Below are the answers to many of the most common questions that I receive.

 

What are the contends of the various Metal Alloys?

Brass: Brass is made mainly of copper and zinc. The proportions of the copper and zinc are varied to yield many different kinds of brass. Basic modern brass is 67% copper and 33% zinc. However, the amount of copper may range from 55% to 95% by weight, with the amount of zinc varying from 5% to 40%.

Bronze: Bronze is one of the earliest metals known to man. It is an alloy made of copper and another metal, usually tin. Compositions vary, but most modern bronze is 88% copper and 12% tin. Bronze may also contain manganese, aluminum, nickel, phosphorus, silicon, arsenic, or zinc.

Sterling Silver: Sterling silver is a popular metal for jewelry, silverware, and decorations. Sterling silver is an alloy of silver that consists of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of other metal, usually copper. Fine silver (99.9% pure) typically is too soft for practical objects. Alloying with copper maintains the silvery color of the metal while increasing its strength. However, copper is much more susceptible to oxidation and corrosion, so sterling silver tarnishes more easily than fine silver.

 

What does your stone quality grading scale mean?

A - No visible flaws with a high degree of shape and quality

B - Nearly flawless with a small blemish or unevenness.

C - decent quality with visible flaws

D - poor quality with obvious flaws

F - Scrap. Not worthy of jewelry or salvage. Often decent for tumbling.

 

 

Definitions

Cabochon: a gemstone which has been shaped and polished as opposed to faceted. The resulting form is usually a convex obverse with a flat reverse. Cabochon was the default method of preparing gemstones before gemstone cutting was developed. (Source: Wikipedia)

 

Millefiori: a glasswork technique which produces distinctive decorative patterns on glassware. The term millefiori is a combination of the Italian words "mille" (thousand) and "fiori" (flowers). Apsley Pellatt in his book Curiosities of Glass Making was the first to use the term "millefiori", which appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1849; prior to that, the beads were called mosaic beads. While the use of this technique long precedes the term "millefiori", it is now most frequently associated with Venetian glassware. (Source = Wikipedia)