactly?   “18k” gold is 18/24 or 75% pure gold.   “14k is 14/24” or 58.3% pure.  10k gold is just  41.7% and is the lowest alloy allowed for legal sale  as “gold” in The USA, and it must be marked if it’s to be sold.  Gold made in the USA  can be out by a half of one Karat.  Canadian gold goes by “Plumb Gold Standard” and the percentage of fine gold has to be right on.

In Canada,  if you’re going to mark your jewelry as 18 karat gold, or with any karat or quality mark it must also have  a maker’s trademark (also known as a  “manufacturer’s mark” or hallmark).  BUT.. the law also allows for precious metal jewelry to be without ANY of those marks; which is why sometimes your gold doesn’t SAY it’s gold.  So how will you know for sure?  You can have it tested, or if you no longer care for it, cut into it with a file or saw.

Old gold BEFORE its taken apart.

So that’s where we were Saturday; carving into some pieces of gold to check that they are the real thing.  We used pliers and tools to remove both cheap glass stones, rubies, and yes, even some diamonds.  Trying to handle tiny diamonds that are probably slimmer than a hair was fun.  But I don’t think we lost a single one!

5 rubies from an old ring of mine, plus a decent sized diamond from another old ring I’ll never wear. Those can be used later in something else.

Also in the donated pile were a few chunks of pre-melted gold, and some dental gold.  One was clearly a crown, the other was still attached to the tooth!  Kinda yuckky, especially when Trevor told me the way to get the gold out of the tooth was to smash it up.  Tooth fragments everywhere!  But gold is gold and we’ll need all the little bits to make these rings.

Pre-melted gold chunk plus old rings.

Two gold teeth! A weee bit creepy.

We also made a new decision about how the rings will be made.  My initial plan was to melt the gold and pull it into wire; to basically fabricate them.  But in looking again at the original solitaire, Trevor suggested it would be easier and better to carve them out of wax, and cast them.  So that’s the new plan.

I’ve got some jeweler’s wax ring blanks and will begin carving them by hand.  Jeweler’s wax is basically a soft plastic that can be cut and carved with files.  If you do a good job carving your wax, and making sure it’s smooth and even, it will require only minimal finishing afterwards.

Jeweler’s Wax ring blanks.

Sizing the wax before carving.

So that’s where we are now; wax carving is underway.  Stay tuned.

To check out more of my jewelry work click HERE.

The engagement ring I’m making matching bands for. It belonged to our mother.

Rare Pink “Princie Diamond” sells for $39 million

This undated photo provided by Christie’s shows a rare pink diamond, nicknamed the Princie Diamond, which has sold for $39.3 million at auction in New York City. The price for the 34.65-carat diamond that sold to an anonymous buyer at Christie’s on Tuesday, April 16, 2013, was the second-highest ever for a jewel sold at auction. (AP Photo/Christie’s)

The Associated Press
Published Thursday, April 18, 2013 6:46AM EDT

NEW YORK — A rare pink diamond once owned by Indian royalty has sold for $39.3 million at auction in New York City.

The price for the 34.65-carat diamond that sold at Christie’s on Tuesday was the second-highest ever for a jewel sold at auction. The seller and buyer were anonymous.

The gem nicknamed the Princie Diamond was discovered 300 years ago in the Golconda mines in India.

It once belonged to the Nizam of Hyderabad, an Indian prince.

In 1960, the diamond was purchased at auction by the London branch of the jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels.

Its name was bestowed at a party at the firm’s Paris store. It was called Princie in honour of the 14-year-old prince of Baroda, who attended the party with his mother, Maharani Sita Devi.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/rare-pink-princie-diamond-sells-for-us-39-3-million-at-new-york-auction-1.1243004#ixzz2QpqFCPSV

Reblog/repost via CTV News/AP

Jewelry Blog: Antler Necklace – From Inspiration to Reality!

I saw lovely necklaces that inspired me recently. The first was this stunner worn by actress Kate Hudson. A beautiful gold horn or claw on a heavy chain.

Wish I knew who to give credit for this glam jewelry to. Designer unknown.

The second was worn by my friend Nancy T; a cool piece of horn, suspended from what I call a “bicycle link” chain.

The process was daunting; first to find the appropriate horn, claw, spike, tooth or… antler to form the centrepiece. Etsy was able to help me out there. In case you’ve never checked out etsy.com, a quick aside; they have beautiful jewelry and handmade crafts but also really cool supplies for your crafting creative needs. (Check out my etsy website for a handy preview)

I found a wonderful supplier (Fireforged )who gathers “found” antler that’s been shed by deer etc. He was able to cut and sand some pieces to size for me, including a nice 10 cm chunk that I thought would be pretty bold.

Beautiful antler from Fireforged : http://fireforged.org/
Photo: Rodney

Beautiful antler from Fireforged : http://fireforged.org/
Photo: Rodney

Next– to make a bezel, or the part that grips the antler. I formed a piece of silver around the base, soldered it, then added a cap, and some decorative gallery wire along its side to keep it interesting.

