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OnceIWasAnOstrich posted:It does have a lower melting point. The difficulty with palladium lies in its susceptibility to gas absorption at high temperatures. You do need special equipment, but instead of making it hotter the equipment needs to vacuum the workspace and then fill it with an inert gas so the palladium doesn't absorb oxygen or nitrogen during induction heating, which would cause pores to form weakening the metal. Precisely! I believe the person meant higher melting point than gold, but I could be wrong. Most casters use Argon as the inert gas, when I work with platinum or palladium I send the wax to a place with the proper equipment. Someday I'll be able to do it myself...someday!
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Nov 5, 2013 20:05
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Oh, well that makes a lot more sense then. How much does equipment like that usually run?
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Nov 5, 2013 20:34
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totalnewbie posted:Oh, well that makes a lot more sense then. It's an extremely temperamental metal and there aren't many benefits to the extra production hassles. I only make palladium pieces for special request.
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Nov 5, 2013 22:21
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rockcity posted:Just got my wedding band in from Chris Ploof Designs. Thanks Johnny for the recommendation, they were super easy to work with and ended up getting it done in a lot less time than they originally told me. You're welcome, and that is a great ring. Chris does fine work. VeggieSmuggler posted:How did you get started learning about jewelry? Do you run your own business? How competitive is it? I taught myself. I spent a year reading everything I could get my hands on before I ever bought my first stone. Not having family connections in the business there was a lot of trial and error, unfortunately. I tried to avoid learning things the hard way but have made $10,000 mistakes. They hurt, but you pick yourself up and try not to do it again (after you scramble to pay rent that month). I run my own company and the business is extremely competitive. Most successful companies find a small niche they can do better than everyone else and build on their advantages slowly over time.
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Nov 6, 2013 00:28
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A small wrench was thrown into the holiday sale plans. My photographer is out sick. The jewelry is all finished, the website is built, but the photos aren't done. Hopefully everything should be ready by the last week of November.
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Nov 9, 2013 04:35
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Boo-urns. Seriously though, once it's all worked out, I will probably get something.
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Nov 9, 2013 05:50
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JohnnyRnR posted:A small wrench was thrown into the holiday sale plans. My photographer is out sick. Ready with the *SQUEEEEEEE JEWELRY!!* anyway!
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Nov 9, 2013 18:24
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Ahh, thanks for the correction everyone. I was going on what I was told by the store I ordered my ring from, and that was 2 years ago. Sidenote: I've heard from multiple sources that palladium is grayer than other metals but I can't tell the difference even when holding platinum or white gold next to it. Maybe it's because I'm not constantly looking at precious metals (the ring is the only piece of jewelry I wear regularly) but for the average person looking into alternate metals I wouldn't hold color against it.
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Nov 9, 2013 22:07
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That may be true of some white gold palladium alloys but I put a palladium and platinum ring side by side and the only way I could tell a difference was that the platinum one was heavier.
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Nov 10, 2013 01:29
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JohnnyRnR posted:It's an extremely temperamental metal and there aren't many benefits to the extra production hassles. I only make palladium pieces for special request. What metal would you recommend then for a white gold/light silver appearance that isn't actually white gold (I think I read that platinum turns darker over time)? I am against white gold because I own a white gold ring that has turned yellow on the part that sits on the underside of my finger and I don't want that to happen to an engagement ring that I would wear every day. Then again, that ring is only 9ct gold, could that be a factor?
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Nov 12, 2013 12:13
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So I'm planning on proposing to my  GIRLFRIEND on new years. I want to get her a nice gemstone ring since we're both against diamonds, she loves colorful things, and I can get a larger gem for a comparable price. I just feel INCREDIBLY lost when it comes to deciding on a ring for her. Just looking at rings makes me extremely anxious.I only have a vague idea of what I think looks good after looking through this thread, in stores, and online. Nendil posted this: http://www.myjewelrybox.com/?section=item&itemID=14601 which I thought was gorgeous. When I visited my local jeweler, they showed me a number of rings with rainbow sapphires that looked colorful like I wanted, but not as exciting as I would like; I want to make sure that whatever I get her is fancy enough to show off as an engagement ring. My local jeweler also seemed to distinguish between engagement rings, which had diamonds, and gemstone rings. Some other pieces that stood out to me: http://www.myjewelrybox.com/?section=item&itemID=11911 http://www.zales.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2870456 I really like how the band looks on opposite sides of the gems. I also got her a garnet ring in the past which she loved, but we both wish the setting let in more light to show off the color of the gem. So I have a number of questions for you jeweling goons. Is it tacky to propose with a gemstone ring?  On the same note: are heart cut gems tacky for an engagement ring? How hard would it be to have a custom piece made if I like a style but want different gems/cuts or a different band? Could you suggest some pieces? I'd really appreciate any suggestions or help.
