I've got it! I've got it!

Finally! I've decided what to do for my engagement ring! There was this super spectacular recycled diamond available a few weeks ago, and I snapped it up. It's freaking gorgeous! It arrived last week, and I've been taking it out and admiring it every day. .87ct, VVS2, K color! Lovely, lovely! I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of the color, since it is "lower" down on the color spectrum, but I think I'm in love. There is nothing super yellow about, it is just darkly sparkly. I'm not sure how else to explain it. I plan on setting it in 18kt yellow (what else?).

I've also decided on a design for the actual ring. But I will save that for another post!

Tax Day

Let me just give all of you reading out there a little bit of friendly advice:

MAKE SURE YOU PAY THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF ESTIMATED TAXES EVERY QUARTER.

If you just do that you will have a relatively painless tax day. If you do not, you might find yourself wandering around the natural foods grocery store with a dazed expression, trying and failing to soothe the sting caused by writing ginormous checks to the IRS with a cup of coffee and a chocolate cookie, at a loss as to whether new burt's bees lip balm will make you feel better (hint: it won't). Oh well.

So this morning, when my car didn't start (yay!!) and I was waiting around for my future father in law to come and rescue me, I was reading this (another only semi-successful retail therapy purchase):

Toward an Art History of Medieval Rings

Tell you what, I love that title, that's fo'sho. My jewelry and design related book collection is gradually growing. There is little that I like more than a glossy book filled with photographs of things made with gold and accompanied by much small print. Seriously. And this book is especially nice. There are photographs from many different angles! Even from the bottom and back! (Not on everything, but enough to make it very exciting.) Most of the time jewelry books don't provide multiple angles, with the result that it is hard to tell how something is put together. What use is one gorgeous photograph from the most artistic possible angle, if it hides how the thing is constructed? No use, that's what. I want the nitty gritty. I want to see how the bezel is attached to the shank, I want to know what these medieval goldsmiths did and how they did it.

And this (!!!!!):

ZOMFG!

That is a sword hilt made of diamonds. Holy sh*t. The skill! The skill!! The size of those rocks. But mostly the skill! The beauty of the design! I love the three curves that arc over the largest cushion/round shaped diamond in the hand guard section. Maximizing a simple design with tons of bling. Gorgeous. (This isn't from the medieval ring book, btw, this is from something else, snapped a quick picture at Powell's Books.)

oh, oh, oh!

Will I ever be this skilled? No. Probably not. I'm sure this guy spent his entire life from the age of 8 on as an apprentice. And this was probably made by a whole shop of people anyway, each doing a certain part of the process that they specialized in. But I can dream. I can dream.

9:00 in the A.M.

Ladies and gents, I accomplished the impossible today. I arrived in the studio at 9:05am. I don't know why it is such a struggle for me to get out of bed (it's really not even the getting out of bed, it is the getting around and dressing and eating and getting out of the door that is the hard part for some reason). But I did it!! I made it! And I think I can keep it up. Now that I'm no longer living in a Shadowland (i.e. the NW during the winter) I have much more motivation for full days and lots of work (and working out! I have to tackle the results of all that winter cake eating!).

And why would I be compelled to attempt this feat of early morning (I realize 9am isn't early, I used to have to get up at 3am to get to work when I was in the Navy) bravery?! To finish these:

It really took me forever to get this finished. I think I had the wax kicking around forever, and then the cast pieces kicking around for another forever. But they are finally done. I think I will do some adjusting to the design and maybe some other variations. I just wish I had made them in my size!

I really like how they can be worn more ways than one. These photos aren't ideal, the light right now isn't the best. And I don't have a solitaire on hand to photograph them with. They look really nice facing out from either side of a simple solitaire, very lacy.

All right! I'm forcing myself to pack up and head home early today. Cheers!

A possible?

