Margaux Lange Puts Her Best Foot Forward...

If you have been following this blog for any length of time you know I am a huge fan of Margaux Lange's Barbie Jewelry.

...well - for those of you in the Eastern US - you have 2 days left to catch her contributions to the current exhibit at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA

Lange's blog reports:

The Perfect Fit: Shoes Tell Stories, the museum exhibition this bracelet and two other works of mine are included in at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA will be closing on January 17th. However… it will soon be traveling on to the Nicolaysen Museum in Casper, Wyoming (hooray!) The show will open there April 30 and will remain until September 12, 2010.

Vicente Agor On 2010 Trends for WJA Event!

On January 21^st, the San Francisco chapter of the Women’s Jewelry Association will be hosting a dinner that’s open to the public and are excited to announce that fine jewelry designer Vicente Agor will be speaking about upcoming fashion and business trends for 2010.

Vicente’s 18 karat gold jewelry is sold in some of the most exclusive boutiques, has celebrity fans like Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, and Oprah.

His jewelry has been featured multiple times in Cosmopolitan, InStyle, Marie Claire, Self, and Lucky, as well as appearing in publications like Elle, W, C Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and appearing on the covers of Self, O, and Brides local editions.

Awarded by some of the most respectable organizations in the Industry, Vicente has been named Best New Designer by Instore Magazine, and has been honored by the World Gold Council for the past four years.

Event Info:

Women’s Jewelry Association

Thursday, January 21st at 6:00pm

E&O Trading Company

314 Sutter Street, San Franicsco, CA 94108

Phone: 650-692-7880

Tickets: $50 for members and $65 for non-members

Last day to purchase tickets Jan. 18th

Tickets will not be available at the door

About the Women's Jewelry Association - WJA

WJA Mission - To empower women to achieve their highest goals in the international jewelry, watch and related businesses.

WJA Vision - To strengthen WJA as the preeminent international association representing the interests of professional women in the jewelry, watch and related businesses.

Gem Shopping at Bagram AB from the ISG

The ISG was recently contacted by a member of the United States Marine Corps inAfghanistan regarding our 10 minute YouTube video on Gem Shopping at Bagram AB. It seems that the internet access available to our soldiers there does not have sufficient bandwidth for them to view the video properly. As a result of this situation the ISG has produced an expanded 35 minute edition of this video to be available for direct mailing to any military personnel stationed anywhere in Afghanistan.

This expanded video covers the following information:

• How to use a jeweler’s loupe to inspect gemstones
• How to identify authentic Afghan Lapis Lazuli
• How to identify treated or imitation Lapis Lazuli
• A brief overview of traditional Afghanistan jewelry designs
• How to identify glass filled and otherwise treated rubies
• Images of fake rubies and fake emeralds being sold in bazaars around Bagram AB
• Information on a variety of other gemstones that have been reported from the area

This 35 minute DVD video has been formatted and tested to play on any Macintosh laptop computer and/or any Windows based PC using Windows Media Player or comparable viewer. In additional to Macintosh computers, we have tested this video on players ranging from our 5 year old Acer laptop using the home version of Windows XP to our new HP laptoprunning Windows 7 to insure that it will be compatible with all anticipated players available to our military personnel stationed in Afghanistan.

This video is available free of charge from the ISG Community to any coalition military personnel stationed in Afghanistan, and will be shipped to any APO AE or FPO AE address sent to the email address listed below as long as we have the resources to supply these. Any military personnel stationed in Afghanistan who needs assistance with shopping information can also email to the below address to get free assistance.

Please use the following email address to contact the ISG regarding this DVD.

military@schoolofgemology.com

It Is With Great Sadness That I Share This Report From The LA Times....

Antonio Pineda dies at 90; Mexican modernist silversmith

His works 'made absolutely beautiful use of semiprecious and precious stones,' and the jewelry was 'beautifully designed to fit the human body,' a museum curator says.

Antonio Pineda, the internationally renowned Mexican modernist silversmith who was praised for his bold, striking jewelry designs and ingenious use of gemstones, has died. He was 90.

Pineda died of kidney failure Monday at his ranch home in Taxco, Mexico, said his daughter Veronica Falzone.

A Taxco native, Pineda was among the most prominent of the many silversmiths to emerge from the mountain mining town beginning in the 1930s.

He was the subject of a 2008-09 exhibition at UCLA's Fowler Museum, “Silver Seduction: The Art of Mexican Modernist Antonio Pineda,”which traced the evolution of his work through the 1970s.

"He was certainly one of the major modernist silversmiths in the 1950s, '60s and certainly into the '70s," said Betsy Quick, the Fowler's director of education and the show's in-house curator.

...for more of the story as reported in the Los Angeles Times... and a gorgeous photo gallery of Pineda's work

Honora Pearls Declares It's "TIME" to give!

It is that time of year when we traditionally look for worthy causes to donate time and money to. When the plight of those less fortunate is brought home every time we sit down to a family dinner in a warm house.

In the spirit of the season the folks at Honora are taking on a HUGE project! For those of you who follow the Social Media platforms, you know that Honora Pearls has invested mightily with a presence on Twitter, Facebook and their own Honora Blog...well they are hoping that this investment will pay off in the fight against Childhood hunger in the US!

Honora Aims To Raise $30,000 For Children’s Hunger This Holiday

Honora is working with Share Our Strength, a national charity seeking to end childhood hunger by 2015, to raise $30,000 to fight Children's Hunger using Social Media outreach.