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Nov 12, 2013 18:57
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Eden posted:I am against white gold because I own a white gold ring that has turned yellow on the part that sits on the underside of my finger and I don't want that to happen to an engagement ring that I would wear every day. Then again, that ring is only 9ct gold, could that be a factor? Your 9ct ring likely is made with a high copper alloy then rhodium plated for the bright white finish. You can always have it replated every few years or use a different metal. I'd use a white gold alloy that's bright white. 19k Ultra White or 14k X-1 are my favorites. Pyraen posted:So I have a number of questions for you jeweling goons. Gemstone engagement rings are selling very well lately. However, you really need to know what your girlfriend is expecting or likes. I'd make sure she's open to a gemstone ring and then seek out quality gemstones. Colored gems are a different beast than diamonds and the differences in quality can be readily apparent even at first glance. Custom pieces won't be a difficult process (the jeweler does all the hard stuff), but will cost more than the pieces you've linked. All that extra time and work will raise the price quite a bit.
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Nov 12, 2013 20:24
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Eden posted:What metal would you recommend then for a white gold/light silver appearance that isn't actually white gold (I think I read that platinum turns darker over time)? I am against white gold because I own a white gold ring that has turned yellow on the part that sits on the underside of my finger and I don't want that to happen to an engagement ring that I would wear every day. Then again, that ring is only 9ct gold, could that be a factor? Definitely. 14K and 18K white golds have special formulas to make them as white as possible. That being said they can still have a slight tinge of yellow to them (sometimes, and very faint) which is why people will rhodium plate rings. It's industry standard and brightens the ring up a bit more as well. Pyraen posted:So I'm planning on proposing to my Congrats! Personally, if neither of you don't like diamonds then don't get them. I think an engagement ring is all about what it means to the couple and not what it's "supposed" to be. To answer your questions: 1. Not tacky at all, see above  gemstone rings can have all the class! Just look at Johnny's stuff, it makes me go  2. Personal preference really. I think heart cuts are slightly a bit less "engagement-y" but again, if she likes them then that's what's important. 3.Custom work is available to fit almost every possibility and budget. It should be neither a daunting nor scary experience and can produce something unique and amazing. Also to add to the moissanite train, it's an almost white stone that is much less expensive and will definitely have 0 of the ethical problems diamonds do. Always something to look into! EDIT: Hah! Beaten by Johnny! 
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Nov 12, 2013 20:43
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I just got engaged and my fiance  got me the exact ring I wanted:http://www.moissanite.com/nellie-150-cttw-oval-moissanite-ring-14k-white-or-yellow-gold-15849 I love the style, but now that I see it in person, the sheer size of the thing is kind of freaking me out. I promised I wouldn't mess with it for a few weeks to see if I get used to it, but just out of curiosity I wanted to ask how difficult it would be to scale it down. Ideally, I'd like to replace the center stone with a smaller oval-cut moissanite and possibly bring the overall height of the ring down. How difficult/expensive would this be for the average local jeweler? Would it just take some adjusting, or would they have to melt the whole ring down and cast it again? Is there a reason it needs to be so tall? Will it kill the light refraction or something to bring everything closer to my finger? Everyone keeps looking at me like I'm crazy when I say I want a smaller stone, and I've gotten several unsolicited rants from my coworkers about how they would happily upgrade to a larger diamond given the chance. But it's not a diamond, and I just don't want it to be so hugely flashy. I still love the overall design of the ring, and I'm glad he got the exact one I asked for, but now that I see it in person, it just doesn't look quite like a ring that I want to wear for the rest of my life.
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Nov 12, 2013 21:14
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Claes Oldenburger posted:Definitely. 14K and 18K white golds have special formulas to make them as white as possible. That being said they can still have a slight tinge of yellow to them (sometimes, and very faint) which is why people will rhodium plate rings. It's industry standard and brightens the ring up a bit more as well. I have a related question. The inside of my wedding ring is starting to get a noticeable yellow tint as opposed to the rest of the ring, so I assume the rhodium plating is coming off. Is it detrimental to the ring if I don't go get it replated right now? I'm just kind of lazy about it and it doesn't bother me much, but I don't want to ruin my ring. Also, my jeweler told me to come get my rings soldered together ASAP but I never did because I work the same hours as my jeweler. Is there some reason I need to?
