Just a warning for my readers, this is going to be a bit of a rant. If you do not want to hear a very opinionated view point about chain jewelry stores and the Holidays, then come back next week.

That being said, the worst part of the holiday season in my opinion is the commercials! I know every industry is guilty of an over abundance of commercials in December but I think jewelry stores are particularly bad.

We all know the slogans–”Every kiss begins with Kay” and “Zales, the diamond experts” and there are always the local ones that are just as bad but without the budget behind them. I hate these commercials.

First, I don’t agree that you should always buy jewelry for Christmas and that “what she really wants is diamonds” (I’m pretty sure I saw or heard that somewhere but am not sure where.) I love buying gifts for my family, especially if there is something they REALLY will love and wouldn’t have bought for themselves. I have definitely given jewelry for Christmas, but I don’t do it every year. This year, I was thinking of gifts for my mom and I know she loves sapphires. Every time I am with her and we pass by a jewelry store, she will, without a doubt, pick out a yellow gold ring or pendant with a round or oval sapphire in the middle and diamonds going all the way around the sapphire. She is really drawn to that design. She also does not own anything like it. I considered for a second making her that piece this year for Christmas. But, then I talked to her and to my dad and found out what she really wants is a new laptop and a pink cardigan. Why would I spend hundreds (maybe over a thousand) dollars making her a piece of jewelry when that isn’t what she wants or needs this year? I love jewelry, but the bottom line is that it isn’t actually useful. I think jewelry should be used to punctuate and represent things that are REALLY special–not every Christmas, birthday, Mother’s Day, anniversary, Friday, you get the idea.

Second, these commercials are LYING to you!! Yes, all of the jewelry stores, even the ones we love to hate, do have some very nice “real” jewelry. But guess what, what you are seeing on the commercial for $199.99 doesn’t fall into that category. Those pieces don’t even look like that in person! They are airbrushed just like models to look better than they do in real life. The diamonds are made to look whiter, clearer, and sparkle-ier, and consumers fall for it. There is a reason why some diamond studs cost $79.99 and and some cost $300 for the same size stones. We all know about the 4 C’s of diamonds (if you don’t check out these old posts on clarity, color, cut, and carat) and those diamond studs you are buying for almost nothing fall way at the bottom of every catagory except maybe carat weight. These kinds of diamonds are great when you are buying them for a child who will lose them but do you really think your wife, mother, grandmother, etc. can’t see those black dots in her diamonds? Also, a lot of what is in stores right now, isn’t gold. There are a lot of alloys out there along with silver that are less expensive and again, fine for kids or for costume jewelry, but not the same as gold or platinum. You need to look at what you are getting and know whether it is actually as good as what you thought it was.

Now, not all of this is the fault of the jewelry stores. It’s because we as consumers are stupid and will do and think what anyone tells us to do or think. We also seem to have ideas of what things should cost in our head that do not always make sense in the real world. Gold costs almost $1400 per ounce these days. Five years or so ago everyone in the industry was floored and thought it was too high at $750 per ounce. Jewelry is not getting less expensive, jewelers are making cuts. Back in the day, you probably could buy a nice pair of diamond studs for less than $200, but, like everything else, the cost of jewelry is going up. Diamonds prices are high, gold prices are through the roof, not to mention that the overhead costs of running a business are SUPER high these days. To make up the difference, jewelers are using lower quality stones, lower quality metals, and lower quality manufacturing techniques (don’t be shocked if your $99.99 pendant starts losing stones.) You can still buy quality jewelry, but you will pay for it. We as consumers need to stop demanding that things cost what we want them to, and consider what it is we are actually buying.

I don’t think we can ever stop certain jewelry stores (ahem, Kays) to stop putting out commercials during the holiday season. But we can stop trusting everything they say. Oh, and just so you know, Kays may be the biggest jewelry store in America, but Wal-mart is the LARGEST DIAMOND SELLER. Who buys diamonds are Wal-mart???? Seriously! I want to know!! Also, Kays and Jared are the same store. They have the same type of merchandise in both places. Jared just has more of it.

Stop the madness!!! Buy local. Buy from a craftsperson. Stop buying diamonds at Wal-mart!!!

The other day I was watching Rachael Ray and she was talking about gifts and things and she had two jewelry professionals in her studio talking about jewelry and what to look for if you don’t have a huge budget but still want something pretty. I was interested but had low hopes for her segment since usually people don’t say anything of real interest about jewelry on their shows. I was really impressed! The women that were brought on to talk about specific things to look for said everything I’ve ever said (it’s always good to be validated.)

The first thing they touched on was, of course, diamonds. They really focused on the cut of the stone. She said that if a stone is cut well, it can compensate for a slightly lower clarity and color. If a stone is well cut, it will sparkle so you don’t see the other things.

They also talked about gold and what to look for when you buy gold. I haven’t ever really talked about gold but I thought they hit every important point. A big determination for price of gold is the karatage. 24 karat gold is pure gold and you will probably never see jewelry made of 24 karat gold because it is too soft. The most common karat you see in the US is 14 karat gold. You will also see 18 karat gold in higher end stores and 10 karat gold in slightly lower end stores. In other countries you will see both 22 karat and 12 karat gold but those are generally not seen in US stores.

Gram weight is hugely important with gold, especially right not when gold prices are so high. The heavier the gold weight, the more expensive the piece. This generally means that if you are looking for a big flashy piece, it is going to cost a little bit more. You can find some chains with hollow links that will give you a big look without the weight.

It was kind of fun to watch a show with good information about jewelry that wasn’t too overwhelming but that was 100% accurate!

For a complete synopsis of the jewelry segment on the Rachael Ray show go to http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/save-vs-splurge-jewelry/.

Obviously the “Go Green” movement is huge right now.  It is so huge it has even leaked into the jewelry business (which is huge because this is one of the slowest moving industries).  There are lots of jewelers out there that claim to be making and selling “Green” jewelry.  The questions is whether it is actually green or not.

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!