May Birthstone – Emerald

“Emerald is the birthstone for May and is known for being the 20th and 35th wedding anniversary stone. Many believe wearing emerald brings you wisdom and growth. This is commonly given as a gift for an anniversary or as a symbol of love and fidelity. At one point in time emeralds were prescribed for eye diseases because the beautiful color of green was thought to be quite soothing to the eyes. In fact early stone cutters kept emeralds at their working tables to look at as a way of giving their eyes a break. The ancient Egyptians mined emeralds in the eastern region. In more recent times North Carolina is where the new source of quality emeralds can be found. You can find more emeralds in other areas of America, Colombia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Madagascar, Nigeria, and Russia. Egyptians engraved emeralds with the symbols of spring foliage to represent eternal youth and buried the stones with the dead. The ancient Romans thought emeralds were associated with fertility and rebirth. The Incas worshiped these beautiful emeralds. In the 1500 s they were invaded by the Spanish Conquistadors who savagely stole their precious gemstones and even raided the mines. Now many of the world s greatest emeralds are lost at the bottom of the ocean inside Spanish ships. Emerald is made up of the Greek word smaragdos which means green stone. Emeralds can vary from a deep blue-green to green hues and some have are a yellowish green. If the color is too yellow or blue then it loses its emerald title and becomes a different type of beryl. The most beautiful emeralds are most commonly found in Colombia. They are known to have a deep grass green coloring with a highlighting of blue. Emeralds are sure to please anyone as a gift.” –
“Emerald is the birthstone for May and is known for being the 20th and 35th wedding anniversary stone. Many believe wearing emerald brings you wisdom and growth. This is commonly given as a gift for an anniversary or as a symbol of love and fidelity. At one point in time emeralds were prescribed for eye diseases because the beautiful color of green was thought to be quite soothing to the eyes. In fact early stone cutters kept emeralds at their working tables to look at as a way of giving their eyes a break. The ancient Egyptians mined emeralds in the eastern region. In more recent times North Carolina is where the new source of quality emeralds can be found. You can find more emeralds in other areas of America, Colombia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Madagascar, Nigeria, and Russia. Egyptians engraved emeralds with the symbols of spring foliage to represent eternal youth and buried the stones with the dead. The ancient Romans thought emeralds were associated with fertility and rebirth. The Incas worshiped these beautiful emeralds. In the 1500 s they were invaded by the Spanish Conquistadors who savagely stole their precious gemstones and even raided the mines. Now many of the world s greatest emeralds are lost at the bottom of the ocean inside Spanish ships. Emerald is made up of the Greek word smaragdos which means green stone. Emeralds can vary from a deep blue-green to green hues and some have are a yellowish green. If the color is too yellow or blue then it loses its emerald title and becomes a different type of beryl. The most beautiful emeralds are most commonly found in Colombia. They are known to have a deep grass green coloring with a highlighting of blue. Emeralds are sure to please anyone as a gift.”

