Man it's Hot Outside!

Man, it's hot outside, but I'm not telling you anything new am I? One of the ways we cool off in the summer is taking a dip in the swimming pool. It's as much a summer tradition as hot dogs on the grill and home made ice cream. This summer fun can be risky to your jewelry though. Traditional chlorine based pool chemicals can attack your jewelry causing it to break or crumble for no apparent reason.

The chlorine used to treat the water will weaken and break down the alloys used in gold jewelry. Gold jewelry starts life as 24K pure gold and has certain alloys added to make the metal more usable and affordable. These metals are melted and become one metal that is fashioned into jewelry. Now, when the jewelry is exposed to chlorinated water, it's compromised by the chlorine and the structural integrity of the jewelry itself is compromised. This causes the granular nature of the gold to break along grain lines. Without getting into technical metallurgical jargon, the alloys that have been melted and mixed with the gold are suddenly breaking down, thereby allowing the gold to break along these grain boundaries. All you know is that you look at your ring and it's broken, a prong is broken off, or even a piece of your ring is missing. The telltale signs of this damage is a frosted, sometimes jagged look to the break. Now, a break at the bottom of your ring is one thing, but when you look down and a complete prong, or worse, the entire setting and your precious diamond from your wedding set is gone, your heart drops. The expense of the diamond doesn't compare to the emotional loss.


The cure for this malady is to not wear your jewelry when in a pool. If you own a swimming pool there are alternatives to chlorine based treatments under the trade names Baquacil and SoftSwim. These don't harm your jewelry and still treat the water. A few years ago Manufacturing Jewelers and Silversmiths Association did an laboratory study on this subject and discovered that heated chlorine water attacks the alloys in gold much more aggressively. These warnings also apply to hot tubs and using bleach for household cleaning.


So, on these hot afternoons, put on your swim suits and leave your bling at home.

Is Your Jeweler a Professional?

Your doctor is board certified.
Your mechanic is certified.
Your accountant is certified.
Even your computer geek is certified.


Almost every walk of life requires you to be tested in your given vocation, whether you're a teacher, preacher, lawyer, emergency responder, law enforcement and the list goes on and on. One notable exception to this list is jeweler. There are no federal, state or community laws requiring a jeweler to be tested in his field before becoming a jeweler or opening a jewelry store. There are no laws governing the testing of the ability of a person working on a prized family jewelry heirloom or any other jewelry work for that matter. If a person with no jewelry knowledge or training wants to open a jewelry store and even call himself a master jeweler, there is nothing to stop him, or to protect the public from shoddy workmanship.


Several years ago, 1997 to be exact, Jewelers of America, an independent trade organization, realized the need to develop tests to gauge a jeweler's skills. They developed a four level system to help consumers judge a jeweler's ability to perform jewelry repair or custom fabrication. JA created this certification as a method for consumers to be confident in their jeweler's ability to perform the task before them. They could pick a jeweler depending on whether they needed a simple sizing, chain repair or something more complicated like a wax carving or custom fabrication. The one thing JA didn't count on, jewelers not wanting to be tested. It's easier to say you are a good jeweler than to prove it. The JA testing requires you to complete certain bench functions with a proctor to make sure you didn't have help. You are also tested on bench knowledge, for instance, metalsmithing, soldering, gemology as it related to repairs, and much more.

I instantly agreed with the need for testing when JA unveiled their program. You can tell someone you're a great jeweler, but you don't have a way to quantify your trade skills. It's just words. I took a serious look at the projects required for each of the four levels and decided to go for the third level called Senior level. I took the tests and passed. It was thrilling to be judged at such a high level, but it always seemed like second place.

I grew up the third of four boys in my family. My parents never pushed us one way or another as far as which vocation to choose. The only thing my father wanted was for each of us to be the best we could be at whatever field we chose. If you are flipping burgers in a burger joint, be the best burger flipper. If you are a doctor, be the best doctor you can be. If you dig ditches, be the best ditch digger. So, being a Certified Senior Bench Jeweler was a high honor, and one that I was proud of, but it still felt like second place. I started the process of testing for the Master level. The only requirement that really concerned me was making a sterling pill box with a domed lid with yellow gold accents and bead set gems. I've had a lot of “unique” requests over the years but not one of them was a silver pill box, let alone a jewel encrusted one. I completed my tests and I'm the only JA Certified Master Bench Jeweler in the state of Kansas and the 101'st in the nation.


There is one national jeweler buying group that advertises it's membership as Master Jewelers. If you meet their membership criteria and pay your dues they call you Master Jeweler. Perhaps they test them on management, gemology, sales or even security, but they don't test them on jewelry making skills. Jewelers of America is the only organization that does this testing and certification. Jewelers of America is an independent trade organization that wants to elevate the professionalism of jewelers.

You Get What You Pay For

A customer recently remarked, "I can get my ring sized cheaper elsewhere."

My prices are set on what it costs to run my shop and my standards are higher than others. For instance, I use high temperature solder to size rings because it is stronger and matches the color of the jewelry better. Easy flowing, lower temperature solder is much easier to use and less expensive because it contains less actual gold, not to mention faster, but it's not as strong and there might be a color mismatch that shows a slight seam. Did you ever have a ring that broke after sizing? This might have been the cause.


When your ring is brought in to a jeweler to be sized larger, we must cut the ring and add a piece of gold to make the ring physically larger. No, we can't just stretch it. I warm up the ring so I can see if it has been sized before, and if so, see if it has had gold added to it in the past. It's not uncommon for me to test a ring and find two or three pieces added for sizing. Now, if gold has been added in the past, I cut this material out and add one larger piece to size the ring larger. As a jeweler, I want as few solder joints as possible in a ring sizing and having one piece of gold rather that two or three is the best way to achieve this. Replacing this gold that's already there is expensive for me, but it's better for the ring and the consumer. It also assures me that the proper solder and techniques were used to size the ring. This process takes more time and gold but it's the best way to size your ring.


I am a Jewelers of America Certified Master Jeweler and my standards are high not only for myself but also the jewelry I work on. My prices are reasonable, but not cheap, and do you really want the cheapest person working on your wedding set?


So, you can see it's like your father always said, you get what you paid for.