Big Summer Giveaway!!

In honor of the beautiful weather that we are having, Associate Jewelers would like to give you the perfect opportunity to pop "The Question" in one of the most magical places not on earth. We have set up a huge summer giveaway where we will give one lucky winner a free ring repair and a hot air balloon ride for two.

Do you have or plan to find an older ring which will be used when you ask the person you love to marry you? Maybe you just have an old ring that needs repair and you have always wanted to ride on a hot air balloon? If so, you may be interested to know that we here at Associate Jewelers, inc. are going to give a lucky person the opportunity of a life time.

Take a minute to type out a quick little blurb about your jewelry that needs repair. Tell us where you got your ring and a little bit of the story behind it. Maybe the ring was your grandmothers old wedding ring that had a broken setting. Maybe your father gave you a ring when you were young and it has since been tarnished and warped? Whatever your story we are interested to know, it's the stories which give life to the ring. After you type of a quick blurb, send us a picture and tell us how your ring was damaged. If you don't know how it was damaged that is okay too.

All entries will receive a free estimate on the repairs so be sure to include your address and a phone number. If you win we will do all the repairs on your ring for free! If you do not win, you can still be entered to win the balloon ride by completing a repair here at Associates.

If you don't happen to have a damaged ring but still wish to have a chance to win the balloon ride, purchase a custom ring by August 13th and you will entered to win the balloon ride for two!

Submit entries here:

Facebook: http://facebook.com/AssociateJewelers

Twitter: http://twitter.com/AssociateJewel

Fax: 503-226-6787

Email: Christina@AssociateJewelers.com

Snail Mail/Walk in:

534 SW 3rd Ave. Suite 604

Portland, OR. 97204

All entries must be received by 8/13/2010 and will be subject to review. We will announce the winner of the ring repair on August 27th and will be announcing the Balloon ride on September 1st.

Maximilian Diamond.

In 1860 Emperor Maximilian went on a journey to Brazil with the hopes of discovering botanical mysteries. On this trip Maximilian purchased a 41.94 carat diamond which he was said to wear around his neck in a small pouch. At the request of Napoleon III, he stayed in Brazil where he became the emperor of Mexico for a time. When Napoleon withdrew his troops from the area in 1876 Maximilian was captured and executed. The pouch that contained the 41.94 carat diamond was not removed from his body until after his remain were sent back to his wife in Austria. Upon arrival in Austria, the diamond was given to his wife, Princess Charlotte.

The Maximilian Diamond went missing for a number of years after his death. There were no reports of it anywhere until it was purchased by Ferdinand Holtz in 1919. The diamond Stayed with Mr. Holtz, a gem collector until his death when it was sold to an unnamed collector. The collector who purchased the diamond had it set inside of a ring. The Maximilian Diamond changed hands a few more times before it was cut to it's original size of 39.55 carats and sold at auction in April.

This sale was one of the most expensive diamond sales ever recorded.

How To Remove A Stubborn Ring

It has happened to all of us at one time or another. We have put someone else's ring on our finger and when we went to take it off, realized it was stuck. Do to the specific shape of some finger joints, it may be easier to get a ring on than off.

I can remember a time as a child when I went snooping through my mother's bathroom, upon finding a small ring that looked like it would fit my finger, I stupidly slipped it on. After only a second, I went to take the ring off and realized that it was stuck. getting caught trespassing in my mother's bathroom was one thing but getting busted wearing her jewelry was not going to be good. After numerous attempts at pulling the ring off my finger I did what anyone does in this situation. I went into panic mode. Pulling and yanking on the ring only left me sore, exhausted and even more distressed. I had pulled my finger raw and placed it in my mouth because it hurt so bad, little did I know that this would be my salvation. When I went to pull the finger out of my mouth, the ring just slipped off onto my tongue.

Now that I am grown, I thought I would impart some knowledge to those who find themselves in similar situations.

