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That's great! Makes me remember that you can also 'reinvent' your own jewelry:
- redesign your jewelry if you do not wear it anymore. I did this with a ring with diamonds. Somehow I didn't like it. My jeweler advised to turn it into a pendant and now it's gorgeous. Also, I have turned 2 twin rings into hoops. Love it and now I wear them quite often.

It's such a pity if you are not wearing your jewelry. Reinventing it is a lot of fun.

I totally agree, I've built up a good relationship with my local jeweller. I've had necklaces turned into bracelets, rings re-sized etc. I can't stand having redundnant jewellery
 
Thanks :D Ya, everyone tells me the marquis was "in" during the 80's is "out" now. Don't care though, still love it :p



I don't understand how any diamond shapes can be "out"! They may be more or less popular during a certain period of time, but IMO most engagement rings are pretty timeless. If it looks good on you and you love it, it is ALWAYS "in".
 
I totally agree, I've built up a good relationship with my local jeweller. I've had necklaces turned into bracelets, rings re-sized etc. I can't stand having redundnant jewellery

Me neither! It's so much fun to actually wear and enjoy jewelry. I have a strong relation with my local jeweler as well and I am so glad this gives access to jewelry you dream about but does not exist yet!
 
What's your advice??? What are the best places to learn more about gemstones and diamonds? How can we create a lovely and personal jewelry line? What should we do if we like jewelry but don't want to spend tons of money? Please share all your insights.

Are there any books or websites that educate about gemstones and jewelry in general? I have a few vintage costume jewelry guides on my Amazon wishlist but I don't know if they will help me with jewelry in general?
I am quite new to jewelry and wonder how I can educate myself more.
FYI, I am not interested in diamonds so I am not insterested in books that educate me about them.

2. Become familiar with the hardness/softness of different stones. This is important to know if you want to buy a stone in a ring vs. a necklace. For example, opals are soft, and they do not always make the best stones for rings. If you choose to buy an opal for a ring, you may want to look for a setting that protects the stones (e.g. bezel setting).

I have found the Mohs scale ratings of gemstones and on the same site there is a little article that explains that durability of gemstones can not only measured by its hardness.
Maybe that helps someone like it did for me :).

The best deals on jewelry happen when pieces are out of date/unfashionable. Know how to look not at the design of the piece, but at the quality of the matierials. If you buy something that is of value, but unattractive, it can be restyled. (I saw an awful ring at the pawnshop the other day, this big gold blob full of random things, for $8,000. Had I had the $8,000, I would have bought it tough, because the ramdom things included a beaufiful emerald cut diamond, very clear, more than a carat, a beautiful emerald cut emerald and two trapezoids, several lovely round cut diamonds--There were the making of several gorgeous pieces melted together there, cyring out to be taken home and created).

Find a jewelry who does good custom work, so you can do this.


If you're looking for great bang for your buck, look for jewelry in antique/pawn/whatever stores with high-quality stones that you could reset into a custom design. You can put the materials you don't use, like the gold from the setting, toward the cost of the redesign. I did this several times in college while I was working at a fine jewelry store and ended up with some really gorgeous, custom pieces - that I designed myself! - for a great bargain.

That is a great idea, one I have never thought about before!
Here are some ideas (I guess they are not the taste of a lot of people on the board, but I still think they are nice inspiration) I have found on the site of a local jeweler, the old piece can be seen in the background in some of them:

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Is it a good idea to buy gold jewelry pieces if you want to make a custom piece out of them? Or should one only do that if one is an expert because the quality of materials might differ to much? Or is this only a good idea if the piece has stones that you would like to use for a different piece?


and--personally I don't shop brand name/designer. I hate the markup. Know what good quality consists of, then you can shop antique, pawn shops and other out of the way places where you can get finds that are unique.

I have a question regarding this. I love the hammered bangles of Tiffany's Paloma Picasso line in 18k rose gold, 18k gold (both 650$) and sterling silver (175$).

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How much should I usually expext to pay for such bangles in good quality? I mean it's not like that is a design that screams Tiffany so I could ask a local jeweler to make them for me in my size. Is there any reason you think I should go with the Tiffany bangles?

Thanks to everyone who made it through my big questionnaire ;)
 
I have some pretty simple advice that works for just about everything:

Buy what you *love* in other words, what speaks to you, makes your heart sing. And do not worry about if it is "In" right now. If you truly love it you won't care. I try to do it with everything, which drives my DH crazy because to him, for instance, it is just a lamp used for lighting or a bath mat used to dry off of your feet when you get out of the shower.

For really expensive pieces do not be afraid to try on, think, try on, think and repeat as long as necessary (for me it might even be years) especially when the items are non-returnable or returnable for store credit only. I find it much easier to buy it and take it home and try it on without the quick glance that you get in the mirror and the SAs sales pitch while you do it. Unfortunately, that is not always possible which is why I absolutely love this forum, especially the pictures of normal, everyday people wearing items that I am contemplating.

This is some of the best advice I've heard yet.
 
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