Edison Gem Show and Glowing Rocks

On the first weekend in April, my friend Jochen Hintze came to NJ to vend at the Gem and Mineral Show in Edison, NJ.  The show is organized by Marty Zinn, who also hosts the show in Springfield MA (and one in Tucson of course).  The Edison show is a bit smaller but it is growing every year, so it is fun to go nonetheless.  Steve from New Era Gems always vends, and you can normally find another couple of gem dealers that new to the scene.

This year, I made the acquaintance of Neil Garrioch and his daughter.  Neil is an architect by day but also has a geology degree - he told me that geological work paid very poorly so he switched into architecture.  Neil owns "The Unexpected Gem" and is based in Philly.  His gems were indeed unexpected, he had two entire trays with kornerupine - my friend R, who had joined me, bought a few pieces, and I got 4 pairs and 2 singles (3/4 of the material is already sold).  The most rare form of Kornerupine is a dichroice teal blue with traces of green and purple.  Pieces over 1/2 carat are very rare.

Here's a video of me selecting the gems:

Neil also sold me what may be one of the only unheated morganites I ever got (Brazilian), now listed on Etsy, as well as some sphene and the gorgeous diopside scissor cut I put up this weekend.

The Edison gem show also always has an exhibit of fluorescent minerals.  This is because many of the world's fluorescent gems come from the Sterling Hill Mines in Franklin, NJ.  Since the mine is located less than an hour drive from my house, I went there last August to collect a bunch of glowy rocks.  Jochen, who is also a geologist by trade and who was passing through on his way to the Springfield show, went with me and showed me how to hammer the rocks to open them up.  He also showed me which surface characteristics to look for.  I came home with 70 pounds of rock, which is still sitting in a bucket in my bathroom.

This April, we finally had occasion to split apart the rocks a bit more, so we created the giveaway for you.  These rocks contain mainly Willemite, Hardystonite and Calcite, though you may find other glowy stuff in there.  On ebay and other websites, these rocks appear to go for quite a bit of money ($60-600 for very rare minerals).  But I bought mine for $1 a pound since I collected myself, so we're not charging.  If you want more from my bucket after the giveaway, feel free to contact me.  I'd charge shipping though since some of these rocks are heavy.

You might have fun watching this video, in which Jochen explains what you can see in the rocks, and then the next video where they glow in the dark in my bathroom.

Note that you need a shortwave UV light, not a longwave!  So not your regular blacklight. Otherwise, no sparkle.

Enjoy.

Your Custom Order Step By Step

I guess it should have been obvious: the more gems I list, the more custom orders I get.  In turn, there are more and more little details to keep track of every day.  Some orders are really fast, others take forever, and if any mistake creeps in we start over - if a stock item is made in the wrong metal or with the wrong stone we just list it that way, obviously that's not gonna work with a custom piece.

Anyway, I thought it might be helpful for you to see what goes into a custom order with our shop (or pretty much any jewelry shop), and what happens next, in what order, and where the challenges are.

As you know, custom orders divide into two kinds for us.

(1) Custom items created from stock pieces: i.e. the 5mm round sunflower pendant in rose gold with color change garnet and hauynite.

(2) New pieces made from scratch in CAD.  This includes modifications to existing pieces because once you make one change (i.e. the size of the center), everything else changes (the height, the number of outside petals or melee, etc).

Now that I take so many custom orders, it is my job to advise on color combos, setting styles, and metals, i.e. suggesting that a particular stone should not be set in a harder metal, or should be prong set and not bezeled.  This takes a lot of back and forth.  Brandy, my CAD designer, then makes an initial 2-D drawing or layout of how the ring would look from the top.  We need that to start because we need to see how many gems are needed if they go into a halo, or petals, or we need to see how many stones can be put into a row, or in which type of layout.  Without that it is hard to calculate stone cost (and it is nearly impossible to do it before having this layout).

