I already knew how to cast going into the GIA class on casting but I certainly didn’t know everything. Cast is the process of basically turning your idea into a metal piece you can wear. In the jewelry industry this usually starts with a wax. The wax is an exact model of what your piece will look and feel like. Jewelers use waxes because they are inexpensive and because you can change a wax by adding and subtracting until it looks exactly how you want it to look–it is much easier to change a wax than a piece of metal. Once you have a perfect wax, you pour a type of plaster around it and then melt the wax out leaving a hole in the plaster in the exact shape and size of the wax. You then shoot molten metal into that cavity.

At GIA, we learned how to do that process and we got to practice a lot. In order to get that practice we cast from waxes we had carved in a previous class and from waxes we got from molds. In those hundreds of molds were these really fun animals that I just had to cast! They were super cute and with all of the detail they were difficult waxes to perfect and then turn into metal! Check them out!

I think my favorite one is the turtle; what yours?

The other really fun thing we did was make a mold of an actual silver dollar that we got from the beach. We then made a wax from the mold and cast the wax into silver.

What a cool way to keep something that is very fragile in a way that is much less breakable!

If you could, what you would you cast into a silver charm to keep forever?

All of the animal charms are for sale for $19.95 and the silver dollar is for sale for $29.95. Contact me at leah@leahashley.com if you are interested!

Jewelry by nature, is not green.  The mining of gold and gemstones is not exactly green since it disrupts the earth, not to mention how it affects the people actually doing the mining.  Casting is not exactly green because of the chemicals used in the process.  Even jewelry finishing isn’t really green because of the polishing compounds used, and again, the human rights issues.  Even though jewelry is not by nature very green, there are ways to be green-er.

Most companies claiming to be green use what they call “recycled metal.”  This means that they take gold that has already been used for jewelry or other things and re-cast it into something else.  The idea is that by using “recycled” gold, they are reducing the need for gold mining.  This is a great idea in theory and even sometimes in practice.  The problem has to do with the casting process.  When someone casts from casting grain, there are no chemicals in the casting grain that can weaken the finished piece.  They do add something called flux in the casting process to help the metal flow better which doesn’t generally affect that piece of  jewelry unless the caster uses way too much flux.  When someone takes a piece of gold that has already been cast into a piece of jewelry and melts it to cast it into another piece of jewelry, the small amount of chemicals that was in the first piece can start to affect the integrity of the second piece.  This isn’t always an issue, but it can be.  The more times gold is put through the casting process, the more chemicals are added, and the more likely it is to affect the finished product.

One way to get around this but still be slightly green is to sell your jewelry that you don’t wear anymore to one of those “Cash for Gold” places.  I know it sounds stupid, but the gold you sell to these places is sent to a refinery which takes all of the chemicals out of the gold and turns it back into pure casting grain that is then used to make more jewelry.   I don’t know how “green” refineries are, but at least your gold is being re-used and helps with the need to mine more gold out of the earth.

The same idea can be applied to gemstones.  I don’t know of anyone who will buy your gemstones (unless they are getting gold too) but you can always re-use them yourself.  If you take all of the stones from your jewelry that you never wear, use them in a new piece that you will wear, and sell the gold, you have just prevented the need for mining more stones for a new piece of jewelry for yourself.

The big “thing” with diamonds (and other gemstones) is how the people involved in the mining and initial selling of the stones are treated.  I don’t think any jewelry store in the US would knowingly sell “conflict diamonds.”  All of the vendors they buy from claim to use diamonds that are “conflict free.”  There are ways that you as the consumer can be sure that what you are buying are conflict free.  There are stones that you can buy with certificates of origin.  I think Wal-Mart even has a new line that has certificates of where the metal and stones in a piece have been.

My concern is still how the people involved are being treated.  Even if a stone is “conflict” free, that doesn’t mean the miners were treated well and paid a fair wage.  Same for the cutters and even stone setters.  If this is something that concerns you, I recommend buying Canadian diamonds.  The diamond mines in Canada are some of the best in the world (most likely, I don’t know for sure) for safety for employees, fair wages, etc.  You have know though, when you buy anything, diamonds, jewelry, anything that has better conditions for employees, you are going to have to pay a little bit more.  I think Canadian diamonds are around 10% more than African diamonds.

I personally do what I can to be a “green” jeweler.  I don’t have the ability to used recycled gold, but I encourage my customers to buy jewelry wisely.  If you only buy pieces that you really love and will wear, you are already reducing the affect of jewelry on the environment.  I am happy to use stones that a customer already owns.  A lot of “custom” places are really trying to sell you a diamond or a gemstone.  The biggest thing I try to do is keep everything local or at least within the US.  Jewelry made in China, India, Hong Kong, etc. is less expensive because of the working conditions for jewelry manufacturer employees.  By manufacturing in the US I am not supporting how other countries treat their people with low wages and unsafe work environments while also supporting industry in the US (local manufacturing also reduces the need for fuel to transport jewelry.)

If you are looking for “Green Jewelry,” keep in mind that recycled materials are good, but you can be responsible without them.  Don’t buy jewelry unless you really love it, sell your old gold back to jewelers so it can be refined and used for any kind of jewelry, and re-use your own stones that you already have.  I will always do what I can for the environment so if you have any ideas of how to be “Greener” with jewelry, please let me know and I will be happy to do what I can!