New sales! Hooray!

I have just sold fifteen pairs of earrings, nine of them custom designs.  Today is a good day.  Pictures to come.


Now available exclusively from McAuley's in Anderson, SC, unless you are lucky enough to be the tasteful Etsy shopper who got the first pair.

Longtime readers will recall that the last time I worked with a brick-and-mortar, they were pricing my 120-dollar Swarovski piece at $24 -- and it came back completely crushed, and I'm still trying to figure out a way to salvage the piece as a mixed-media exercise for less than the price of the materials.  But I have much higher hopes for this!

Let's try something a little different!

Okay, let's try this.  I wanted to do something picture-heavy and topical today, but I'm not in the mood to code a Treasury Wednesday (on Friday), so let's play clothing-and-jewelry pairings.  I don't get to do this much in real life, since I'm the youngest of my coworkers in a fairly conservative area, so virtual dress-up it is.

For the pretty base pieces in this post, I'm using Maxi dresses from Goddiva.  Just in the interests of disclosure.

Let's start with this little mesh-insert number, which -- yes -- is sort of daring for many people, but could easily go sci-fi (Inara cosplay, anyone?) to pull it off:



It's actually transparent, not silver; that's the mannequin.  Which leaves us with any metal option we desire.  How shall we make this fantastic?  I'm thinking with a big steampunk statement necklace like this one:


Sorry, sold to a pretty lady at Upstate Steampunk!

And maybe a jeweled belt, like this nice vintage example, which would suit either the teal or the red version of the dress and, in either case, introduces another high-contrast color that would be fantastic in a draped shawl, or as earrings:

Available here from Nana's Cottage House Antiques.

Instant sleek space-opera sci-fi -- or maybe even bustle it up over a constrast underskirt and see what happens.

Less costume and more couture, you say?  Fine.  Look at this peacock-patterned garment:



You could actually wear this under a waist-length leather jacket and calf-high boots, and have a bit more of a casual-elegant look on a spring day.  Try it with a necklace that adds more visual weight to the top half of the ensemble. For this purpose, I can't decide if I prefer the knotted linen from Grey Heart of Stone on the top or the repurposed bridle rosette from Funkyjunkmama below:



Probably the bridle rosette.  It picks up the colors attractively without blending in, and has a sturdier, heavier look that will contrast well with the dress's airiness.  Hey, both!  No?

On warmer days, this dress of course demands a light shrug and a cool big bracelet like this one:


Available here with matching earrings here.

A necklace I wanted to talk a little more about

Available here.

I named this necklace Arc of Ages, which is supposed to be a cleverish allusion to Rock of Ages (still a'rollin, rock of ages ...).  We got the vintage (I date it to the 1970s based on style) necklace base from Grandma's Antiques and Things, a fantastic little store run out of a garage in Pendleton which has become my primary steampunkerie supplier (the octogenarian proprietor is really having trouble figuring out what those nice girls are doing with all that weird hardware).

What I wanted to point out, because my blog, not my item descriptions, is the place for annoying self-congratulation, is the rather coherent symbolism that forms in the strange combination of materials here.  (Note that M deserves the majority of the credit for this.)  The large watch face, of course, aligns it with the sf-clockwork look.  The rectangular shield has an odd, delightful filigree pattern reminiscent of a somewhat mechanized paisley -- and of course, nothing is more neo-historical than shamelessly appropriating the motifs of other cultures (see here.)  The arrangement of the subtle gears (really, they're barely visible in person, the light picking them up for an instant before they vanish for a moment in the harmonized chaos of the design) arcs gracefully around the watch face like an event horizon.  Also suggesting the passage of time and the "message of ancient days," as the sole quote I know from Cicero pontificates, is the centerpiece of the watch face: an antiqued silvertone pewter connector in the shape of a Celtic knot, representing infinity.

Multicultural, neo-Victorian, time-traveller-esque -- I think I found steampunk, honey!  Two different thicknesses of triple-link cable chain (vintage) complete the necklace in a statement-goddess-waterfall shape.

I'm also proud of the rather slick wirework on the piece.  See the back:

The glory that was Rome

A necklace heavily inspired by Gradiva, the novella by Wilhelm Jensen based on a Roman bas-relief; the artwork and book jointly inspired some of Freud's ideas about fetish and a Dali painting.

Here's my interpretation:

Available here.

