Monthly Archives: November 2016

How Do I Know What I am Really Buying?

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WARNING:  If someone tells you something is “gold” or “silver” they may just be talking about the color, and hoping that you will assume it is a precious metal. Real precious metal will be stamped with its purity.

Recently several customers have asked me to explain a bit more about metal and how it is marked in jewelry. They also were wondering what happens to people who lie about the precious metal content of the pieces that they sell.

First let’s talk about precious metal in general. Many different alloys are sold today in the United States, some of which are marketed and copyrighted. The rules for precious metal do vary between countries, and over time, so I will focus on current US rules.

Let’s start with gold. The purity of gold is designated by the term Karats (K) it is a proportion and not a weight. (The term “carat” is a unit of weight that is commonly used for precious stones.) The most common designations for gold are 24K, 22K, 18K, 14K, 12K, and 10K. 24K gold, is considered to be pure gold. It is very rarely used to make jewelry because it is too soft, and will scratch and bend easily. Other metals are added to gold to create an alloy, and this reduces the purity. The added metals may include nickel, zinc, silver, copper and palladium. The color of the final metal and its working properties are the result of the metals that are in the alloy. This is why we have white gold, yellow gold, pink gold, and rose gold, just to name a few. Those terms all refer to the color of the metal, but they do not tell you what the purity of the gold is. Purity is designated completely by the Karat number.

Still confused about Karat weight? Think of it this way. 24K is pure, therefore 12K contains half the amount of gold to other metals that 24K does.

English: Crystaline Gold

English: Crystaline Gold (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have had several folks ask about  the cost of gold filled items in my shop (more about filled vs plated later). If you are purchasing precious metal jewelry, it is important to know what the “spot price” of metal is. It is also important to know that most jewelers do not pay the spot price for their precious metal.  Spot price is the commodity price that an ounce of precious metal is traded at on the commodity exchange. This price is usually only available for folks who are buying over 100,000 ounces. The vast majority of jewelers purchase their metal from a jewelry supplier, by the ounce. The precious metal starts out as bullion (small bricks). Every time the metal changes hands, or is modified (turned into wire or sheet or casting grain) there is an up charge to cover the labor and equipment and allow for a profit. For example, if the spot price of gold is $1,187.70, which it was this past week, I would be paying about $1237.95 per ounce for casting grain. 24K gold wire, because it requires more processing than casting grain, would cost me $1251.62 per ounce. That is $63.92 more than spot per ounce. And how much is an ounce? Well, my simple gold wedding band is about 1/10 of an ounce. That means that the gold alone, no labor, is worth $125.17.

Next Time: Silver Alloys

All Rulers Are Not Created Equal

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Rulers? That doesn’t seem like a very important topic! Well, I have discovered in the last couple of years that all rulers are definitely not created equal. Now in my heart of hearts I knew that there were differences between rulers. Engineers and machinists use more expensive, and more accurate rulers. But one day, when I was in a hurry, I just grabbed a random plastic ruler to measure the link for a chain, and it came back to bite me later. Whether you are drawing out quilt blocks, measuring a pattern for embroidery, or checking the size of a link in a chain, you need accuracy, and consistency.

Most tape measures that we use for sewing are fairly consistent within the tape, but if you have doubts about yours, check it by doubling it back and seeing how well your measurements line up. As you can see in this picture, my tape measurements line up nicely. I always try to buy good tapes for sewing. I got in trouble once by switching between two tapes during a project, and winding up with almost a half inch difference. All of my current tape measures are made in Germany, and even though they are not the same brand, they are consistent. But I still stick with the same tape, just in case.

tape-check

My metal ruler agrees with my white engineers’ ruler, but my little yellow plastic ruler is off by slightly more than 1/16th of an inch over a distance of only four inches.

3-ruler-collage

I was trying to find the plastic ruler that got me in trouble, but I am sure that I threw it away. But I did find one of the kids’ old wooden rulers. This ruler brings up two very important issues. First, some rulers have extra space on the ends, to avoid the problem of wear and tear literally changing the length of the ruler. This is just something to be aware of. But this ruler has another problem. While the inch marks are nice and accurate, the number of divisions within the inch are wrong. Not just off a little, totally wrong. Yes, this is a test…

ruler-end

And just because the inches are good, doesn’t mean the centimeters are. I discovered that my lovely metal ruler, with the very reliable inches, has cut off the beginning of the centimeters, and is off by 1/2 mm. Now that may not be an issue for most people, but if I am cutting a piece of metal, or measuring a link, then my ruler needs to be precise. I simply slide in off the edge of the ruler and use the center to do my measuring.

Now you may ask, how did I get in trouble with an inaccurate ruler? As a production  jeweler, I keep notes about production details. The amount of metal needed for a project, or the size of the rings needed for a particular type of chain. Well, I had notes about a particular chain pattern. And they were wrong. Because the ruler was inaccurate. So, when I went to replicate the pattern. I cut the links the size that the notes said, and they didn’t work, because they are too small. So be aware, all rulers are not created equal.

 

Vardos and Their Cousins: Part Five

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Living Quarters, kitchens, shower trucks… what else could Vardos and trailers possibly be used for? Well, during my tenure at Pennsic there have been a bunch of shops that used wagons as the basis for their set up. The first one that I was aware of was the Old Stave Church, which sadly is no more. It was built on a tall trailer, and was actually something of a pain to get in and out of, and for its height had relatively little floor space. It was used as a shop for many years and always contained an interesting collection of things that ranged from fossils, to bars of pure tin (I own several), and scribal supplies like gold and silver leaf (I own a bunch of those, too). I went looking for a picture of it in my photo stash, but I didn’t have one, but then I found this great picture on the web, that includes both the Stave Church and the wagon/building that is used by Laurel Cavanaugh Goldsmith.

buildings-at-pennsic-2-fixed

The Stave Church is obviously on the right, and the wagon used by Laurel is in the middle. The two story building on the left side is actually assembled on site every year from bolt-together panels, and is home to five or six merchants, ranging from potters, to several jewelers, and Billy and Charley’s Pewter shop.

The newest wagon/shop to appear at Pennsic is owned by The Haunted Bookshop. They decided that having a permanent place to display all of their books was preferable to setting up a tent and dragging out tons of boxes of books at each event. There also used to be a fabric shop over near the barn that used a trailer for their shop, and Klaus the Toymaker, The Guild of Limners, and Heart of Oak Crafts have been in wagons for as long as I can remember. At other wars I know of a knife/sword merchant who works and lives in his wagon/shop for comfort and security. We have actually considered a Vardo for smaller events, with a quick set-up shop under an awning.

wagon-collage-2Heart of Oak on the left and Klaus the Toymaker on the right.

In closing I would like to add a few random thoughts, in no particular order, for those considering making their own Vardo.

Understanding what your state’s vehicle laws are for trailers, campers and RV’s would probably be a good idea. Some states are very lenient and some require multiple inspections. Generally people are not permitted to ride in any sort of RV or trailer during transport (except for Class A RV’s obviously), for safety reasons.

A friend who built a Vardo also mentioned that when you buy a trailer, be sure that the trailer uses tires that can be easily purchased. Some inexpensive utility trailers use odd sized tires that may have to be specially ordered, which could be a real problem if you needed to replace one or more while you are on the road.

If you want more information there are at least two active Vardo Groups on Facebook: SCA, Vardo Trails: Vardos, Roma ‘Gypsy Style’ Wagons and Camping and Gypsy Vardo- The Original Tiny House