I'm still struggling with my own wedding ring, but I finished this set the other day for someone else (it is actually a complete set, solitaire, woman's wedding band, man's wedding band) and I liked them all together. I love the chunkiness. Of course, I will probably go with yellow gold, but it sure looks nice in the palladium.

I also like the idea of wearing just a super wide plain band for some reason. A bit ironic for someone who uses stones in almost everything she makes?

But I love shiny things (almost) as much as I love cake with cream cheese frosting, so I'm not absolutely sure I would be happy with just a big fat band. But maybe I would be? And then maybe I could make myself an outrageous pair of diamond earrings? I'm excited to make something for myself, I think I have 4 things total. A couple of pairs of earrings (one set an experiment), a necklace made of scrap metal, and my current engagement ring(s). Oh, and some bangles (a return from a customer who wanted a larger size). Sad? But I actually don't wear that much jewelry (more irony?), so I'm not complaining (too much).

All right, I'm starting to ramble and I should probably get back to work now. That way I can go home early. Tonight is burrito night!

The Jackpot

I haven't won the lottery. It is hard to if you don't play. (Let us just pause here for a moment and imagine what I would do with 60 million dollars. Would I continue working? I would like to think so. Maybe just doing whatever I wanted, crazy, expensive, time consuming projects that probably wouldn't sell! But that would be fine, because I would be swimming in money, Scrooge McDuck style. Maybe I would go back to school (glutton for punishment?) and get a degree in art history and maybe one in literature, or history, or radical feminist theory? Or perhaps I would buy a vineyard and spend my days among the vines, steadily getting fatter and fatter on a diet of fine goat cheeses and tender French bâtard? Well, I know that I would like fund a scholarship at a women's college (or maybe high school?!?). Can you imagine how fun it would be to read the application essays?! Especially while I'm sipping on wine from my own vineyard?! But maybe I would just bake cupcakes all day long. And on the days that I didn't bake cupcakes, I would do all the yoga that I could ever want at all of the expensive yoga studios in town.)

Okay. Enough of that. Please feel free to fantasize about how you would spend your 60mil in the comments section. I find it fascinating what people would do.

So, no, I didn't win the lottery, but I did hit the jackpot with this here book:

Please ignore the cheesy 80's style cover (check out that pyramid in the center!). I love it that it looks so much like a textbook! Concepts and technology! It's a real goldmine (har har!) for the relentless jeweler who loooooves to slog through things like this on her lunch break:

(yeah yeah!)

Thus far I have made it through filigree. Remember that I am planning on making some little filigree pieces for a wedding necklace? I figured I had better read up a bit on the finer points of filigree construction before letting myself loose at the bench. I knew the basic idea, but now I REALLY know. This is the most instructive book I've found. (Tim McCreight's The Complete Metalsmith is a total joke compared to this book. Sorry, Tim.) I really feel like I can go out and do filigree after reading the filigree chapter. It was very thorough (am I the only person who can't spell thorough? Other toughies: necessary, beginning, and accommodate) and as far as I can tell it is worth every last expensive penny that it cost. Can't wait to read the the section on granulation!

No Post, Just Pugs

Oh the joys of newly shorn head!

(I'm a bit of a ham...)

Bold move, I know, since I will be wearing a pretty-pretty-princess dress at my upcoming wedding, but I just couldn't stand my long hair any more. And since I've had this haircut for the majority of my life since I was in the second grade, I just feel that is more authentically me. I would rather get married looking like myself (even if it will look slightly ridiculous with a big fairy dress), than have hair that doesn't suit me. I should be married as myself, not some hair-sprayed be-lipsticked version. (Not that there is anything wrong with lipstick and/or hairspray.)

What have I been up to in the studio? Well, the wedding rush is upon me and it is only March.

I have to admit, I have the most awesome job in the world. Sure, sometimes I am tired and my back hurts from sitting hunched over some project...or I feel that I just can't deal with answering any more emails...

