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The Dos and Don'ts of Jewelry

Do's and Don'ts:

DON'T wear fine jewelry when doing housework or gardening.

DON'T heap your jewelry into one drawer. Remember a diamond ring can scratch that pearl necklace. Keep them separate and, ideally, wrapped in velvet, paper, silk or plastic zip-lock bag.

DO let your jeweler check for loose stones frequently.

DO get pearls restrung when the cord begins to fray.

DO clean fine jewelry often to maintain its sparkle and beauty.

DON'T use toothpaste as its abrasives can damage softer gems and metals. Most fine jewelry can be safely cleaned by soaking for 10 minutes in warm soapy water (using a mild detergent soap). Use a soft brush on harder gems to loosen any dirt around the prongs. To reduce greasy build-up on diamond jewelry, dip it in plain alcohol before soaking.

DO store fine jewelry carefully, observing the following guidelines:

DO Store jewelry in a dry place and avoid extremes of temperature and humidity.

DO Keep gemstone-studded jewelry, pearls, and gold and silver pieces separated from each other to prevent scratching. Store fine jewelry pieces in soft pouches, soft cloth wraps or plastic "zip-lock" bags to help protect them.

DON'T overcrowd your jewelry box. Crowding can result in misplaced or lost jewelry if a small piece falls unnoticed from the case. Occasionally, forcing too much jewelry into the box may even bend a fragile piece or chip a delicate stone.

By Jonas DeSantis March 19, 2009

Know where your opal came from.

As we(jewelers) all know, diamonds are the hardest mineral known to man and is then followed by softer stones such as corundum and further down the Mohs scale to opals and emeralds. However, if a diamond is exposed to enough pressure, it can and will chip or break.

I mainly want to talk about the more unforgiving stones such as opal. Most opals are mined in parts of the world where explosives like dynamite are used to break apart mass amount of earth in order to expose precious gemstones. The problem with this is, the explosives used send vibrations though the earth up to hundreds of miles away which can make opals unstable.

Back in our earlier years of dealing with opal, my father had made an outstanding pendant for my mother which was an anniversary gift. The opal was around 8Ct's. and displayed a wide range of brilliant colors. Unfortunately, about 6-8 months after setting the opal, it developed a crack right down the middle of the stone. Knowing that the pendant was never dropped or mishandled, the only thing we concluded was that the opal was extremely unstable, most likely due to it being mined in an area where explosives were used.

The main thing I want to convey is know where your opal is coming from. Ask questions when purchasing opal jewelry. Knowing the origin of the stone and how long its been in the merchant's possession is a must.

Australian opals are extremely valuable due to the nature of how they are mined. They DO NOT use any blasting in their opal mining. Chisels and small drills are the extent of the mining in Australia. This is the one of the reasons for Australian opals being high in price; however, it's insurance that your stone won't develop any cracks down the road.

Jonas DeSantis

Online Credit Card Purchasing

A lady called me this morning in regards to purchasing a silver and gold ring from us but was hesitant because she was taken advantage of in the past when making an online purchase and never received her merchandise.

Do a little homework on the merchant you are considering purchasing from. Read any reviews they might have. Pay via credit card as major credit cards provide buyer protection.

Here are some links to check out;

http://usa.visa.com/personal/security/protect_yourself/basics/index.html
http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/cardholderservices/guidetobenefits/


Jonas DeSantis

DeSantis Inlay Process

Our jewelry stone inlay consists of gem quality Lapis Lazuli, Sugilite, Red Coral and Natural Black Opal.

There are four steps DeSantis Jewelry abides by to completing successful stone inlay:

-grading the gemstones

-carving each stone for a channel within the piece of jewelry

-correctly bonding each stone to the very bottom of the desired jewelry channel

-the final polishing of the gemstones

After each inlay step the stones are carefully inspected for fractures, cracks, and inclusions. If any of the aforementioned is detected, we will remove the stone and repeat the process.

Grading

Each gemstone is carefully graded where there will be no calcite (white patches) in our lapis, no black matrix patches in our sugilite, no pits or discoloration in our Coral, etc. As for our natural opal inlay you will see that each stone displays a generous play of color ranging from blue-green to yellow-red flashes (this play of color will determine the overall price as well).

Carving

When you carefully look at our inlay, you will notice that it is high quality. There are no gaps, only uniform design and symmetry when inspected from all angles.

Bonding

Once a stone is ready to be inlaid it is gently bonded to the bottom of the jewelry channel. Provided that all the stones are securely set, there are no traces of epoxy on the metal and stones.

Polishing

The most important and last process is polishing the stones. We make sure each and every stone that is inlaid is polished to its highest luster. There will be no scratches, just high polished gem quality inlaid stones. As for opal, we hold on to a finished opal inlay piece for months, sometimes years before displaying it for sale to make sure no crazing or cracks occur.

Lightning Ridge

The most prized gemstone that we use for our inlay jewelry is Lightning Ridge Black Opal from Australia. Natural Opal from Lightning Ridge is considered the rarest and most expensive opal in the world. After working with this magnificent gem we found that it is more stable than other types of natural opal. We tend to tell our customers to research more on natural opal before purchasing. If you are interested in Natural Opal, then why not be interested in the finest opal in the world?

I LOVE IT!

"My girlfriend and I visited this store durring a recent trip to Tucson. The store is nice, with brushed steel cases and tables. There are cases lining the walls with a balanced variety of jewelry in each case. As for the jewelry.....WOW! Apparently, they make all their own jewelry and by the looks of it, they know what they're doing. The earring i bought, I wear almost daily. I couldn't get over the uniqueness of their look. Very different from your average diamond jeweler. The gentleman who helped us was super nice and very cute. If you are ever in Tucson, I highly recommend you stop by and check out there jewelry."

Customer for life,
Sarah

Thank you for your kind words Sarah!
DeSantis Jewelry