Let’s go over the six steps of the jewelry manufacturing process.

1. Design a 3D Jewelry Model

Once you have a sketch of the piece of jewelry you’d like to make, it’s time to use Computer Aided Design (CAD) software to develop a digital version.

Having a 3D model will allow you to visualize the finished jewelry design and give you a change to make any updates before moving on to the next step in the jewelry manufacturing process.

2. Print a 3D Wax Jewelry Model

The model that was created using CAD software will also be used to make a 3D wax mold of your jewelry. Most jewelers use a 3D printer to create this model, which will also be used in the next step of the jewelry making process.

3. Pour Molten Metal into the Jewelry Mold

It’s now time for the casting stage of manufacturing your jewelry design. After choosing a precious metal to use, it’s melted down to its liquid form and poured into the 3D wax mold.

In this process, called “lost wax casting,” the wax melts away and the gold, silver, platinum, or other precious metal hardens into the shape of your jewelry design.

4. Refine the Main Jewelry Structure

After casting is complete, the piece of jewelry will need to be filed to remove any rough edges. This is also the time for adding any desired clasps or other functional jewelry elements, as well as making any aesthetic adjustments.

For most jewelers, the final fabrication process for a piece of jewelry can take anywhere from three days to a month – which makes this stage crucial in managing the jewelry making timeframe.

5. Set Any Desired Stones into the Jewelry

It’s now time to add any natural or synthetic gemstones to your jewelry. A microscope and specialized tools are needed for this step, especially if you plan to add side stones to your jewelry piece.

6. Finish and Polish the Jewelry

In the last stage of the jewelry making process, you want to ensure that your piece is polished to a high shine. This is also the time for adding any engraving or metal stamping.

Finally, it’s time to put the jewelry through a thorough quality assurance process by inspecting the piece for any flaws, loose stones, or rough edges.

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However, picking out the right piece isn’t always so easy. Each woman has her own distinct style and preferences.

If you want to ensure you pick out something she’ll love, follow these tips for buying jewelry for women.

Watch What She Wears

No two women have exactly the same style. To determine which type of precious metal jewelry to buy (e.g. gold, silver, platinum, or palladium), use the woman’s closet as a guide. As a general rule of thumb, cool colors (such as blue or purple) go well with silver, platinum or palladium jewelry, while warm colors (such as orange and red) go well with yellow gold jewelry. Interestingly, white or black will actually look great with most metal types, depending upon the look.

Beyond her closet, you should also take a peek inside her current jewelry box. If that’s not possible, observe what she wears. What type of precious metal does she wear most? That’s a telltale sign that she may prefer one type over the others — and you should follow her lead.

If you’re picking out a ring or a bracelet, it’s also important to ensure you get the right size.

Where Does She Spend Her Time?

Another tip for buying women jewelry is considering how she spends most of her time. Does she frequent theater events or charity galas? If so, she might appreciate a statement piece she can pair with an evening gown for the next night out.

Or maybe she spends a lot of time hiking or gardening outside — and gravitates toward jewelry that’s more casual for everyday use.

If you’re picking out jewelry for a new mom, you’ll also generally want to avoid any delicate, dangly necklaces or bracelets with a clasp. Babies like to latch onto them, which often causes them to snap.

Make it Personal

Most people want to feel seen and heard. One of the best ways to accomplish that through jewelry is by picking out something that feels highly personalized to the gift recipient.

For instance, if you’re shopping for your daughter, you might pick out a precious metal charm that matches one of her interests. There are silver artist palette charms for those who like to paint, cameras for aspiring photographers, or a dumbbell with a heart for women who live to weightlift. Charms are a great way to show a daughter, partner or mother that you’re paying attention to the things that matter to them in their lives.

Another way to personalize precious metal jewelry gifts for women is to incorporate their birthstone. Vogue made your job even easier by putting together a collection of, “The Chicest Birthstone Jewelry for Every Month of the Year.”