But then I look down at my sweet little studio from my perch in the loft, and I just feel so incredibly lucky to have this opportunity to make things. And to define my life however I want to. To keep my own hours, and to have the work of my hands and brain benefit me; I'm so thankful that I'm not working to line the pockets of the people who own the company. I love working for myself, I can't imagine working for someone else. I have the chance to explore my own interests (which happen to revolve around jewelry and art in general...luckily enough!) and follow my own pursuits. Many (most?) people don't get to do this, and I am lucky. Extremely lucky. (I also don't think I could take orders from someone else (5 years in the Navy taught me this) so it is probably for the best all around that I take orders only from myself!).

And I get the chance to make beautiful, meaningful things. How sweet is that? I know (or at least I am fairly confident...fingers crossed!) that when the little black box is opened, happiness comes out of it! That people are reminded of those that they love when they look down at their hands. And I MADE that thing that reminds them! It's a great job, and when I'm feeling worn down about my work I need to think about that.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Micro rose cuts

I love diamonds. And not just because they are sparkly. I love them because they are hard and easy to work with. Plus they are sparkly. And I've been a magpie since I was a child. Seriously. My mom used to buy me big chunks of semi-tumbled rose and crystal quartz when I was weeny and I loooooooved them.

Anyhoo. I found these micro natural color rose cut diamonds and I just HAD to use them in something. So instead of making three matching bands (I had two of these already finished and was just planning on making the 3rd exactly the same) I ended up setting these new stones in instead of the white diamonds. I like it!

I think I'm going to use them in something for a necklace for my wedding (which is coming up in December....never too early to plan. Plus it is such a great opportunity to make something extravagant that I would never feel permitted to make/wear at any other times. Ridiculous, I know. I also found a dress...well sort of, I'm having it made in Cambodia. Hand loomed silk! Supporting a small business owner! A woman business owner! Sweet!).

Um...yes, back to the the necklace. I'm thinking 18kt yellow (of course), with a ton of these cognac/champagny/silver gray natural diamonds (maybe with some white traditional ones in there for good measure), in a gathered swoop sort of, and then two "medallions" of 18kt lacy filigree on either side? Too much? It won't be huge. I suppose I should figure out the wedding rings before I start on the necklace....

You remember that thing....

I had a post recently about a custom design that was taking the mickey out of me. It was for a friend, and she had provided a few stones for a three stone ring. The center stone was an old cut sapphire, oval and very round on the bottom. It made it interesting to carve a setting for, but I eventually got it finished:

I recently completed the actual ring. I think it turned out well. But it was difficult to set. I think I need to expand the stone shapes I work with. I tend to stick with round stones since they are so easy. I also tend to design with round stones, but I'm not sure how much of that is due to the fact that I only work with round stones? Maybe I think in round stones....

But I do like this oval shape. I also like square shapes...older square shapes, not the super sharp cornered ones. Maybe I will start doing more ovals in the near future. I also think it is interesting how much bluer the center stone was after it was set. It seemed really light when it was loose.

(On a completely unrelated note, I've thought about using Tumblr recently, I don't know why. It seems like an uncomfortable mishmash of blogging and twittering. Maybe you need to be a 17yr old fashionista to understand Tumblr. I tried twittering for a while too, but in the end I decided I just didn't give a rat's a$$ about twittering. What a useless time drain. Am I getting too old and crotchety for the internets? I like books more than anything, I prefer blogging to twittering, and I prefer writing in cursive in my journal to blogging. I pretty much despise facebook, but can't get away from it since it lets me keep track of people. Am I doomed? When the singularity comes will I be left behind? Probably, but I prefer to remain an old school human being, even if that means dying eventually and leaving no electronic soul behind....I realize this has nothing to do with jewelry. But I don't care.)

LOOT!

