Jewelry Business Articles & News

Bill Library Hosts First Coin and Jewelry Appraisal

The Bill Library in Ledyard recently held its first ever coin and jewelry appraisal, attracting people from all over southeastern Connecticut and southwestern Rhode Island.

The event was sponsored and organized by the Ledyard Library Friends and chaired by member Marie Engelman, who said the event was quite successful.

“We really had a lot of people from a broad area,” Engelman said. “We had people from Westerly, we had people from Montville that came down, and of course the bulk were from Ledyard itself.”

More than 40 people attended the event, 36 of whom had expert appraisals done by brothers Dave and Jeff Vasington, co-owners of Vasbro Coins in Norwich, whom Engelman and the Ledyard Library Friends brought in specifically for the event.

“There were some pieces that were excellent that came in, and then there were others,”  Engelman said with a chuckle. “There were six or so watches that, come to find out, were made of tin or plastic…But it was great—we had coins, we had jewels, we had paper money, we had pocket watches, we really had a nice spectrum of items.”

“I thought it went very well,” Dave Vasington said. “It was excellent, the best one we’ve done yet. There were 42 people we waited on; I saw some very interesting pieces.”

The most interesting piece without a doubt was an ornate and heavily jeweled necklace brought in by a woman who claimed the necklace had both U.S. presidential and Russian royalty ties.

“I was told by the brothers that a woman came in with a beautiful Russian necklace that was given as a wedding present to the daughter of Ulysses S. Grant,” Engelman said. “And it was given to her by her husband to be, who was a Russian prince. That is what this woman told the brothers, and they said they were taken back because it was just absolutely stunning.”

Dave Vasington agreed.

“The most interesting piece by far I thought was the necklace that was given to President Grant’s daughter by a Russian prince who married her,” Vasington explained. “That was very nice, gorgeous, and it was still in its original box.”

Another significant item that the Vasington brothers got a chance to look at was a gold pocket watch that belonged to Captain Daniel Packer, the namesake of the Daniel Packer Inne, which was brought in by a man related to the sea captain. And while not everyone had such incredible and historic pieces, there were plenty who were excited to learn about family heirlooms or sentimental items.

“One woman was absolutely delighted with her appraisal,” Engelman explained. “Her first husband had passed away and she brought in her engagement ring from her first marriage and she said she had taken it to a regular jeweler. For a regular written appraisal they wanted $150 but she didn’t know if it had value or not and she wasn’t about to spend the $150. The brothers said that it was very nicely done and that the stone was of a high quality so she walked away absolutely delighted and decided she would go get a written appraisal for it.”

By all accounts the event was a great success and both the Vasington brothers and the Bill Library are excited to team up again for a future event possibly in October.

For more information or to have appraisals done, contact Vasbro Coins, located at 35 Town St., Norwich, 860-887-5253.

Source: http://zip06.theday.com/blogs/

Add comment May 30th, 2008

Makit & Bakit Children’s Jewelry Recalled

QuinCrafts is recalling about 70,000 sets of Makit & Bakit children’s jewelry. The clasps on some of the jewelry contains high levels of lead. Lead is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects.

The recall includes QuinCrafts products containing children’s jewelry. Only items with the following item numbers printed on the back of the packaging are included in the recall:

The children’s jewelry was sold in a variety of sets that contained necklace, bracelet and earring or ring combinations.

The items, made in China, were sold at AC Moore, CVS, LTD Commodities, Marshall’s/TJ Maxx, Michaels Corp. and other toy and independent craft supply stores nationwide from August 2007 through March 2008 for about $2.

Consumers should immediately take the recalled jewelry away from young children and contact QuinCrafts for a replacement jewelry set.

For additional information, contact QuinCrafts at (800) 366-4660 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s Web site at www.quincrafts.com/recall

The recall is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Source: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/

Add comment May 30th, 2008

Christie’s Sells 101-Carat Diamond at HK$48.5 Million (Update1)

By Le-Min Lim

May 28 (Bloomberg) — A 101-carat, near-flawless diamond sold for HK$48.5 million ($6.2 million) at a Christie’s International sale in Hong Kong, propelling the city past Geneva and New York as the auction house’s biggest jewelry market.