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Nov 12, 2013 21:44
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DaChurl posted:How difficult/expensive would this be for the average local jeweler? Would it just take some adjusting, or would they have to melt the whole ring down and cast it again? Is there a reason it needs to be so tall? Will it kill the light refraction or something to bring everything closer to my finger? It would be a very small issue to lower the stones and scale the center down. You'll have to buy a new center, but it won't be too expensive. Have the existing center made into a pendant or something that you can wear for your wedding. john mayer posted:Is it detrimental to the ring if I don't go get it replated right now? I'm just kind of lazy about it and it doesn't bother me much, but I don't want to ruin my ring. There's no need to hurry in for re-plating. It's just an aesthetic choice and helps a ring stay shiny longer. And I advise against soldering your rings together. Leave them separate so you have the option to wear one or the other (like when traveling). There's no reason to tie the rings together.
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Nov 13, 2013 00:20
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I want to do an add-a-pearl type necklace for my daughter, but I don't see the need to pay someone to do it when I think I can get some silk thread and a string of loose pearls and do it myself. Is this a bad idea? Is there a smarter way to do this? And, where can I get decent quality loose pearls?
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Nov 18, 2013 16:53
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For something like this you'll mostly be restricted to Chinese freshwater pearls. Which are not very expensive and pretty. You can buy beading supplies and many different types of pearls from Fire Mountain Gems. http://www.firemountaingems.com/pearls.asp?navsrc=2
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Nov 19, 2013 15:57
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Once again I'm launching a private sale for Goons only. This year it will only be for two weeks (Nov 25 to Dec 9) and will feature special pricing on all of my newest jewelry (and a pretty amazing deal I put together just for this). I ask that you sign up for a password this year, and they will be emailed out at 9pm EST on the 25th. I won't be using these signups to send marketing in the future. http://eepurl.com/I3FV5 It's just my way of saying thanks - In my first few years the sales I made to Goons were the difference between keeping the rent paid and not. Answering questions here is a lot of fun for me.
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Nov 19, 2013 16:26
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Signed up!
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Nov 19, 2013 16:50
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I signed up! The necklace you made for me a few years ago is one of my fiancee's favourite pieces, and she gets compliments on it pretty consistently!
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Nov 19, 2013 17:12
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Signed up! I'm excited to see what you have available this time around. Really appreciate all that you do, from the education to hooking us nerds up with classy jewelry. I highly recommend Johnny's shop to anyone interested in some beautiful pieces and a no BS jeweler.
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Nov 19, 2013 18:07
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Signed up! Loved the amethyst and tourmaline I got last year!
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Nov 19, 2013 22:37
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Yayyy, I signed up! And I may send the password to my mother-in-law with a reminder that my birthday is not long after Christmas. She's good at keeping the Hubs in line when it comes to jewelry for me - last time he picked something on his own it was a pair of earrings that must have weighed five stone.
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Nov 20, 2013 02:40
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Signed up! I'm almost certainly going to be too broke to afford something, but I may as well ogle and see if anything falls within my holiday budget.
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Nov 20, 2013 02:48
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I've signed up! Shipping to Australia by any chance? If not I love looking at your work anyway
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Nov 20, 2013 03:47
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JohnnyRnR posted:Once again I'm launching a private sale for Goons only. This year it will only be for two weeks (Nov 25 to Dec 9) and will feature special pricing on all of my newest jewelry (and a pretty amazing deal I put together just for this). Johnny, how do you handle shipping internationally(specifically UK)? I have a feeling that having to pay Import Tax is going to make using your services prohibitively costly.
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Nov 20, 2013 12:26
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Signed up. Once yesterday once today. I have a new email and it has one of my nickanmes in it....and I have 2 common nicknames, sigh. I'm pretty sure the first one was wrong.
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Nov 21, 2013 23:04
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I have no problem shipping to the rest of the world, but it's always a question of whether the taxes work or not. With the sale prices I think the landed price (with VAT, etc) would still be quite a bit less than the High Street prices. I sell jewelry to several Canadian jewelers and a few in the UK, too.
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Nov 22, 2013 02:09
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I just made my latest set of cufflinks. They are made out of an antique tile, with brass enclosure. 
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Nov 23, 2013 02:34
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I signed up as well. I'm very excited to see what you have up this year - I missed last year's sale. How many pieces will there be? I mean, I guess I'll find out tomorrow, but I'm curious.
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Nov 24, 2013 22:56
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Hey Jewelers, does anyone know anything about Turquoise or have some awesome samples of the stuff? Does anyone here make jewelery with Turquoise or are of you more European centric? Does Turquoise stack up in value and demand to other precious gems?