When I gather it all together like this, it doesn't seem like a whole lot does it? But it sure is lovely. I want to eat those two gemmy candies in the middle. Mmmm! And I'm particularly stoked about that piece of petrified coral. I'm sort of seeing it as a wedding necklace for myself? Maybe? With some 18kt gold and diamonds? That is a pink rough cut sapphire, a rose cut tourmaline, green diamonds, faceted white agate, and I can't remember what that seafoam green one is called...I'll have to look for the name. And I totally forgot to write down the name of the two middle ones, so I haven't any clue. Note to self: next year remember to WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING.

Now, I know I'm a little late to the druzy lovefest, but I couldn't get enough of it. I really couldn't. There is just something so velvety about them. Of course, they don't look as sparkly in this lighting as they do under some direct light, but I think you can get the idea. Now I just need to figure out what to make with them. Definitely want to make some earrings.

All right kids, that is it for my gem show treasure show and tell. I didn't get much, but I did get a few good contacts. I have some natural champagney rose cut diamonds on their way to me right now!

Gem Show Madness

Dearest readers, it wasn't really madness. But I have to say that the whole Tucson gem show was a bit more than I felt up to handling. I only went for two days, but it was still so overwhelming. I know for a fact that some people adore the gem show, but I just felt so much pressure to make the whole trip worthwhile by finding lots of cool things and bringing back tons of treasure that it was almost too much. I did bring back a little bit of treasure, which I will share with you in another post. Maybe it would have been better if I had given myself 4 days instead of 2? Maybe next year. And to relieve the pressure still further I will limit my purchases to the last three days of that 4 days? That way there will be no impulse purchases (oh, hello there piece of petrified coral).

It was a fun trip, if hectic. I hadn't been to Arizona since I was a kid, so it was neat to actually see it as an adult. I traveled with this girl:

Who just happens to be Kellie, my BFF. We're getting close to 20yrs of friendship (wow, that makes us sound old!). And we stayed for the first couple of nights at a lovely little place called Solar Haven, the delightful straw bale house owned by Kellie's adopted Arizonan parents. This place was so lovely, I can't even describe it. Solar powered, the water came from a rain water collection tank, there were 3 adorable dogs just wandering all over and it was so peaceful! And did I mention the decor?

It was so well done, like staying at a desert spa almost! Gorgeous!

We did a lot of driving:

And a lot of dazed wandering up and down aisles filled with shiny things:

And eating:

That is tortilla soup (or what is left of it), and a delish brie and apple compote sandwich in the background.

After we finished at the gem show....(I just couldn't take anymore! It felt like being at a bazaar where you had to bargain or get screwed. I hate that. And I really hated the unmarked, sketchy pricing. That's BS. I felt like I got taken for a ride a couple of times. Since I mostly work with diamonds, I don't really know what a reasonable price is for a lot of what I wanted to buy, so that left me at a disadvantage!)

...Anyhoo. Enough about that, if I think about it any more I will throw in the towel and go get a desk job.

So, after we left the gem show eating our dust, we headed to Tubac to meet up with a friend of Kellie's, a local artist that we would be staying the night with. Her name is Vicki, and she was lovely. We had a nice relaxing evening eating stew over rice and watching Prince Caspian (which was worlds better than the first one, trust me). While we were there, Vicki let Kellie and me pick out a piece of her artwork to take home with us. Check out this sweet (and creepy in a good way!) box (that is smoke from incense coming out of the mouth!):

So, I guess the moral of the story is that next year I need to have a plan. I need to know what I want to buy. It's so hard to speculate though, about what I will be making this year. And next year I'm going to bring the Shop Monkey with me. The jewelry industry is changing, but it is still dominated by a bunch of crusty old dudes and I think I would do better with guy with me. How jacked is that? Pretty jacked.

Stayed tuned for pictures of the loot that I brought back!

Sunshine, thank god.

