Monthly Archives: September 2017

The Best 3 Metals For Body Jewelry

Two of the most frequent issues with body jewelry are allergic reactions and infection. Appropriate care and cleaning of piercings is vital, but the type of metal in the piercing jewelry you choose is also extremely important. The following are the top 3 best metals for body jewelry, and a couple that you should definitely steer clear of.

TOP 3 METALS FOR BODY PIERCINGS:

#1 Implant Grade Titanium

Titanium is by far the metal of choice for body piercings, and is safe for initial piercings. Implant grade titanium G23 (Ti6al4v-ELI) is the material used in surgical implants, is biocompatible, resistant to body fluids and nickel free. Titanium weighs less and is much stronger than steel, which means you will have body piercing jewelry that is both durable, comfortable and nearly free of scratches. Titanium is an expensive metal, but well worth the slightly higher price. Titanium body jewelry is beautiful, is long lasting, and will still look like new after many years of wear.

#2 Surgical Stainless Steel

Surgical steel is the most popular metal for body jewelry, and is just behind titanium in terms of biocompatibility. 316L or 316LVM are the only two grades of stainless steel that are considered safe for wearing in healed piercings. Keep in mind that even the best grades of stainless steel do contain nickel and may cause problems for those who are sensitive to nickel. Several European countries have banned the use of stainless steel for initial piercings, and it is best to steer clear of stainless steel altogether until after your piercing has healed.

#3 Gold

Although it is beautiful, gold is not a good choice for body jewelry, especially for initial piercings or long term wear. Because gold is softer than other metals and is made with metal alloys, there can be an increased risk of irritation or infection. Gold jewelry is beautiful, but is safer when worn in healed piercings, and with care. Replace gold piercing jewelry with titanium at any sign of irritation.

NOT RECOMMENDED:

Sterling Silver: Stay away from any body jewelry where the part that is inside your skin (barbell, banana, ring) is made of silver. Sterling silver tarnishes when it comes in contact with body fluids, can easily harbor bacterial growth, and can contain allergy-causing metals such as nickel. Body jewelry where a sterling silver charm that is connected to or dangles from the end of the steel or titanium bar should not cause any prblems, as long as you dont have a silver allergy. Just make sure that the part that threads inside your body is made from a more biocompatible metal.

Mystery Metal: Scary. Any costume or plated body jewelry is a bad idea, and so is inferior grade stainless steel. Stick with the top 3 choices above to be sure your piercing stays comfortable and infection-free.

Dont forget that a body piercing jewelry is placed inside your body, and should be treated more like a surgical implant than a piece of costume jewelry. Although it may be tempting to buy inexpensive body piercing jewelry, spending a little more money on higher quality pieces is definitely a better choice in the long run.

Buying Birthstone Jewelry – Money Saving Tips

You have consulted birthstone charts and want to buy jewelry. Are you looking for some ways to save money? There are many factors that contribute to the cost. Some are obvious. Others may not have occurred to you.

Identity
The birthstones are gemstones. Some are obviously more expensive than others. The birthstones chart currently used in the United States contains less expensive alternates for most months.
There are many other lists:
Astrological charts use different time periods that combine months.
Old historical lists often assign the gemstones to different months and may substitute a few different stones.
Different countries have their own lists.
You can find these different birthstone charts on many websites. Look for a less expensive stone for your birth date.

Quality
The term genuine gemstone simply means that the stone has the necessary characteristics for its identity. The qualities of color and clarity affect the price. Inclusions of other materials can detract from the clarity and reduce the value. Choose a pretty stone with inclusions that are not obvious.

Color
Today many gemstones are color enhanced. Heat treating, diffusion, radiation, oiling, and dyeing are means of improving color. The gemstone industry assumes that these processes have been used, and sellers often do not volunteer the information. Ruby, sapphire, topaz, tanzanite, aquamarine, citrine, and others are routinely heated. Emerald is oiled. Beads may be dyed.
Assuming other qualities equal, natural color gemstones will be the most expensive. Dyed stones will be the least expensive.

Size
Gemstones are sold by weight. The larger the stone, the higher the price per carat. For example, one carat total weight of several small rubies will cost less than a one carat single ruby.

Beads
When rough gemstone material comes out of the mine, the highest quality is set aside for cutting into loose stones for settings. The lower quality is used for beads. Why? Because drilling a bead hole wastes valuable weight.
Beaded jewelry may cost less. The difference in quality is not always obvious.
The best quality gemstone beads are often tiny faceted rondelle shapes. The more valuable gemstones, such as ruby, emerald, and sapphire are seldom made into large beads, unless they are dyed or contain many inclusions. If you want natural color birthstones, you can probably find them as beads at an affordable price.