One Little Cabochon

So, you think you’d like to make your own cabochons? Well, I’m going to tell you what’s involved in doing that! This doesn’t include faceting gems, that’s a completely different subject! One of the first things you learn in a metalsmithing class is how to bezel-set a cabochon. Because of that assignment, I went searching for some interesting stones to set. That’s when I fell in love with rocks! I have over 10 years experience in stained glass work, and the concepts of cutting, shaping and polishing cabochons is very similar to working with stained glass! I didn’t have anyone to tell me what I needed, so I started doing a lot of research into lapidary equipment. I figured out that, at the very least, I would need a Trim Saw and a Cab Machine. A Trim Saw is used to cut down rock slabs (flat pieces already cut from rough rock) as close as possible to the shape of the cabochon. This is a basic machine that uses a blade, and has a water reservoir, used to cut stone. Nothing fancy is needed, you just want to be sure that the surface area on the machine is about 4-5 inches on each side of the blade. A Cab Machine is used to shape and polish the cabochon. Here, I made a mistake. I found three different machines with very different prices, from $336 to $1600. I decided to go in the middle, and selected a machine that cost $795. The description said it was all I would need, what it didn’t say was that you had to change out pads and wheels every few minutes, and had to take off all the wheels to change the saw blade! That was fine for the first day or so, but I quickly realized this was going to be a nightmare! I returned it; top-of-the-line, here I come! I got a Diamond Pacific Ginie with 6 wheels and a totally separate machine for cutting the slabs, and it was well worth the extra money! When it comes to cabbing equipment, I don’t recommend cutting corners, you will end up wasting a lot of your time! So, here’s a cost breakdown, with tax and shipping: Trim Saw $425 (only for cutting slabs, not rough rocks) Cab Machine $1,700 Additional supplies needed: Templates, apron, safety glasses, dopping supplies, coolant, polish, blades, rock slabs Now, if you really want to start from the ground up, you need a Slab Saw for cutting rough rock; Cost: $1,700 Additional supplies: 5 gallons of water-soluble cutting oil, sharpening stone. Maintenance Costs: If you do your cabbing at a ‘hobby’ level, you will probably need to buy new wheels and blade for the Slab Saw about once every 12-18 months. The Trim Saw will require more blades, a good blade for a 6 Trim Saw is $28, and you should have two different sized blades, depending on what you’re cutting. Material like Rhodochrosite is soft and easy to cut, but materials like agate are very hard, and will dull a blade quickly. A sharpening stone will help extend the life of the blades. A word about cabochons… there are two different types. I refer to the first as a ‘generic’ cab, in which you cut as many cabochons from a slab as you can. You’ll get more cabs, and very little waste, which is more cost-effective. Then, there is a Designer Cabochon , where you select the best pattern or colors on the slab to create a more beautiful cabochon. You create a spectacular piece, but there will be more waste, and a higher cost as a result. Last but not least is your time. If you are starting with a rough rock, a slab saw will take about 20 minutes to make a pass; the nice thing about this is that they come with an auto-feed system, so while you’re cutting a rock in that machine, you can be working on something else. I can usually spent about an hour at the Trim Saw to produce 10-15 cabs, depending on what material I’m trimming. Harder rocks take longer to cut through. The cabbing machine takes the longest, and you don’t want to rush in any of these processes. This will need anywhere from 20-50 minutes per cabochon. In summary, each individual cabochon will take 45 minutes to 1-1/2 hours to make. Your basic cost for equipment will be about $3,725, plus the additional supplies and the raw material/rough stone. You will need to produce 150 cabs and sell them for an average of $25 each to pay for the equipment. By that time you’ll need to replace some blades, and you can start recovering your costs for supplies and stone. Sorry. . .it will be awhile before you can start getting paid for your time! –
So, you think you’d like to make your own cabochons? Well, I’m going to tell you what’s involved in doing that! This doesn’t include faceting gems, that’s a completely different subject! One of the first things you learn in a metalsmithing class is how to bezel-set a cabochon. Because of that assignment, I went searching for some interesting stones to set. That’s when I fell in love with rocks! I have over 10 years experience in stained glass work, and the concepts of cutting, shaping and polishing cabochons is very similar to working with stained glass! I didn’t have anyone to tell me what I needed, so I started doing a lot of research into lapidary equipment. I figured out that, at the very least, I would need a Trim Saw and a Cab Machine. A Trim Saw is used to cut down rock slabs (flat pieces already cut from rough rock) as close as possible to the shape of the cabochon. This is a basic machine that uses a blade, and has a water reservoir, used to cut stone. Nothing fancy is needed, you just want to be sure that the surface area on the machine is