I thought I’d write a quick post about my thoughts on costume jewelry since it is sold everywhere.

I think costume jewelry is awesome! I own some costume jewelry and wear it when it fits with the situation and my outfit. I think costume jewelry is great for staying with jewelry fads, trying out new things, having something fun to match a specific outfit, etc. I don’t think costume jewelry should be expected to last a life time.

My definition for costume jewelry is jewelry that is inexpensive. I don’t think the label “costume jewelry” actually says anything about what type of metal or stones are used and whether they are quality or not. I have pieces that I would consider costume jewelry that have genuine stones but that were very inexpensive. That also means that “fine jewelry” doesn’t actually define what the piece is made of either. You can have non-genuine stones in fine jewelry. I feel that saying something is “costume jewelry” is more a comment on how much is cost or the reason the piece was purchased.

Costume jewelry is often made out of brass or other very inexpensive metals and is plated to look like either gold or silver and the stones are everything from genuine rocks (turquoise, quartz, onyx, carnelian, etc.) to glass. The materials are why one should not expect costume jewelry to necessarily last a life time. When something is plated, the plating can wear off. In some cases, it can even chip off. With all stones there is a risk of chipping or breaking the stone. The stones and materials used in costume jewelry are often softer than some of those used in fine jewelry which means they are more likely to chip, scratch, or break.

None of these things mean that I don’t think anyone should buy or wear costume jewelry. I just think consumers should be aware of what they are getting.

I am often asked if I would ever consider making costume jewelry so more people would be able to afford my designs. The answer is yes and no.

I wouldn’t ever want to make the same designs in brass that I would make in gold. I would make some things in silver if there were customers for it, but I don’t want to get into base metals and plating in my work. I would also make inexpensive earrings and necklaces out of silver findings that would hit lower price points. Findings are pre-made pieces like rings that you can buy and put together to make a piece of jewelry. The true key to hitting price points for me would be volume. If I can buy 50 jump rings and use all 50 in different pieces of jewelry that is different than buying those same 50 rings in order to make one piece.

Here are a few renders and pictures of the types of costume jewelry I can and have made.

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!!!

When I was in California at the Gemological Institute of America learning how to do what I do now, I took a lot of classes to get all of the knowledge I now use. One of those classes was on casting.

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!

Someone I know from Omaha has been working on getting a jewelry gift for his wife for almost a year and he finally did it for Christmas!

He had seen the circle design pendents on my website and wanted something like this…

but he wanted 4 stones around the outside to represent their 4 children.

Like most people at Christmas, he had a limited budget so we decided to go with silver rather than gold since he wife likes white metal and created sapphires rather than diamonds. We used created blue sapphires for the 2 stones inside the circle that would represent them (the parents) and 4 created while sapphires for the 4 smaller stones to represent their children. The silver piece we had decided to use was pre-fabricated and it had an extra loop so we decided to use it for a charm that was kind of like the infinity symbol since their family will be together forever.

The piece turned out really beautiful and she loved it!

Valentine’s Day is coming faster than you think!! It is only 1 month and 3 days from today!

In the jewelry business Valentine’s Day is generally a very last minute holiday as far as shopping goes but if you want something custom you need to start NOW!! Custom jewelry (as least through me) takes about 3 weeks to manufacture if there are no problems but the design process can take anywhere from one day to months depending on the piece and how many changes have to be made. Make sure to allow for design time and not just manufacturing time!

Usually Valentine’s Day jewelry is inexpensive with hearts or pink, red, or purple stones. In recent years when gold has been so expensive, silver has been huge for Valentine’s Day because it allows for lower prices. If you want something simple, you can still hit lower price points with a unique custom piece that the receiver will wear for more than a few weeks.

Here are a few tips for buying custom even with a budget:
1. Don’t be TOO picky.
You should obviously be able to get something that you and the person you are giving to will truly love. The key is allowing for a little bit of lee-way from the picture in your head. If a piece can be made from existing pieces, this reduces cost by a lot.
2. Think simple.
The more stones, the more expensive the piece. Jewelers pay for setting by the stone so the more stones, the higher the price of the finished piece.
3. Use Silver.
Silver is a much less expensive option than gold or platinum. The problem with silver is how soft it is. Especially in rings, the softness of the metal can lead to a lot of scratching and loss of stones. I personally like to bezel set (where the metal goes all the way around the stone) stones in silver to prevent stone loss because of prongs that are too soft and get bent too easily.

Keep in mind that just because it is Valentine’s day, you don’t have to get something heart shaped or pink. If there is something else your significant other has been eying in the jewelry store, take advantage of this holiday where there isn’t a lot of other costs involved to get him or her what they really want!