The diamond, the highlight of Christie’s jewelry sale, has the third-highest clarity rating of VVS1 and the third-best ranking on a scale used to measure colorlessness. The stone, the size of a quail’s egg, had a presale high estimate of $8 million. Christie’s sale of 258 gems, among 345 offered, fetched about $60 million, compared with $49 million from its New York auction and $56 million in Geneva, London-based Christie’s said.

“More than other regions, the Asian client is interested in the perfect stone,” said Francois Curiel, the company’s global head of jewelry, in an interview. “Gem size matters in America. Here, small and extremely good quality work.”

Asian collectors bought the 10 priciest lots at Christie’s auction today, paying record prices for some gems. A 16.04-carat, D diamond sold for HK$26 million, the most paid per-unit for such a colorless stone; a square 10.36-carat fancy green diamond sold for HK$27.2 million, a record for a diamond of this color. A pair of ear pendants that once belonged to the Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia set a per-carat record for emeralds, Christie’s said.

Blue Diamond

Christie’s rival Sotheby’s holds the per-carat diamond record with its sale in October of a flawless 6.04-carat blue diamond for HK$61.9 million. Last month, Sotheby’s sold a 72-carat flawless diamond privately in Hong Kong, hours after the gem failed to meet the reserve price at auction.

A carat is one-fifth of a gram.

“Jewelry, especially diamonds, is an international currency and easily transportable,” said Curiel. “You can bring a $6 million diamond to Paris, London, Geneva, Hong Kong; try doing the same with a $6 million house or painting.”

Curiel, 59, said Asian clients show a growing penchant for period jewelry and that will prompt Christie’s to bring more Art Deco and Art Nouveau pieces for sale in the region.

Today is the penultimate day of Christie’s six-day spring auction in Hong Kong that includes a total of 2,400 gems, paintings and collectibles. Christie’s estimated the auctions would tally HK$1.7 billion.

To contact the reporters on this story: Le-Min Lim in Hong Kong at lmlim@bloomberg.net or

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/

Add comment May 29th, 2008

Tigerlilly Jewelry Unveils $1000 ‘Bride of the Season’ Giveaway

Just in time for wedding season, Tigerlilly Jewelry, a couture bridal jewelry and accessory design house, is giving away a $1000 gift certificate to one lucky bride-to-be.

(PRWEB) May 28, 2008 — On May 29, 2008, Tigerlilly will begin taking entries for their first Bride of the Season Giveaway. The winner will be named “Bride of the Summer”and will receive a $1000 gift certificate for any Tigerlilly bridal jewelry, hair accessories, and bridesmaid jewelry. She will also be featured on Tigerlilly’s website for the summer, with a picture and details about her upcoming wedding.
Tigerlilly will host giveaways for the Autumn, Winter, and Spring seasons as well.

To enter, brides should visit www.tigerlillyjewelry.com/seasons.html and tell Tigerlilly a little bit about themselves, what designs they would choose if they won, and why they are Tigerlilly’s Bride of the Season. The winner will be announced on Monday, June 2.

Tigerlilly Jewelry is a leader in the bridal accessory industry. Tigerlilly is regularly featured in national bridal magazines, including Brides, Modern Bride, Martha Stewart Weddings, The Knot, Bridal Guide, and In Style Weddings. Tigerlilly designer Mandy Greenan has shown her collection at Mercedes Benz fashion week in Bryant Park, and has been featured on wedding specials on the WE network, Lifetime, and the Knot TV.

Source: http://www.emediawire.com/

Add comment May 28th, 2008

Unique jewelry on display

Posted By BOB BOUGHNER

Dozens of one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry, produced by third-year jewelry design students at George Brown College, are on display at Mitton’s Jewelry Store in downtown Ridgetown.

The unique, high-quality items are on display at the downtown Ridgetown store through Saturday.

“We are very fortunate to have the students’ work available for show and sale,” said Charlie Mitton. “The display has attracted considerable attention from the local community.”

Mitton said all proceeds from the sale of any items will go directly to students. The store is not charging a commission fee.

Mitton said he saw the display at Harbourfront in Toronto earlier this year and asked if it could be featured in Ontario’s “friendliest town.”

Two of the four cases displaying the items were discovered in the store basement and have been completely refurbished.

“The cases have spent the past 60 years in the store basement,” he said. “They required considerable work to restore them but it has been a very worthwhile project.”

