Featured Stone: Rose Quartz

Hardness:7

Toughness: good

Rose Quartz is a microcrystalline quartz. The mineral's delicate color comes from titanium, iron, and manganese. This gem frequently has internal inclusions that look translucent to opaque. Some stones will even display asterism. The finest quality rose quartz comes from Brazil.

Rose Quartz has been used as a religious object for thousands of years.

It is a symbol of love and beauty

The name quartz comes from the Saxon word querklufterz which meant cross vein ore.

The Istanbul Collection

I have always been fascinated by the designs on persian rugs. The interlocking vines and leaves are so beautiful and delicate. I wanted to create jewelry to celebrate this timeless design.

The pomegranate is a powerful symbol for many cultures.  The Armenians use it to symbolize fertility, abundance and marriage.

Hatayi is a style of motif mainly from the 15th century. They usually represent flowers or plant like design.

A special thanks to Erica Lopez and Natasha Poetre for their awesome photographs! 

The Modernist Jewelry of Art Smith

On a miserable January day, I decided to play hooky and spend the day at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. While walking around I heard the faint sound of Jazz in the back ground. As I continued to explore the rooms, the jazz became louder and louder. As I entered the gallery from which the music was playing I was floored, it was a show of the Modernist Jewelry of Art Smith.

Oh the joy in my heart as I moved from case to case. I have always loved to forge wire and create torque necklaces, but this was something different. These were the pieces I always wanted to create but somehow fell short. The designs are so deceptively simple and very complex at the same time. They just seem to float, like a Calder mobile.

I managed to return to the gallery about three more times before it closed in February. I have to resist the urge to pull out my planishing hammers and go to town. My neighbors tend to get a bit touchy about nonstop hammering. Until then, I still have my photos and design ideas.....

Featured Stone: Chalcedony

  

Hardness: 6 1/2 – 7
Toughness: Good

Chalcedony is a cryptocrystalline silica aggregate, it is made up of microscopic crystals of quartz and morganite. Chalcedonies vary greatly in color due to its chemical composition. In its simplest form, chalcedony is white to milky grey. The presence of metallic salts give this stone a variety of color. The Chalcedony family includes bloodstone, chrysoprase, jasper, and onyx.
   

•  Chalcedony is named for an ancient Turkish seaport Chalcedon.
•  Greek sailors wore chalcedony to avoid drowning.
•  17th century Europeans believed chalcedony would ward of ghosts.
•  Native American Indians believed chalcedony was a sacred stone.

Top Quality Setting

Coeur Sauvage Jewelry is lucky to have access to highly talented jewelers in the diamond district in New York City. In the coming weeks we will feature  different craftsmen in the area. Our first spotlight features Josef Klein. He is an amazingly talented stone setter and a nice guy to boot! Here is his story in his own words.

"I started setting stones at age 19 in Oak Park, Michigan. Through a family member connection, I became an apprentice for a small jewelry shop in the Advance Building.  It was a mini "47^th Street" in the middle of Michigan.

In 1976 I moved to New York City with a two year plan.  I started working for a setter to complete my training and freelanced on the side. I found it hard to find good people to work with, most setters do not like people to see work in progress nor disclose their setting techniques.

From 1984-89 I shared space with another jeweler in 580 Fifth ave and started to build a regular clientele. This is where I met William Klein who became my mentor. William was truly gifted with all aspects of jewelry craftsmanship, from model making to finishing and stone setting. He was also very willing to teach. He instilled in me that quality is important no matter how much the client pays, because it is the quality they will remember.

In 1990 I started work at Tiffany's. My first month there I was really nervous, but I quickly settled in and started the daily grind. Setting at Tiffany's was a lot different than working on my own.  I found the work monotonous and creatively limiting, but by 1995 I was made shop foreman.

By 1998 I started Top Quality Setting. I enjoy working with new people and love the challenge of setting one-of-a-kind designs."

Top Quality Setting is located at 34 West 46^th St New York, New York 10036.

jktopq007@aol.com

jzkjewelry.moonfruit.com

Janurary 2010

Coeur Sauvage Jewelry wishes you a happy and healthy 2010. (and we really hope your year is better than 2009!)

Coeur Sauvage Jewelry would like to announce the launch of their Facebook Storefront! It is now even easier to shop Coeur Sauvage Jewelry, and as always we use paypal as our payment gateway.

Stay tuned in Febuary for the Ottoman Empire Collection. This collection has been in the works for a while, it is inspired by 15th century leather bookbindings of the Ottoman Empire. This collection will be offered in sterling silver and enamel.

Coeur Sauvage Jewelry is offering the "Autumn Leaf Sweepstakes" Enter to win 1 of 5 Autumn Leaf Pendants. Contest starts this Friday and runs through February 14th, so tell a friend! And better than that ENTER TO WIN!!!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Coeur-Sauvage-Jewelry

Remember to spread the good Karma in 2010!
Best,
Patricia

$s for gold.

We have all seen it, send your unwanted gold jewelry and get cash. By now we have also seen news reports about what a scam it is. But given the high cost of gold and extreme damage to the environment mining for new ore, recycling gold is necessary. The problem lies in the lack of information of what the refining process actually is.

Refining has traditionally been used by jewelers to reclaim metal filings, sprues, sweeps, and other odd scraps that hold no value to the consumer. For example, if you get a ring resized from a size 8 to a size 4, the tiny scrap of gold is collected and stored until enough gold has accumulated to be sent to a refiner. Most refiners will only deal in larger quantities of gold, and will not consider refining anything less than 1 troy ounce for a customer. That is a lot, and I mean a LOT of rings resized.

Almost all legitimate refiners deal on a wholesale level only. To put it bluntly, they do not want business from people who are not in the jewelry industry. You must have a tax ID number and provide information to homeland security. The scrap is bought for a percentage of the daily market value. Since it is not finished jewelry, it turns out to be a good deal.

Selling finished jewelry for scrap may not be the best idea. The appraised value for a finished piece of jewelry is very different than the just the cost of gold in the piece. Other factors are taken into consideration in the appraised value of a finished piece of jewelry such as craftsmanship, wear, and stones. Pawn shops and estate jewelers base value on these factors when they offer a price, not on the direct cost of the gold. The cost difference can be significant. There are many pawn shops and estate jewelers who will offer fair prices for your jewelry. Let them make you an offer, you might be pleasantly surprised.