• Don't Panic: If you panic you are going to increase your heart rate and your fingers may swell. If you are in a state of panic, you will be unable to think clearly.
• Relax and Breath: In your state of calm you can think of a plan of action, maybe pulling up this blog to read a quick tip or two.
• Lubricate and Rock the Ring: Use saliva or soap and begin to rock the ring back and forth on the finger. Pushing the ring from the bottom and then the top repeatedly should help you work the ring off your finger.
• Be Gentle: If you are gentle you will have better chances of removing the ring. When you are aggressive you stimulate blood flow and cause the finger to swell.

If you are not having any luck removing the ring after you have followed the steps above, I recommend that you hold your hand above your heart and place a cool ice pack around your hand. Both these actions will decrease the amount of blood and fluid inside the hand. After 20 or so minutes of this, try removing the ring using the above mentioned steps.

At this time, if you are still not having any luck removing the ring, you should seek medical attention. Don't panic, a ring can be easily removed by a doctor with little to no discomfort and a ring can be easily mended by a good jeweler. Never let a jeweler try to cut a ring from your finger as their tools and skills are not suited for this task.

Best of luck to you and your fingers!

Communication is Key

We have recently touched on this a bit on our website, but we thought it would be a great idea to reiterate again here in our blog. Associate Jewelers, Inc. has a very large customer base which is comprised of many different components. We have the walk in customers who grace us with surprise visits. We have many different clients that are wholesalers and many who ship us damaged jewelry that needs repair. Overall, each component is equally important. It is in our ability to be flexible that we pride ourselves.

Unfortunately and fortunately, we are one of the only jewelry businesses that let's third parties write instructions about repairs. This being said, we would like to stress how important clear communication is to our success. On occasion we will have clients that have written poor instructions about an item that needs repair. When this happens we are chagrined to say that we may be forced to do repairs that are not what the customer of our clients wants.

Help Us Help You

To prevent errors in repairs do to miscommunication we would like to encourage each of our clients to take extra care when writing out repair instructions. As much as we would like to be, we are not mind readers. Our work starts by looking at your instructions and should your instructions have strange symbols or sloppy hand writing it could make deciphering the text hard. Please take your time when writing instructions. Bulleted or numbered lists are often the most efficient means of communicating these types of instructions.

1. Repair filigree on both sides of ring. Must match exactly. $300 k

2. Supply and set two matching sapphires. $50 k

3. Remove old white gold tips and repairs. $55k

4. Retip (laser) platinum tips. $65k

5. Repair places where the old repairs were. $67k

6. New shank, size 8, make shank round $135k

This would be a great list because it not only has mention of what you need to have done, but also the keystone price that you have given the customer. If these numbers don't match ours then we know that we need to work out different arrangements. We understand that you are here to make a profit, information like this is helpful for us to give you the best service possible.

Why We Love Laser Beam Welding

I would like to talk about lasers for a while if you don't mind. Remember when lasers were really cool? For a while, our technology was driven by lasers. CD players revolutionized how we listen to music. They were put in everything from super market scanners to eye surgeon's hands. Lasers even became the favorite weapon of advanced civilizations in outer space, thanks to movies like Star Wars and Star Trek. But if I had to pick a favorite movie with lasers? It would be "Laser Beam Welder".

Below is a video of laser beam welding in action:

Laser Beam Welding and Associate Jewelers:

For the last few years Associates has been one of the few jewelers in the NW to own a laser beam welder (LBW). We made the investment because the benefits were numerous. When working with traditional torch and solder, it is difficult to make all the precision welds one wants, without risking damaging the surrounding metals or gems. And although torch tip technology has progressed since we have been in the business, it is still impossible to do more advanced welding without total control of what is being heated and how long it is hot. Laser beam welding gives us that control.

Because a laser beam by nature is extremely focused, when we use an LBW, we are only going to be heating the exact spot that we wish to weld. Yes, the surrounding metals get hot through conduction, but it is by far less intense than if we were using a traditional torch. Also, when doing repairs on jewelry that was created using a LBW, it is sometimes necessary for us to use our lasers because the original work is so precise. Another great advantage to using a LBW is that the effected metals do not stay hot for as long. However, if the metal being worked on is carbon steel, LBWs should not be used, as the short heat time will cause them to crack.