The cameo is a vintage glazed ceramic piece I've had for donkey's years, worked into one of my nest-type bezels.  When I'm making those I'm always convinced they're not working, but they almost always do ...  The wirework on the chain is not just decorative, but secures the connections between the chain and the beading in a graceful, textural manner.

Cameos are an old art form.  In the pre-industrial age, cameos were not the molded-resin pretties we are familiar with today, but were hand-carved from ivory, shell or stones.  There is some (possibly apocryphal) record of Alexander the Great presenting his Persian lover, Bagoas, with a ring containing a portrait cameo of himself carved in chalcedony.  You can still find some natural-material cameos, like these black lip shell examples, but hand-carved ones are rarer than ever.
More on cameos, plus multiculturalism in Victorian accessories, on Monday!

Copywriting Tips: A Description Done Right

I often highlight errors not to make in writing for online sales. Here's a description where the seller has really put the words to work:

Vagabond Jewelry's home page is a great example of using the text to identify and draw a niche market. The word choice is apt and richly varied -- "calls up," "conjures"; "grounded," "earth," "peace," "approachability," "tough." It presents the reasons for the choice of metal both unapologetically and evocatively. They've never employed an overused term where an interesting, thought-provoking one would do. It would be so easy to make the mistake of using the words "unique jewelry for active wearers." But look at these rich, constructed, post-apocalyptic designs -- that would never do it justice:

("The Ram," one of the more dramatic pieces.  Photo copyright Kest Schwartzman.)

Their word choices in the description single out their niche market but don't exclude others. In the sidebar, a unified set of web-gadgets suggest travel, adventure, versatility. And you know what this homepage undoubtedly gets Google hits from? "Surfer jewelry," "snowboarder jewelry," "copper jewelry," "surgical steel jewelry," "modern jewelry," more.

It's a phenomenal example of the less-basic and absolutely essential ingredients of discussing a jewelry line: giving "story," offering the specs, proposing a unifying concept through which to view the jewelry, pursuing a niche market, presenting reasons to purchase, and suggesting that this seller is the best source for jewelry to fit those needs.

Tutorial: Wire-Wrapped Earrings

I figured I might as well do a free jewelry tutorial at some point, so why not the wire-wrapped bridal earrings from February?  They're a lovely simple, graceful, infinitely customizable design that can be made more or less casual.  And maybe I can get the photo onto Craftgawker (unlikely; they like their straight-on hero shots at Craftgawker, though it's much easier to be vetted in now, either because I've improved more than I realize or because they're no longer permitting Etsy post photos so there's drastically less competition).

Anyhow.

Free Handmade Jewelry Tutorial: How to Make Hand-Brushed Wire-Wrapped Earrings
suitable for bridal, formal or casual wear, with a subtle 14k brushed gold finish.

You will need:
- 8 inches (or so) 21g 14k gold-filled wire, dead soft
- 2 round 10mm beads
- 2 contrasting round 6mm beads
- 1 pair gold-filled earwires

- flush cutters
- round-nose pliers
- chain-nose pliers
- sanding block
-nylon-jawed pliers

The sanding block can be acquired inexpensively at your local hardware store.  As for the rest, get the good stuff.  Instructions after the jump.

Mixed Media and Urban Decay

Just wanted to share about a picture from one of my favorite fellow sellers, Fanciful Devices:


Photo copyright Fanciful Devices.

That's a filigree that she's glued paper to -- apparently at the expense of her floor -- she says it was quite stiff.  But I wonder, if one papier-mached and then top-sealed newspaper instead of standard print ... possibly over one of those wire frames which one has ruined in plier overenthusiasm but has not the heart to be rid of ...

I also love how that artist uses cameos: infrequently, but without feeling bound to make them girly when she does.

Further eye candy of urban decay and material culture: We Sell Used Gods.  Further further eye candy of urban decay and material culture: 99 Rooms. 

Have some time, and maybe some earbuds, handy before you click that latter.  You'll want them.  It's insanely cool and deserves half an hour of your full attention.

(oh crap I just realized I left the bread dough on the counter overnight and now I'm at work and I can't save it.  I guess that's one way to use up whole wheat flour that doesn't quite work in the recipe ...)

I dream in black and burgundy

My customer's wedding was at the end of February, so time to show off the jewelry I made for her party!

