Are You Luxury?

 This is a terrific question that can be answered only by the beholder.  Remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  The Luxury Institute came out with its annual ranking of jewelry and fashion brands.  It surveyed 500 rich folks in this country representing the top 1.5% of society.  In a nutshell, here are the results for the top 5 luxury brands,  Graff, Asprey, Buccellati, Harry Winston and Piaget (tied for fourth place).  Also in the top 20 is Blue Nile, dealer of wedding diamonds and rings.  Sterling Canyon was not on the list much to my surprise.  They are a dealer in fine sterling silver jewelry.  I imagine they have some additional work to do to get there.

Sterling Silver is the New Fashion GaGa

The latest news about the battle between Sterling Silver and gold shows that Sterling Silver is winning more than the battle, it is winning the war.  Since the price of gold has increased, so has the cost of making 10-karat, 14-karat and 18-karat gold jewelry.  Go into Macy's a find a swell gold necklace for $125.  With gold hovering around $1200 per ounce, just how much gold is in that $125 necklace?  Not much at all.  Even with gold plating, the plating would have to be awfully thin for that price.  Gold also has the added distinction of being for old ladies.  Young fashionable people don't wear gold, they wear silver.  Silver is bright and can be worked by jewelry designers in so many creative ways. It is affordable too.  Pure silver is valued at about $17 per ounce.  With that said, Sterling Silver is the new darling.  And the new fashion gaga.

A Ruby For You My Dear!

It has recently been published an article describing more deceptive sales practices by trustworthy jewelry store salespeople.  After the fiasco at Macy's where they sold fake rubies without proper disclosure, can it be true?  This by National Jeweler:  A recent complaint* received by the Jewelers Vigilance Committee involving a "composite ruby" helps illustrate this point.

A consumer bought a 1.2-carat ruby ring, accompanied by a grading report that described the stone as a "ruby" and a "gem, " enhanced by heat treatment that "contained residues from the heating process."

The store receipt said only this: "Many gems are enhanced to improve the color and/or clarity of the stone."

A respected grading lab that analyzed the stone for the customer a month later reported it showed "indications of heating, significant clarity modifications." The report labeled the stone as a composite ruby filled with lead glass, and said the filler "may be unstable" if exposed to elevated temperatures or chemical agents and that it required special care.

The buyer tried to return the ring, not wishing to own what she learned was a composite ruby, but the jeweler declined, citing its posted two-week return policy.

It's getting so bad folks that your neighborhood Target can't be trusted when purchasing fine gems. Sterling Canyon deals only with the finest gemstones.  Can't hurt to look.   

India Jewelry Flooding the U.S.

Went into Macy's this past weekend to look at jewelry.  Lots of pretties.  Lots of color and shiny sterling silver.  Looking at the tags, they didn't say where they were manufactured.  China or India anyone?  I didn't touch it mind you.  Probably lots of Cadmium and Lead on the surface too.   Despite the economic downturn, and warning from the FDA, India's export market registered slight growth, just over one percent, in 2009, with total gem and jewelry exports registering at $25.2 billion, compared to $25 billion in 2008. The United States, the world's leading consumer market for jewelry, imports almost 30 percent of its jewelry from India.  We all know where that jewelry ends up: Macy's, Target, Walmart, ect.   Boy it's tempting to buy the stuff.  Sterling Canyon sells jewelry made in the U.S. or handmade in Italy.  And at prices just as affordable as the retail stores.  Play it safe.  Play in Sterling Canyon.

OK. Easter is Over-Down to Business

Ok, Easter was fun and invigorating.  For the religious folks, it was inspiring to be a better person.  Now it's time to get down to business.  Know your jewelry that you'll be buying in the next month and know it well.  Ever come across Rutenio?  Of course not.  Rutenio is a platinum class metal used to coat Sterling Silver jewelry amongst its myriad of uses.

 It is used not only to give a piece of jewelry a fantastic look, it also is used to create a corrosive resistant shell.  In other words, it keeps your Sterling Silver from tarnishing.  Sterling Canyon has a terrific collection of jewelry with the Rutenio finish.  My wife's mother bought a necklace with the Rutenio finish.  Friends and strangers go GaGa over it.