Diamonds Jewellery Store

In many ways the “ultimate” noble metal that one might consider for jewelry isn’t gold or platinum but their slightly tan colored cousin iridium. With the possible exception of osmium (which is smelly and toxic) it’s the rarest non-radioactive element in the earth’s crust — several times more so than either gold or platinum. It’s even more chemically incorruptible than the other two, it’s heavier (17% denser than gold and 6% denser than platinum), and it’s much more scratch-resistant. There’s also the additional mystique that most if not all of the iridium we mine comes from meteorite impacts and is therefore extraterrestrial. Unfortunately no one has come up with a way to work with it economically, mainly due to its absurdly high melting point and its glassy brittleness. The first artisan to tame iridium will surely take the world by the tail.

But in the meantime there’s a metalworking specialty that’s just as interesting if not more so called mokume gane (mo-KOO-may GAH-nay) which involves bonding as many as thirty alternating layers of differently colored metals; twisting, stretching, or otherwise heavily deforming the resulting mass; and then carving it into rings and such that display a riotously swirling agate- or woodgrain-like surface. Japanese metalworker Denbei Shoami (1651-1728) invented mokume gane to make ornamental handles for samurai swords. Metals used include silver; gold and differing hues of it such as rose, white, and green; shakudo (an alloy of 96% copper and 4% gold that develops a blue-black patina); kuromi-do (copper with a smidgen of arsenic); shibuichi (a pink copper/silver alloy); and various alloys of titanium and tungsten that can involve iron, nickel and molybdenum. They sandwich these layers and heat them to a temperature, which chemists call a eutectic, that’s hot enough to cause the atoms to jostle and intermingle at the layer boundaries yet not so great as to melt the stack into an undifferentiated blob.

It’s unquestionably a high art and something not everyone can pull off. Currently the best known mokume gane master appears to be Norio Tamagawa, whose family has worked the field for nine generations. You can Google the term yourself to find some good sources, but one of the most visible and accomplished is clearly James Binnion at http://www.mokume-gane.com

The preceding article comes from the “Curious Thing of the Week” section of my website. http://www.curiousnotions.com

Share This

When a diamond cutter has a piece of stone to cut he naturally thinks of getting the most money from the cut. So he thinks of a round brilliant cut first as that is the most common, profitable and popular cut. But what about if he has a piece that is long then he must make a decision: cut a marquise shape or cut it down into perhaps more than one smaller stones. Smaller diamonds are not worth as much as larger ones. A one carat round brilliant cut diamond is worth say $600 but you might only get $450 for a full carat weight of very small stones!

But a marquise cut, sometimes called the navette cut, is not worth as much as the same weight in a round so the decision is a considerable one. They generally do not have as much brilliance as a round cut stone.

The marquise is the elongated or stretched looking shape. It was supposedly designed for Louis XIV. Because of the shape of a marquise cut stone an effect known as the bow tie effect occurs. This is a dark area in the centre which resembles a black bow tie. It will almost always be there and is a negative quality which is worse sometimes than other times. You might not have noticed before but you will now. It happens in pear and tear drop shapes as well.

The Marquise cut is most often in a proportion of 1:2 or the width is half as long as the length. Although it is not the cut that the diamond cutter wants to make, and it is harder to cut and even worse the pointed ends are more easily broken, it nevertheless may end up being the most profitable for him.

It lends itself to wonderful settings and suits some long fingers admirably. It is different and we all don’t want to wear what our neighbour is wearing. If you like it, and I just love it, then you are going to be exceptionally happy to get a higher quality diamond for 10-20% less than you are likely to pay for a round cut.

It is one of those diamond shapes which are ideal for running up and down the finger. Just today I was handed a lovely marquise to design and make into a ring. The husband who gave me the ring wants it made so that it goes across the finger. I first asked him how big his wife was. As he didn’t know her ring size I wanted to form a picture of her in order to make up my mind what might suit her. Tall lady with long fingers then there is no decision to be made up and down the finger will look lovely.

It turns out that she is tiny with small fingers and he subtly indicates that she was thinner once a long time ago. I make up my mind that it should be set almost diagonally across the finger. That’s a kind of compromise just in case she turns out to be wider than she is high!

Don’t dismiss the lovely, elegant marquise cut because of the bow tie, or the fact that it is easily broken. If set well and looked after as it should be it will amke a stunning piece of jewellery!

Author: Gary Hocking, is a manufacturing jeweller who makes custom pieces of jewellery for people all over the world. He operates his own website: http://www.jewelleryexpress.com.au

Share This

About 2 weeks ago a major tropical storm was forming as usual over the Atlantic Ocean. Often these storms become Hurricanes and this one did too getting the name Katrina.

As always Katrina was monitored as it developed and moved forward. A little bit more than a week ago it became clear that Katrina might move towards New Orleans. At this time its strength already was of a category 4 Hurricane. Discussions started in the media whether it might hit New Orleans directly or hopefully change its course. All possible scenarios were outlined including a total destruction of New Orleans through flooding.

A few years earlier the scenario of a major Hurricane of category 4 or 5 hitting New Orleans was studied and it was strongly recommended to strengthen the existing levees and even create a safe haven in the center of the city where people could be moved in and survive. All these recommendations were declined as we know.

And Katrina came and did almost exactly was foreseen inflicting an enormous damage by flooding New Orleans due to levees no longer able to withstand the water. By now everybody realizes the magnitude of this natural disaster. But we still don’t know the mid and long term impact on our economy and subsequently on the people.

We cannot change the past and the future has not yet come, so let’s concentrate on the present and do something now!

Leadership is required in first place! We need true leaders whom people can fully trust, leaders deserving to be followed, and leaders caring for people no matter what. We need the kind of leaders who take action instead of constantly giving interviews promoting their career. We need leaders in the forefront being personally there where leadership is required, right in the middle of the action.

Beyond that we need to take advantage of all these skilled people this country has. They are everywhere and when properly treated as human beings, treated as the diamonds of every society they will there for each other. This is about working together, helping each other and not about survival of the fittest. Unfortunately our society has chosen to ignore what I call the Human Dimension, dividing people into winners and losers. But there is no such thing as a loser. In most cases it only means that we are unable in our society to recognize even the largest diamond. People, the Human Dimension, are the richest resource we have in our country, talented and gifted human beings waiting eagerly to be discovered and make a difference in the world.

If we want to stay competitive in our world the only opportunity we have at our hands is our people, their knowledge, know-how and experience! We only have to provide them with what they want and they will be glad to return the favor to society providing all of us with what we all need.

I sincerely hope that this natural disaster is the wake-up call for our country to stand up, learn and develop our society to a much higher level, becoming once again the example for the world what is really possible when being united and having faith, faith in our leaders and faith in our country!

Walter H. Groth

Institute for Life and Career Transition

Walter Groth founded the Institute for Life and Career Transition with offices in Laguna Beach and Munich. The purpose of the Institute for Life and Career Transition is to set up people to unleash their true potential and discover their true life purpose, and to re-shape the way business is done in corporate world taking advantage of the Human Dimension and providing Caring Leadership.

Walter Groth has a proven experience of 26 years at large international corporations in different leadership positions and an unmatched insight into the Human Dimension.

http://www.truelifepurpose.com

Share This