Honora is using the last two weeks of the holiday season as an opportunity to give back to those who are truly in need this year. To encourage donations, anyone willing to give $30 dollars or more to Share Our Strength will receive a black genuine leather and mother-of-pearl floating Freshwater Pearl watch courtesy of Honora valued at $100 MSRP.

“No matter how challenging this year has been we must seek out opportunities to give back to those who are truly in need,” says Joel Schechter, CEO of Honora Industries, Inc. “Helping children who go without just felt like the right way to end the year.”

Honora will offer these watches to the first 1,000 people living in the United States who donate. Visit The Honora Blog on Monday, December 14^thto find out all of the details behind our “Time to Share” initiative with Share Our Strength.

2010 AGTA Spectrum Awards™ Collection - Classical

2010 AGTA Spectrum Awards™ Collection - Classical

Entry 284 Carley Boehm

Carley Jewels

Solana Beach, CA

"Shanghai Noir" platinum ring featuring a 7.32 ct. emerald-cut yellow Sapphire accented by tsavorite Garnets (3.76 ctw.) and Diamonds (1.10 ctw.).

Entry 504 Ashleigh Branstetter

Ashleigh Branstetter, LLC

New Orleans, LA

18K yellow gold "ruffle wing" pendant featuring green Amber (21.35 ctw.) and pave Diamonds (.43 ctw.).

Entry 150 Victor Velyan

Victor Velyan

Los Angeles, CA

18K yellow gold "Dragonfly" pendant featuring andradite Garnets (7.45 ctw.) and multi-colored Diamonds (3.25 ctw.).

Entry 17 Loren O. Hovland

Loren O. Hovland, Goldsmith & Lapidary

Santa Rosa, CA

18K yellow gold and platinum necklace featuring an oval Brazilian Paraiba Tourmaline (1.08 cts.), abalone Pearls (17.20 ctw.) accented with Paraiba Tourmalines (4.98 ctw.) and Diamonds (.28 ctw.).

Entry 512 Alejandra Solomone

Alejandra Jewels

New York, NY

18K yellow, white, rose and green gold necklace featuring Prehnite (7.63 ctw.), blue Topaz (5.18 ctw.), Iolites (2.73 ctw.) and Diamonds (0.80 ctw).

Entry 526 Ashok Sancheti

Designs by Ashok Sancheti dba Pioneer Gems

New York, NY

Natural blue Agate bangle featuring platinum and white Diamonds (18.73 ctw.).

...this final group is from the category winner....

Entry 552 Lilly Fitzgerald

Lilly Fitzgerald / Goldsmith

Spencer, MA

22K yellow gold hand-carved pendant featuring a black Opal.

Entry 553 Lilly Fitzgerald

Lilly Fitzgerald / Goldsmith

Spencer, MA

22K yellow gold hand-carved necklace featuring a Tanzanite cabochon.

...and the winning piece!

Entry 554 Lilly Fitzgerald

Lilly Fitzgerald / Goldsmith

Spencer, MA

22K yellow gold necklace featuring multi-colored Sapphire cabochons.

Check out the rest of the category on the AGTA website.

Jewelry for Jewelers - Lee Marshall

I was reading a blog post from one of my favorite MetalSmith pals BZ - of Cosmos Moon. She talks about "Gifts for MetalSmiths" this being the season of giving. The first thing that came to mind was this wonderful post by my go-to Tool man - Lee Marshall of Knew Concepts - the designer of the Bonny Doon Hydraulic Press, Knew Concepts Saw, MicroFold Brake and multi award winning engineer.

Photos Include: Bracelet by Cynthia Eid using the MicroFold Brake; Microfold Brake; Knew Concepts Electric Saw; thrilled workshop attendee using the electric saw!

I Make Jewelry for Jewelers

by Lee Marshall

Who hasn't seen Tee shirts emblazoned with sayings such as "TOOL FOOL", bumper stickers with "I BRAKE FOR TOOLS"?

How many times have you as a jeweler, given an encircled

picture or catalog description of a tool or machine with the notation saying: "This is the one that I want for my anniversary, wedding, birthday, holiday, etc"?

Jewelers fall into a very special category of unique individuals. Those on the "outside" have a hard time coming up with gift ideas for them.

Flowers won't work with this crowd; candy leaves them cold, brandy isn't the answer, and diamonds...they would only use them to make something for someone else! No, the best way to show love or friendship to this group is to give them a tool.

These folks still cherish their very first good tool, and probably still use it every day. In my case, I still have tools given to me by my father over sixty years ago, and even though I don't use them much anymore, as our interests diverged, I still fondle them with reverence.

Good tools free creativity, while poor tools limit it. I have been making tools for jewelers and metalsmiths for more than twenty years, and for the longest time didn't recognize that my appreciation for tools and machinery was shared by others. This was brought home to me when I shipped a tool

to a customer and it happened to arrive on her birthday, along with a box of long-stemmed roses from her brother, and a package from her husband. As she related this story to me later, she confessed that she opened mine first. After all, the piece that she was working on needed the tool to finish it, and her husband would get to see her open his gift to her. Now, this is rationalization of the first order.

For the past 20 years, I have been trying to figure out how to describe to others what it is that I do. I realize now that I occupy a very small niche within the universe circumscribed by the field of jewelry. While some would say that I am an insignificant piece of the larger puzzle, I feel that I

participate in making objects of beauty.

That's good enough for me.

What I do is create jewelry for jewelers.