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Nov 25, 2013 03:32
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I can tell you as a gemologist that turquoise is one of the most difficult gems to buy, because distinguishing real from fake can be almost impossible unless you are a turquoise expert. There is dyed howlite, there is reconstituted turquoise, resins and dyed glass, a bunch of dyes, wax and epoxy coating, not to mention Gilson turquoise. It is hardly ever well polished so you can forget about using the refractometer, it is opaque so you can't use a polariscope on it. It has a spectrum, but you probably won't see it, so don't bother with a spectroscope... That rant aside, it is one of my favorite gems and I buy it often. Your question about how it stacks up against other gems is extremely vague, as gems vary in price really widely. It is not nearly as rare as rare or valuable as diamonds, rubies, or sapphires, if that is what you are asking, but it is more valuable than quartz. Turquoise is also often in silver jewelry, which is not as valuable as gold. As an aside, the Persian turquoise deposits in Iran and Egypt are all depleted now. Currently mined turquoise comes primarily from the southern US and Mexico, China (the Chinese turquoise is greener) They are quite porous and have a hardness of only 4 to 6 so are fragile. Don't let them anywhere near your nail file, don't submerge them in any liquids and keep them away from high heat or they will crumble. If you want to clean them just use soapy water; no steam jet and absolutely no ultrasound (they can lose their colour) I am not a jeweler though, so maybe someone else can speak more to your questions about international markets etc. Edit: Almost forgot to mention, turquoise has black or brown veins (and rarely, golden pyrite inclusions), NOT grey. If it has grey veins, it is probably dyed howlite. Zratha fucked around with this message at 14:47 on Nov 25, 2013 |
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Nov 25, 2013 14:41
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I've got a question about men's contemporary metal rings. The wife and I have recently started looking into getting bands but she's more into the men's style rings without stones. I ordered a cobalt chrome ring and a titanium ceramic ring from Amazon Curated Collections, both of which ended up being Benchmark made rings. I love them and they've both been durable as hell. So we wanted to get another one specifically for her but the problem is that Amazon Curated doesn't carry any sizes below 8. I could buy from a third party seller, but the prices are four times as much. In the meantime, I purchased a titanium brushed metal ring from a lower end vendor that looks beautiful but in the few days she's worn it, it's gotten scratched to hell. So obviously it's a shot in the dark on whether the rings online are quality made or not. We visited a local jeweler and they have a ring that she likes from... Scott Kay? It's titanium with a gold stripe down the middle. The problem is it's like $400-$600. The tungsten version was around $300. I found this tungsten ring on Amazon by Titanium Kay: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EPGU7M/ Is this a good company to buy from and does that seem like a reasonable price for a tungsten/gold ring?
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Nov 25, 2013 18:44
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Dunno about the first one, but Boone Rings (https://www.boonerings.com) could make you either of the latter two. Bruce is a good guy, I highly recommend his excellent service. Lots of interesting things on his site in our opinion too, and if I could justify a second set of rings I would definitely buy from him again!
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Nov 25, 2013 23:10
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Holy crap Johnny some of the pieces in the sale are amazing. The missus is particularly enamoured with the Tourmaline Earrings.
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Nov 26, 2013 11:33
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Hey Johnny, are you selling any platinum chains to go with your pendants?
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Nov 26, 2013 15:12
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That colour changing sapphire ring!  Too bad I forgot to save for the sale.
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Nov 26, 2013 17:08
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StorrowS posted:Holy crap Johnny some of the pieces in the sale are amazing. The missus is particularly enamoured with the Tourmaline Earrings. Grrl Anachronism posted:That colour changing sapphire ring! Too bad I forgot to save for the sale. So I signed up for the list last night (perhaps too late to get in on the list?). I don't think it has unlocked anything for me, but I see the color changing sapphire. Is it just lowerish prices on the same public page, or is there an additional set of stuff? On another note: I've been stalking this thread since before I was a subscriber here and I've always been in love with Johnny's work. I'm currently in the early-shopping phase of engagement ring purchase, but made sure to check out his stuff. She mentioned at dinner the other night that she wants a Ruby rather than a diamond, which lead me to this one (which I personally fell for!): http://www.johnnybrookheart.com/collections/colored-gem-engagement/products/two-twenty-two-ruby-ring It is an incredible ring, though I have some concerns. 1- I see the measurements, but don't really have a sense of scale on this one. I imagine 2.22 carats of Ruby is significantly larger than a 2 carat diamond, but I'm not sure how well it would fit? I stole her right-hand ring the other day, and found she is between 5.5 and 5.75 (so I'd order 5.5, since her left hand is smaller slightly), and am a bit afraid that something too big would get in the way. 2- Does a ruby react to light/get 'brighter' at all? The image here makes it seem a little dark. 3- She's a fairly active person, so I'm a bit afraid it might get 'bumped' a bit. Is that going to be a problem with something like this? Thanks to Johnny/whoever can give answers, I'm a little nervous about this whole process (for obvious reasons, plus spending that much!).
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Nov 26, 2013 18:08
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Is there any way to get gold plating off a silver ring (faster?) I have an old 24k gold plated sterling silver ring and the color where the plating is wearing off is much nicer than the fake looking gold color elsewhere. Just curious if there's a way I can get the plating off.
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Nov 26, 2013 18:25
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