Posts from — December 2009

The first synthetic diamonds were produced
by General Electric in 1954. A synthetic
diamond is basically a rock that has the
durability, refractive index and hardness of
a natural diamond – but it is made by man.
A synthetic diamond should not be
confused with stimulant diamonds, such as
glass, cubic zirconia, or moissanite.

Although the technology for synthetic
diamonds came into play in 1954, no
synthetic diamonds were ever seen on the
market until the 1990’s. This was due to the
fact that it took many years for General
Electric to produce a synthetic diamond that
could compare with the quality of a natural
diamond – and when they figured out how to
do it, they found that it cost more to produce
a synthetic diamond than it did to mine and
cut natural diamonds.

Finally, a small company by the name of
Gemesis Corporation figured out a way to
produce synthetic diamonds that were of the
same quality as natural diamonds, at a
cheaper price. Today, Gemesis produces
synthetic white diamonds, and colored
diamonds as well. These diamonds sell for
about 1/3 of the cost of a natural diamond,
but there is a shortage of them, and they are
hard to find. In fact, it seems that synthetic
diamonds are rarer than natural diamonds!

If you make jewelry wholesale, then you definitely
need to know how to make repairs to the jewelry
that you sale. If you can offer your clients free or
discounted repairs, you will find that you have
better customer relations. Also, you need to have
the ability to guarantee your pieces and offer free
repairs for a specified period of time after the sale.
This is just good business – and it will set you
apart from many of your competitors.

If you’ve made the jewelry, you probably already
know how to repair it. The repair that is needed is
probably the simple replacement of a piece on the
jewelry, such as a clasp or replacing a stone that
has come lose. This type of work can usually be
done quickly, and at very little expense.

If you don’t make the jewelry yourself, you still need
to offer free repairs for a specified period of time.
Again, this is just good business. In this case, you
need to learn some jewelry repair, and you need to
purchase some jewelry making or jewelry repair
tools. These tools are very small, and they were
specifically designed to make or repair jewelry. For
the most part, these tools are very inexpensive.

One piece of equipment that you will need is a
magnifying glass that stands on its own, allowing
you to use both of your hands. You also need very
good lighting that can be pointed directly onto the
jewelry that you are repairing. Both of these are
essential if you want to do a good job, and avoid
eye strain at the same time.

You will need some jewelry making supplies as
well, such as extra clasps, chains, and possibly
even gemstones. Of course, you don’t want to
keep too much of this on hand, as you may never
use any of it…so use your best judgment here.

Before you rush out and purchase a book or course
on jewelry making and repair, find out if the
company that you order the jewelry wholesale from
in the first place has any guarantees. If so, you
don’t need to learn anything. Simply have your
customer ship the jewelry back to you, or directly
to the company, and they should take care of the
repairs. However, follow up for your customer –
don’t leave the customer to deal with the wholesale
company on their own – that is bad business! If the
jewelry wholesale company doesn’t treat your
customer right, it will reflect on you!