Mitton said the display also includes a few of his own handmade pieces.

New name for local law firm

An old Chatham law firm has a new name.

Raphael Partners Chatham has reorganized under the name O’Brien, Jacklin, Wickett, Sulman.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the firm that was established by the late Harold O’Brien.

For more information call 519-352-0190.

Variety of cigars at Chatham shop

Cigars from more than a half dozen countries, including Cuba and Dominican Republic, are offered fresh at Ann’s Tobacco Shop in Chatham.

Ann Park and her husband, Ernie, are the new owners of the business located at 861 Charing Cross Rd., just south of Indian Creek Road.

The couple have completely renovated and renamed the longtime Quick Stop Variety Store.

“We offer one of the most extensive assortment of tobacco supplies in the area,” said Ernie Park. “In addition to cigars and cigarettes, we carry the finest in pipes and pipe tobacco.”

He said the store also features gift items as well as a huge assortment of variety store goods from ice cream and candy to food, pop, chips and lottery tickets.

Businesses to network at restaurant

Brian and Antonio Machado of Chatham’s Breakfast House and Grille on Grand Avenue are hosting a weekly business networking group and the public is invited.

The Thursday morning meetings are held from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Business Network International has been putting business professionals together for almost two decades in a word-of-mouth marketing environment.

BNI is now the largest business-to-business networking organization in the world with 90,000 plus members.

According to Carol Bell, BNI assistant director for southwestern Ontario, the organization was started in 1985 with a single purpose - to develop the referral business of the members.

“From that point, BNI has grown to the vast networking group it has become,” she said. “We allow one person per profession to join each chapter, thus guaranteeing exclusivity to the members in their business category. If you are a florist, you will be the only florist in your chapter.”

Bell said one member values his chair at the table each week to be worth over $30,000 because that is the amount of referral business his fellow members generate for his company in a single year.

“Annual membership in BNI costs less than a business suit,” said Bell. “It’s the most cost-effective way to market yourself in today’s highly-competitive marketplace.”

For more information call Bell at 519-326-5899 or the Machados at 519-355-1279.

New partner for Heritage Gardens

Aquascape, a longtime leader in the water gardening industry in North America, has partnered with Heritage Gardens and Nursery Station Inc. on McNaughton Line East in Chatham.

Heritage Gardens operates out of the former CPR station, that was dismantled stone by stone and rebuilt on a 12-acre site in the former Chatham Township.

Aquascape is regarded as a leader in water gardens, water gardening, ecosystem ponds and backyard pond designs. For more information, call 519-352-5551.

New programs at Thames Campus

Thames Campus of St. Clair College is offering several new programs this fall to attract students and fast-track the delivery of the esthetician and office administration - executive programs to accommodate students who want a diploma more quickly. Students will earn a two-year diploma in one year.

The new welding techniques program will be offered at the James Burgess Skills Centre in Wallaceburg.

The Chatham-Kent Access Centre, also located in the James Burgess Skills Centre, will provide students with online and live broadcast access to secondary and post-secondary courses and programs.

The campus will continue to offer programs such as the award-winning mechatronics and professional golf management.

The golf management program includes a three-hole course built on campus to teach students firsthand about the industry.

A new student residence will also be available this fall. The townhome-style building features 12 four-bedroom units complete with kitchen, living room, two full baths and laundry facilities.

HOG to meet at Duke’s Harley

The Harley Owners Group (HOG) will meet in Chatham-Kent July 31 to Aug. 2 at Duke’s Harley Davidson.

Havoc to host international game

The Kent Havoc Rugby Club is hosting an international Canada vs. England game on June 13 at the Chatham-Kent Athletic Complex.

Readers are invited to call or fax Daily News Business Writer Bob Boughner with their tips on new business starts, expansions, relocations, new product lines or anything else of general interest. Call Bob at 519-354-2000 ext. 317, fax him at 519-354-9489 or e-mail him at bboughner@chathamdailynews.ca.

Source: http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/

Add comment May 27th, 2008

Time & Luxury: A feast of exquisite, unique timepieces

Susanna Tjokro, Contributor, Singapore, s_tjokro@yahoo.com

Yafriro International, which carries 18 watch brands, presented “Time & Luxury” in Singapore recently.