I post this picture, not to reveal myself as a messy, disorganized person in desperate need of the services of a professional organizer and/or diligent custodian (Oh, the custodian! I wish I had one of my own...) but to provide photographic evidence of the sunshine that is streaming into my studio at this very moment. Perhaps it isn't a big deal to you lucky readers who live in more clement climes (alliteration!), but for me here in the beautiful PNW, a little bit of sunshine in early February is something to be celebrated and eagerly (read: voraciously...if it were possible, I would roll around in it like an enthusiastic dog in something stinky) soaked up. I can't explain to you how joyous a tiny bit of sunshine can make me. It doesn't even have to be warm and cheery, it just has to be direct sunshine, not a weak light filtered through a veil of thick gray clouds, watered down to a dull ooze. I swear, the winter here feels like you are living underwater. The light is very like what you see when you are fairly deep during a scuba dive.

I feel like the increased light of the last couple of days has really helped me, today I got to work at 9:30! Unheard of! During the summer I will wake as soon as it is light, but during the winter I don't want to really move or be productive until around noon. I've been sitting in front of a happy light every day, and I think it has been helping (who knows? but it is bracing, that has to count for something).

Anyhow, I'm going to get away from the computer (which is in the loft, away from the windows) and join the pugs in a little sun worship.

Bad night, Happy Tuesday?

There is nothing like being woken at 3:30 in the morning by the sound of two pugs fighting like a couple of gladiators over a fallen half of rustic baguette. I'm not sure if you readers are familiar with the demonic sounds a pug can produce when locked in battle over food, but crazy and somewhat like a cross between an angry howler monkey and an out of sorts gremlin probably describes it fairly well. The kitties and pugs have decided to work in tandem against us now, it's four on two at the House of Bean. The kitties must have knocked the baguette from the kitchen island (it was wrapped in paper and the kitties love to shred paper), and the fighting then commenced between the pugs over the forbidden booty. Gunter, angelic in all other respects, has a food obsession that clouds his better judgement, Dieter is just a devil. (And yes, it was hilarious, despite the early hour.) It was a rough night though, and I'm now trying to motivate myself to leave for the studio. This is one of the harder aspects of being self-employed...having enough internal motivation.

Ah well, enough of the winter blues. I finished the wax from yesterday and wanted to share some photos. This is probably the largest stone I've really worked with, so I'm interested to see how it will turn out.

Meet my muse

Ha ha. Just kidding. But I do love him a great deal. Especially when the tiny pug is being a wicked devil. (Like the other day. Another venture onto the kitchen table, thank goodness there wasn't anything up there for him to eat.)

It is so nice to be able to take them to work! On the days that I don't take one of them, I feel so lonely! (Of course, the tiny pug can be annoying. He really likes to chew on stray pieces of carving wax that find their way to the floor..I'm pretty sure that isn't good for him...)

Speaking of carving wax..I'm working on this three stone ring for a friend, and I'm having a bit of a problem. I thought it would be pretty straight forward, but the center stone that she provided is a old cut sapphire, super deep and rounded on the bottom. Almost like a cabochon, but obviously a faceted gemstone (but one that you could turn upside down and make into a rose cut almost...it's also a strange oval, 6.5x7mm) Anyway, this is making my life difficult. The center stone is so deep that to set it in a ring with two side stones that are significantly smaller is creating,....,.....,....., um.....weirdness. In order to not look like they are on separate planet, I have to lift the smaller side stones up a bit, and to add to my troubles, I can't just make the ring flat to the finger, she wants the wedding band to sit snug with the three stone. I'm not sure if I can do it now, after spending hours and hours working on it. It might be a bit clunky and awkward...but that is my task for today. I also need to answer all the emails that piled up over the weekend. So I'm sitting in front of my happy light (a new addition to the home studio and one that I think I really needed. The PNW winter was starting to get to me) preparing to dig into my email...

Okay mes amis! Have a great Monday! (I'm going to try!)

Niello! Nee-ello, ni-ello, you say potayto I say potahto...