Her earrings, wire-wrapped 14k gold fill with a hand-brushed finish.  I'd never actually done a brushed finish, so I allowed myself an hour or two to devote to learning the technique on inexpensive wire, and purchased a nice fine wire brush and file set.  I soon discovered that: (a.) it's really easy, and (b.) five minutes and a sanding block works better and looks better.  We live and learn.



I'm contemplating making up a tutorial for those.  Look for it at the beginning of April!

The bracelets were three-strand Bordeaux Swarovski pearl and black onyx with pewter toggle clasps and silver-plated charms made of crystal pearls with bead caps.
Lessons learned here:
(a.) Get the wrist measurements before ordering the supplies -- I think this customer may have gone handmade partly because she couldn't find anything ready-made to fit her very small bridesmaids.  I have a bunch of extra pearls.  But this is okay because I also learned:
(b.) Allow "wiggle room" in your pricing for stuff to sell out two minutes before you place your order.  That is not the originally planned clasp.  And I had to get the 6mm pearls much more expensively from Beadaholique when Fire Mountain Gems sold out of them since they were having a sale.
The clasp: an adventure.  I highly recommend this shop and this one for supplies; neither of them were selling multiples of the clasp, but they were both very prompt in telling me so!

I couldn't resist doing "vintage" styled shots of the jewelry.  This is the "winter" version, styled with browned leaves of flowering kale -- I desaturated, soft-focused and upped the dynamic color range for a sense of time and nostalgia:



And here's the "warmer" version, half-sepia-filtered, graduated-tinted, and soft-focused after styled with a litter of the deadheads from my apricot violas, for a sense of nostalgia, the warm blush of the beautiful and impermanent:


Pruning makes for great props. Also, I definitely want to do some more sanding of metal for the nice matte finish. 

The total of the jewelry was five bracelets and a pair of earrings: all in all, a good-sized commission, though if I hadn't been custom-sizing each one and thus redesigning a little, I'd have naturally gone stark raving mad on bracelet four.  But as it was, getting the same design with varying wrist sizes was an interesting challenge.  Much fun!

Meditation upon Chandeliers

Surely someone must wear chandelier earrings these days.  Right?

Chandelier earrings have seemed since I started my Etsy shop to just be not worth the effort.  They consistently get lower views than similarly tagged earrings in other styles, I've never sold a pair, and they are actually harder and more repetitive to make than even many-tiered drops.


Available here.

The wholesaler I use is having a sale on a bunch of Swarovski stuff and I ordered some of their silver-plated pewter findings, but found myself hesitating over the chandelier findings.  "Chelsea," I said to myself, "these are the best deal they have.  Chandelier plus post plus clutch.  If you're trying to get the most for your money this is what you should be doing."

Then I said to myself, "But it's foolish to throw good money after bad getting things that won't sell.  And the likelihood of someone requesting a pair of chandelier earrings, let alone a single pair in the specific color you're getting, is apparently slim."

Then I said to myself, "I need to stop talking to myself.  It alarms Megan if I do it too often or earnestly."

So really, which is worse?  Passing up a pretty good opportunity to get discount supplies -- or getting supplies that I know are slow sellers?

The pair above was for the wedding collection, mind you, and wedding jewelry sort of across the board seems to be largely the same stuff so I felt obligated to have some "classic" boring pieces.  I don't think they're especially boring, though, and I'm really proud of the photo, where the slightly darker clay sets off the rainbow effect of the AB crystal quite well for this neat sort of carnival effect.  Still, they were meant as a complement, not a showpiece.  This pair was more intended for actual, y'know, coolness, sort of a Steampunk Atlantean feel:



Available here.

Possibly the slow selling is because people are highly aware that anonymous chandelier earrings are a staple of the cheap import fashion jewelry market and the look can be gotten for a lot less -- for which I can't blame people at all.  It's a little ludicrous to try to compete with dollar-a-pair outfits at their own game, and the look has to be significantly different for jewelry to not be a futile market.  The look has to be different (unexpected bead and finding choices); the quality has to be higher (I wire-wrap the elements together, because that's a whole lot of a small, fine-gauge jump rings to put so much trust in and wire-wrapping is much more secure).

I did take the trouble to list another set this week, because I've had these forty-year-old curtain rings in my hardware box for ages, then found that it is remarkable how much grey transparent glass will take on the tones of the metal it's nearest:

Available here.

