Here at Jewel Envy, we love guiding students through the lows and highs of a new skill. It is so satisfying to watch someone go from the wonder of taking in a sample, to the synaptic fireworks of attempting a new practice, to the awe and celebration of accomplishment.
We have one more class scheduled for 2023, so check out our calendar and sign up asap to increase your skill set with something shiny and beautiful.
Chains take a lot of abuse from daily wear. They rub against your skin, clothes, other accessories and are frequently pulled. Even gentle pressure affects their strength. Depending on current styles, chains may be sold that are actually too fine for everyday wear.
They may even be made from gold or platinum, but if they break frequently, they are experiencing a heavier use than what was intended in their manufacture.
If the chain is really thin, it is not meant for everyday wear. It cannot hold a lot of weight, i.e. a large or heavy pendant, and will most likely break over time.
To determine the quality of costume chains, examine the links. If they are not soldered shut, meaning there is a break in the links, they can easily be pulled apart. This is more of a concern for small to fine chains than larger thicker diameter link chains.
Small chains that have links less than 1mm in thickness are most secure when there is no break in them. Chains made from stainless steel or titanium are quite strong, but it is still important to make sure they cannot slip out from each other at the point where links have a break in them.
Some chains have what is called a break away jump ring on at least one side of the claps. Do not confuse this with poor craftsmanship as this is considered a safety precaution. In the event a chain becomes caught on something, the unsoldered jump ring will allow the chain to break away first before the wearer can be choked.
’20 Tips on maintaining our Jewellery’, Gillian E. Batcher, 2013
We all have pieces that we like some aspect of, but often wish for something new, right? We love working with clients to re-invigorate their jewellery, whether to restore it to its original (or close to original!) glory, or to re-imagine it into a new piece altogether. One recent project is this brooch:
gold brooch, with sapphire and diamond halo.
It has pretty big sentimental value, but the client wasn’t happy with the yellow gold, and decided she wanted to split it into two pieces. She loves white gold, and was enamored with the echo of the “Princess Diana” ring, so wanted to try for a modern take that fit with her personal style. So, we removed the sapphire (which is a spectacular colour!) and the diamonds, and made a new, truly unique ring.
14kt palladium white gold, central sapphire, with a “broken” halo on different levels.
We’re not stopping there! The original brooch will get a bit of a makeover too, but that’s something for the future.
Have something lurking around your jewellery box that you wish you would wear more often? Bring it in, and we’ll help you figure out how to make it your own again!
Enjoy the weather, and we hope to see you soon in the studio!
Over time settings can wear away. Rubbing occurs with normal wear and if you are not careful you can lose a stone when a claw setting has worn thin or completely worn off.
If you have expensive stones or lots of little stones you need to pay attention to your settings.
The first thing you can do is learn to hear a loose stone by tapping the stone with your nail and listening for clicking or jingling sounds. If the stone is loose you will be able to hear it move when you tap it.
This is a good first line of defense for checking your stones and their settings.
Next, look at the metal holding the stones in place in your jewellery. If it is a claw setting look at the balls on top of the claws holding the stone. There should be at lease .5mm thickness of metal on each claw. If the claws look completely flat or if the ball is missing, it needs to be re-tipped.
If your stone is set in a bezel, (a rim of metal around the top of the stone) look for racks in the metal around the stone. A bezel setting is the strongest setting and will show less wear than other types of settings.
Finally, make sure all your settings are fully touching your stones and have no sharp edges. A good rule is the nylon test. Run a nylon stocking across the setting and if it snags anywhere, it needs some work by your local goldsmith.
’20 Tips on maintaining our Jewellery’, Gillian E. Batcher, 2013
Recently I was able to attend and exhibit at Contemporania in Barcelona. Here are some highlights from my time there! The event took place at the extravagant Palau Reial de Pedralbes.
We are collaborating with Kerry Flowwa to bring her arts and culture meet up group to Jewel Envy for a jewellery arts discussion combined with the social cause of fundraising to help bring Shafiq’s family to safety.
Kerry organizes group events through Meet Up to discover local gems in her current city. As a world traveller she finds joy in making new discoveries and connections with locals and transplants wherever she goes. But her events aren’t just about making new friends she always chooses a way to give back to people through the charitable organization she founded called Flowwa. She registered her charity to help people “replace fear with joy, in the trauma-recovery journey” which she experienced first hand but that is a story for her to share.