about 4-5 inches on each side of the blade. A Cab Machine is used to shape and polish the cabochon. Here, I made a mistake. I found three different machines with very different prices, from $336 to $1600. I decided to go in the middle, and selected a machine that cost $795. The description said it was all I would need, what it didn’t say was that you had to change out pads and wheels every few minutes, and had to take off all the wheels to change the saw blade! That was fine for the first day or so, but I quickly realized this was going to be a nightmare! I returned it; top-of-the-line, here I come! I got a Diamond Pacific Ginie with 6 wheels and a totally separate machine for cutting the slabs, and it was well worth the extra money! When it comes to cabbing equipment, I don’t recommend cutting corners, you will end up wasting a lot of your time! So, here’s a cost breakdown, with tax and shipping: Trim Saw $425 (only for cutting slabs, not rough rocks) Cab Machine $1,700 Additional supplies needed: Templates, apron, safety glasses, dopping supplies, coolant, polish, blades, rock slabs Now, if you really want to start from the ground up, you need a Slab Saw for cutting rough rock; Cost: $1,700 Additional supplies: 5 gallons of water-soluble cutting oil, sharpening stone. Maintenance Costs: If you do your cabbing at a ‘hobby’ level, you will probably need to buy new wheels and blade for the Slab Saw about once every 12-18 months. The Trim Saw will require more blades, a good blade for a 6 Trim Saw is $28, and you should have two different sized blades, depending on what you’re cutting. Material like Rhodochrosite is soft and easy to cut, but materials like agate are very hard, and will dull a blade quickly. A sharpening stone will help extend the life of the blades. A word about cabochons… there are two different types. I refer to the first as a ‘generic’ cab, in which you cut as many cabochons from a slab as you can. You’ll get more cabs, and very little waste, which is more cost-effective. Then, there is a Designer Cabochon , where you select the best pattern or colors on the slab to create a more beautiful cabochon. You create a spectacular piece, but there will be more waste, and a higher cost as a result. Last but not least is your time. If you are starting with a rough rock, a slab saw will take about 20 minutes to make a pass; the nice thing about this is that they come with an auto-feed system, so while you’re cutting a rock in that machine, you can be working on something else. I can usually spent about an hour at the Trim Saw to produce 10-15 cabs, depending on what material I’m trimming. Harder rocks take longer to cut through. The cabbing machine takes the longest, and you don’t want to rush in any of these processes. This will need anywhere from 20-50 minutes per cabochon. In summary, each individual cabochon will take 45 minutes to 1-1/2 hours to make. Your basic cost for equipment will be about $3,725, plus the additional supplies and the raw material/rough stone. You will need to produce 150 cabs and sell them for an average of $25 each to pay for the equipment. By that time you’ll need to replace some blades, and you can start recovering your costs for supplies and stone. Sorry. . .it will be awhile before you can start getting paid for your time!

A Personal Review of Tissot Sports Watches

I am a admirer of Tissot watches and am fortunate enough to own one – a PRS516 Automatic chronograph Tissot T-Sport. What follows are my personal reviews of Tissot sports watches and the current collections. Tissot produce a large collection of different styles of sports watches that are of excellent quality at reasonable prices. The Tissot PRS516 cost much less than many of my other Swiss watches – my wife and I own some fine watches – but it is as well made and as stylish as any other sports watch. Tissot have been making watches since 1853 and have been instrumental in designing some of the most technically advanced timepieces: the Tissot T-Touch watch is the world’s first touch screen wristwatch. Tissot make an extensive range of sports watches. If you’re a serious diver then the Diver Seastar is for you. The Tissot Seastar is an automatic timepiece made with a highly resistant steel case, capably of resisting diving depths of 300 meters. What I particularly like about the Tissot Seastar is its domed sapphire crystal glass, which magnifies numbers on the colored dials; no other diver’s watch that I know of has this feature. The Tissot PR100X sports watch offers more refined elegance. The PR100X Small Lady Tissot watch is a very elegant ladies watch and is one of the most beautiful of ladies sport watches, in my opinion. It is resistant up to 100 meters, has a screw down crown, glass sapphire glass and silver dial. The case is stainless steel as is the bracelet. The Tissot PR200X is a classic timepiece, with a large face: the most striking models come with a bright yellow sweeping second and counter hands and white indices with clear Arab numbers that stand out boldly against the midnight black dial. The Tissot PRS200 sports watch remains Tissot’s best selling sports watch. It looks rugged but stylish. Its chronograph movement, casing and bracelet in steel or gold color with a choice of silver, black, blue dial, water resistance to 200 meters, make it a very appealing sports watch. Personally I prefer The Tissot PRS516 – after all I did buy it – as PRS516 stands out from other