Example of Three Ring Layouts

After that we collect the other details from the customer.  We need the ring size so we can make the file in the right size, and the metal so we can calculate weight.  Exact weight can't be determined until after the model is finished of course, so we have to estimate when customers ask us.  Sometimes we use an order form, which is still in 'draft mode' so it hasn't been put on the blog.  But you can look at it here.  Otherwise we just create the listing on Etsy and/or in Excel.

Custom Order Worksheet

Once gems are purchased for the job, or once the details are hashed out and a custom listing is made, we create what is called a "Job Envelope".  That's where we put all the details of the order, which are also kept updated in Excel.  Here's a photo of what it looks like.

The job envelope stays with the order until completion, and all parts that have to be purchased as well as all gems go in there.  The steps needed are listed in the order in which they come up.

Custom Job Envelopes

Assuming it is a stock item, we first order the piece from our casting service, Taba casting.  They stock each of our molds, which has a certain number (at some point these will be incorporated into our SKU to avoid mistakes at this juncture).  We order rings in the size they are needed because those can be sized in the wax.  And we order in the desired metal of course.  Taba takes about a week to turn an order around.

Then all pieces go into pre-polish, where the sprue is being cut and the piece is tumbled and cleaned (all castings need a little TLC before they can go to setting).  

Before & After Pre-polish

After pre-polish, they either go straight to setting or to jewelry work.  Earrings and pendants need posts, bails, jump rings, eternity chains or bracelets need to be soldered together.  This all happens prior to setting.  Rings can go straight to setting, which is why rings are fastest to make.  We try to have most of the basic supply items on hand (posts, jump rings, etc) but we still end up getting some items every time we go into the city.

Setting is next.  If stones break during that process I have to supply more.  If I remember, I put extra melees into each job envelope so I can save myself a trip back home. Pierre is my setter, as you know, but I also have a backup guy, Ethan, now that my shop is growing and I need more help. Both are traditionally diamond setters but they have adapted their tools and their skills to deal with my colored stones.

From setting, the piece goes to final polish.  This is where rhodium is applied to white gold as well, and all the dirt and grime from setting is washed out in ultrasonic (ultrasonic has to be very brief with colored stones but Arman, my polisher, is used to it by now).

As you may gather, each step involves a different person because each job is specialized - each needs its own tools and skill set.  All the people I use are located on the same block or one block away but we still run around all day between stops.  We usually map out our route as best we can ahead of time but we have to go back and forth when parts have to be purchased or other questions come up.  Each person wants a few days to complete their job, except final polish which is same day.  So the more steps, the more time it takes.  If something goes wrong, i.e. a part melts down a bit during soldering, we may have to start over because we don't stock everything in all metals.  We do stock scroll earrings now, but little else (too many parts, too much money).  

A note on engraving.  Alex, my engraver, hand engraves my pieces before the mold is made.  So it doesn't become part of the custom order process unless a piece is made in CAD from scratch.  This saves time, though it slows down production of a first piece. Alex is a true artist, he works for the top design houses in NY (and me, lol).  And he will not be rushed.  Sometimes he has a piece for a month.  The result is worth it however.

Well, this about sums it up.   I hope this blog entry provides a little clarity as to why not everything goes as fast as we hope, and why a few things are way faster than you expect (i.e. setting a gem into a scroll stud).  And how mistakes can creep in (= everywhere).  

Custom pieces, despite the difficulty they pose, seem to have become our signature style. So we appreciate both your support, and your patience, as they are being created.

Diamonds are a Girls....

Since I deal mainly in untreated gemstones, I have stayed away from using colored diamonds.  Most of them are irradiated and while I make exceptions for heat treatment, irradiation is a no go - it's the reason I don't carry Morganite.

In the last few months, however, I started to increasingly play with natural yellow and pink diamonds, so I thought it might be fun to share some of my insights, and offer out colored diamond melee for custom designs.

There are only a few natural colors of diamonds: yellow, pink, orange and cognac (to browns), blue, grey, and green.  There are very few natural red diamonds, but those are out of all of our price ranges.  All of these colors are ranked by intensity.  The more intense, the more expensive.  The lighter colors have to be used in bunches, and should be set in the right color gold to enhance them (so pink diamonds should be set in rose gold).
 