If the gift is for your mother or grandmother, you might consider picking out a precious metal necklace or bracelet with the birthstones of all her children or grandchildren. It’s a great way to not only make them feel special, but to also show appreciation for their legacy.

Ask Her Friends for Input

Still not sure what to buy? (We know, it’s hard.) If you’re buying a gift for your partner or mother, consider reaching out to her closest friends for confidential guidance.

It’s typically better to wait until you’ve narrowed down your options to a few pieces rather than simply asking, “What should I get?” This gives them something specific to react to — and ensures you have their buy-in on the final gift.

Try to limit input to one to two friends. Once you ask more than that, it gets complicated if they have conflicting opinions. Don’t forget to remind them to keep the gift a secret!

Find a Trustworthy Jeweler

One of the biggest nightmares for gift givers is finding out later that a piece they thought was made from real precious metal was actually fake. It can be a costly mistake. At Manhattan Gold & Silver, we buy precious metal scrap, including jewelry. As a result, we’re well-versed in testing precious metals for authenticity. It’s always hard to tell customers that a piece of jewelry that they thought was real precious metal is actually not. To avoid that disappointment, we recommend buying from a reputable jeweler.

How can you tell if a jeweler is reputable?

Look for one that is a member of the “Jewelers of America,” if possible. They have a directory you can search or you can look for the “J” logo on the company’s door or website. Members of Jewelers of America receive ongoing education and commit to following a code of professional practices.

Next, read the jewelers’ positive and negative reviews on their Google Business Profile. Look for common themes, such as people saying they bought jewelry there that later turned out to be fake or poor customer service. You can also check Better Business Bureau to see how many complaints have been filed against them and how many have been resolved.

Friends and family can also be a great resource. If you have a friend that recently got engaged, ask where they bought the ring and if they had a good experience.

Make Sure It’s Returnable

Despite all of your best efforts, you may pick out something that doesn’t work out. Maybe it’s the wrong size, maybe she has a similar piece already or maybe it’s just not her style. Don’t fret! It’s the thought that counts — and that goes a long way with most people. At the time of purchase, make sure to ask if the gift is returnable for a full refund or exchange. You might also inquire if they offer free fittings and adjustments, in case the piece doesn’t fit properly after it’s given. Keep your receipt in a safe, but hidden place, just in case you need to make a return.

We hope these tips for buying women jewelry help you pick out a piece she’s sure to love — just as much as she loves the person who gave it to her.

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The New Zealand jeweler has been trying to make his concept a reality for 20 years. Now, he’s finally succeeded with the help of Canadian master diamond cutter Mike Botha. After the emergence of new technologies; millions of dollars of investment; help from the likes of metallurgists, laser engineers, testing laboratories, and patent attorneys; extensive testing; and a number of destroyed diamonds, floeting diamond jewelry is now real, patented, and available for purchase. For now, it’s a 100-piece collection of rings, ear studs, and pendants in 18 karat gold and platinum.

This new setting technology can currently accommodate diamonds of 0.20 to 100 carats. The intent is to expand it from diamonds to other gem shapes like emerald, oval, and pear, and other gems like sapphires and rubies.

What’s Different About Floeting Diamond Jewelry?

Lots of people have asked their jewelers, “Can’t I get diamond jewelry without metal clasps on the stone?” And they’re always disappointed by the answer. But now, floeting diamond jewelry has eliminated the prongs and is set in a way that allows more light to enter the stone, creating an even more brightly shining, dazzling piece of jewelry.

Tiny proprietary grooves are laser cut into the diamond just below the girdle. The stone is then secured with a metal collet that fits into the grooves, made from a high-tensile titanium alloy that’s buffered by a platinum post in the ring, plus a platinum base insert for the pendants. The collet allows more of the gemstone to show above the setting than with the traditional claw setting. Additionally, it’s open on all four sides to allow plenty of light to enter the underside of the diamond (in contrast to a bezel setting, which uses a metal band that encircles the diamond at its girdle).