sports watches whereas the Tissot PRS200 looks similar to a lot of other brands. The Tissot T-Race was designed to reflect the best of all types of two-wheeled sports, from cycling to motorcycle racing. I really like these watches. The case is a stainless steel/carbon composite. The straps are of rubber and come in a variety of colors. The use of pastel colors makes them a good choice as a ladies sports watch. The standard model comes with three small dials, a second hand, 1/10 second hand and 30 minute counter. The Tissot T-Race watches come with quartz chronograph. Tissot signed an agreement with NASCAR, making Tissot the official timekeeper of America’s popular auto-racing. The T-Race NASCAR special edition features carbon dial, with a tough hybrid case of steel and rubber and matching black rubber strap. Inspired by the fans’ passion for the sport, the Tissot T-Race NASCAR case back comes with an engraved NASCAR logo and crossed finish flags. Being keenly aware of a sport where 1/100th of second makes the difference between winning and losing, the Tissot NASCAR watch comes with a Swiss chronograph movement. The large, red-colored Arab numerals at 12, 4 and 8 are complemented by the large, industrial looking hour and minute hands. A very nice feature is the magnified crystal above the date display. I like Tissot watches. . But don’t just take my word for it; many consumer reviews of Tissot watches rate them highly. Tissot sports watches come with Swiss chronograph movement, sapphire glass, and stylish design. Another compelling reason why I really like Tissot sports watches is that they are cheap when compared to a lot of other Swiss sports watches. –
I am a admirer of Tissot watches and am fortunate enough to own one – a PRS516 Automatic chronograph Tissot T-Sport. What follows are my personal reviews of Tissot sports watches and the current collections. Tissot produce a large collection of different styles of sports watches that are of excellent quality at reasonable prices. The Tissot PRS516 cost much less than many of my other Swiss watches – my wife and I own some fine watches – but it is as well made and as stylish as any other sports watch. Tissot have been making watches since 1853 and have been instrumental in designing some of the most technically advanced timepieces: the Tissot T-Touch watch is the world’s first touch screen wristwatch. Tissot make an extensive range of sports watches. If you’re a serious diver then the Diver Seastar is for you. The Tissot Seastar is an automatic timepiece made with a highly resistant steel case, capably of resisting diving depths of 300 meters. What I particularly like about the Tissot Seastar is its domed sapphire crystal glass, which magnifies numbers on the colored dials; no other diver’s watch that I know of has this feature. The Tissot PR100X sports watch offers more refined elegance. The PR100X Small Lady Tissot watch is a very elegant ladies watch and is one of the most beautiful of ladies sport watches, in my opinion. It is resistant up to 100 meters, has a screw down crown, glass sapphire glass and silver dial. The case is stainless steel as is the bracelet. The Tissot PR200X is a classic timepiece, with a large face: the most striking models come with a bright yellow sweeping second and counter hands and white indices with clear Arab numbers that stand out boldly against the midnight black dial. The Tissot PRS200 sports watch remains Tissot’s best selling sports watch. It looks rugged but stylish. Its chronograph movement, casing and bracelet in steel or gold color with a choice of silver, black, blue dial, water resistance to 200 meters, make it a very appealing sports watch. Personally I prefer The Tissot PRS516 – after all I did buy it – as PRS516 stands out from other sports watches whereas the Tissot PRS200 looks similar to a lot of other brands. The Tissot T-Race was designed to reflect the best of all types of two-wheeled sports, from cycling to motorcycle racing. I really like these watches. The case is a stainless steel/carbon composite. The straps are of rubber and come in a variety of colors. The use of pastel colors makes them a good choice as a ladies sports watch. The standard model comes with three small dials, a second hand, 1/10 second hand and 30 minute counter. The Tissot T-Race watches come with quartz chronograph. Tissot signed an agreement with NASCAR, making Tissot the official timekeeper of America’s popular auto-racing. The T-Race NASCAR special edition features carbon dial, with a tough hybrid case of steel and rubber and matching black rubber strap. Inspired by the fans’ passion for the sport, the Tissot T-Race NASCAR case back comes with an engraved NASCAR logo and crossed finish flags. Being keenly aware of a sport where 1/100th of second makes the difference between winning and losing, the Tissot NASCAR watch comes with a Swiss chronograph movement. The large, red-colored Arab numerals at 12, 4 and 8 are complemented by the large, industrial looking hour and minute hands. A very nice feature is the magnified crystal above the date display. I like Tissot watches. . But don’t just take my word for it; many consumer reviews of Tissot watches rate them highly. Tissot sports watches come with Swiss chronograph movement, sapphire glass, and stylish design. Another compelling reason why I really like Tissot sports watches is that they are cheap when compared to a lot of other Swiss sports watches.