Then it was on to the chain. The bicycle chain is a pretty simple beast; snip pieces of wire (mine were about 1.5” each), ball just one end with a jeweler’s torch.

Flatten it with a hammer, then drill a hole in it and insert the link. Slip another piece of balled wire through the loop, then ball its end so it’s linked and locked in. Bend one balled end by about 90 degrees and it will basically curve itself. Keep going until the chain is as long as you need.

A simple s-hook is keeping it together for now.

I also had visions of oxidizing the necklace to give it a very vintage feel, like Nancy’s necklace, but it was so pretty and shiny, I left it as is. Might have to make another since I have a couple more pieces of antler… I can give that oxidized look a try.

Jewelry Blog: Making My Brothers Wedding Rings, Part 1

Appraisal photo of the ring.

It’s a daunting (by special) request as a hobby silversmith; can you please make our wedding rings?

My brother and his wife-to-be have requested I venture out of my almost exclusively silver-working, and create matching wedding bands for them in gold.

To Match My Mom’s Ring

This is no ordinary task either; the band is to match a beautiful vintage gold and diamond engagement ring; my mother’s. She died more than 10 years ago, and may father passed the ring to my brother, who’s held onto it, waiting for just the right woman.  We’re very happy he’s found her, and that a piece of family history is being very much appreciated by both of them.

The ring is a simple prong-set solitaire, with a slightly raised edge.  The bands will be very simple to match.

We’ve been gathering unused, unwanted gold from various family members to keep it vintage when it comes to creating the bands.

In the next couple weeks, I’ll be working with an expert goldsmith and teacher who’ll guide my first real fabrication in gold.  While it’s not much harder of a metal to work in, it IS a lot more expensive.  Solder joints in silver cost next to nothing, while each solder joint in gold is about $25.  You have to be sure you’re ready to go.  And not to mention, if you screw up gold, it’s a mistake that costs several hundred bucks, instead of just $10-30 for raw silver.

Step 1 will be to test and then melt down the donated gold, and pour it into an ingot, or wafer.

Step 2: to draw the ingot down to a wire of appropriate gauge.

Step 3: form the wire, by giving it that edge to match.

I’ll update the steps as I go.  Wish me luck!

You can also check out other photos and notes on my Facebook page.

-Erin

Saving Yourself Money on Shipping/Brokerage

Approved!

If you LIKE paying more than you should for things, stop reading now.  If you think brokerage fees are a terribly blatant overcharge, carry on.

For those of you who receive packages from the US particularly:  did you know you can save a lot of money on your shipments relatively easily?

Major shipping companies like UPS, FedEx Purolator, etc all routinely charge Brokerage fees to clear your shipments through Canada customs.  These fees (for me personally) have ranged anywhere from $10-$50 or more on things like small hand tools, metals, clothing, food or or craft supplies, depending on the total value of what’s shipped, and what’s inside the box.

I feel like brokerage fees are a rip off; especially since I now know what’s involved in clearing a package through customs myself. After all, I’m already paying $20-50 in shipping charges for these folks to get me my package; am I really to believe that the 2-3 minutes of work for a shipping company employee is worth THAT much money??

What Brokerage Gets You

Essentially, the shippers are charging you a premium for getting your paperwork stamped. Yup.  That’s it.  And for collecting the duties and taxes on behalf of our lovely federal government.  This is something you can quickly and easily do; I’ll even tell you how.

How To Clear Your Own Shipment – in YYC – in 6 Easy Steps

If you live in Calgary Alberta, as I do, here’s what you do:

1. If the shipment arrives at your door, ask the driver to detail the fees. (You’ll likely be paying duty, taxes including GST and a Brokerage Fee.  Get that info BEFORE you sign for and accept the package.  If you can’t get it from the driver, refuse the shipment, and call the shipper’s  head office with your tracking number to get details.)

2.  Decline the shipment by telling the driver you wish to clear the shipment through customs yourself. You can also do this by calling your shipper of choice if you’ve received a delivery notice (as I did), or even before the package arrives to your door.

3.  The shipper will be required to give you a copy of the waybill or itemized packing slip, and this should include the country of origin itemization for each item.  In some cases the shipper will ask you to come and pick it up (if they want to make life difficult for you).  In my case, they offered to email it to me.  This did me the kindness of saving me a trip.  Another time I tried to self-clear, I had to ask for this information specifically, and for it to be e-mailled to me. fax is also an option the shippers seem to prefer.

4.  Take the waybill/invoice to Canada Customs/Border Services Agency  (**UPDATE:  they’ve MOVED from  2588 27 St NE to a NEW location MUCH CLOSER to the shippers up by the Calgary Airport New Address (and it’s a new street some online maps won’t know yet) 22 Aero Dr NE). Take a number. I have yet to see a lineup in this office first thing in the morning when I usually go.  The CBSA agent will input your stuff into their computer, calculate your taxes and duty and hand you a bill, that you take to the adjacent cashier and pay.