And not only does the floeting diamond have a superior sparkle, it’s also more securely set. Independent testing confirms that this new setting is 20% more secure than traditional settings. Testing recreated the scenario of dropping diamond rings onto a hard wood surface from a distance of 1 meter above. With a traditional claw setting, the diamond came loose after 298 drops; the floeting diamond was still secure after several thousand drops.

Have Precious Metal Jewelry to Sell?

You may not have gotten your hands on any floeting diamond jewelry yet, but perhaps you’re a jeweler or pawnbroker with some gold, silver, platinum, palladium, or rhodium-plated jewelry. If so, and you’re interested in selling it for a fast, fair payment, get an idea of what we’ll buy your lot for with our free online payout estimator tool. We look forward to seeing your precious metal jewelry!

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What is Gold-Filled?

So, what exactly is gold-filled jewelry? Well, it is a layered gold product that is quickly gaining popularity in the Americas, Europe and Asia. A quality material, gold-filled products are easy to care for and maintain a golden shine for many years. At the core of any gold-filled product is jeweler’s brass, which a jewelry maker adheres a surface layer of gold to.

When all the gold content is adheres in a single layer on only one side of the brass core, it is known as single clad. On the other hand, a gold alloy whose contents are split into surface layers on both sides of the brass core is known as double clad.

Here’s a helpful diagram to show you what gold-filled jewelry looks like:

Now that we understand how gold-filled jewelry works, we can compare it to other types of gold products.

Gold-Filled V. Gold-Plated

A gold-plated product is composed of a very thin layer of solid gold bonded to a brass base. This plating does not make up any measurable proportion of a product’s total weight and is estimated to only be 0.05 percent or less of the product.

Gold-filled and gold-plated products are different in several ways. First off, gold-filled pieces are legally required to contain more gold than gold plated – at least 5% or 1/20 gold by weight. Second, gold-plated items are less durable as the plating wears off fast and exposes the core brass metal. This is because it does not resist heat, water, and wear over time as well as gold-filled jewelry.

The Difference Between Gold-Filled and Solid Gold

The main difference between a gold-filled and solid gold product is that one is a layered product while the other is an alloyed product. The way solid gold is formed is by alloying pure gold with other metals to make it harder and easier to work with. Pure gold on its own is simply too soft to hold its shape or wear well.

Another way they differ is that karatage is measured differently on gold-filled products as they are legally required to be at least 5% or 1/20 gold by weight. This 5% is represented by the karatage of gold alloy on a gold-filled piece. For example, most gold-filled material is 12kt or 14kt and is labeled as 14/20 or 12/20 while if it were a solid gold product it would be labeled 14/24 or 12/24 as the pure gold it is alloyed with is 24kt.

We hope this information helps to clear up some of the confusion between the many types of gold products available. Be sure to review and this information as you shop for your next gold piece.

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The Growing E-waste Problem

The world generates about 50 million tons of e-waste annually, and according to the World Economic Forum could exceed 120 million tons by 2050. The problem is only about a fifth of electronic items like LCD desktop monitors, computers and mobile devices get recycled. The rest end up either incinerated or in landfills.

E-waste, however, contains valuable metals such as gold, silver and copper. In fact, there is 100 times more gold in a ton of discarded mobile phones than in a ton of gold ore. According to the WEF, the value of the e-waste generated worldwide amounts to $62.5 billion.

With so much at stake, a push for industrial-scale e-waste recycling seems inevitable, especially in the wake of countries like China, and now Southeast Asia, no longer accepting e-waste from Europe, Australia and North America.

Dell Paves the Way for Responsible Recycling

Dell became a leading advocate of responsible recycling over a decade ago with the launch of the Dell Reconnect program. The company has since partnered with Goodwill to establish e-waste recycling centers across the United States, as well as the United Nations to tackle e-waste in developing counties.

Dell is not only recycling plastics and using recycled carbon fiber in their products, they are also recovering gold—a key material in many electronics—and reusing it.

