Just wanted to stop in ...

Its time to make the rounds here again, and so here it is! I've been keeping busy with the JETs over at Etsy lately, doing blog posts and tweets to promote my fellow team members. I'm much better with the JET blog; I post every day there and love doing it! And I've really done a lot to optimize my Etsy handmade jewelry store, hoping to get higher up in Google searches. I finally got the GoogleBase thing right; the last two weeks in a row I've had the maximum number of items uploaded. So ... pretty good so far!

I've got lots of design ideas ... gotta write 'em down or I'll forget - there is just so much to do! But I'm getting past each hurdle - one at a time!

I've also been doing some things to improve the website ... more social network links, cleaned out the onsite shopping directory so there aren't any dead links, and re-wrote the anchor text of some existing incoming links so they're more relevant to the content on the pages they connect to. Maintaining a site like ours is hard work, and I need to spend a few more hours a week on that also.

I'll stop in again very soon ... Bob:J24-7

I am a busy man but

I know I need to do some stuff here too, and I've been neglecting it as usual. I get so wrapped up in my daily stuff to do that time just flies by, as they say! So here it is ... November already and I have lots to do as usual.

Our ETSY shop was Jet of the Day one day last week. Kinda weird to write about your own shop, but ... I love doing the post every day, so ... I treated us like any other JOD, and wrote a nice post about Jewelry24Seven on Etsy. Now I need to pay more attention HERE as well, so ... I'm gonna try!

I decided a month or two ago that I would try to make smaller, lighter pieces of jewelry. Silver is kind of expensive right now, and so I'm making open back pendants and ring settings. I'm trying to make pieces that I can offer for less; people simply don't have as much to spend as they used to. Nice things don't have to be big:

this Sterling Silver and Lab Ruby Ring is a great example!

Time to go back to work. I'll try to be ... less of a stranger here. Till next time ... Bob:J24-7

Big day ahead!

So much to do ...

Our new stuff order arrived from Bali, Indonesia ... so now I have NEW Bali silver cuff bracelets and hoop earrings to put up on the site. Today is photo day ... and if I can, I'll get the stuff up there today. Terry's home this week and she'll help me so maybe it'll go faster than usual. Yesterday we went to Manhattan to meet our JET friend Barbara from CapitalCityCrafts and had a really nice visit! Just made a chain ... and I have to ship it, so ... until next time!

Lotsa stuff on my plate!

So it isn't food. Work, as usual! Going full steam with the social networking and writing a post a day for the Jet Team Blog spotlighting the Jet of the Day. I've been going through the website using Google Webmaster Tools and fixing any problems I can. and I ordered a bunch of new stuff - Bali silver cuff bracelets and Bali silver hoop earrings. They're coming from the distributor I deal with there so the jewelry will take about a week to arrive.

A Very Active Summer!

With the economy in the tank I figured I would have problems doing business, but it has been a very busy summer season! I've had lots of custom orders. The last two were for rings, and the styles couldn't have been more different!

This one features Chinese characters that say "Red Thread" ... there is an old proverb that says people who love each other are connected by an invisible red thread ... it went to a couple who are adopting an orphan from China ...

The second is made with wire, and the person who ordered it wanted it made to cover her entire finger. The entire ring is hand forged ...

Midsummer ...

I love this time of year ... usually. In NYC the weather has been rainy, but not too hot ... kind of strange. On rare days when it doesn't rain though ... its been perfect. The rain makes the weeds grow ... well, like weeds. Hard to deal with!

So I have been very busy this past month. I now use six social networking services on a regular basis. And I've been networking with the JETs on Etsy, exchanging links and promoting through the JET blog. I know that eventually all of this will pay off ...

Frequently Asked Question ... What is Sterling Silver?

In the course of my day I get a lot of email, and a fair amount of people want to know what sterling silver actually is. Today, sterling silver is the most common type of silver and the kind most people are familiar with.

Sterling silver is an alloy, which means it is a mixture of two or more metals. The primary reason silver is mixed with another metal is to harden it. Most sterling silver is a mixture of silver and copper. The proportion of metals by weight in the alloy determines the fineness or purity of the silver, as well as the name of the alloy. There are three commonly found silver metals found in the United States:

Pure silver is also called Fine silver. This is 999/1000 or 999 parts per 1000 pure. This is considered pure; the remaining .001 consists of (usually) traces of other metals. Fine silver jewelry is usually marked or stamped .999FS.

Pure silver is a soft metal. Unless it is very thick it can easily be bent by hand, and is easily scratched. Items made of fine silver need to be made with thicker sheet and wire to give them strength. By using sterling instead, thinner parts can be used because sterling is much more rigid when hardened than fine silver.

Sterling silver is always marked .925, which shows the amount of silver in the object. The same formula is used; this alloy is 925 parts per thousand silver and 75 parts per thousand other metal, usually copper. This can also be expressed as 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metal (copper) by weight.

The third commonly found type of silver in the U.S. is Coin Silver. Until 1964, United States coins 10¢ and larger were made of a silver alloy containing 90% silver and 10% copper by weight. A higher percentage of copper was used to make the silver harder and more durable so the high relief and details of the coins wouldn't wear away in circulation. Many of these coins are still held by collectors, and there are silversmiths who make coin jewelry out of them.

Silver jewelry is usually made with sterling silver because it is durable. Jewelry made with fine silver does have one advantage over sterling; it doesn't tarnish easily due to the absence of copper. Sterling silver tarnishes because the copper in it reacts with sulphur dioxide in our air. Sulphur dioxide is a common chemical compound found in everyday air pollution. It can come from natural sources like volcanic eruptions, and also man made sources like vehicle emissions and factories.

Sterling silver is a fabulous metal for jewelry making because it retains many of the properties that make fine silver attractive while gaining the benefit of increased durability. With minimal care - a cleaning and polishing when needed - sterling silver jewelry can last for many generations.

Robert Edwards is a jewelry designer and metalsmith in New York City with over 30 years experience in the jewelry trade, specialzing in handmade silver jewelry. This article may be reproduced as long as it contains this author's statement and all links remain intact. ©2009 Robert Edwards