While in 95% of cases, I’ve saved a LOT of money self-clearing (saving anywhere from 15-, there was one occasion I came out basically even. My shipper told me my bill was :Taxes: $33.00, Duty: $1.56 and Brokerage: $24.60.  CBSA told me my bill was Taxes: $34.02, Duty $20.21, and of course zero brokerage fees.  So my total bill from the shipper was about $59.  From CBSA: $54.  I’ll get to why that is in a sec, but first the rest of the steps for my friends in a hurry.

On another package pick-up attempt, I was asked by CBSA to provide “Proof of Payment” on a dress.  The agent politely but firmly said the shippers often “make up generic packing slips” and “lie about the value so duty is avoided.  They think they’re doing the customers a favour”.  She was insistent I provide either a copy of my credit card bill,  bank statement, or a receipt.  Since I had none of those (as they’d be INSIDE the box I was hoping to get cleared) I had to improvise.  A quick phone call to the company I purchased the dress from and they were able to e-mail me a receipt that showed the value.  Though it wasn’t technically a receipt, the CBSA agent was able to use it and verify what was on the “generic packing slip”.  My total: $39 in tax and duty, and total avoidance of the additional FORTY DOLLAR brokerage fee UPS was going to tack on!

5.  Take your paid bill (the CBSA agent will stamp it again as proof you’ve paid and they know it; Ahhh, yes,  red tape and paperwork in triplicate!) and drive to your shipper’s headquarters near the Calgary Airport in the NE.  This is now a 2 minute drive from the CBSA office.  Go inside, present your shipping notification or tracking number, along with the completed/approved/stamped paperwork.

6.  Getcher package, and drive all the way back across the city home.

And there’s always a but…

So WHY on that one occasion did I end up paying pretty much the same bill in the end by doing all the work?  Well,1) it could be a CBSA mistake; getting them to re-calculate the duty “just to double check” did NOT go over well. And let’s be honest, they don’t have to justify anything, and won’t.  Arguing with a federal agent is truly a waste of time and really just buys you a cavity search.  2) The CBSA agent could have been a little overzealous in applying the duty, or really just sticking to the EXACT letter of the law.  3) My shipper could also have miscalculated and undercharged me on *their* bill. Or 4)  perhaps there is some kind of arrangement with the shippers and the federal government that the shippers can legally charge Brokerage Fees, in exchange for slightly lower duties?  I have no knowledge of why, and not really a lot of desire to begin navigating several levels of government to find out over that particular $4 difference.

On another occasion, there was another odd wrinkle in my plans; when I went to pick up the package, UPS told me it had been “re-addressed”.  The package  had been forwarded to another random person in another random city in Alberta ( by “someone”, they don’t know or wouldn’t say who).  I don’t know if this was a genuine mistake, or a cute joke to delay me further, or (if I were the suspicious, malicious type) if someone was giving me payback for cheating a giant multinational out of their brokerage fees and talking about it on Twitter.  But I digress.

Bottom Line

So out of the one dozen times I’ve now done this, I come out waaay ahead in 95% of the cases, like I said.  If you want to be sure, you could try calling CBSA to get an accurate assessment of the duties BEFORE opting for self clearing, just to be sure it’s worth it.

I’d love to hear your stories and input on this.  Good experiences or bad, let me know!

Jewelry Blog: Making it Right – UPDATE

An inspiration piece seen at a California department store.

An inspiration piece I saw at Nordstrom this winter.

I’m constantly being inspired by jewelry I see. A few recent necklaces i’ve noticed, and having a huge, cool stone in need of a home have lit a fire for a really cool statement necklace.

Let’s start with the stone; ruby in zosite. I saw and fell in love with this stone, which is a natural blend of ruby corundrum and zosite crystals. Zosite is the same mineral as Tanzanite, a gorgeous and rare purple gemstone. The stone was first discovered in Tanzania in the mid 1950’s.

The 1st version of the big chunky necklace, during wear-testing.

The basic chain.

The stone needed a beautiful, but simple bezel; the bezel being the rim, frame or edge that surrounds the stone. My initial bezel design used a simple loop for the bail (A “bail” attaches the bezel to the chain, and can come in any size, shape or form). But the narrow gauge of the loop left it hanging at funny angles from the thick silver chain. It needs something more substantial and wider to hold it steady.

Re-making the bail; from a small narrow gauge loop, to a wider, flatter one. Hopefully better to distribute the weight.

Close up on the chain

So now I’m crafting a thicker, wider flatter bail. I hope that will help it sit right on the lovely, large-gauge sterling silver multi-strand chain.

UPDATE:

After re-making the bail from a narrow loop to more of a flat fold-over, the stability of the necklace is much better.  I’ve also re-designed the back of the piece with a window cut-out to show off more of the stone; it could even be worn reversed. Check out the new photos below!

 

A close-up showing the new wider bail.

The finished project.

ErinLYYC is a silversmith and hobby jeweler.  Find her work at www.etsy.com/shop/erinbrookejewelry  or “Like” her hard work on Facebook: www.facebook.com/erinbrookejewelry