Custom Made Jewelry Handcrafted –Page 2

How to test silver and recognize fake jewels

We usually recognize sterling silver by testing it with acid.

Many jewels are sold claiming to be sterling silver but are fake jewels, namely an economical 925 silver plated metal.

A popular method for testing silver jewelry is that of the touchstone.

silver testing with touchstone

August 16, 2019 — Hugo Maherault

Silver melting

Many women with a silver jewelry collection also have a collection of silver chains and bracelets broken or damaged to continue wearing them. The advantage of solid silver jewelry is that they never lose the metal value that composes them.

It's easy to melt these jewelry scraps into a silver nugget that can be resold or reused to make a new silver jewelry at a lower cost.

Casting

 

August 16, 2019 — Hugo Maherault

Black diamond : a price equal to the mystery of its origin

Black diamond is also called Carbonado.

Black diamonds are much older than white diamonds or colored diamonds on earth, but their discovery is recent since it dates from the mid-nineteenth century (find out more) and the interest of the public and jewelers is even more.

First black diamonds were used in jewelry in the twentieth century only and it's only very recently that they have really started to gain value in the gemstone market.

Black raw diamond

If the process of diamond formation is well known and understood by scientists and gemologists, the origin of black diamonds is still surrounded by mysteries.

Indeed, white and colored diamonds (there are blue, yellow, green and pink diamonds ...) are formed in the bowels of the earth under conditions of very high temperature and pressure, between 150 and 250 kilometers of depth in the Earth's mantle.

Therefore, only volcanic eruptions are likely to "bring us" these diamonds to the surface. This is why diamonds are always associated with kimberlite, a volcanic rock.

Rough black diamonds are found outside volcanic rocks, and black diamond mines are scattered on Earth, so the most recent scientific theories place the formation of black diamonds in space.

They would have arrived on Earth brought by meteorites during the formation of it it is more than 2 billion years. Read this article to learn more about the subject.

The two main sources of black diamonds in the world today are Brazil and the Central African Republic, formerly stuck together when only one continent, the pangea, emerged from the waters 200 million years ago. (Jurassic era).

August 07, 2019 — Hugo Maherault

Custom Skull Biker Rings

Biker clubs always have their emblem, worn as well on their leather jacket, tattooed on the body or worn proudly on a jewel.

In this case, this is a silver biker ring that receives the logo of the club, the sponsor belonging to a motorcycle club.

Their emblem depicts a custom pirate style skull with crossbones and a pirate headband on one of the skull's orbits.

biker logo for skull ring design

April 19, 2019 — Nicolas Tranchant

Catholic religious gold ring

As you certainly know, religion is a great source of inspiration for the making of jewelry and many museums exhibit ancient religious jewelry, evidence that over the centuries men have worn on their religious symbols under jewelry form.

The religious symbols are most often worn as a pendant, however, it is quite possible to gather some symbols into a coherent design for the making of a ring or signet ring.

In the specific case of this jewel, it is the making of a Christian signet ring with an oval-shaped tray for a man, gathering several Christian symbols engraved in relief on the plate and the amounts of the ring.

catholic religious ring in gold

The religious symbols found on this ring are numerous. We find there:

  • Chi-Rho
  • The eye of Providence
  • The M surmounted by a cross
  • The heart of Jesus and the heart of Mary
  • The crown of thorns

Chi-Rho is a primitive Christian symbol dating back to the fourth century AD, composed of the first two Greek letters of Jesus Christ and surrounded by alpha and omega.

April 10, 2019 — Nicolas Tranchant

How to Measure Your Ring Size

Knowing your ring size is a prerequisite for any ring or wedding ring purchase, whether it's a custom-made ring or not.

We offer below two methods to measure your ring finger size, which are both simple and fast.

This measure is made in millimeters as this is the simplest way to measure your ring or finger size.

Please check out the ring chart below to get the correspondence between your ring size in millimeters and the ring size used in your country (whereas USA or UK).

We also explain why French jewelers use millimeters to measure the ring size to ease the ring making process.

determining my ring size measuring

October 19, 2018 — Hugo Maherault
Tags: Rings

Chakana: Inca cross pendant (22k gold)

Anyone who has traveled to Peru, especially to visit the Inca remains, has seen the pattern of Chakana ("Tawa Chakana" in Quechua) during his journey.

This square cross is a symbol of Inca culture that can be found both on ancient textiles, painted on ceramics and carved on secular walls.

Symbolizing the Southern Cross, it has a cosmological and religious meaning, it says a lot about the conception of the Inca world.

chakana cross from peru

Inca cross also called Chakana having served as a model for this making

As I have been traveling in Peru in 2007, I went to Cusco among many other places and enjoyed the discovery of Inca culture. That's why I am particularly excited to propose Peruvian jewelry on the shop and making this kind of typical Inca cross symbol through our service of custom made jewelry.

By the time, we had the opportunity of making a wide range of Chakana cross in different styles as shown here:

January 08, 2018 — TRANCHANT NICOLAS

Meaning of 24 karat gold purity

Gold is the most valued precious metal in jewelery, much more than platinum.

French demand for solid gold jewelry is 6 times larger than for platinum jewelery.

Given the respective prices of these precious metals, the purity index in gold - or platinum - alloys used in the manufacture of jewelry has a significant impact on the price of these.

Their purity is expressed in carats (historical measure) or in thousandths (official measure for France).

January 04, 2018 — Nicolas Tranchant
Tags: Gold Jewelry

The different colors of gold used in jewelry

If you are looking for a gold jewel and are looking to find out more about this precious metal, you may feel a bit lost in any of the colors that gold jewelry can take.

Indeed, depending on the composition of the alloy, the gold can be white, pink, green or even black if we consider the modern surface treatments.

These are in all 9 different shades given to gold according to its composition or the surface treatment received.

different colors of gold in jewelry

January 03, 2018 — Nicolas Tranchant
Tags: Gold Jewelry

Mexican Turquoise Jewelry

The Indians of pre-Columbian America are known for their religious artifacts, sculptures and turquoise jewelry.

It is believed that it was the Toltecs who developed and controlled the turquoise stone trade in the area that was later to become Mexico.

All Amerindian civilizations have either rubbed shoulders with each other, or succeeded one another, so that there have been enormous influences from one to the other of these civilizations.

Which, throughout Mesoamerica, lead to the manufacture of jewelery, works of art. craftsmanship using turquoise, a stone considered precious by the Aztecs, Mayans and Toltecs, who valued it more than gold.

Read this interesting article on cultural exchanges between Amerindian civilizations.

January 01, 2018 — Hugo Maherault