Wedding costs

January 29, 2012 · 0 comments

Every now and then, a bit of fun is always a good break, especially around the holiday seasons. After Christmas comes New Years Day which requires a lot of engagements to start of the beginning of the oncoming new year. This is then followed by Valentine’s Day where more engagements than you can imagine are happening.

We’ve found this funny little graph from Daily Infograph that shows a huge financial chunk of the up-and-coming wedding falls hard and fast on the main part of the bride’s party: Her bridesmaids.

See what you think:

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White Gold and Sterling Silver Cross

January 21, 2012 · 1 comment

Hi,

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New year to you!

I am back to talk to you about my new year as a 2nd year apprentice jeweller. Since we last spoke I have graduated from being a first year to now becoming a second year apprentice jeweller which is very exciting.

One of the last projects I had been working on before the Christmas break was a wax carving. Sometimes we create wax carvings for large bulky pieces of jewellery where the jewellery piece is quite heavy in weight and is therefore more efficient for both – our clients and us – to carve in wax.

Prior to Christmas I was lucky enough to create one of these pieces- a sterling silver and white gold ladies cross.

The cross consisted of a wax carved curved shape silver cross with a white gold con cave plate which then had a an opal set in a bezel on top of that.

To begin the wax carving I started with a flat sheet of wax, thicker than the final depth of the cross. I marked out the design I was given, marking a grid onto the wax sheet – I used this grid as a guide to map out the design. I chose this method of marking out the design as I feel it is a lot more accurate than tracing and the gridlines help me see the overall shapes and lines within the overall design.

The next step is to cut away excess wax around the shape by using a wax saw blade. To come in even closer to the design I use my normal saw blade to a much closer cut around the outline of the cross. This allows me access to the corners of the shape where my file wouldn’t normally fit it I had only just used the wax saw blade. This is because the wax saw blade cuts through the wax very well, however it creates a thicker and rougher cut, because the teeth on the saw blade are set out in a spiral pattern all the way up and down the length off the blade.

Now I can begin to carve details of the shape of the cross. I do so by using my normal files, especially the smaller files called ‘escarpment files’. I found that I could get cleaner lines and shapes using my normal files as opposed to the wax files which tend to take off too much wax at once. Using my normal files did take a little longer, however I felt it was a better result in the end.

White Gold and Sterling Silver Cross

White Gold and Sterling Silver Cross

A great thing about using wax is that if for some reason a piece of wax breaks away or is taken off in filing or sawing by accident (as wax can break quite easily in finer sections of the design, you do need to be gentle and handle it softly), or if you change your mind on the shape or design of the piece whilst in the middle of carving, you can always melt a bit of the same wax back onto the area needing repair or change. This is great as you don’t have to start the piece all over again from scratch like you may have to in gold, but can add and change as you go, giving the jeweller more freedom and fexinbility.

It is also a very soothing method of creating jewellery I personally feel. And I really enjoy carving in wax.

After creating the shape of the cross using various files and sawing, I then burred out the back of the cross creating concave sections in the thicker parts of the cross, this is done to remove excess weight from the piece as the cross was quite a large sized cross and you need to think about the wearer whilst you are making the cross and put yourself in there shoes. In this case we thought about how heavy a piece like this would be to wear around your neck. It might be uncomfortable if it is too heavy, and hurt the wearer’s neck.

When all details are finalised the wax is sent of to be cast in the desired metal, in this case the client wanted sterling silver.

White gold and Sterling Silver Cross 2

White Gold and Sterling Silver Cross 2

Talk to you soon,

Holly

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Engagement Ring Shopping Is Twice The Fun!

January 11, 2012 · 1 comment

Way back when, long, long ago – okay, not really that long ago – traditionally, it was a man’s responsibility to find the perfect diamond engagement ring for the woman he wanted to spend eternity with. The problem was that snooping inside of their girlfriend’s jewellery boxes, eavesdropping on her friend’s conversations and trying to learn a woman’s fashion sense could be physically exhausting and mentally overwhelming to most men.

As time has moved along, so has the way men used to shop for engagement rings.

Diamonds are timeless, classic and elegant and when making this purchase, it literally represents the most sacred choice you and your significant other will ever face. If the wrong engagement ring is chosen, men will forever remember the look of disappointment on their girlfriend’s face or else women will feel incredibly awkward and possibly forced to wear a ring they dislike, forever.

This is exactly why more and more women are choosing to shop WITH their boyfriends to pick out the perfect engagement ring together.

But gentlemen, this doesn’t mean that the element of surprise needs to be taken out! The proposal can be everything you’ve dreamed and much, much more this way.

You can still surprise her with a box containing a starter engagement ring, the dinner, the bending down one knee or whatever romantic idea it is that you’ve. The only difference is that the ring is still in the store and not yet on her finger.

As anyone knows, women love to be understood more than just about anything else! Shopping together for her input will make your woman feel incredibly important and extremely valued because she can contribute to the whole decision-making process about the ring that will be worn forever with pride and love.

Choosing an engagement ring together might sound a little strange to some people but think about it for a few minutes: It’s practically a foolproof situation! You get to give her the story of her life to tell everyone she knows while she gets the ring she’s dreamed about since she was a little girl.

Men get to spend less time going from store to store stressing out and women can have the ring resized and looking just right all in one go. Both parties are much more at ease making this experience a memorable one, not to mention, the end result is phenomenal!

You’ll worry less about what she might think of the engagement ring you’ve chosen and be able to put more time and effort into the whole proposal. Your better half will feel nothing but happiness and surprise, leaving no room for that awkward silence of accepting a ring they hate – assuming, that is, she wants to say yes.

Buying these rings are definitely not a light purchase to be made which is why diamonds are always considered an investment no matter their size and not just another ring to wear to the latest gala.

Not only that, it’s much more common to look at choosing your engagement ring together than you think! Out of all women who are proposed to, 75% of them receive a diamond engagement ring and from that, a whopping 53.7% of couples chose the engagement ring together. That’s more than half!

As the numbers continue to increase, some worry that this could mean a decrease in sales for diamond engagement rings but in Australia, jewellers say that their sales has remained exactly the same while the U.S. reports only a $600 decline as of 2008.

Shopping for engagement rings together has become the new trend of diamond wear and hopefully will continue to be so for the decades to come.

Are you one of those couples who have shopped for your engagement and wedding rings together? If so, we’d love to hear your story – leave a comment below for me!

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