Great Value Fashion Jewelry, Good Luck?
Q.For the past year or so I've been checking out the bead stores in cities that I travel to on business. Most of them are pretty dreadful (craft/ cheap junk oriented), but some have the components to make high quality fashion jewelry (ruby, aquamarine, tourmaline beads,etc.)... the wonderful stuff we lust after in Vogue, Vanity Fair, In Style... The places that have the great components usually have someone available that can put together just about anything I want for a fraction of what I'd pay at Nordies or the other places I usually shop. I particularly like Lost Cities in San Diego and Beadazzled in the D.C. area. Anyone else having similar good luck? If so, what did you have made and where?
A.I buy Japanese glass seed beads and have made literally hundreds of bracelets and necklaces. The colors and quality of the Japanese beads are terrific. I also have made 2 Swarovski crystal bracelets for myself. I want to make more, but there is a world wide shortage on the Swarovski crystal right now. I made my granddaughter a rose quartz power bracelet, and also a blue cat's eye bracelet. It's actually very easy to make the jewelry yourself. Plus, you can sure save yourself a lot of money that way. There are plenty of books available to learn to do it yourself This is so ironic that y'all mentioned this....a friend of mine and I have started making nearly *all* of our own jewelry. We've discovered a couple of great, inexpensive bead supply stores in town (Rock Barrel in Dallas), and we have both made many many bracelets, earrings, necklaces, etc. We even have "bead night" where we'll just hang out for an evening making jewelry! We're going to the Dallas Jewelry and Gem show at the end of April, just for grins, to see what they have to offer.... I see so many of those "power bead" bracelets and other items for $25 to $100 each, and I'm always thinking WHY? I can get an long strand of beautiful glass beads for sometimes $2 or even less. I have noticed that Swarovski crystals can be somewhat pricey, but they're the most beautiful!
Other Questions :
Find up about Fine Jewelry Sterling Silver
You can certainly do this if you want, but depending on the results you wish, and the metal the bar is made of, there are aspects of this you may not be aware of if you've not got much experience in doing this.-First, I'd bet your silver bar, if ...
Bead storage
I have a question for you all. I now use what I think is called a "Bead Hive" It is plastic see thru drawers that go into holders which slide together. They are rectangular shaped. Anyway a couple times when I have vacuumed the dresser...
Determining fair 14K jewelry pricing
I've enjoyed reading your informative group and I believe I can find an answer to my question here. I strive to be an overall educated consumer particularly concerning high ticket items like 14K and/or diamond jewelry. I am aware of w...
Cheap Wedding Jewelry
Thinking of getting married for first time. Any ideas on how to keep the cost of wedding rings down? Is buying online from Zales say cheaper than buying in a store? I don't mind spending some money on rings.... but don't want to ...
Jewelry making tools
I am looking to have a workshop in my home but I am unsure of how to get started. I have a couple of great books which include all of the tools needed to make professional jewelry. I just don't know where I can get these tools. Nor do I know...