DeSantis Jewelry Artisans

Hot off the jeweler’s bench is this magnificent cocktail ring featuring a massive 2.83ct lime citrine faceted by master stone cutter John D. Dyer.

Black Opal is that naturally occurring one piece or solid opal, which is jet black to dark grayish-blue or deep brown in color, and absorbs most white light impinging on it and reflects only a minimum. As a consequence, all optical diffraction effects are much more brilliant because of the sharp tonal contract.

Black Opal, a gemstone which has had an important effect overseas as a product of Australian, requires this precise meaning so that the quality of this gem can be meaningfully established. Sometimes off-colored white opal has been passed off to a visitor as being black opal!

-from “A Field Guide to Australian Opals”, by Barrie O’Leary

Handmade jewelry is any piece of jewelry which has been assembled and formed by hand rather than through the use of machines. According to the guidelines of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), in order to be stamped or called “handmade” the work must be made solely by hand power or hand guidance. In essence, this means that jewelry may be made using drills, lathes, and other machinery, but it must be guided by human hand. This precludes the use of punch presses and CNC (computer numerical control) machinery, to name a few processes that would not qualify as “handmade”. Beyond that caveat it can be anything made out of anything that would be considered jewelry. The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) Spectrum awards, the Gem Center Idar Oberstein, and the De Beers Awards include awards specifically for handmade jewelry.

Although there is much mass produced jewelry in the world, there are many people who prefer to have work that is hand-crafted by a real artisan, and the arena of hand made jewelry and other items will likely remain healthy because of that fact. Much jewelry that is marked or sold as “hand made” often is not truly so, though it may be essentially so.

What I am about to explain is very valuable and can potentially make you a very good inlayer. I have spent many years figuring out how to inlay all types of precious stones into jewelry, mostly through trial and error. I am self taught with no formal instruction or teachings.

When I first started inlaying, I used an old wet lapidary machine arbor with worn trizact belts. I was getting sub-standard results. The drums were very old and the machine would rattle around which gave me an inconsistent straight edge for grinding and polishing. Once a piece is inlayed, there is much to consider, such as multi-stone polishing and polishing stones next to metal whether it’s silver, gold, etc. In my opinion, cabbing is far easier than inlaying. It is easier because you are only grinding and polishing one stone.

I also started inlaying hand carved channels which were not symmetrical making the inlay process more difficult. A good straight channel will make a noticeable difference, just as a perfect round channel is easier to inlay rather than an imperfect round channel. For round inlay pieces, I glue a toothpick to the stone such as a dop stick, then inlay with ease. For all other pieces, I use small tweezers which feel comfortable to the grip.

Once I bought my first diamond 220 grit steel back wheel, I was inlaying cleaner and faster! You will find that diamond tools are superior to any other lapidary tools on the market. After years of working with this wheel, it still has a clean edge and cuts remarkably fast. You get what you pay for. A 220 grit soft back wheel comes in handy for fragile stones such as lapis and spiney oyster. When inlaying these stones, I use the soft back wheel first, and then gently touch them on the steel back wheel creating a flush and uniform straight edge. These wheels work well on most lapidary arbors.

-Brent DeSantis

I added a few new rings to our catalog today. You can check them out under our New Products page.

Jewellery (Jewelry in American English) is literally any piece of fine material used to adorn one’s self. The word jewellery is derived from the word jewel, which was anglicised from the Old French “jouel” in around the 13th century. Further tracing leads back to the Latin word “jocale”, meaning plaything.

We now have an additional jewelry fabrication studio set up in Tucson, AZ. In the past, at our Tucson jewelry retail store, we were forced into sending our repairs and custom jewelry work back to our Albuquerque, NM studio. Now, with full scale jewelry design studios in both Albuquerque, NM and Tucson, AZ, we can gladly offer a faster turn around time on jewelry repairs and custom jewelry fabrication. I will post some pics of out new Tucson studio very soon.

Jonas DeSantis

Do’s and Don’ts:

DON’T wear fine jewelry when doing housework or gardening.

DON’T heap your jewelry into one drawer. Remember a diamond ring can scratch that pearl necklace. Keep them separate and, ideally, wrapped in velvet, paper, silk or plastic zip-lock bag.

DO let your jeweler check for loose stones frequently.

DO get pearls restrung when the cord begins to fray.

DO clean fine jewelry often to maintain its sparkle and beauty.

DON’T use toothpaste as its abrasives can damage softer gems and metals. Most fine jewelry can be safely cleaned by soaking for 10 minutes in warm soapy water (using a mild detergent soap). Use a soft brush on harder gems to loosen any dirt around the prongs. To reduce greasy build-up on diamond jewelry, dip it in plain alcohol before soaking.

DO store fine jewelry carefully, observing the following guidelines:

DO Store jewelry in a dry place and avoid extremes of temperature and humidity.

DO Keep gemstone-studded jewelry, pearls, and gold and silver pieces separated from each other to prevent scratching. Store fine jewelry pieces in soft pouches, soft cloth wraps or plastic “zip-lock” bags to help protect them.

DON’T overcrowd your jewelry box. Crowding can result in misplaced or lost jewelry if a small piece falls unnoticed from the case. Occasionally, forcing too much jewelry into the box may even bend a fragile piece or chip a delicate stone.

By Jonas DeSantis March 19, 2009

As we(jewelers) all know, diamonds are the hardest mineral known to man and is then followed by softer stones such as corundum and further down the Mohs scale to opals and emeralds. However, if a diamond is exposed to enough pressure, it can and will chip or break.

I mainly want to talk about the more unforgiving stones such as opal. Most opals are mined in parts of the world where explosives like dynamite are used to break apart mass amount of earth in order to expose precious gemstones. The problem with this is, the explosives used send vibrations though the earth up to hundreds of miles away which can make opals unstable.

Back in our earlier years of dealing with opal, my father had made an outstanding pendant for my mother which was an anniversary gift. The opal was around 8Ct’s. and displayed a wide range of brilliant colors. Unfortunately, about 6-8 months after setting the opal, it developed a crack right down the middle of the stone. Knowing that the pendant was never dropped or mishandled, the only thing we concluded was that the opal was extremely unstable, most likely due to it being mined in an area where explosives were used.

The main thing I want to convey is know where your opal is coming from. Ask questions when purchasing opal jewelry. Knowing the origin of the stone and how long its been in the merchant’s possession is a must.

Australian opals are extremely valuable due to the nature of how they are mined. They DO NOT use any blasting in their opal mining. Chisels and small drills are the extent of the mining in Australia. This is the one of the reasons for Australian opals being high in price; however, it’s insurance that your stone won’t develop any cracks down the road.

Jonas DeSantis

A lady called me this morning in regards to purchasing a silver and gold ring from us but was hesitant because she was taken advantage of in the past when making an online purchase and never received her merchandise.

Do a little homework on the merchant you are considering purchasing from. Read any reviews they might have. Pay via credit card as major credit cards provide buyer protection.

Here are some links to check out;

http://usa.visa.com/personal/security/protect_yourself/basics/index.html
http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/cardholderservices/guidetobenefits/

Jonas DeSantis