Natural pinks are the most expensive.  They are usually Australian, from the Argyle mines.  They cost up to $50,000 per carat in the melee sizes.  Here are a few that are lower priced (meaning $3000-12000 per carat).  The colors are Fancy Light Pink, Fancy Light Pink, and Fancy Intense Pink.

Fancy Natural Pink Diamonds

Fancy Pink Diamond and Tourmaline

Fancy Pink Diamonds, Mahenge Spinel and Tourmaline

Yellow diamonds mainly come from the Argyle mines as well, though some of them can be from India.  Here are the more affordable shades of yellow.  They are $1000-3000 per carat.  They are called Fancy Light Yellow, Fancy Yellow, Fancy Intense Yellow and Fancy Vivid Yellow.  Fancy intense is my favorite.

Fancy Light Yellow, Yellow, Intense Yellow and Vivid Yellow

Fancy Yellow Diamonds, Malaya Garnet and Mahenge Spinel

Fancy Intense Yellow and Mahenge Spinel

My favorite new colors were blue and grey, however.  Those diamonds come from Easy Africa.  The grey of these diamonds is not created by black piques (inclusions) but is actually in the body color of the gem.  I am adding a photo of white diamonds for comparison.  They greys are $2500 a carat, the blues are (sticker shock alert): $23000.  Note that my markup is not my standard, it is a much lower add on because that's how this works.  Diamonds are high priced and thus have lower markups than colored stones.

Natural White Diamonds (F Color)

Fancy Greyish Blue Diamond with Vietnamese Spinel

Natural White, Fancy Greyish Blue and Fancy Blue Diamonds

Fancy Greyish Blue Diamonds with Mahenge Spinel

Fancy Blue Diamonds with Tourmaline

Fancy Greyish Blue Diamonds with Hauynite

I could have taken oodles more photos but this is all there was time for.  The dabs of colored stones are giving you some ideas of how to make designs.

Below is a diamond melee size chart so you can calculate costs.

Stone Carving with Sonny Grant at the Tuscon Gem Show

As I'm sure you know, not many thing are made in the US by hand any more, especially small arts and crafts.  It doesn't pay the rent, things can be made cheaper elsewhere.  So you might imagine my delight when I came across soapstone carver Sonny Grant at the Marty Zinn show in Tucson.  I was just strolling across the lawn of the Inn Suites hotel, where the show was hosted, to get a cup of coffee at the restaurant, when saw this guy busily sawing away at a piece of rock - soapstone, it turned out - and creating enormous amounts of rock dust in the process.  

I got curious and drew closer, and a conversation unfolded.

Here's How I found Soapstone Carver Sonny Grant

I asked Sonny what he was working on, and he told me that the rock I was looking at would turn into an owl within the next 30 minutes.  Mesmerized, I stopped and turned on my cell phone camera (with Sonny's permission of course).  After a couple of minutes, remembering that I was originally going to get coffee, so I went indoors, and then came back.

The little owl was starting to take shape.

Sonny is a Tlingit Indian from Juneau Alaska.  A graphic designer by profession  (presumably the rent paying profession ,that is),  A few decades ago, Sonny became drawn to the Eskimo art of stone carving in the mediums of alabaster, marble, and soapstone.  He studied with various Inupiaq eskimo carvers and has now been making sculptures for 30 years.  Sonny also carves in wood, ceramic, slate, ivory and bone.  His small works of art are exhibited in galleries all over the US, as well as in Canada. 

Sonny's tools are very simple, I took a few shots of them so you could see.  Just a saw, carving knives, chisels and rasps.  After cutting out the basic shape of the owl, he sprays it with a finish that brings out the marbled texture of the stone.  The eyes are cut of the owl at the very end.

The designs are simple as well, but that's just what I love about them.  A few curves and shapes only, but you know exactly what each thing is because its essence has somehow been captured in the stone.

I took a few little films while Sonny was working.  And - of course - I knew from the first moment that the owl had to be mine.  After all, I watched it come into existence.  I am looking at it right now, in fact, and it is sitting in the cabinet of my shelf, proudly staring back at me.