Obviously we still use the original torch and solder method when making our jewelry, but we are fortunate enough to have two lasers on site, to use at our (or your) discretion. If you have projects that require the precision of a laser beam welder, please do not hesitate to give us a call for a quote.

How to care for your precious pearls.

The earth has given Jewelers many materials to work with. We use gold, silver, diamonds, wood, gems and precious stones of all kinds. One Precious stone we love to work with is the Pearl.

A pearl is a delicate and beautiful, little, irritant. Irritating to the oyster that is (we love pearls). Typically when a pearl is made naturally, it starts with a little grain of sand. Somehow a grain of sand might get stuck inside of particular species of oyster. As a defense mechanism the oyster will start to secrete a fluid that hardens around the sand spec. After about 5-10 years, if the oyster was fortunate to live that long, it will have created a precious pearl.

Since Pearls are not created like many other precious gemstones, millions of years and thousands of pounds of pressure; they are often easier to damage than other stones. Due to the softer nature of Pearls, they are easier to scratch or be damaged in chemicals. If not cared for correctly, a pearl can quickly lose it’s luster or be lost forever.

Tricks and Techniques to care for your pearls:

Due to the nature of pearls you should always remove a pearl ring or bracelet when preparing food. Some foods contain acids that could eat away at your pearls. Also, if you are going to go swimming, we recommend removing your pearls so as not to be lost or damaged by the chlorine and chemicals in swimming pools.

If you have a pearl ring, we recommend you remove it by holding onto the band and not the pearl. The less contact made with the pearl the better, without being excessive. Remember, pearls are jewelry that was meant to be worn and loved on your body. After you remove your pearl jewelry it is always a good idea to wipe the pearl with a (wet or dry) soft cloth. Although your body oils can improve the look of your pearl you might not want the acid from your perspiration to remain on the pearl. If you perspire heavily, you may want to think of using different gems in your jewelry design.

If you have a string of pearls it is a good idea to get them restrung every 6 months. The worst pearl stories I hear are of women who lose half their pearls when their necklace breaks. A break can happen unexpectedly from tension, but it is best to try and prevent pearl loss from weak string.

Cleaning Pearl Jewelry:

As described above, Pearls are more delicate than other precious gems and so they take a different kind of care when cleaning them as well. Below I have created a little list that you may find useful when cleaning your pearl jewelry.

• Wash hands before handling pearls to remove any perspiration
• Never use chemicals on when cleaning jewelry. (chlorox, bleach, ammonia… etc.)
• Clean your pearls with a mild soap.
• Remove pearls when applying lotion or moisturizers.
• wipe with a soft or damp cloth immediately after removal.
• If soap and water do not clean your pearls to satisfaction, consider using a pearl cleaning solution.

Please, if you have any questions about pearls or pearl care do not hesitate to call us.

Diamond and Pearl Earrings for Free!!

Today is the day! We will are excited to announce all the details of our first jewelry giveaway via social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Lucky you!

Pictured below is a pair of diamond and pearl post earrings that we will be giving away to one lucky Associate Jewelers follower. The rules are simple and only require a little bit of social savvy on your part.

To have a chance at winning the earrings, all you have to do is this:

• be the first to get 20 of your friends to follow/like Associate Jewelers on Twitter or Facebook.
• Have at least 20 of your friends leave a comment on our feed or wall saying you should win the earrings.
• Thats it!

A little description of the prize:

• 12 points total weight in diamonds.
• 2x10mm Grey Pearls.
• 14k white gold pierced posts.
• $400.00 retail price.

Make sure you get your friends to follow and like us. Make sure to get your friends to leave a comment saying you personally should win the earrings. don't wait to win the earrings.

Their comments might look something like this:

• My friend @___ _____ wants to win your earrings.
• @_____ _____ wants @AssociateJewel 's earrings.
• @AssociateJewel should give my friend @_____ ______ earrings for free.

Twitter: http://Twitter.com/AssociateJewel

Facebook: http://Facebook.com/AssociateJewelers.com

Good luck!