Danger! Jewelry Lovers Beware

You worked hard for you money, you even paid for your new gold necklace and bracelet in cash. You wear this lovely new matching set everywhere, and the compliments pour in! As they should since you chose the classiest item on display. 4 Months Later It Is In For Repairs!!! Not just gold, but silver jewelry also is subject to being damaged by the mis-informed consumer who asks, “Can I wear it all the time?” The clerk answers, “Well yes of course, this is a solid gold bracelet which you can most definitely wear all the time!” Often sales staff in jewelry stores are not well versed and educated in the metalurgy, and composition of the jewelry that we wear (that they are selling). Not their fault, it is the companies who hire them and fail to properly train the staff, keeping them uninformed may very well keep the profits up. Education is your asset here. Truth is, you cannot wear your new jewelry everywhere. Example situation, many women clean with javex and other harsh chemicals. They are exactly that, harsh chemicals, most of them are acidic and slowly eat away at the metals and alloys which are your precious jewelry!! Low and behold, you are having a repair order written by the same store who told you,:” Why yes of course you can wear this all the time!” Perhaps that is why the staff is uneducated, so the store can continue to have a huge repair business. Who knows. The fact of the matter is this, (1) keep your jewelry away from household cleaners, no matter how mild they claim to be. (2) Beware of chlorinated pools, jacuzzi’s, even the chlorine in the tap water now is concentrated enough to do long term damage to your jewelry over the years. The acidity level and constant or even infrequent exposure will cause your jewelry to deteriorate over time. Often rendering them unrepairable. Certainly, we collect many jewelry items over the years, and some are even passed down from generations. Ideally, jewelry is made to last a very very long time. As well it should, that is why many jewelry items are so expensive. We hold a certain responsibility as with everything to take care of our jewelry, so that one day it may perhaps be enjoyed by our children, our grandchildren. Watch for my next article coming soon, how to professionally clean your jewelry at home using a microwave. –
You worked hard for you money, you even paid for your new gold necklace and bracelet in cash. You wear this lovely new matching set everywhere, and the compliments pour in! As they should since you chose the classiest item on display. 4 Months Later It Is In For Repairs!!! Not just gold, but silver jewelry also is subject to being damaged by the mis-informed consumer who asks, “Can I wear it all the time?” The clerk answers, “Well yes of course, this is a solid gold bracelet which you can most definitely wear all the time!” Often sales staff in jewelry stores are not well versed and educated in the metalurgy, and composition of the jewelry that we wear (that they are selling). Not their fault, it is the companies who hire them and fail to properly train the staff, keeping them uninformed may very well keep the profits up. Education is your asset here. Truth is, you cannot wear your new jewelry everywhere. Example situation, many women clean with javex and other harsh chemicals. They are exactly that, harsh chemicals, most of them are acidic and slowly eat away at the metals and alloys which are your precious jewelry!! Low and behold, you are having a repair order written by the same store who told you,:” Why yes of course you can wear this all the time!” Perhaps that is why the staff is uneducated, so the store can continue to have a huge repair business. Who knows. The fact of the matter is this, (1) keep your jewelry away from household cleaners, no matter how mild they claim to be. (2) Beware of chlorinated pools, jacuzzi’s, even the chlorine in the tap water now is concentrated enough to do long term damage to your jewelry over the years. The acidity level and constant or even infrequent exposure will cause your jewelry to deteriorate over time. Often rendering them unrepairable. Certainly, we collect many jewelry items over the years, and some are even passed down from generations. Ideally, jewelry is made to last a very very long time. As well it should, that is why many jewelry items are so expensive. We hold a certain responsibility as with everything to take care of our jewelry, so that one day it may perhaps be enjoyed by our children, our grandchildren. Watch for my next article coming soon, how to professionally clean your jewelry at home using a microwave.