To learn more about him check out his blogspot http://sonnygrantstudios.blogspot.com/

Watch the live demo below

Tucson Treasures

Wow.  That's the only word I have for my recent Tucson trip.  Tremendous fun, intriguing, and totally overwhelming.  Several of you had said to me beforehand that you live through me vicariously, I just didn't know it was THIS many of you.  The number of convos and facebook comments I got was incredible.  I apologize if I didn't manage to fill all the requests and ship out on time, next year I will take Debbie, that should help.  I worked day and night getting listings out, and each time I sold stuff I went back to the vendors to buy more.  The nice thing for me was that the many sales helped me increase my purchasing budget for future listings and offerings, and I owe all of you who supported my shop during this time my deepest gratitude.

Your feedback also helped me focus one where and what to buy - this is crucial when you are faced with nearly 1000 vendors!

Many of you have been asking what I have brought, and what the highlights were.  This is hard to summarize, but I am going to try.

Red Beryl: finding red (I should really say "pink") "emerald" was a new thing for me, I had never seen it in person, and I didn't know anything about treatments.  There is apparently only one place in the world where it is mined - the Wah Wah Mountains in Utah.  I spoke to the mine owner to get educated (some photos of crystal formations below).  But because the mine owner's gems were 98% treated, I mainly bought from a new contact I had made who specializes in American gems (and who is also on the board of the AGTA).  Robert (Bob) lives on the North Shore of Oahu, loves surfing and only does the Tucson show, otherwise he ships to wholesalers like me, sometimes on memo.  His wife makes jewelry.  My impression of him was that he loves gems, is very knowledgeable, but has an established customer base and is not pushing for a lot of new business (he's in his mid 60's I would guess).  I once lived in Hawaii and my experience was that after some time there, you take life at a more relaxed pace.  I earned my stripes with Bob by purchasing five very expensive pieces of red beryl - I have one left - several pieces of paraiba, three of which are in the lab (the rest is sold), and a little Beniotite.  For some reason that hasn't sold.  I was surprised by that but then that was also a new gem for me. Bob has more pieces (see photo).  And he had some very pretty rhodochrosite which I didn't buy because they are hard to work with.  I may get some at a later point.

My Last Red Beryl

Benitoite and Rhodochrosite

Paraiba: aside from Bob, I found a wholesaler who had the melee I've been selling.  They had told me on the first day that I needed to buy at least one carat (ouch) but I did.  While I was there, another wholesaler was talking to the owner and I overheard that prices were being made for ALL the melee that was left.  That was red alert for me because after scouring two shows and calling around in NY, I found little to none, certainly nothing in that intense color.  So I bought another carat right away.  More ouch.  I listed it immediately because I was pretty worried about my financial exposure.  But it turned out demand exceeded supply.  So I went back three more times.  Overall I bought and pretty much sold 9 carats in about 14 days.  I am nearly sold out at this point.  I have no idea if the other deal went through, I found out at the end of the second day that it was to be conducted in NY, and that until the end of Tucson, I could buy what I wanted.  I have not yet contacted the dealer to see if there's more.  Unless you guys tell me otherwise, I feel like my small market is saturated.

I also found a New York seller with Paraiba, they had a bit more, some cabs too.  I bought what I thought were the nicest pieces, but I will probably make an appointment there in a few weeks, after the dust has settled from this adventure.

Hauyne/Hauynite: that was another lucky buy for me.  The guys with the lavender spinel from Vietnam, all of which is pretty much sold, had a 500 piece parcel.  I first bought some from Dudley who had also cut a lot, sold those, then saw these on day two.  I slept on it and then negotiated for the purchase of half.  By the end of the week I felt confident enough to buy the other half.  He really wanted to sell it all anyway, and there was no picking.  All, half, nothing.  I am still sorting these out, but they were roughly 1.5-1.9mm, with most of them 1.6-1.7.  You'll see listings for them over time.