I'm not quite sure how to pronounce this, but I love the effect anyway. Of course, working with lead is a bit of a drawback.... the black parts of the design are created by "a mixture of copper, silver, and lead sulphides, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal. It can be used for filling in designs cut from metal. The Ancient Egyptians are credited with originating niello decoration, which spread throughout Europe during the late Iron age and is common in Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, and other types of Early Medieval jewellery." (Thank you wikipedia!)

I love the black! It is just solid and there. I've done a series of illustrations using mostly black calligraphy ink, here is an example:

I'm not sure if they are super related, but I feel there is a slight connection.

Here is something a bit more recent that I've been working on lately. I think the connection here is much clearer, yes?:

I am loving these gold and silver paint pens I recently bought.. Pen-touch and Krylon, I'm sure your noxious fumes might one day lead to my demise, but I care not!

I probably won't ever work with niello, but I think I might look into some enameling classes soon. I'm going to do a bit of research and maybe write a quick post about the different types of enameling out there (I'm almost 100% sure that I would be most interested in cloisonné, but who knows!?).

Okay, not the most coherent of posts, but I'm hungry for lunch right now and am probably not thinking clearly. Have a great weekend everyone!

This is the year of organization

This is it! This is the year that I embrace rationality and organization. This is the year that I become an adult about my finances. Instead of an envelope/desk drawer/paper bag of crumpled receipts, I will keep meticulous records! I will develop a process for analyzing my out going and incomings! I will not be crushed at tax time like a tourist fleeing before the bulls of Pamplona! I will triumph over entropy and have an organized studio and mind.

Ugly used file cabinet (50$, City Liquidators) taking up precious studio space, CHECK!

Hanging folders, CHECK!

Interior folders, CHECK!

Plastic tabs, CHECK!

The discipline to organize receipts, CHECK?

Good tax preparation person? No. Still looking, any recommendations?

Decision about the new website? No. Contemplating, template versus custom site, any thoughts on this or experience out there? I'm really not sure what route to take.

Spread sheet to calculate prices and costs? CHECK! Now I am pricing according to a rational formula instead of just guestimating and wildly pricing, willy nilly! It makes answering emails much easier and less stressful. Credit goes to the Shop Monkey, an Excel Wizard.

Spread sheet to calculate a rough (very rough) estimate of what I should withhold for taxes? CHECK! (Has anyone noticed how quick the government can cash those estimated tax payment checks? It's like KAWHAM! We can't provide health care for you, or even decent public schools, but we can sure cash checks efficiently. Keep'em coming!)

So there I am. Planning for the future (sort of) instead of flying by the seat of my pants. What a strange feeling. Do any of you seasoned small business veterans have any tips or pointers? What else can I be organizing? I would love a reason to go to the Container store, I heart that place!

Growing up

I'll tell you what, getting older has is perks. Perhaps I don't look as good in a bikini as I once did (and didn't appreciate it, of course...), but I feel I'm starting to have that certain something that it takes to actually pursue things with diligence and perseverance. Taking the time to actually learn things, instead of expecting it to just "come to me". I look back at my early adulthood and cringe. How could I expect to know things that I hadn't yet learned? So silly (and arrogant), and a waste of my youth, in way. Too impatient to practice and research. But, the lesson is learned and I hope that my best years are still to come. I would really like to be creating the best stuff I've ever made when I am a little old lady with short silver hair.

This book is winging its way towards me as I type this (I love you Amazon!...Seriously, I have a bad Amazon habit, I shudder to look at my account and see all of the orders I place over the year (which I just did, to get my business receipts in order, and it was an eye opener, let me tell you. Vow made to be more selective in my purchases from now on, scouts honor.)). I'm pretty excited to get it, I hope it's useful. It had decent reviews.