Still, ones like the second photo seem like they ought to be going better than they do ... which leads me back to my original question.  Is it just that I'm the only one who wears chandelier earrings anymore?

If I had a couple of hundred bucks to spare ...

This artist is doing some really amazing things with the steampunked-out technology.  His USB drives incorporate small cabochons over the LED light so that the gemstone glows when the drive is in use.  They're not overdone or gear-conglomerated -- just wonderfully graceful, masculine tribal steampunk designs with beautiful metal tones.  Check him out.


Image copyright Weirdward Works.

Speaking of steampunk and things I'd like to buy (and indulge me, dear sirs and dear ladies, by allowing me to draw your attention to that so-graceful transition there), I'm currently trying to come up with a way to sort my lock washers and hinge plates and eyelets and keys and suchlike junk.  (It's really sublime junk.  I don't mean to denigrate its awesomeness by calling it junk.  Scrap metal!)  I really need a happy medium between "dump it in a basket," which is my pendants-and-components solution, and "sort it into a carefully labeled divider box," which is my (M's) bead solution.  Of course, M uses this stuff too, so the latter is probably what is required because she doesn't need the creative chaos I do.  Still.  I like to physically rummage for such things.  Though I also like to know how many of anything I have.  Sigh.

Custom order hinge plate necklace

The first version:


And the second:


The only major change is that the embellished clay bead from version one was replaced with the cool mustardy button in version two. It lies better and I think the one pop of bright yellow-gold balances nicely with the two more mellow brushed golds on the other side. I'm especially happy with how subtly the metal tones of the findings (new) and the chains (one new, one vintage) complement one another. It's also really long, which is different for me -- 28 inches and adjustable down. So it's now off to Australia. Great fun!

Style contemplations once again!

Today, I was setting out to do something with my shop announcement on Etsy that would give people some framework to experience the stuff I make.  As I'm sure I've said before, my style is sort of all over the place and you have to view a couple dozen pieces before you see the common threads.

I wound up with "Here you'll find handmade jewelry in an eclectic style that includes organic freehand wirework, found objects and (mostly) symmetrical glass-bead designs. Steampunk assemblage and bright vintage-inspired pieces are my particular forte."

*inspects it*

That looks pretty accurate to me, right?  "Vintage-inspired" is such a vague term that it does pretty easily net everything that's not covered by "steampunk assemblage," "organic freehand wirework" or "found objects," right?  Of course, I just wrote an article explaining why people shouldn't use blanket terms, but I was talking about individual descriptions.

Other style elements I contemplated noting but tossed out:

Medium-length earrings.  I don't make a lot of short ones but these are the longest I've ever made, bar the ones intended for belly dancers, like the tassels and those sweet shell and pewter leverbacks I made for M's tribal-gothic-fusion outfit for the Azkatraz ball last year, which were eight inches long and laid on her lovely collarbones.

Available here.

These are more standard for me, though still a little longer than average:


Available here.

My fondness for brass and copper.  It's still unfashionable to genuinely like these.  This is partly because everyone is now convinced that they are allergic to everything.  That's not actually the case.  Unfortunately, antique and gunmetal brass treatments do contain enough nickel to irritate some people -- but usually that's not the case in a necklace or bracelet.  I had to (stop reading if you are, M) have a crown replaced a couple of years ago and the dentist called in his entire staff to show them what a really severe nickel allergy inflammation in the mouth looks like.  I wear nickel-containing brass treatments all the time.  I just can't handle them as earwires for lengthy periods.

I'm not saying people aren't really allergic to jewelry metals.  It happens.  It's just that everyone thinks they are and it's really not the case for many of them. 

More to the point, I like brass and copper.  They weather beautifully.  All metals tarnish, people, with the sole exception of gold.  All of the metals.  All of them.  The copper-brass-gunmetal spectrum does so with a beautiful old-world grace that, in my opinion, is better than looking like it was just made forever.


I do, however, use a germanium sterling on my coral and such, because I don't want my white coral branches to stain.

Sparkle!  This is weird, because most of the other designers I really like oxidize the shit out of everything.

Really bizarre interpretations of other styles.  Even if I try to do Southwestern or Cutesy Chic or Meaningful Assemblage or something, it all comes out looking like me playing with elements of those styles.  And there's no way to put that in a description without sounding like a narcissist ("Tee hee, I'm SO unique!!!") but, on balance, I think that's something to be proud of.