“At the start of this project it was our ambition to use more recycled materials in our products,” Louise Koch, Dell’s Corporate Sustainability Director, told the Institute of Engineering and Technology. “We have been using recycled plastics from our own computers since 2014 and now we are expanding into using gold from motherboards and recovering that and using it both for new motherboards and turning it into gold bars and supplying it to Nikki Reed to make jewelry.”

Turning E-Waste into Jewelry

While phones and tablets don’t hold much gold individually, when it’s collected from millions of pounds of electronics, that’s a different story. It’s also why it’s important consumers recycle their electronics responsibly.

Twilight star Nikki Reed is the founder of BaYou With Love, which designs and sells collections using gold from Dell’s US recycling programs. “I hadn’t worked with this medium before–a lot of what we use in our sustainable products are recycled ocean plastics,” Reed told Refinery29. “Our factory [in LA] was asking me all these questions, like how are we going to receive this gold? There are all these legalities that come along with that–they have to receive it in a certain form so it has to be extracted in a certain way.”

The gold was shipped these to Reed’s Bayou with Love from Wistron Green Tech, which extracts gold from motherboards they receive from Dell’s consumer recycling program.

Dell, which uses about 7,000 pounds of gold in its products every year, says only 12.5 percent of e-waste is recycled to create other products. That means consumers throw out over $60 million of gold and silver from tech annually.

Before you throw out your old electronic devices, be sure to visit Dell, Apple, Samsung and Best Buy for recycling options.

Check out our infographic for more fact and figures about gold recycling.

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Class rings, however, don’t have to be garish.  In fact, you can get some really cool class ring ideas just by searching on the crafty online marketplace Etsy. You’ll see plenty of minimalist styles, like gold or silver square signet rings engraved with school crests. These styles are much more contemporary than their traditional counterparts.

That’s because school jewelry, although not as popular now as it once was, has morphed from the clichéd gemstone rings to class bands, tags, lockets and even bracelets. Class ring makers such as Jostens and Balfour specialize in all sorts of stylish mementos for high school students.

How did class rings become a thing, anyway?

The History of the Class Ring

The tradition of class rings dates back to the class of 1835 at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Administrators wanted to issue keepsakes to graduates to commemorate their West Point experience; a token to remind them of their shared values and ideals.

And so the class ring was born.

What better way to let everyone you come into contact with know you graduated from such a prestigious school? The idea caught on and soon, civilian schools adopted the practice too, including Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Dartmouth.

The prestige associated with class rings changed in the late 20^th century. For one, they became more of a high school accessory than a college one. In the 1980s, the decade of pop culture, high school class rings were quite common—and not just for prominent prep school grads. They had morphed from a status symbol into one of unity and school spirit.

The Class Ring in the 21^st Century

Are class rings destined to make the list of Things Millennials Are Killing? While old-school style rings may be losing their shine, new-school ones may keep the tradition alive. That’s because students are still interested in the idea behind the class ring: a symbol kinship and belonging.

Whether you’re buying a class ring for yourself or gifting one, choosing a style that will age gracefully matters. Here are some suggestions:

Cool Class Ring Ideas

Class it up. Opt for a simple band that’s wide enough (10mm) for two lines of text. This gives you plenty of space for a small stone, school name, graduation year and a personal engraving. You can also pick your metals:

• 14K Gold: 14K gold contains more pure gold–14 parts of the alloy is gold and 10 parts consists of non-gold metals. The higher percentage of gold in the alloy gives it a yellower color (learn about the different shades of gold and what types of metal are used to create those colors in our infographic).
• 10K Gold: 10K gold is more affordable and contains 10 parts pure gold and 14 parts other metals, such as copper, zinc and silver. Since it contains less pure gold, it’s actually harder than 14K gold.
• Sterling Silver: True 925 sterling silver is made of 92.5 percent pure silver and 7.5 percent metal alloy. If you’re on a budget but want something real, sterling silver is a great option.

While class rings are traditionally worn on the middle finger of the right hand, why not get creative and wear one as a pendant? The goal is to pick or create a design that will age well.