I (and I suspect many of you reading share this ability) can sometimes create/draw/cook etc. etc. something that is pleasing/beautiful/well balanced/visually interesting without quite knowing how I did it, or why it turned out well. I was satisfied with that (and myself...but that is another story for another time) for a long time, but now I want to know why things turn out well, instead of groping around with blind instinct. At the same time, I'm a little afraid that if I delve too deeply I will muck up the gears somehow and will no longer be able to do what I did before without thinking too much about it. But I'm also beginning to get the idea that I am reaching the limits of what I can do without conscious effort. I know that the gears are turning in there somewhere, I can almost see it, but actual control over it is another thing. (Related? This also happens with math problems and puzzles, my unconscious mind solves things, never really letting my conscious mind in on the process (show your work!). Leaving me just as confused as before, but with the answer. Crazy?) So, I'm faced with the prospect of hitting a wall, or possibly ruining my natural creative ability with too much thought and study. Does this sound like a lot of self indulgent navel gazing to you? Oh, it is!! But this is my blog and my life, so I'm going to try to make the most of it. Feel free to tune out. :-D

Another thing I've been contemplating lately:

What if all of the ideas in my head are not endless, like I have always supposed (and taken for granted). What if they are finite, and at some point in the future the well will run dry? I look back in horror at all of the great ideas (or even mediocre or bad ideas! Who can say?! I can't remember them!) that I just threw away because I was too lazy to write/draw them down...foolishly believing I would remember them later. I really feel like the mind is an evolving thing, that changes and goes through different stages/periods over the course of a life. And what if in a few years I don't have any more ideas!? What if the fertile idea making period of my brain will come to an end? I guess I would just have to turn back to my old ideas and refine them. That doesn't sound so bad, but I might need to have a record of these ideas to turn to when the flood is over. (Ah, a metaphor! What if this creative, idea generating period is like the flood of the Nile? And the real making/creating happens after the flood ceases, leaving a rich deposit of ideas to work with/grow from? I like to think of the fields of my mind being steadily covered with a thick silty muck of ideas, bits of plant matter and the tiny skeletons of water bugs strewn throughout.)

Okay, that is probably about as much of a glimpse into my inner workings as you wanted (or more than you wanted! Ha!). It might be the coffee...onto my second cup.

Oh yellow gold, how I love thee...

If you've been reading this blog, you probably already know that I have a deep and abiding love for 18kt yellow gold. I love it. I. LOVE. IT. But judging by the little poll that I'm conducting (over there on the sidebar), I'm one of the few people that do. Why does everyone love white metal so much? Please explain. :-)

I don't know why the color of yellow gold is so appealing (to me anyway)....I do like bright colors and high contrast. Plus, yellow gold is so festive! (..according to my future MIL, and I couldn't agree more. It is festive!).

White metals are lovely, I don't deny it. And they tend to make a white stone appear larger, but my heart belongs to 18kt yellow (ever since the day my mom got a fat, heavy chunk of it for her wedding band...). I do find it slightly ironic that as much as I love yellow gold, I hardly ever get to make anything in it. So you can imagine how stoked I was when a customer approached me to make this ring:

in 18kt yellow. Oh the joy that burst out in the singleB studio! Yellow gold! Finally!

What is the difference?

Two solitaires, white gold. One is 18kt, one is 14kt, one stone is G color, one is H color, one is VS1 clarity, the other SI1. But can you tell? Not really. White gold is white gold, G and H are similar. The difference in color between 14kt and 18kt yellow gold is noticeable, but I couldn't really see the difference between the white. Maybe the 18kt was less gray? Not really sure. The main difference between these two is stone size:

Right around 1mm difference in diameter, but the difference in appearance is noticeable. The larger is around 1ct and the smaller is a half carat. Both are fabulous, and big enough to get noticed. I just wanted to post a side by side comparison, because I know that people sometimes have a hard time visualizing what the the difference between the two is. This is also why I don't get too caught up in the numbers, a .49ct stone is going to look the exact same size as a .50ct stone, and the difference in price can be substantial. :-)