Our event will be centered around Jewel Envy’s support for resident Shafiq Sarwari and helping bring his family to safety in Canada. Shafiq will be sharing his story of jewellery making, his flight from Afghanistan, and how a simple request for help turned into years of working on fundraising to bring his family to Canada.
Please RSVP here.
The event is free and people are welcome to donate on the spot with a chance to win a genuine diamond!
This game was inspired by a game I played as a child at the Exhibition in the summer. My grandfather used to take all of the grand-kids each year to the Ex but this trip was difference since it was with my dad and brother. My dad loved the vendor buildings and one person, whose booth I still remember, must have been selling jewellery, but also had this gemstone tray set up. You paid a fee and then got to guess which stone was a genuine diamond. They were all .10ct stones and I did not win….but that game has always stuck with me and as a professional goldsmith I have been able to run it a couple times at my studio over the years. I last time was in 2016 and we’re bringing it back for tomorrow nights event. Out of these 50 stones 47 of them are cubic zirconia, 2 are moissanite, and one is a genuine .16ct G/H I2 diamond. Donate money to the fundraising and have your chance to guess the correct stone. If you guess correct you will be notified after the event and the stone will be yours!
*if multiple people guess correctly there will be a draw for the winner as we only have one diamond to give away. The diamond has a retail value of $500.
What word sums up the daily life of a Goldsmith at Jewel Envy? Inventive.
When jewellery is handmade, creativity in the design in expected, BUT that is not all. The “how” and the “with what” is at least as creative. It can mean learning a new skill, or buying a new tool, which we love, and then what? What if there is no book, no commercial tool available for the brilliantly beautiful creation keeping us up at night? We hypothesize, we experiment, we create a process to form our creation. Many times, we modify or create new tools, which means we need to know how to work steel, or rework electronics, or read and enter new code.
The next time you visit us at Jewel Envy, and you see an interesting piece, ask us how it was made. The answer might surprise you.
At Jewel Envy, we see lots of chains. We sell chains, we make chains, and we repair chains. Here are some observations and tips from the goldsmith’s bench:
Most people concentrate on style, length and price when choosing a chain. However, one of the most important considerations is strength! The required strength depends on how often the chain will be worn, what conditions it will endure, and the size/weight of any pendant it is expected to hold. It is vital to the lasting enjoyment of a new or newly repaired necklace or bracelet to discuss a chain’s tolerance with a goldsmith. You will be glad you did!
When the required size or preferred look of a gold chain is out of the budget, there are options that meet a multitude of needs without compromising aesthetic.
Gold plated means that a microscope layer of genuine gold has been added, though an electric process, to a more affordable metal. It will need re-plating as it wears with time and use, but it is a great way to showcase a special piece or a special outfit.
Gold filled means that a layer of gold has been fused to another metal, completely covering it so that it looks like a solid gold piece. It contains more gold and costs more than a plated piece, but the gold endures longer and looks great!
Hollow chains are made through a process that allows for larger looking genuine gold links without the weight and cost of solid gold. The links are completely empty behind their very thin gold walls. They will not hold up to pulling, stretching, or squishing, but with gentle care, they provide beauty and style for moderate budgets.
The most versatile is solid gold. It keeps it’s colour, it can be repaired, and it holds value. As long as the correct chain is chosen for the correct job, it can endure a long time.
If you have any questions, drop by and have a chat with one of our Goldsmiths. This is what we do!
The goldsmiths at Jewel Envy have worked on such a wide range of ideas for custom gifts and after combing through some of our creations I wanted to put together a small group of great starting points for gift ideas for when you want to get someone something special and don’t know where to start!
-Alexis
A great starting point is favourite colour. A typical go-to for a jewellery gift would be to select a person’s birthstone and create a piece of jewellery design with that. BUT, what if your person doesn’t like their birthstone? We suggest going with a favourite colour! Colour can be added into jewellery in so many ways: gemstones, enamel, inlay, metal surface treatments, adding fibre such as felt. We have done it all!
We have been trained by years of advertising and marketing that the penultimate way to show love and sentiment is with a diamond. One of the most unique (and we would say precious) ways to create a custom piece of jewellery is to bring us a momento from a time spent with someone that holds sentiment and meaning beyond the material value. We have worked alongside customers to transform small rocks and pebbles from memorable life moments into something wearable.
Whether it is transforming a small pebble into a simple pendant with a skillfully drilled hole and bail, or hand carving one of a kind settings to hold them in a necklace/earring set.
Do they have a favourite book/movie/tv show character?
We can go the extra mile to replicate or design something that reflects their fandom and give them a one of a kind collectible.