If you already have a ring that you’ve outgrown (because it garish), you can always bring it in to us. If it’s gold, you can use our payout estimator to find out what it’s worth.

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Originally discovered as a 41.11-carat rough stone in the ODC’s Orapa mining site, the “Okavango Blue” was given an Oval Brilliant Cut and polished down to 20.46 carats – making it the largest blue diamond ever discovered in Botswana, Africa.

Both the Okavango Blue and the Hope Diamond are classified as Type IIb diamonds, meaning that they contain no detectable nitrogen (which cause an undesirable yellow or brown coloring) and significant levels of boron (which cause a gorgeous blue or blue-gray coloring). While both diamonds are extremely pure, the Okavango Blue earned a clarity grade of VVS2 from the GIA – making it one level higher than the Hope Diamond’s VS1 grade. Of the two, the Hope Diamond is definitely larger, weighing even more than the pre-cut Okavango Blue at 45.5 carats.

In 2016, a 12.03-carat blue diamond sold for more than $25 million at auction, breaking the record for most expensive gem of its kind ever sold. Although the Okavango Blue’s value has not been appraised publically, we wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes the new record holder when it’s auctioned off later this year.

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Ordinarily, diamonds are grown using chemical vapor deposition (CVD). As part of the process, a tiny fragment of carbon is placed into a pressurized chamber filled with a carbon-heavy gas (usually argon, methane, hydrogen, or a mixture of the three). The gas mixture is heated to very high temperatures with microwave to produce a plasma. In its plasma state, the gas breaks down and its carbon atoms accumulate and crystallize onto the fragment of solid carbon, causing it to grow. Since the layers of diamond only form at a rate of <60 microns per hour, the process can take up to 10 weeks and requires lots of electricity.

Instead of microwave technology, Plasmability’s method uses an inductively powered toroidal radio frequency generator to heat the gas and create plasma. As a result, the conversion of electrical energy into heat energy improves in efficiency by about 35%. As a bonus, the toroidal radio wave technology is smaller and requires less maintenance compared with microwave generators. If laboratories invest in this technology, we could see further decreases in diamond prices within the next few years.

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One of the earliest forms of consumer protection, gold hallmarks were a prerequisite for publicly sold goods in Middle Ages Europe. State-appointed assayers would examine precious metal goods and add their mark.

Today, each country has its own requirements and distinctive markings. In England, gold goods must be hallmarked in one of the four assay offices located in London, Birmingham, Sheffield, or Edinburgh. If the article weighs less than one gram, it is exempt from this step.

In the U.S., the rules are a little more lenient. A gold piece of jewelry’s karatage can be identified by independent signage nearby it — or even communicated verbally. It does not have to be marked on the item.

Other countries, such as Italy, India and China, do not require jewelry hallmarking. Gold manufacturers may apply their own marks to their products, as a testament of its origin and karatage.

Source: World Gold Council

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Eva Noga

New York-based designer Eva Noga has a background in fashion and textile design. She also loves gardening, which is reflected in her latest collection entitled, “Herbarium.” Each piece is inspired by nature — from a flowering fern to a monarch butterfly chrysalis — and blends color, shape and texture. Gold, diamonds and opal are just some of the materials that make up her masterpieces.

Follow her: @evanogajewelry

Aurélie Bidermann

French designer Aurélie Bidermann has a flare for color, which seems to be inspired by her travels. From Venice to Los Angeles, she always documents her trips, as well as the growing stack of bracelets she wears during them. Most of the bracelets she snaps photos of on her wrist are even from her own collection, such as these yellow gold bracelets with red enamel stripes. You can find her boutiques in both Paris and New York.

Follow her: @aureliebidermann

Pamela Love

She may hail from New York, but Pamela Love draws much of her inspiration from the Southwest. That influence is apparent in this turquoise, malachite and recycled coral piece in 18k gold. Even her photo props have a desert vibe, likes these amazing clay vases, which help to make her jewelry designs pop.

Follow her: @pamelalove

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