Makers Guild in Wales Christmas Exhibition

The exhibition 'Cwtch' opens on 11th November at Craft in the Bay all are welcome to attend the opening on the evening of the 11th. Please see the Makers Guild in Wales website for further information.

Jubilee Hallmark

In recognition of the Queen's jubilee year the four Assay Offices in the UK are striking an extra mark along with the other hallmarks to recognise the occasion. There is a small fee for this additional service.

Completed Pieces For Sale

My enjoyment is designing and making consequently I make pieces of jewellery which are not to commission and these I offer for sale in the section Items for Sale.

This work, as is the case with commissioned pieces, does not carry VAT on my labour. Not having a gallery also keeps my overheads down making handmade work affordable and in many instances less expensive than commercially produced work.  

Over time, I have take great interest in collecting good quality and sometimes unusual stones and I will shortly list these on this website.

Photography

The photography on this site is mine. The quality of my images is improving but is still a long way off professional standards. I suppose one pleasing thing to say is that my work always looks better than my photographs!

Gold & Silver Prices

The very high price of gold is a challenge. I'm now making fewer pieces of speculative work than ever as the prohibitive price of gold results in prices which will result in work which is overpriced when the gold price goes down. Using your gold is a good way of overcoming this problem. I can either use your gold, sell it on your behalf or use it as payment for the work. Let's hope the world economies improve soon and the price of gold goes down. Silver is also approximately three times its cost a year ago - the cost having been forced up by the price of gold.

Selling your Gold

Gold prices remain very  high and although the 'selling gold rush' has reduced somewhat there are still adverts for companies buying scrap gold with sellers often incurring high and undeclared processing costs. I continue my offer to sort and sell your gold for you with a 7.5% deduction from the  total I receive (to cover my work) from the sale of the gold (I provide you with a copy of the sales document provided there is sufficient to send as a batch. If you have a small amount to sell  we agree the price per gram having consulted the Cookson trade price for scrap gold that day. I sell scrap gold to the UK's leading bullion merchant. Please contact me if you wish to discuss this service. Any stones included in the jewellery remain your property.

Palladium

Palladium now has a hallmark. From 1st January 2010 it will be illegal to sell work made of palladium without a hallmark. Currently work work in palladium can be hallmarked on a voluntary basis. Costs of palladium usually fall between that of 9ct and 14ct gold. It is a white metal which resembles white gold.

Composite Rubies

The British Jewellery Association (BJA) supports a new Gemstone Industry and Laboratory Conference (GILC) ruby committee measure saying retailers should ensure the proper identification of lead glass-filled rubies. It voted that retailers should label the gems as: "Composite-Ruby, Glass-Filled, Requires Special Care."

The committee's measures are recommendations and are not enforceable. Composite rubies consist of around 50 percent ruby, 50 percent glass. They are cheaper than traditional rubies, but can require special care, as lemon juice, soda and even gem cleaner can cloud the glass filler.

Composite rubies have become increasingly common over the last few years, particularly in the US market. The majority of rubies are also heated to improve their colour and it's not uncommon for them to be filled to disguise fissure.

Synthetic Diamonds

Synthetic diamonds have been available since the 1960's, but the stones were only of industrial quality. Recently gem quality diamonds were finally brought to market. There are currently two different processes used ("High Pressure, High Temperature" and "Chemical Vapor Deposition") both create gems which are chemically, optically and physically the same as diamonds made by nature.

Testing laboratories are working to develop procedures so that they can reliably differentiate between natural and lab created diamonds. The necessity for sophisticated equipment clearly indicates that synthetic diamonds will be indistinguishable to non-technical observers. If you spend a lot of money on a diamond make sure you get a reputable certificate.

New Coloured Diamond

The world's largest pure green diamond has been graded at 8.61 carats by the Gemological Institute of America. Currently coloured diamonds are fashionable. Natural coloured diamonds are expensive but there is a wide range of treated diamonds in a variety of attractive colors available which are less costly.