It was the company’s second luxury Swiss timepieces exhibition. The Singapore-based luxury watch boutique (other boutiques are located in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia) focuses on providing limited high-end watches that are prized for their craftsmanship.

Instead of offering luxury timepieces from familiar brands, Yafriro C‚l‚brer Le Temps (Celebrate the Time) distinguished itself by presenting various “young” Swiss watch brands, like deLaCour and HD3.

Many of the timepieces on display at Time & Luxury came fresh from Baselworld 2008 in Switzerland, the leading event for the watch and jewelry industry. Baselworld is an important event for watch aficionados where they can see the latest collections from lesser-known, independent young brands, as well as timepieces from old, traditional companies that have been making watches for centuries.

Fortunately, for watch enthusiasts who did not visit Baselworld, the latest collections and masterpieces from 18 young watch companies, plus beautiful vintage pieces from Schreiner Fine Jewelry, could be viewed at Time & Luxury.

Yafriro offers an eclectic mix of exquisite timepieces from Parmigiani, DeWitt, Jacob & Co., Greubel Forsey, deLaCour, B.R.M, Jean Dunand, Hautlence, Vincent B‚rard, HD3, Andreas Strehler, Manufacture Contemporaine du Temps (M.C.T), Cabestan, Ladoire, Christopher Claret, MaŒtres du Temps, Rosseau 1636 and Rudis Sylva. The collections, from classic to fashionable to futuristic, come in all shapes and sizes.

All brands are from Switzerland, except for the French Bernard Richards Manufacture (B.R.M). However, many B.R.M watches have Swiss-made movements.

Although they are known as young brands, their founders and watchmakers are experts on timepieces, such as Michel Parmigiani who founded Parmigiani Fleurier in 1996 but began his career in the field of restoring horological objects in 1976.

While most brands do not produce their own movements, Parmigiani stands out from the crowd of Swiss watch brands for being among the few brands — such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet — that make their own movements for their timepieces.

Many brands conceal the fact that they order their parts from manufactures throughout Switzerland. As said by Parmigiani sales director Christian Barbier, they just issue specifications for the parts they need and wait for the deliveries. Hence receiving timely deliveries is a problem for many in the watch industry, if one supplier has a problem, it will affect overall production.

On the contrary, Parmigiani watches are completely designed, developed and created with in-house movements at its own factory — except for the watch straps, which are especially made by HermÅ s.

“We are an established watch brand and do everything in house, so we can control the quality and we do not pretend, anyone who visits our factory can see that we make everything ourselves,” says Barbier. Thus, the brand is named Parmigiani Haute Horlogerie Authentique.

With the partnership between Pershing (a prestigious Italian shipyard specializing in luxury yacht construction), this year Parmigiani launched Pershing aquatic sports watches in two collections: the limited edition “One-one-five” and Pershing Chronographs.

One of the most unusual watches at this exhibition is the “futuristic” HLS from Hautlence. “Our philosophy is to display time in a different way by showing beautiful movements,” says Renaud de Retz who founded Hautlence with Guillaume Tetu in 2004. Hautlence is the anagram of NeuchÆ’tel, their hometown. In 2004, Hautlence launched HL and in 2007 they launched HLS, which resembles HL as it was created with the same basis movement, the jumping hour.

The originality of reading the time lies in the double device of a jumping hour, revealed in the window of a cut-out rotating disk, coupled with a retrograde minute display. The small seconds hand is in a little dial at 5 o’clock. The intriguing rods — reminiscent of old trains, says de Retz — drive the jumping hour disc.

When the minute hand reaches 60 minutes, a device activated by a spiral causes the end of the rod to arm a small spring with an inertia block that, in turn, drives the rotation of the hour disc. This system makes this timepiece very distinctive looking and the unusual array of rods driving the hour disc can be admired through the tonneau-shaped beveled sapphire crystal glass.

Each model of Hautlence watches is produced in a limited series of 88 pieces.

Just like in any prestigious watch exhibition, many of the watches on display at Time & Luxury were also equipped with tourbillon movement (French for whirlwind). In 1795, Abraham-Louis Breguet invented tourbillon to counter the effects of gravity that affect the accuracy of pocket watches that tend to stay in the same vertical position. While many people think that a wristwatch can work properly without tourbillon, the movement, however is still highly priced, as it is produced only by the most skilled watchmakers.