Lab Created or Synthetic Gemstones
They have the same characteristics as natural gemstones, but not the same inclusions. The process contains similarities to the natural creation, but time and quality are controlled by man. These high quality stones are expensive, but should cost less than the same quality mined gemstone.

Imitation Birthstones
They may be other less expensive gemstones that are dyed. Howlite is used to imitate turquoise.
Glass imitations were popular in the 1940’s and 1950’s. They were often set in 10k gold rings. You may find them in antique or vintage jewelry stores. Prices will vary and may be determined by value as a collectible.
Swarovski crystal is a popular substitute as a birthstone. The colors are named after gemstones.
Imitations should cost less than genuine gemstones.

Precious Metals
The cost of gold and silver has increased drastically. They are also sold by weight. Heavy ornate settings, clasps, or beads will increase cost.
Different kinds of metal are priced from high to low in this order: 18k, 14k, 10k gold, vermeil (gold plated sterling silver), sterling silver, gold filled, gold plated, silver plated, gold or silver tone base metals.

Beaded Jewelry
Beaded birthstone jewelry has other options for lower prices.
Tiny spacer beads reduce the number of birthstone beads needed.
Look for other less expensive beads in the design, or just a few birthstones as focal points.

Designer
This term can raise the price. Jewelry that carries the name of a well known store, name brand, famous designer, or celebrity may cost more. Endorsements are expensive.
If fashion jewelry containing imitation gemstones and base metal is sold in a well known or upscale clothing store, it can cost more than jewelry with genuine gemstones sold on a website.

Custom Made
Birthstone jewelry that requires extra time, new design, buying new or unusual materials can be expensive.
Instead use the seller’s existing design with substitution of in stock stones or beads.

Middlemen
The number between the mine and the jewelry seller is one of the biggest factors affecting price.
A hobbyist who buys materials from a retail store adds a middleman.
A seller who designs and makes jewelry and buys beads or loose stones directly from the cutter eliminates distributors.
Ask questions.
Today it is easy to buy from jewelry makers. Look for their websites. Attend craft fairs or gem shows.

Overhead
Does the seller have to pay any large business overhead costs?
Store, warehouse, office, employees, website design or hosting, advertising.
Buy from a website business that is run from a home. Look for information on the About Us page.

Shipping and Packaging
It is never free. It must either be included in a higher jewelry price or paid as added cost by the buyer.
Actual shipping costs vary. If the seller offers options, compare their costs.
If you buy directly from a country where labor costs are low, the savings may be offset by high international shipping. Returning an item would be expensive.
Handling costs also vary. Fancy boxes and packing materials can raise the jewelry price or handling cost.

Conclusion
If you do comparison shopping, be sure to consider the quality of the birthstone jewelry.
Be suspicious of low cost items that cannot be returned easily, worthless guarantees, deceiving imitations.
If the price is too low to be true, it probably is not a bargain.
Save money, but do it intelligently.

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Choosing the Right Kind of Body Piercing Jewelry

When it comes to choosing the right kind of body piercing jewelry, then you need to get in tune with your inner self. You need to understand who you are as a person and how you would like others to perceive you. This is because with piercing, you are actually letting others know who you are as a person, without actually speaking. This is the power of piercing and other jewelry. They speak volumes about you and who you are as a person. >

Wild piercings, such as tongue rings, eyelid rings, nose rings and even bell rings portray you as an untamed spirit who has no boundaries and is up for anything fun. If this is not who you are, then you will probably want to avoid these types of body piercing jewelry! So before you go for a piercing, make sure that you discuss the action first with a friend. This will help you determine if the piercing is right for you or not.

If it is hard to come across a friend to discuss the issue with, then you can turn to the astrology. The stars will pin point your exact personality to some degree of certainty. With this information, you can make a decision on the best type of body piercing jewelry you are going to get.

Finding your personality is just one step of finding the best body piercing jewelry for you. The next step is harder still. You want to find the right design that will bring out your natural beauty as well as personality. This goes a long way in accomplishing the real work of these types of jewelry. Let’s face it, we seek out body piercing jewelry to make our appearances more beautiful and if the jewelry we are wearing does not achieve this, then we have failed ourselves. So seek out some expert advice on the best choice in piercings for you. A lot of factors come into play when choosing piercings’ shapes, lengths as well as sizes. Your height, the shape of you faces as well as your skin color will all comes into play here. A professional will be better positioned to advice you on this.

So make sure that you get your body piercing jewelry from a professional. This will ensure you the very best of advice as well as products in this category. If you go for a short cut, you will end up looking like a clown or worse still, you will suffer infections due to poor works man ship.