Spinel: I did see one dealer that had Burmese spinels, gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous bigger pieces.  For - wholesale - more than $7000 a carat for pieces over one carat.  I passed!  I bought quite a bit of Dudley's melee, which you are seeing in the shop.  I got lavender Vietnamese spinel, all sold, one pair a "maybe".  I have to rephotograph more violet colored spinel I listed.  The color is ridiculously off.  It's soo pretty.  I have one more pair in pink that I am debating over myself.  In Cobalt spinel (Luc Yen) I saw very little, some will be listed in a week or two (also out for inspection) and I have a cushion coming to me that I can put out.

Vietnamese Spinel

Burmese Spinel sadly too expensive :(

Ruby/sapphire: these are all from Dudley.  My only star ruby sold once and almost twice.  I have two more (mildly heated) ruby coming up, some Kenyan sapphires - gorgeous yellow with some blue, Madagascan (teal color), purple, blue, and blueish purple (Ceylon), and a breathtaking larger elongated emerald cut from Rakwana, Sri Lanka.  None are heated.  I'm already out of blue pairs, I'll have to ask for more in a month or two.

Madagascan and Sri Lankan Ruby (Left and Right)

Twin Star Sapphire (Sold)

Jaroslav Hyrsl Author of 'Minerals and their Localities'
I bought the twin star sapphire from him.

What else?  I've been selling down on the Kenyan Tsavorite (so pretty), I have just a few 3.5mm left to list I believe.  Then I just have some oddball stuff left.  I loved the twin star sapphire that sold right away.  That was a total novelty.  I saw some on eBay but none in that quality.

Kenyan Sapphire (on Etsy)

I don't know that I made a lot of new connections this time.  Just the one with Bob (from whom I bought a little bit last year).  But more important to me is to deepen the connections I have.  A lot of it is based upon creating buying power and lending power.  Making purchases, paying right away, not having checks bounce, not returning, not wasting time and fussing, knowing one's stuff.  Gem dealers have low markups and in the wholesale, they have to time for difficult buyers.  This doesn't mean you can't spend time selecting.  You should in fact.  You can show a little of your knowledge by commenting on gems and be honest when you don't know.  The good gem dealers appreciate it. You also never insult merchandise or prices.  You can say you are not interested, you don't have a market, you can't sell it at that price, you don't have that kind of budget.  That's all ok.

Well I think this is enough for today.  I'll leave you with some impressions of my two (half) days off after the show.  I took a trip into the Catalina Mountains, watching the sunset.  And my friend Jochen from Jentsch Mineralien took me to Karchener Caves, one of very few living caves around the world. If you like to know about minerals, then this excursion into geology is up your alley!

Until next time...

Yvonne (Cecile - that's my middle name) Raley (Designs)

My thanks again to Debbie and Karen, who put in extra days to keep the shop afloat, and to all of you who "accompanied" me on this trip!

Martin Zinn Exposition

Martin Zinn Exposition

Martin Zinn Exposition

Catalina Mountains

Catalina Mountains

Catalina Mountains

Karchener Cave - Photo from a Post Card

My Favorite Color Combos

Going gem shopping, for me, isn't only about chasing down the nicest and most unusual gems.  It can also be about finding colors that work well with my designs or my other gems.  I get very exited when I find a bright 1.2mm melee gem that still pops, like the amethyst I recently added to some of my designs.  Amethyst may not be an exiting stone, but having purple melee IS exciting.

So one thing I'll be looking for, both in Tucson and other upcoming shows, is more melee for my halos, petals, and earrings that take smaller gems.  I'm also going to look for gem colors that complement the colors I love.

Here are some color layouts I have been playing with that I really like.  The first shows some possible layouts for my nine stone ring, using zircon, tanzanite chrysoberyl and tsavorite.  The second is a mix of four different color sapphires, a mint, a tsav, and a tourmaline.

Tsavorite, Zircon, Tanzanite, Chysoberyl

Sapphire, Tsavorite, Mint Garnet, Tourmaline

Another interesting color to work with is purple.  I like seeing it with greens or pinks.  The first layout pairs a tanzanite with color change garnets, then two sapphires, then with hauynite and rhodolite.  Then I added spinel and then purple sapphire and alexandrite.

