Protect Your Valuables

I'm always amazed at how many jewelry news stories focus on theft. Like everything, this could be for several different reasons. Perhaps it's because jewelry is a very common thing to be stolen. Being so beautiful, worth so much and being made of precious metals may make them a very coveted item for a thief. On the other hand, there seems to be an added element of drama and suspense to stories about jewelry theft, and they can't help but catch they eye and imagination of many readers. Or maybe the reason there are so many of these stories is because we simply find jewelry heists interesting. No matter the reason, the fact is jewelry theft is very real. Protecting your investments is one of the smartest things you can do to ensure the life, value and ownership of your treasures.

Below is a list of ways you could protect your jewelry investments:

Home Security: More and more homes are equipped with home alarm systems every year. Having a system that alerts the police to a potential break-in can be crucial in ensuring your items are not stolen. In the case of theft, seconds matter and can be the difference between catching a criminal and returning your items to your possession.

Home Safe: A safe is highly recommended if you have small items you want to protect but don't want to keep your house locked down like a fortress. By locking an item into a safe, you can be sure your items will be secure even if you cant keep tabs on every person who enters your home or office. It is important that you secure your safe to something so that it can not be removed and opened in a different location. Most safe companies will provide instructions on how to secure a safe to a floor or wall.

Secret Hiding Places: If you do not have a safe or security system yet, there are tried and true methods of protecting your valuables from being stolen. There are shaving gels with false bottoms or even secret compartments behind electrical outlets. Some people will carve out a book and place their items in there, while others have entire secret rooms in their houses. The options are endless for hiding valuables, but choose wisely and make sure that wherever you hide your items, you can remember how to find them!

Staying Within Budget.

Each project we work on has it's own depth of difficulty, so naturally each project also has it's own budget. Some projects are simple refinishing work while others are more advanced jewelry design, but in the end the budget is determined by the details. Beyond our pricing schema, there are other costs to consider when planning a jewelry project.

1. The customer budget- how much are they willing to spend?

2. Your budget- how much can you spend and still make a profit on the work, even after it is sent to us (time, postage, materials are all costs to consider).

3. Our budget- we also need to make a small profit and have our costs/materials covered.

If your budget equals out to be less than the total costs of the work that must be done, Associates can help you finish the job. We also know times are hard, we are always willing to re-think the work that must be done and the materials that should be used. Another option is to finish a portion of the work that needs to be done and wait to finish the rest of the repairs when the customer has enough money.

It is really a good idea to communicate your budget and your customer's budget with us here at Associates, that way all parties involved know what we are getting into before the actual work starts. This will ensure happy customers and happy employees.

If you have questions about how exactly to plan for a project with Associates, just give us a ring.

Shirley Bassey Sings "Diamonds Are Forever"

Diamonds are forever and Shirley Bassey knows it. Her voice is so powerful, it's hard to imagine she doesn't believe every word she is singing.

Pebble Mine Boycott Over Fish

The Pebble Mine in Anchorage, Alaska seems to be having a hard time getting started. The development is located on one of the world's only sockeye salmon streams. Because of this location, the mining company is looking at an uphill battle before breaking ground. Environmental protection agencies and the mines potential customers are joining forces in an unlikely partnership against the mining company. Even Zale Corp. has announced that they would be boycotting all metals that are mined from the Pebble Mine.

You can read an in-depth article from huffingtonpost.com

Do you think it is a good thing to protect the fish over the mining of precious metals?

Have Your Jewelry Purchases Examined

There is a lot of fake fine jewelry in the world. Imitations are watches, rings, necklaces...etc. that were made to look like the real thing. Sometimes a forger can do a pretty good job imitating their targets.

Recently Tareq Salahi, (crashed the presidents party with his wife) paid his gardener with a watch that a jeweler has determined fake. The gardener was given a Patek Philippe watch which can cost around $15,000. The gardener was not a professional jeweler and so was in no place to asses the quality or integrity of his payment. One of the first things Salahi's gardener did was take his watch to his jeweler for inspection. Upon examination of the watch, the jeweler declared it a fake. Mike Dunbar (the gardener) is now taking legal action against Salahi to correct this wrong.

Knowing a good jeweler whom you trust is very important when purchasing any jewelry, including something as complicated as a watch. If you are not familiar with a specific time piece, you could be easily fooled.

If you need a second opinion, bring your jewelry by Associates and let us take a look. If you are sold a fake item there are actions you can take against the person who sold it to you.

Don't be fooled by a crafty sales person, let Associate Jewelers, Inc. evaluate your jewelry purchases.

Dog eats diamond, makes me think.

I was browsing the web for interesting news about jewelry, when I came across a story about a jeweler who's dog ate a $20,000 diamond. As the story goes, the jeweler often brought his dog to do business with him. One day while meeting with a dealer, a 3-carat diamond dropped on the floor. Right before their eyes Sollie (the dog) reached out and swallowed the diamond. I couldn't help but giggle at the thought of 3 beautiful carats going right down the gullet of a dog.

The story reminded me of this ring that we lost years and years ago. We were just finishing the ring for a customer when it got caught on the polisher and was tossed across the room, never to be seen again. I had to wonder, had any dogs come through the shop since it was lost...?

Whenever we move a piece of furniture or have a big cleaning party, we keep our eyes peeled for this ring. Someday it will show it, I have a feeling.

Insofu Emerald

On February 22nd there was an astounding discovery in Zambia. Gemfields announced that they had unearthed a 6,225 carat rough cut emerald. This has to be one of the larger rough emeralds ever discovered in the world. Speaking of large, it is no wonder that Gemfields discovered this emerald, as it is one of the largest gemstone mining companies in the world. They have mining fields in most of the major gemstone locations worldwide.

Gemfields said that after examining the internal structure of the emerald, they feel it will "yield a number of cut gems of significant size".

Diamond Cutting

This is a video I found on Youtube which shows part of the process for cutting and shaping a diamond. Since diamonds are so hard, one needs to actually use diamond dust to cut these gems.

A diamond truly gains its value when it is cut and placed into jewelry, made by a jeweler who excels at his trade.

Our First Blogger Post!

Here at Associate Jewelers, Inc. we have been trying to strengthen our bonds with our clients and peers in the jewelry business. We have been making bold moves and embracing new marketing techniques, like using Facebook, Twitter, Buzz, Linkedin, Tumblr and Blogger to communicate more effectively and consistently with our whole network. Our goal in using social networks is not necessarily a move to grow our customer base, we like to think of it as a way to involve everyone in what we do here at Associates.

We used to have our blog up on Tumblr.com, but are now going to be use Google's Blogger to write about interesting industry news, happenings here at Associates, highlights of employees and exciting projects we are working on.

We encourage you to check back in the near future because we will be talking about our thoughts on the way the gold market is going, highlighting Ben Sipp and giving details about the ring we use as our profile picture on our social networks.

Also, check the links above and follow us on our social networks.

Thanks for reading and being a part of what we do here at Associate Jewelers.