The Doctor Prescribes Reality

So let’s talk about gold. Notice any changes lately?

Uh-huh.

And how does that affect the average jewelry buyer?

Not much.

What?

Not much. And here’s why. Even a bump of $100 or more in the gold market price—which happened this very month—makes a small difference in many purchases.

How on Earth can that be true?

Because the market price is for an ounce of gold. That’s a lot of gold. If you think about it, most people are not spending, say, $1800.

I thought perhaps we should talk about this. So I spoke with one of my sources the other day and asked them to price a diamond pendant mounting (“mounting” is jewelry lingo for the metal part of the jewelry, before you polish it and add diamonds and gemstones to create a finished piece of jewelry) on August 1 (before the "big increase") and August 15.

The big difference?

$40.

If you then waited three days, it would have bumped up about another $20. It then went up smaller amounts three more times that week, before dropping below where it was on the 15^th.

So the moral is watch the metal markets every day, right?

Well, how much do you like the taste of Maalox?

A much better solution is to work with a jeweler you trust (for example, the Jewelry Doctor). Tell your jeweler what you’re looking for, and let her keep an eye on things and do your buying for you, bearing in mind that in most cases you’re not looking at a big difference in the price of your jewelry.

©2011, 2014 Laynie Tzena.

Darling, I Love You, But Give Me Park Avenue

In the theme song from the television series Green Acres, of blessed memory, we learn that Lisa Douglas (played by Eva Gabor) loves her husband Oliver (played by Eddie Albert, first name pronounced by his better half as "Aw-lee-vuh!" [last syllable rhymes with the "oo" in "good"]). Loves him dearly, but she is a city girl and feels out of place in the country.

This has been known to happen in the world of jewelry, too.

Here’s a nice necklace.

Nothing wrong with it. In fact, the center portion is jazzy and that foxtail chain above it is straight up gorgeous, if you ask me.

But the fact that the center is pretty and so is the chain doesn’t mean they belong in that necklace. In fact, the chain certainly didn’t belong on that necklace. Because it was Nancy’s necklace, and that chain didn’t sit right when she wore it but rolled around and drove her bananas. Plus, she thought the chain didn’t really go with the rest of the necklace—which, if you look closely, has a different, more contemporary feel to it.

Now, where’d I put my magic wand? Oh, there it is.

We also had enough chain for two—count ’em, two—necklaces, one for Nancy and one for a friend of hers, plus more chain that will be transformed into earrings and other goodies.

This necklace wasn’t bad, either.

Pretty amethyst. But it’s hidden by those (also fine) sterling silver spacers. The necklace just didn’t have much oomph.

Drumroll, please.


What’s that? You say that chain looks familiar? You are so right. It was the top of that other necklace we were talking about. But doesn’t it look happier here, surrounded by its new family?

We think so.

©2011 Laynie Tzena.

Geometry After All

As a little girl, I was smitten with algebra. X and Y go to the store.
(a + b) + c = a + (b + c). Coordinates. Axes. Happiness.

Geometry was another story. Didn’t interest me one iota.

So of course today I love geometric shapes, work with them all the time, think geometry is absolutely the bee’s knees. Life does that. (And I still love algebra, too. Go figure.)

But nobody loves everything, everywhere, at all times. This necklace has plenty of interesting shapes. Some would say it has a lot of movement.


But it bugged Nancy no end. Sure, the intersection of the shapes was great, but the piece also felt "busy." You know how sometimes at a crowded party there might be a dozen conversations going on at once, all interesting, but it gets so you can't really decipher or take part in any one of them after a while? Like that. Plus, it always got twisted. So it ended up sleeping in the jewelry box.

Fine. I waved my magic wand. And looky-here: Two for the price
of one.



Well, three, if you count the earrings, which don’t photograph well.

And now you can see the shapes even better. This time around, less really is more.

©2011, 2013, 2014 Laynie Tzena.

Do You See What I See?

I took one look at these metallic beads and it was love.

“Ooh, ooh, ooh!" I said.


Aren’t they gorgeous?

Nancy did not share my feeling.

“Oh, that necklace," she said. "I don’t know if I want to even work
on that.”