And a final note.  I didn't set out to do any of this.  It just happened to be the way in which I do things.  Maybe that's my early materials influencing everything else I've ever done, maybe it's that the beads and components I pick contribute to it, maybe I'm influenced by my grandmother's crazy 60's jewelry she let me wear, but -- all those "develop your style" posts had nothing to do with this.  So anyone who's landed here by Googling "how to develop a personal jewelry style" or some such -- just do it.  It happens this way.

But if you're like me you'll have to make a blog post three years later before you get a firm idea of what your style is.

Awesome Aluminum

Or, for our British friends: Awesome Aluminium.  I've always loved alliterative stuff and I blame Bill Nye the Science Guy for this.  Anyhow.



Available hither, thither, and yon.

Above are three pieces -- my Clockwork Orchid necklace, my Ocean Bijoux Empress necklace, and some of the bracelets I'm offering with the stocking-stuffer deals this year -- where I've used aluminum chain.

I was a little surprised, when I started paying attention to my materials, by how much I like aluminum.  It's got a lot of advantages.  It's very lightweight -- while I like the nice weighty feel of, say, glass or stone, that's good when you're working with a lot of heavy materials and fantastic for earrings.  It's easy to cut -- I've ruined a lot of pairs of flush cutters on silver-plated steel chain -- yet it's very very strong.  To my knowledge it never tarnishes.  It's also hypoallergenic.

People react badly to this on occasion.  Aluminum doesn't count as a jewelry metal to them, and it sounds cheap.  But honestly, it's such a phenomenal material that it's a pity people don't value it more.

And on the list of random trivia: Aluminum oxidizes to sapphire.  Sapphire is crystallized, oxidized aluminum.  Therefore, your soda can, your deck chair, and the chain of those bracelets?  Metal coated in sapphire.

If I were a rich man ...

... I would use a lot more of the following.

1.  Cloisonne.  I love cloisonne.  I've recently discovered that this is a passion I share with my maternal grandfather.

Available here.

2.  Ruby.  I've discovered how much I adore this stone.  It can be purply or deep true blood red or pink and has the whole range of opacity.

Available here.

3.  24k gold.  I love to use copper and brass in my jewelry, but I'd love to occasionally use real gold just because it's so hard to find in unique handcrafted pieces, being much more common in traditional fine-jewelry designs.

Available here.

4.  Vintage buttons.  They're so beautiful ... and often so pricey.


Available here.

This, of course, is the nice thing about custom orders; I know the initial outlay for such fine materials will pay off.  Which is so nice.  *sighs wistfully*

Steampunk Apologetics

For those who aren't in the know, I will try to explain steampunk as I explained it to my mom:

Steampunk is a genre marked by the mixture of neo-Victorian artistic sensibilities with the modern mixed feelings toward technology. It's marked by a mixture of bustle gowns and clockwork, safari suits and urban decay.

What does it mean in jewelry and accessories? Lace. Ruffles. Boots. Goggles. Pith helmets. Tailoring. Pinstripes. Romanticism. Hats. Leather. Bronze. Corsets. Overcoats. Victoriana. Technological leftovers. Gunmetal. Cameos. And above all, gears.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, both graphic novels and movie, is arguably steampunk. The works of Jules Verne are a large part of the basis of steampunk. There's a steampunk GURPS book called Castle Falkenstein which my current tabletop campaign is based on.

I've seen steampunk described thus (paraphrasing from several sources here, including The Steampunk Workshop's fashion blog: "Well dressed, meticulously groomed, elegantly mannered, and ever prepared for the imminent collapse of society."

Why the collapse of society? Steampunks don't really think they're living out the Victorian past, though we try to adopt a little of it into our clothing, manners and lifestyle. Steampunk is more based on a dissatisfaction with modernism which draws from all eras but tends to settle on or about the days when the sun never set on the British Empire (though this is certainly not to say that Britain is the only geographical source!) That dissatisfaction results in a drive to beautify the cold, anonymous technologies that surround us, and to be less dependent on others to provide them for us. As someone once said: "Hate the factory, love the machine."

Many steampunks create machines and electronics and clockwork with their own hands. There's a general consensus that self-reliance and DIY are highly desirable.

So what's steampunk to me?

