Author: Morty

Especially with the Internet, starting up an online store is quite common and makes things much easier today. But another way to sell your home made jewellery is to make it into a social event and hold home jewellery parties.

The good thing about holding these parties is that you’re able to interact with your customers, and may even be able take on customized orders to suit their colour or style preference. It may even help you get over that creative block you had while looking at your kit. It also benefits the buyers as some of them may feel more comfortable buying in person rather than via the Internet. It’s always an excitement to meet the artist behind those beautiful creations. Plus a home party is also a casual and relaxed way to meet people, which may even encourage repeat purchases.

Here are a few simple suggestions on how to prepare for and organize a home jewellery party.

• You can choose to have the party at your home or at a friend’s home. Make it a simple tea party on a weekend with coffee and cake, or sandwiches. It doesn’t need to be elaborate because the highlights are your creations.
• Invite friends and tell them to spread the word by bringing their other female family and friends along. People take more notice especially if your own friends have previously worn your creations at work or events.
• Prepare display stands or pieces to put up your jewellery designs beforehand. If you can’t afford to purchase displays, you can even make your own on simple corrugated or plain cardboard taped together in a cone-shape for necklaces or bracelets, while earrings can be put on a home-made wire frame. Be sure to put in a little effort into your display style, as it will convey how proud you are of your creations.
• If you’re organizing the party at a friend’s place, arrive half an hour before the stipulated time to set up your creations.
• Start a little guestbook that can also double up as a mailing list for future designs. Your newly made friends can leave comments and brickbats, as well as leave their contact numbers or email in this book.
• Make business cards to give out at the party, so they can contact you if they want to make customizable orders.
• Make sure you are selling the jewellery on display on the spot. Most guests won’t want to wait a week, and go to home jewellery parties expecting to go home with their purchases immediately.
• Prepare little bags or boxes for the jewellery which guests can take them home in, if they don’t decide to wear their purchases immediately.
• Be prepared to accept different modes of payment – cash, checks or credit card.
• Don’t forget to keep a photographed collection of your designs.
• Reward your party hostess with one of your creations.
• If you’re only just starting out, and don’t have many pieces yet, you can also organize a joint party with another friend or family who also makes jewellery as a hobby to showcase and sell her pieces alongside yours.
• Just have fun. Watching and talking with people who appreciate your creations is a delight and will even motivate you to make more.

No gemstone is as symbolic of love as the ruby. A ruby is the ideal way to demonstrate love and passion. A perfect ruby is more valuable than any other gemstone.

On the Mohs Scale of Hardness the ruby is rated nine, just below the diamond, which registers ten. Like sapphires, rubies are a gemstone belonging to the mineral family corundum. The ruby’s unique red colour is due to the presence of chromium, so all other corundum gemstones are called sapphires.

Pigeon Blood Ruby Colour

When grading gemstones gemmologists refer to the Four Cs of Connoisseurship. In order of importance for rubies these are: Colour, Clarity, Cut and Carat. The most valuable rubies possess a deep red hue. The preferred shade is known as “Pigeon’s Blood Ruby” or “Burmese Ruby”, a dark red shade with a slightly blue tinge. It should be noted this description does not necessarily indicate a stone is from Burma; it is more likely to indicate the stone’s colour is comparable to that of a Burmese ruby.

Although Burma was once the world’s top ruby-producing country, today the mines rarely produce stones larger than a few carats. Rubies from neighbouring Vietnam offer a slightly purple hue. Those mined in Thailand display the desirable deep red colour with a brown hue. Called “Siamese”, this highly prized colour is considered only slightly less desirable than the “Burmese” colour. Rubies are also mined in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nepal. The East African countries of Kenya and Tanzania have produced some stones with a strong red colour, but generally these rubies are of an average quality and size.

Clear and Transparent Ruby

Clarity is the second most important criteria for valuing rubies. Opaque stones are of little value, while a transparent ruby is highly prized. Slightly flawed rubies may be heat treated to improve clarity, although gemmologists may refer to a stone’s minor needle inclusions to distinguish a real ruby from a synthetic one.

Some rubies possess a shine known as “silk”, a feature caused by very fine needles of the mineral rutile. These deposits sometimes cause a star-shaped inclusion inside the stone. When held up to the light the stone will cause a beautiful display known as asterism. A cabochon cut displays the inclusion as a star, presenting an optical image which seems to glide across the surface when the stone is moved. Known as star rubies, these stones are rare, and the star should appear in the centre of the stone will its six rays completely visible.

Synthetic Rubies

Rubies were first synthesised in 1902, using the Verneuil Process. Today many of the rubies available on the gemstone market are synthetic, and known as Verneuil rubies. Only an expert gemmologist is able to tell the difference between a natural and a synthetic ruby. Garnets and tourmalines are similar to rubies, but neither stone is as hard as the ruby. The ruby spinel is identical in appearance to a genuine ruby.

When buying a ruby, choose a stone for its quality rather than its size. All the best rubies contain some inclusions, but are not usually visible to the naked eye. Colour is the most important valuable feature, so a dark red stone with more inclusions is more valuable than a lighter coloured stone with few inclusions. Cut is an important consideration. A good cut will make the ruby glow with a deep red fire. Ensure the stone is free of scratches and chips. Although a ruby is a tough, hard gemstone, it may chip or even fracture with rough handling.