People sometimes ask me, “Should I even bring this to you?” I always tell them, “It’s completely up to you. But it’s not about what you originally paid for it (lots of people bring in family jewelry, for which they paid bupkes), or if anybody else sees the value in it." My rule for design and restoration (and life) is quite simple: “If it's important to you, it's important to me.”

This works both ways. I see potential all over the place. But other people don’t always see it, and the customer’s the boss. We were already working on a number of other projects (yes, you’ll see them soon), so I just said, “Okay.”

But I still loved those beads. When I would look at the necklace from time to time, they just shimmered. Every so often I would say to Nancy, “I know we’re not doing anything with this necklace, but I still love it.”

“Uh-huh,” she said.

I left it at that. Lots of other fish in the sea.

One day Nancy said, “Okay. Go ahead.”

So I designed this.


“I’m going to wear that all the time!” she said.

“Told you,” I said.

©2011, 2014 Laynie Tzena.

Just You Wait

Oh, Children, do I have redesign to show you! Lots of cool new work. Check back soon.

Expect the Unexpected

Janet said she'd brought back malachite from Fez, and I said thanks. But as soon as I took one look I knew it was fossil.

I was equally sure about Willow's beautiful wood, formerly three-strand necklace.


Which is actually copal, sometimes called "copal amber." (This is why my team includes gemologists, appraisers, stone-cutters, and people who buy and sell stone. I was right about the "malachite," though. Fossil, sho'nuff.)

"Hang on. Did you just say amber?"

Copal.  Sometimes called "copal amber," but that's actually a misnomer.  Copal is not amber.

"But wait. Didn't Willow send you a bracelet and some loose beads? And didn't you have half a strand of some beads in that color family on hand, and some copal, too, from somewhere eons ago?"

Yup.



"Great. Looks like you've got enough of everything."

But no. That would be too easy. (And neither of us wanted to take apart that beautiful bracelet, if it could be avoided.)

So this project was more complicated than it seemed at first glance. Here are the main challenges:

1. It's multi-strand, which means, in this case, three different lengths, and the measurement of each one must be exact or the strands won't sit right on the neck.

2. The beads are graduated, which means you have to keep to the same proportions or the necklace won't be balanced. You can't just add a few beads here and there.

3. Light and dark hues of that beautiful yellow-brown alternate in the necklace, and that variation has to be respected or the color will look wrong. (You can go lighter or darker within the same color family, but you can't interrupt the color alternation.)

4. Copal is not easy to find in this shape and size. If you can find it, it can be veddy expensive.

Other than that, a piece of cake. (Or shortbread, which is what Willow's company, Heritage Shortbread, makes a particularly yummy version of back in South Carolina [we'd met at a trade show]. I mention this for you folks outside the Bay Area. Just gently pack the patient and send it along. Do call me first, though, so I know it's coming.)

So I was stumped once again. But I am too stubborn to quit. So I kept trying different options: wood beads, amber, copper, even buttons. Nothing worked.

But life always intervenes. And so it was that, after trying said bazillion different options, each of which had problems, and emailing Willow to say the patient was not responding but the doctor had not given up, on a very hot day (which we rarely get in San Francisco) when I was supposed to be somewhere else, I walked into one of my favorite shops and found lovely brass barrels that, with the dipped glass beads I had on hand from I still don't remember where (I think I've had them for years) solved the problem.


To be specific: I changed the 4-5-6 pattern at the top of the original necklace to 3-4-5 and built a new top for the necklace using a 1-2-3 pattern of dipped glass beads following the brass barrels, and everyone was happy ever after.

Big thanks to Susan and Haley.

©2010, 2014, 2015 Laynie Tzena.

Doctor in the News

Yes, it's true: Someone the Jewelry Doctor recently met, in writing about our sister blog, "Love at First Bite," included us, too.

http://www.examiner.com/x-12392-SF-Easy-Meals-Examiner~y2010m4d30-Laynie-Tzena*

Fine, you say. Where are those other restoration projects you told us were coming?

On their way.

*Update, 5/3/21:  We were recently alerted that the link doesn't work.  (Thanks, G.!), and contacted the person who interviewed the Jewelry Doctor and wrote the post--who said that Examiner.com has deleted its blogs, including "SF Easy Meals."  Boo!  Hiss!

Sorry!  We are hoping to locate a copy of the original post.  Stay tuned.