Your Mother Would Like a Little Something

Dear San Francisco Jewelry Doctor:

I just saw a sign. Not the kind they talk about in circles on the floor, the kind you pass on the freeway. This one said Mother’s Day is next Sunday. Next Sunday! Yikes! 

What do I do? My mother always says, “Thank you, Dear,” and then never wears what I give her. Should I just send her flowers, or tell her I’ll take her out to dinner when I visit her in August or September?

Flummoxed in Baltimore

Dear FIB:

First of all, do not panic. There is a wonderful invention called “UPS” (and its cousins, “FedEx” and “USPS”). The Jewelry Doctor cannot recommend dilly-dallying, but she is pleased to tell you that if you step on it, you can have a wonderful gift in time for Mother’s Day. 

Which brings us to our next point: Flowers are out. They wilt, and she may have developed allergies since the last time you saw her. (No, we are not judging. We know you had your reasons.) Jewelry, on the other hand, is a perennial. That’s why those smart people put that sign on the freeway for you to find. As for asking someone to wait for a gift until later—well, how did you like it when they did that with your graduation present?

No, no, no. The answer is jewelry, of course. But how to select the right gift? Well, let’s talk about your mother. (Honey, there’s no way around it.)

Does she favor classic design? Is her style simple and elegant? A solitaire pendant on a chain would be a great choice—or just a pretty chain to go with the pendants she already has. (And ask about the Laynie Tzena collection: beautiful handcrafted pendants, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets in porcelain, Venetian glass, Swarovski crystal, and gemstones.)  

Is her taste more casual? Take a look at our jewelry in wood and contemporary metals. You say she’s a big sports fan? Give her a “sporting” pendant: we’ve got skaters, tennis racquets, footballs, baseballs, basketballs (and maybe a hockey puck, too—we’ll check), in both gold and silver.  

Whatever kind of jewelry your mom adores, we’ve got you covered. Call us at 415/796-3969—oh, and honey, do it now, while there’s still time.

San Francisco Jewelry Doctor. A mother’s best friend (well, aside from you, of course).

©2018 Laynie Tzena. All Rights Reserved.

Thanks, Sandy!

Most of our customers are online, but not all, and some prefer to keep a low profile. Here’s a note from a happy customer we'll call “Sandy.”  

My engagement ring sports my grandmother’s European-cut diamond. My husband and I laughed that our wedding, over 25 years ago, was a BYOD (Bring Your Own Diamond) affair.  

Some time ago I noticed that the diamond was loose and that a fault in the diamond had become a chip. I was afraid the stone would fall out. I actually stopped wearing my ring, not knowing who could fix it properly.

I took the ring to Laynie Tzena to see if anything could be done. Her diamond cutter reshaped the stone and redid the prongs. The diamond and the ring came back better than I remembered, and certainly far more beautiful than I had imagined possible. I admire it all the time, as I wear it confidently morning, noon and night.

My daughter, who was away at college, noticed the ring almost the moment she came home for a break. Even my husband commented how sparkly my ring looks, although I am still unsure if he noticed it was off my hand since 2006. 

Glad to help, Sandy—what a beautiful ring!—and here’s wishing you many more healthy, happy years together.

Are You Listening, Robert?, or The Gift of Friendship (On a Friday Afternoon, No Less)

“I hate Valentine’s Day!”

Jerry looks at his phone. “Who is this? It says ‘Robert,’ but that can’t be right. See, I just saw Robert yesterday, and he was going on and on about how much he adored the woman he’s been seeing. Said they were made for each other.”

“I do, I do! We are! That’s the problem,” says Robert.

“You lost me,” says Jerry. “And it’s Friday afternoon. I’m due at a meeting in less than five. That gives you two minutes to get to the point and one minute for me to respond. Go.”

“Okay,” says Robert. “You probably won’t understand—“

“The clock is ticking.“

“—because you seem never to have had a problem picking out a gift.”

If he only knew, Jerry thinks, but he says, “Right. So what’s your point?”

“I’m afraid I’ll blow it! Linda won’t like the gift, and she’ll think I’m not the guy she thought I was.”

“Well, you’re not, Robert,” says Jerry. “You’re on your best behavior. But good news! So is she. Now, in your remaining 20 seconds, I will answer your implied question, which is: ‘How do I pick out the perfect gift?’”

“Exactly!”

“Simple. You get off the phone with me and call Laynie at San Francisco Jewelry Doctor. 415/796-3969. Oh, and I just sent you something to read. You’re welcome.” http://myjewelrydoctor.blogspot.com/2014/04/hard-to-shop-for-not-any-more_27.html

“I will! I promise. Thanks!”

Jerry actually has another half-hour before his meeting starts, but Robert can go on, so we’ll keep that between us. Now: Will Robert read the article? Will he use his newfound knowledge to find wonderful gifts, every time? Stay tuned.

Spring Comes Early, or Then and Now

“Anything we can do about this pin?  It was my grandmother’s,” said Nancy.  

And what a beauty!  Look at those flowers.  And that gorgeous Swarovski crystal—did you notice the color is amethyst, this month’s birthstone?

“Sure thing,” I said.

“Ooh!” said Nancy. “That is really pretty.”

“Especially on you,” I said.

* * *

Any amethyst-lovers on your Valentine’s Day list?  Call us at 415/796-3969.

San Francisco Jewelry Doctor.  We see beautiful things in your future.   

