Your Jewelry’s Finish

Your jewelry’s finish is probably not something you’ve spent time thinking about, though it was likely a factor in choosing the piece you did. And the more you know about the finish on your jewelry, the better you will be able to care for it.

There are several common forms of metal finishing: polishing, buffing and burnishing. Among these mechanical  finishes, there are similarities. They are applied by physical abrasion of the metal surface using a secondary media. The media may include cloth, stone, metal and plastics combined with finishing compounds to aid the process. Methods of application include wheel abrasion, hand abrasion, blasting, tumbling barrels and vibratory finishers.

Mechanical finishes can be categorized by the way the parts to be finished are handled:

• Individually handled and finished using wheel abrasion or hand abrasion
• Mass finishing using tumbling barrels or vibratory finishers

The highest quality mechanical metal finishes are usually obtained by individually handling the parts and using some type of wheel abrasion. Fine hardware, furniture, and motorcycle parts are typically finished using this method. These finishes include:

• Grinding - Used to remove large amounts of metal, grinding can be used to remove large burrs (deburring), heavy scale, rust, and major metal imperfections. The resulting finish has significant grit lines and needs additional mechanical finishing prior to electroplating.
• Polishing - Very often mistaken as a mirror bright finish, polishing is similar to grinding but uses finer grits and compounds to remove significant metal imperfections and small metal burrs. It is usually used prior to buffing in order to obtain a mirror bright finish. In some cases multiple polishing steps using progressively finer grits are needed to obtain the desired finish.
• Buffing - Using cloth wheels combined with compounds, buffing is a final mechanical finish that results in a mirror bright to near mirror bright finish, depending upon the base metal and/or prior mechanical finishing steps. Buffing does not remove a large amount of metal.
• Satin - Also a final mechanical finish, a satin finish is an even, fine-grain, brush-type finish. A fine grit polishing finish produces a finish similar to a satin, which can be achieved using emery paper 350 grit.

Mass mechanical finishing is usually referred to as burnishing. It is a cost effective way to remove burrs and brighten metal where a perfect mirror finish is not required. A wide variety of methods exist using different types of machinery, media, and compounds depending upon the base metal and the desired results. Burnishing is also often used for brightening parts after the plating process.

Cleaning your jewelry can affect the finish on the metal. This is particularly true if you have jewelry that is plated (this includes vermeil). Ask your jeweler how to best take care of your jewelry. Metals and gemstones each have special care requirements. Know these before you clean and you’ll be more likely to keep your jewelry looking good for years to come.

Buyer Be Aware: Cultured Gems

If you’ve heard the phrase “cultured” gemstone or “cultured diamond”, chances are you’re one of the first. The Federal Trade Commission has made sure you won’t be the last, however.

Despite a petition submitted to the FTC by Jewelers Vigilance Committee and jewelry trade associations, the FTC has decided that use of the word ‘cultured’ is acceptable when referring to a laboratory-created gemstone. One caveat, the marketers must include one of four terms meant to clarify the origin of the stone: (laboratory created, laboratory-grown, manufacturer-created, synthetic)

Most consumers these days are at least somewhat familiar with the word “cultured” when related to pearls. It’s a term used to describe pearls that are implanted with a piece of shell, returned to salt water, and then taken when there is enough nacre built up to satisfy the ‘grower’. Laboratory grown diamonds and colored gemstones are, scientifically speaking, as real as the diamonds mined from the earth. Lab-grown stones are generally less expensive, are more clear (have less inclusions), and are much more ecologically sound for our environment. Still, people are more inclined to want the ‘real’ stone.

It’s important to remember that the term ‘cultured’ still refers to lab-grown or synthetic stones, and these stones are as real and genuine as the gem mined straight from rock. Its simply grown under more ideal conditions in a much shorter span of time.

Cultured gems are not fakes, and are often more technically ‘perfect’ versions of gemstones. A diamond is still a diamond at a molecular level, regardless of whether it is mined or laboratory-grown, and synthetic does not mean your stone is fake.

Of the Earth Artisans often recommends laboratory grown stones for customers who can’t afford the more expensive, mined versions. We also sell these gems to die-hard environmentalists, as the stone is frequently more ethically sourced.

My advice: think about what is important to you with regards to your jewelry, then talk to your jeweler about what options you are most comfortable with. Or email my husband or myself, and we’ll be glad to discuss these (and many other) issues.

Trust: The Customer’s Dilemma

Most people are a little timid when talking jewelry with a jeweler. The language may seem the same, but there are subtle definition differences that can be confusing. And there are so many aspects of stones, gems and metals that most customers are left to trust the jeweler they’re working with to tell them what they’re looking for.

As a jewelry designer and fabricator, I want my customers (and potential customers) to be well educated. That way they know what they are looking for and because of that, they know they can trust me.

The internet has led people into the jewelery buying arena without the information they need to make good decisions. And it isn’t their fault. Jewelers, gem cutters and the like have studied the various attributes of a large variety of precious and semi-precious stones, gems and metals; they have tested samples, handled, set, or otherwise worked with samples, good and bad examples of the very pieces the customer will one day purchase.

Why am I saying this? Several reasons, really. First, I know that people can learn what they need to in order to select and purchase their jewelry. I want them to know what I’m talking about and not wonder if what I’m saying is a lot of nonsense. And as a jewelry designer I work with people to build pieces of jewelry that speak to them, that are precisely what they want. It’s much easier to do that when they ask me to purchase a stone for them. Without adequate knowledge of gems, it’s far too easy to pick up a good deal that isn’t what they thought. As a jeweler, I need to know what I’m working with in order to create the jewelry my customers want.

Periodically I will be writing up information on a precious or semi-precious stone or gem, or offering information on gemstone qualities and how to interpret them for your own knowledge and use. Previously I had written about Agate, and while that post will remain here, the longer articles will also be published at our business website, http://of-the-earth.org , where information about our jewelry and our company can be found. Look for the announcement when we get it put together.

Kim