28 Aug 07:15
  Custom Challenge VIII

It was winter and the snow fell thick and silent around the store. We were up to our ears in custom work, but never too busy to turn away one more.

A woman walked in with a ring that needed some repair. After examining it, we pointed out to her the worn shank, broken bridgework, missing prongs. It was a wreck. Repairing it would be almost ridiculous, as it would be primarily composed of solder when complete.

…but rebuilding it, now that was an option.

The sapphire center was still in excellent condition, one diamond was missing but could be matched, and the setting was just not her style anymore anyhow. Sorry we don’t ... a button to read the full article text

Published by Sarah Christenson Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:15:00 GMT no comments permalink
28 Aug 06:28
  Custom Challenge XV

What does one do, exactly, when one has multiple stones to put into a design? When you have sapphires, diamonds, and an errant garnet? What about when you have several stones larger than the rest?

Well, if you’re obsessive compulsive about math, your brain sorts the stones out into a pattern. If the number of stones happens to be easily divisible by four, you have a square just begging to be carved!

The garnet that belonged to the customer wound up being too abraded to use, so we found a lovely cropped-corner square to fit in the center, and this entire necklace just came together with ease and grace.

Pardon us if we̵ ... a button to read the full article text

Published by Sarah Christenson Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:28:00 GMT no comments permalink
21 Jul 06:50
  New Designs for Wexford

2007-2008 has been a time of change for Wexford Jewelers. Not only have we completely revamped our landscaping, we just painted our building! We’ve stared at mottled orange & brown brick for so long, the soft gray structure sitting at the corner of Mitchell & River Streets is almost unrecognizable!

Add to that new paint inside, new concrete sidewalks (at least on two sides of the building), a new design studio inside, a new and huge repair/finishing shop, this new and awesome website, and this place seems suddenly like a lovely chrysalis, a shining butterfly emerging from a dusty cocoon.

I will post photos later of the new paint job/garden/sidewalk. The painters are not quite done as o ... a button to read the full article text

Published by Sarah Christenson Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:50:00 GMT 1 comment permalink

Whether it was the advent of spring, the task of cleaning my outdated wardrobe, or just a lifelong fixation with the color green, I had to build this ring this past month.

Having recently acquired a couple of cat’s eye chrysoberyls, I was anxious to use them in some stunning piece. I think we pulled it off, don’t you?

I began with a simple bezel of extruded blue wax. This is a softer wax, perfect for forming. Bending the wax to within a millimeter tolerance of the stone, I secured it on the bottom with a more rigid piece of Ruby Red wax, extendin ... a button to read the full article text

Published by Sarah Christenson Tue, 27 May 2008 23:58:00 GMT no comments permalink

Gold at nearly a thousand US dollars an ounce. Platinum over two thousand. Silver, incredibly enough, at twenty dollars an ounce.

Did we honestly think we would see these prices this early on?

The falling value of the dollar coupled with instability in the markets has set this industry on its ear. Then we add low mine production to the mixture, and suddenly a reachable commodity becomes just one more thing that’s harder for the common man to acquire. We’ve had a spike like this before, but not with such a steady upward trend. Is it going to stay this way? Who knows. I, for one, think it will.

Rather than bemoan the price- which I can do nothing about- I want to address the situation ... a button to read the full article text

Published by Michael Christenson II Sat, 08 Mar 2008 12:51:00 GMT no comments permalink


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