Pictures Are A Wonderful Thing, or All Is Not Lost

Few writers love the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” But pictures can be oh, so helpful when it comes to jewelry. I always take pictures of jewelry before I work on it, not only so we have a

“before” and “after” to enjoy, but so my customer has a record of what the jewelry looked like in case it is ever lost. (Helps for insurance purposes, too.)

It's always great if you can have someone take a picture of you wearing some of your “greatest hits”—i.e., your favorite jewelry to wear—as well as a picture of the jewelry by itself. But in a pinch just take a picture of the jewelry on a clean surface (black, gray, or white are usually best). Then, whether we need to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again
http://myjewelrydoctor.blogspot.com/2016/07/humpty-dumpty.html
or recreate Humpty-Dumpty from scratch or fill in missing pieces, we'll know what we're aiming for.

Make sure the jewelry is centered in the picture, with the whole necklace (or earrings, or bracelet) visible. That's important when it comes to reconstructing it.

“But I don't have a picture!”

Not to worry, honey: the Jewelry Doctor understands, and is still happy to help. (She is a doctor!)  But if you have one, that's even better.

A Moving Experience

“I don’t know about this necklace,” said Ariane.

I looked at it. Green African Trade beads, often called “Vaseline beads.” Nothing wrong with them. But what’s that copal doing here?

Moving, it turned out.

“People move it while I’m talking to them. They don’t even ask. They just adjust it. Very annoying,” said Ariane.

Now, copal has its place (see “Expect the Unexpected”: http://myjewelrydoctor.blogspot.com/2010/05/expect-unexpected.html). But not in this necklace.  

But wait! There’s more.

“This necklace is too heavy,” said Ariane.  

And it was rather heavy.

What to do? I thought of other jewelry Ariane had shown me. She liked neutral tones, and one piece in particular came to mind—a multistrand black and white necklace.  

“Kukui!” I thought.  

“Kukui?”

A seed from Hawaii (a nut, actually)—you often see a bunch of them on strands. But I think they’re more interesting when you isolate them. I’ve often made kukui pendants, with just a simple accent.

Drumroll, please.

And one of the kukui had a different pattern on each side. Presto! A reversible necklace.

But take a look at the silver in that wood necklace. Once it was cleaned up it was rather beautiful and became a focal point.

Ariane was very happy, and there has been no report of people trying to adjust her jewelry for her. 

“What about the copal and wood beads in the original necklaces?”

Not her colors, it turned out, but they may show up in a gift for someone. Stay tuned.

The Heart of the Matter

Many a “patient” that comes to visit the Jewelry Doctor isn’t broken. Well, this bracelet was a little stretched-out, that’s true.

But it could have been restrung on elastic and sent out into the world. This was not an appealing idea, since the bracelet seemed to suffer from an identity crisis. If you look closely, the design goes in several directions at once—which has its own charm, you could say, but is not, for some of us, all that appealing. It was also missing some pieces.

Time for a redesign. But where to begin?

“Ask your customer,” you might say. 

Good idea. But this was an unusual situation. You see, the bracelet wasn’t brought in by a customer, but was a yard sale find from long ago. 

Jewelry often has “a name on it”—it reminds you of someone. It seems in keeping with that person’s style. I had looked at the bracelet a few times over the years, but didn’t have any immediate design ideas, and nobody in particular came to mind. But a while back I was preparing to meet with one of my favorite customers, for whom I had designed and redesigned many a treasure, when I came across the bracelet.

“I have to show this to Marguerite!”, I thought.

I brought it to our next meeting. 

“Intriguing,” she said.

“I think it would make a great festoon!” I said.

“What’s a festoon?” you might ask. Marguerite asked that very question—one that your Jewelry Doctor might have asked a couple years ago, but by now I had designed a few of them.

A festoon, simply put, is a centerpiece. It may be a design in gold, silver, or perhaps copper, or, as in this case, it may be a beaded design. Unlike its cousin, the pendant, which has a bail or jump ring at the top, a festoon has jump rings on each side, and is often joined to the body of the necklace via open jump rings, which are then soldered for a seamless look. A more fun way to go, if you ask me, is to attach spring rings* to the body of the necklace. When you use spring rings, you can play “mix and match,” changing the look of your necklace by using different necklaces (or chains) for the top.

When Marguerite saw the festoon, she said, “Wow. I really like that.”

Here’s the necklace we chose to go with it. Note that the loops, which now extend just below the silver and wire mesh balls, are echoed in the pattern of the chain.

And what a gorgeous chain! Since it connects to the festoon by spring rings, we were able to add an extender chain to those and presto! A chain necklace. Well, to be exact, I made three, which could be worn singly, as a dynamic duo, or all together for a dramatic look. 

That done, we still had some chain left over. I didn't have any immediate ideas as to what else we might do with it. Then one day I was looking at some bracelet designs.

“That chain would make a great multi-strand bracelet,” I thought.  

“Okay, fine,” somebody says. “But what happened to the heart and key charms in the original bracelet?”

This.

“So that’s it, right?”

Almost. I just loved the look of that flat oval chain. We had some left over from the multi-strand bracelet. One morning I woke up and, in my mind’s eye, saw the chain as a pendant—a multi-dangle pendant. (Which led, inevitably, to earrings.) Is it a tassel? Is it fringe? You tell me.

Speaking of earrings, here are those key earrings once again, and a pair of hearts that bring everything full circle.

*Spring rings are clasps that look like little circles with a notch; they are often found on gold and silver chains.

©2018 Laynie Tzena. All Rights Reserved.