Seasoned entrepreneur Thierry Oulevay and Christophe Claret (a distinguished Swiss watchmaker, known for his complicated movements) founded Jean Dunand in 2003. The brand was named after the Swiss-born artist, Jean Dunand, one of the greatest craftsmen of the Art Deco movement. Thus, the styling and overall form of the watch are always consistent with Art Deco ideals of simple geometry.

Jean Dunand has announced a series of new dials in rare gemstones and fossils for the 2008 edition of its Tourbillon Orbital line, including Burma jade, fossilized coral and caviar fossils — this brand, indeed, uses unique materials. “Jean Dunand offers exceptional watches at the very top of the range. We want to produce watches the likes of which have never been seen before. We focus on what other brands don’t do or don’t want to do and we also use unique materials, the result is exceptional timepieces,” says Oulevay.

A prestigious watch exhibition like Time & Luxury gives people an opportunity to savor the art of timepieces as well as the chance to talk to the watchmakers themselves — definitely a must-see event for watch enthusiasts.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Add comment May 26th, 2008

Studio Perak offers simple designs, affordable course

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Ubud

At a glance, there is nothing special about the blue-colored shop on Jl. Hanoman in Ubud, Gianyar regency. Only a signboard reading “Studio Perak” sits in front of the small shop located among rows of eye-spoiling boutiques lining the eastern side of the narrow street.

But once you enter the shop, you will discover it not only sells an attractive collection of handmade silver jewelry, but offers regular courses on how to craft silver jewelry pieces.

When The Jakarta Post visited the shop Tuesday, there were four people, all foreign nationals, in the upper level of the shop. All were immersed in their projects, shaping and molding silver materials into pendants and bracelets.

Ketut Darmawan, the shop’s owner, hovered nearby, ready to give advice to his pupils.

“My wife and I established this business around eight years ago. It was inspired by my wife’s passion for jewelry,” he said.

All the jewelry pieces displayed at Studio Perak result from the couple’s artistic design and outstanding skills. Their pieces feature unique designs, characterized by simplicity and an affinity to nature.

“Most of our jewelry designs are inspired by nature. We make them simple because such designs are timeless and can be worn at almost every occasion,” Darmawan said.

“Moreover, I don’t have the skills to craft intricate and elaborate designs,” he said.

Darmawan, who is married to Canadian-born Joanna Witt, said his wife had once joined a jewelry-making course in Thailand and suggested opening a similar course in Bali.

Darmawan had learned already how to make jewelry from an artist from Celuk village in Gianyar regency and did not find it difficult to share his skills with his pupils.

Celuk Village has long been known as the island’s gold and silver handicraft center.

“We opened on Jl. Dewi Sita in Central Ubud, which has since become one of our retail shops,” he said.

The couple later relocated their classes to their shop on Jl. Hanoman.

Studio Perak conducts classes twice daily, at 9 a.m to 12 p.m. and at 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., from Monday to Saturday. For a three-hour class, it costs is Rp 175,000 (US$19) per person.

“There are no special skills required to make jewelry, all you need is a strong will and patience,” he said.

Nicky, a class participant from England, said she was in Bali on a holiday and when she found out about the jewelry class she was interested to join.

“I’m basically passionate about everything related to art, maybe because I’m a graphic designer,” she said.

She said she had been eager to learn how to make jewelry for a long time, but the course fees for such a class in England were expensive. So when she found out about the class in Studio Perak, she came straight to Ubud.

She showed the results of her own work: a double-circle pendant encrusted with a green gemstone.

She said she saw the design of jewelry in the shop and wanted to copy it.

Darmawan said most who people took the course were westerners.

“We rarely have local people or visitors from Asian countries enrolling in the classes,” he said.

Most pupils are curious about the process of jewelry making and are trying to maximize their holiday in Indonesia, he said.

For further information: Studio Perak Jl. Hanoman, Ubud Phone: 0361-974244 www.studioperak.com

Source: The Jakarta Post

Add comment May 23rd, 2008

Digging for gold in jewelry boxes

High commodity prices, slow economy bring little-worn keepsakes to market
By Ralph Ranalli

Call it the ex-boyfriend economy.