Well, it gives me a sense of purpose to the outdated things I know how to do. I may not be able to build a clock or a tiny hydroelectric generator, which are in some ways the high point of steampunk skills, but .... I can use all sorts of hand tools (you need eight or nine different kinds of pliers at the very least to make all the jewelry I make). I can grow a garden from seed without chemicals. I can make candles, soup and soap. I can start a fire from the embers of one ten hours old with no lighter fluid, paper or matches, and then I can cook a meal over it. I can make fresh paper from junk mail. I can dry flowers and herbs. I can sew both by hand and machine. I'm ready for the collapse of technological society, which gives me a weird and obscure sense of comfort. It's fatalistic, but there's not really all that much pessimism to it.

And on an aesthetic level? It gives me some theme to the fashions I like. A mild steampunk look blends well with my jeans and preppy layered tops, my mismatched knee socks and long skirts, and my obsession with lacy underthings. What are my steampunk elements? I love men's workboots (for reasons of comfort, not fulfilling lesbian stereotypes). I have a vast collection of fedoras. I make my own fascinator clips. It works equally well with my burnt-orange wool overcoat, my military-style sweatshirt-fleece jacket, and my elegant fringed shawls. The gears and chain mixed cameos and filigree, the warrior-chic mixed with the elegance of the romantic Victorianism, appeals to me on the same level where I love to mix fimo with pearls and rust with sparkle.

One of these days, I'm going to realize that all my rants end up at the same place -- i.e., "Because it marries non-matching elements harmoniously! Isn't that COOL?!?!" -- and just go straight from point A to point B without examining all the territory in between in such anal-retentive detail.

Wire and Bat-Squid and Rings, oh my!

A busy weekend for us! M has no fewer than three squid commissions going (Ron Weasley, Batman and Harley Quinn) so she sewed all yesterday. Batman is adorable. He's made of black fleece and deep grey suedecloth, and has a dark grey mask behind his eyes and a yellow fleece toolbelt (pockets and all) around his head. His heart/mouth (she always puts a heart patch between the tentacles, so it's both mouth and heart at once) is the Bat-signal. Tonight we have to get a fabric marker, because I'm going to draw a chess knight on Ron's heart.

We also organized a lot of my beads, pendants and findings. Since M is obsessive-compulsive on a wonderful, wonderful level, she organized them all by color last Christmas when I was struck down with the demon mononucleosis -- and we hadn't done it in a while. God, the number of beads I have.

Finally, I photographed a whole lot of inventory, which means two things:

a.) New items are being posted at last, and
b.) I get to give a blog preview of the new wire-wrapped rings!

This one is in Christmas colors and distressed copper/black wire. It has a nice layered look.

Available here.

This is a pendant-ring set. Unfortunately, I think the bead arrangement on the ring is a little too broad for comfortable wear.

Available soon!

And this one uses a nugget of rich, chocolatey agate and some brass beads that match the ring base. I think this is where I best pulled off the balance of metal tones.

Available soon!

I'm still playing with the technique (combination of wire gauges=yes, nylon-jawed pliers to flatten the wire=no), but those are the three I like best.

An article for buyers

An interesting article for jewelry purchasers from the Federal Trade Commission on what to look for in jewelry descriptions when buying.

I came across this and the only thing I can see lacking is my pearl descriptions ... I rarely say whether they're natural or dyed. I think all the ones I've used in my Etsy shop are dyed or bleached apart from the ones in the birdhouse necklace and the peacock pearls in the button and pearl charm bracelet. Those are natural.

I don't agree with the bit about gold metals -- gold is a color, and is used that way in descriptions, so unless there's a karat weight or the terms "gold-filled" or "gold-plated" or, more rarely, "rolled plate" are used, it's best to assume that goldtone is meant -- but of course the FTC isn't interested in my opinion of their terminology, so I'll go fix that. :) It's a good article for those interested in very fine jewelry.

My jewelry is more at the fashion jewelry end of the spectrum, with some exceptions, but I still try to follow those guidelines. This is partly just a matter of trade honesty, and partly because I don't think "fashion jewelry" means low quality. Unfortunately, we have that association with the term. My work is very high quality and made to last years; however, it's also affordable, which aside from karat weight is just about the only difference between my jewelry and that which can be properly called fine jewelry.

Anyway, it's an interesting article, and there are a few others on the site of interest if you're in a browsing mood.