Custom Jewelry, A New Trend Of Fashion In Vogue

With the progress of computer technology and the popularity of network, custom jewelry is no longer the patent of the royal, the nobility or the rich. Ordinary people like us can achieve our dreams of custom jewelry now. Besides, Custom jewelry now is no longer simply let you choose an existing custom-made jewelry styles, but make you participate in design, you can put your ideas to writing, and optimize by designer, or you can communicate with designer directly, tell your unique ideas and the story between you and him / her, the designer analyze its artistic conception, then design you unique and not copied jewelry.

Senior custom jewelry is a dream of many women, in addition to the bright diamonds and various kinds of arts that woven with precious colored gemstones, the more hit our heart is that it can achieve all the dreams you dreamed, let they shine with eternal gemstones. In recent years, jewelry has been out of the gift, and move closer towards the life of every women. Confident females in new times are no longer to wait; they buy jewelry for themselves as presents. Hollywood actresses and famous models are fans of senior custom jewelry, they are hard to resist the fun enjoy that custom jewelry brought. Demi Moore, Naomi Campbell and Kelly Rowland love De Grisogono fine jewelry. Julianne Moore, Supermodel Eva Herzigova are often wearing high-level customized Chopard jewelry to attend various activities.

A famous athlete”s fiance once wanted to customize a dumbbell with platinum and diamond, to instead of her future husband’s old dumbbell. But it had to keep secret until the idea succeeds. Jewelry designer met the athlete’s coach in secret, to ensure the dumbbell”s correct shape and weight. Such a unique dumbbell ultimately became the best witness of love between them.

Custom jewelry can tell the stories, feelings, perhaps an anniversary, or a name remembers all through our lives, using beautiful gemstone, gold and silver to express, it”s a perfect combination.

Do you want to express the most loyal and only love? Do you want to send a unique memorial gift or use the unique “gadgets” to tell you and his / her feelings and story between yours? Then try to custom jewelry, design it yourself, design a unique jewelry, design a custom dream.

In mall jewelry counter, the salesperson is master; you can only be a passive choice. But in Custom Jewelry , you are the masters! You convey the feeling to designers, pick out your favorite materials, let them help you realize your dream, to create a completely your exclusive jewelry.

Once you choose custom jewelry, it will never happen like when you run out of mind choose from a variety of jewelry that’s unique, but it hung on the passers-B, CD of the neck, wrists, between your fingers, find treasure The joy of being suddenly without a trace; want to use jewelry to express their emotions and personality, but cannot find an exact match. When you see the finished custom jewelry, the kind of irrepressible excitement, we will let you completely understand, custom jewelry is your best choice.

The Different Jewelry Making Tools – Copy

More and more people are now starting to get into jewelry making. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on a common jewelry piece, some women now prefer to create their own unique accessories – which usually cost them lesser. So if you are interested in this type of hobby, here are a few of the most important jewelry making tools that need to have before you begin.

Pliers

Pliers are one of the most important tools to have when making metal jewelry. There are actually different kinds of pliers used for different purposes. Round nose pliers are a special type of pliers with rounded ends. These are made to create loops in the wire for interconnecting different metal wires to each other. Chain nose pliers look a lot similar to round nose pliers but with a flattened inner edge. They are used more for griping metal wires and rings. Bent nose pliers have the same form as the chain nose pliers but are bent on a certain angle. And finally, there are the flat nose pliers which have a smooth flat surface used for straightening wires and for holding them in place.

Wire Cutters

Wire cutters are especially designed to cut through wire. They come in various sizes for cutting wires of different thickness. Before buying the tool, know the exact kind of wire you plan to work with. Different wire diameters may need a specific kind of wire cutter for cutting. Sharp cutters are a must for creating clean cuts so make sure that they are sharpened first before use. However, there are some wires that can easily be bent and cut by hand and will not require the use of cutters at all.

Chasing Hammer and Anvil

A chasing hammer is a hammer with a wide head used for flattening or hardening rounded edges of the wire. They are used together with an anvil, which can protect working surfaces from dents and damage during pounding.

Crafting Glue

Crafting glue is a special type of adhesive that is used to attach beads, stones and other decorative accessories to the wire or to each other. However, there are some types of adhesives that can react and tarnish metal. So if you are planning to work with wires, make sure that your crafting glue is specifically made for the type of material that you are planning to use.

Wire

Metal, silver or bronze wires are also the most basic tools for making jewelry. Jewelry wires can come in different shades and diameters so use them according to the design that you want. There are huge varieties of wires available in online shops so start looking for the perfect piece from there.

Beads and Decorative Accessories

Decorate your wires with beads, semi-precious stones and other kinds of accessories. There are plenty of beads and decorative accessories available in online stores and in actual craft shops. They come in solid colors, intricate hand painted designs and so many others.