Tanzanite and Color Change Garnet

Tanzanite and Sapphire

Tanzanite, Hauynite and Rhodolite

Spinel, Purple Garnet and Tanzanite

Unheated Tanzanite, Alexandrite, Purple Sapphire

And here is a pretty blue, green, and purple combo that I recently made.  This is spinel, emerald and amethyst. Then Tsavorite garnet and Zircon. And more...

Spinel, Emerald, Amethyst

Tsavorite, Zircon

Zircon and Mint Garnet (or was it emerald?)

Zircon and Demantoid

Burmese spinel are also a fun design challenge.  Aside from yellow, you can add a chrysoberyl or a minty stone (I think that was a lighter Paraiba).

Spinel and Paraiba

Spinel And Chrysoberyl

Or you can go all out and mix every color. Can you guess what they are?

Tucson: The List

I don't think I've been this excited about a trip in a very long time - not even my Christmas trip home to Germany and France.  Going to Tucson is just different.  And expensive, lol.

I am slowly assembling a list of gems I want to look for.  Here is my progress.  Additional suggestions are welcome - if you have a specific order, let me know, suggestions are just that, I won't hold you to buying anything.  :)

Paraiba: Anything reasonable, but only from Brazil.  Melees.1-2mm rd.

Paraiba and Spinel

Emerald and Hauynite

Hauynite: 1-2mm round melee, maybe one larger piece (meaning 3mm or so).  They break easily so the investment is not a good one.

Burma Spinel: Melees and small baguette, there isn't likely to be anything larger that's good but I'll look.

Vietnamese Spinel: Matched pairs, elongated pear shape, lavender.  Maybe a color changer.  They also have pinks from Vietnam, nice color, no grey but less vibrant than Mahenge.  With Mahenges disappearing from the market, at least for the moment, I may buy though.

Vietnamese Cobalt Spinel: There isn't likely to be much, I heard there was little or no production.  But I will look.

Sapphire: Blue pairs, always. rich purple, color change, cool shapes.  Maybe stars (I could use thoughts on that, I'm iffy about whether I should buy).  Only no heat Ceylon of course, probably no other sapphire for me.  Melee - last year I got these nice lavender melees that I use a lot.  I will look for that seller, he also had the teal green rounds.

Purple Sapphire and Paraiba Tourmaline

Ruby: Maybe one or two pieces.  Madagascan has a nice blood red color.  So that's a thought.  Maybe a ruby star?

Aqua: Looking for nice baguette shapes.  At the moment aqua supply is low.  Prices have jumped up a bit.

Sphene: I'm totally out, but I will probably have to go for Sri Lankan stuff, which has more orange tones in it.

Tourmaline, other: not high on the list but if I see something nice I'm game.  Indicolite would be good.  Or a light seafoam color.  Afghani material.

Other: anything matched elongated pear (i.e. tourmaline).  Any other cool baguette shapes for my new pieces, larger ones for earrings.

What I'm not prioritizing: emerald (my supplier is in NY and last year nobody in Tucson had anything reasonable), Mahenge, Tsavorite, Mint and other Garnet (my supplier is also here).

There are three people I want to get to on the first day (tall order).  There is always a mad rush for the booths with more rare goods or good prices.  I remember one booth where I know the owner was over run.  You couldn't see anything.  Lucky for me that I knew them, so I put aside a small tray for myself and told them to do the invoice the end of the day.

Larger companies,like online retailers, often show up on the first day and buy a lot. They buy in big gobs and they seem to prefer to grab entire productions of something to corner the market.  That's what I saw in Tucson last year anyway.  Other companies send scouts, or hire gem buyers, to get them their goods.  So for certain things, there can be competition among buyers.  Other things seem to hang out the entire show and nobody buys them.  The trick is not to get caught up in the mad rush.

Vietnamese and Burma Spinel

Red Tourmaline

Again, let me know what, if anything, might be on the list.

Yvonne