Christine King’s old high school flame, Dave, treated her to a Kanye West concert last week, even though the 28-year-old from Franklin hasn’t seen him - or admittedly even thought about him much - for years. Or more precisely, it was a 14-karat gold chain he bought her that funded her trip to the Tweeter Center.
The necklace had been forgotten since their breakup a decade ago, King said, until the other evening, when she was sitting around lamenting her lack of discretionary income. Then she saw a television news report about the sky-high price of gold, and her relationship with the necklace suddenly had a much happier ending.

“It was just typical high school - it was: ‘I’m going to college now, see you later,’ ” she said as Russell Smith of Sheldon Jewelers in Framingham examined the piece through a magnifying visor. “And the necklace went into the closet.”

Now, she said, it was the chain’s turn “to move on.” With a few other odds and ends bringing her total to about 5 grams of gold jewelry, King pocketed a little over $44, just a few pennies shy of the cost of her concert ticket.

She’s not alone in cashing in old treasures. These days, many people are finding that anything that helps pay the grocery bill or the gas station attendant is worth its weight in gold. Meanwhile, record prices for precious metals have sparked an unprecedented assault on jewelry boxes and dresser drawers in households across the region, and have kept scales plinking and clanking at stores like Sheldon Jewelers and Hudson Pawn, which specialize in buying old gold.

Smith, who helps run the Route 9 business that bears his father Sheldon’s name, said that the rise in prices for gold and platinum has been breathtaking.

“When I got out of jewelry school in 2005, gold was $350 an ounce and platinum was $700 an ounce,” said Smith, a 28-year-old graduate of the jewelry program at the prestigious North Bennett Street School in Boston’s North End. “Within six months, it doubled. From there, it fluctuated, and then last year it just went boom, and took off again.”

Smith and other gold buyers say that three factors have created an unprecedented wave of sellers, as people cash in gold jewelry.

First, rising gas and grocery prices are prompting the search for other sources of income. Second, yellow gold, which was all the rage back in the 1980s, is now largely out of fashion, meaning that many people have pieces they are unlikely to wear again. And third, the price of gold (more than $900 for a troy ounce earlier this week) is near all-time record highs.

“And look, how many fashion items can you resell?” Smith said. “Women buy shoes all the time, can they resell them? No. Gold, you can always resell it. You can even sell your teeth. I’ve bought teeth before.”

More gold sellers, Smith said, means more gold buyers. Area jewelry stores that used to refer business to him are now buying gold themselves, and have become his competitors, he said.

Steward Medoff, a gold wholesaler and pawn broker at Hudson Pawn, said that the number of jewelry and antique stores he buys gold from has doubled and even tripled every year for the last several. For many small jewelry stores, he said, it’s a matter of survival.

“For some of them, if they’re not buying gold, they’re going out of business, because no one is buying jewelry these days,” he said. Some jewelers, he said, are even selling him their unsold, never-worn stock of yellow gold jewelry because it is more lucrative to wholesale it out.

Not everyone has joined the gold rush, however.

Bernie Segaloff, third-generation owner of Segaloff Jewelers in Needham, said that he is too concerned about his reputation to start buying gold. Commodity buying and selling is a complicated business, he said, and a person who sold three 14-karat chains on a day when the price of gold was down might not fully understand why they received significantly less than a friend who sold three 18-karat chains on a day when the price was up.

“All it takes is one person who feels they got cheated, and the reputation you’ve spent years building can go up in smoke,” he said. “But for every jeweler like me, there are a dozen more” buying gold.

While the buyers say business is booming, gold sellers say they’re just doing what they can to survive in slow economic times.

Rita Adams, a stay-at-home mom from Natick who sold more than $1,000 worth of old gold (including a “very thoughtful” gold and pearl ring from an ex-boyfriend) to Smith last week, said the proceeds were going to fuel a vacation with her husband to Aruba, where they have a time-share condo they have been unable to use.

Yet Adams was also quick to mention that it now takes $50 to half fill the tank of her family’s SUV, a GMC Yukon Denali, and how high gas prices have made it tough on her husband, a firefighter who takes contracting jobs on the side.

“It’s hard to give a free estimate when you’re spending the gas getting there and back,” she said.

Smith said that even though most of his customers are selling because of the economy, it seems to help many of them to think about the proceeds as being found money.

“Some people are taking this money and paying off the heating bill,” he said. “But for the most part, people say they are taking this money and enjoying it - they’re going to Foxwoods, they’re going on vacations.”

Several of Smith’s other costumers, though, were frank about why they were selling.

“I’m a check-to-check kind of girl, and that’s why you sell stuff, to get some extra cash,” said Debra McDonald of Marlborough, who works as a dispatcher for a Framingham company that sells emergency beeper pendants to the elderly. “I’ll probably use it to pay a bill.”

McDonald’s small pile of gold jewelry on the counter at Sheldon Jewelers included an 18-karat “corna,” or horn, and a “mano cornuta, ” or horned hand - Italian charms that are supposed to bring good luck.

While the charms were a staple of her jewelry wardrobe two decades ago, she said, she had long since forgotten who gave them to her or what exactly they were supposed to do.

“I’m half-Italian and it’s supposed to ward off something . . . I think. Like maybe evil spirits. My mother believed in that,” McDonald said, holding up the gleaming gold horn on its chain. “Now its helping me ward off poverty.”

Source: http://www.boston.com/news

Add comment May 23rd, 2008

Gould re-opens Main Street jewelry store

Louis Hoglund Perham Enterprise Bulletin

Tom Gould is a man with gold in his blood–and silver, and diamonds, and precious stones of all descriptions.

A second generation jeweler, with a well-established family name in the Fargo-Moorhead area, Gould followed his father’s footsteps into the profession. Now, Gould Jewelry will be established on Main Street in Perham.

Gould purchased Perham Jewelry from Dale Wright last year, and with extensive remodeling completed, Gould has opened T.A. Jewelry store in time for Memorial Day weekend.
The late Tom Gould Sr., who started in the jewelry business in Moorhead in 1946, died in January.

Young Tom followed his father into the business in 1976.

A goldsmith for 32 years, Gould specializes in custom designs; repair and restoration of new; old and antique jewelry; remounting and resetting customer-owned gems; writing appraisals for insurance; doing insurance replacement work; buying old and broken jewelry; and offering customers a consignment service for used, but unwanted jewelry in good saleable condition.

“I trained in as a goldsmith, and did custom work and repairs for a number of stores in the region,” said Gould, who is able to do most jewelry work in-house, and rarely sends anything out. “My motto was ‘if I can’t fix it, I’ll buy it’…About 98 percent of what comes into the store doesn’t leave.”

In 1985, Tom established his own shop in Moorhead. He has sold the building in Moorhead, and will be full time in Perham.

“We will be doing all forms of jewelry repair, ring sizing, repairing damaged rings, custom-made jewelry, and engraving,” said Gould.

“We will be feeling our way into the marketplace, finding out what the customer needs are,” he added.

Tom and his wife Kathy live in a log home on Lake Henry, about 15 miles west of Perham. Kathy works part time as a nurse at Perham Memorial Hospital and Home. She has also assisted Tom in the family jewelry business since 1991.

“Kathy helps with buying,” said Tom, adding, “she likes sparkly things…She also sells, does bookkeeping, even KP and other duties.”

Kathy started as a nurse in 1973–with a sixteen-year hiatus to raise five children, said Tom. They have two grandchildren in Perham, daughter Pam and husband Don Forrett. “When Kathy was applying at PMHH, I discovered that Dale wanted to retire and sell his store. I have known of his reputation for years, and upon meeting with him, learned he also knew of mine,” said Gould. “We sealed “the deal” with a handshake, and the rest is history.”

The remodeled Perham store, most of the work done by Tom himself and family members, includes new carpet, extensive display cases, offices and a workshop.

“We were striving for an ‘old time’ look, with a new, antique tin ceiling, modern and antique lighting, reworked walls with oak wainscoting, a period carpet, and oak wall and floor show cases,” said Gould. “We are not going over the top fancy, but want a store that Perham and that we will be proud of. Perham has a lot going for it and is obviously on the move.”

“Impact printing,” which enables Gould to imprint photo-quality images on plaques, medallions and other items, is a specialized service offered at the Perham store.

The engraving will be featured on prizes for all first place winners of the Perham Turtle Races, noted Tom.

Information on Gould Jewelry is also on the web, at www.tagouldjeweler.com.

Source: http://www.perhameb.com/

Add comment May 22nd, 2008

Learn about the World Jewelry, Costume Markets

Add comment May 21st, 2008