Calling all Ladies with Charm Bracelets

I remember as a child receiving my first charm bracelet with a charm. My "first charm", oh yes, my father with his great sense of humour, took my "first tooth" and encased it in a small gold setting and that was my first charm. As the years passed, each charm that I received reflected a part of me--ballet slippers, trophy, my first ring, etc.

Charm bracelets are as unique as your signature and no two are alike. I enjoyed wearing my charm bracelet throughout my growing years, but after a while, I can honestly say that I got bored of it.

It was tucked away for several years and when I started wearing it again as a young adult, it became an annoyance--it got caught in things and jingled all the time. Too bad I never thought to wear it around the Christmas season--Santa and I would have had a lot of jingle belling in common :)

Well, it got put away again for a few more years.....but when I rediscovered it, I looked at it in a whole new light. Instead of wearing it as a bracelet, I thought how about wearing it as a "charm necklace"?

With a simple modification, the closures were removed and a chain was soldered to each end of the bracelet. Today, I wear it as one of my signature pieces of jewelery. It is not tucked away in my jewelery box, but worn in its full glory.

Another suggestion would be to have the charms removed and wear them as individual pendants, or have them individually soldered to a chain with large links. Not only would you have a new neck-piece, but a new bracelet.

And yes, I still get questions about that tooth......

Positively Always,

Baya

Rediscovering the HIdden Treasures in Your Jewelry Box

When was the last time that you

really looked inside your jewelry

box? I don't just mean opening your

box and taking a quick glance, but

emptying it out and looking at

each individual piece of

jewelry. With the soaring price of gold,

and believe me, it is only going

up, and economic hardships,

many people are not acquiring

or adding as many pieces

of jewels to their collection.

Formerly cufflinks and now earrings

So what is a girl to do when she wants to add a new little treasure to her collection, but is limited because of finances and doesn't want to break the piggy bank? I can promise you, that by opening your jewelry box and "rediscovering" your pieces, you are going to be surprised at what you will find--a treasure of goodies that can be recreated, recombined, redesigned, remodelled, or my favorite "renovated", into something new and outstanding.

Over the years, our clients have brought in their jewelery, literally thrown into plastic bags

emptied onto our showcases as if they were junk. As we started to look at each individual piece

and showing them what could be done, they were in awe, of all the possibilities. Now all of a sudden that old vintage brooch, could be looked at in a different light. Most importantly, they would have a new "bling, bling" at a fraction of the cost.

Original setting was removed

from a brooch and made into

this elegant ring

Let me share a couple of recent "jewel reno" stories with you.

One of our clients recently brought in her "goody bag of gold". She had rings from the Victorian and Art Deco period, an older brooch she never worn and a very heavy plain gold bangle bracelet, as well as many odd and broken pieces of jewels. We recreated an entirely new brooch from her existing brooch by cutting off the settings from the rings and adding them to the brooch as well as adding diamonds throughout. Her plain gold bangle bracelet became an "eternity" bracelet because we set it with diamonds. Her reaction when she saw the finished pieces were, AWE, SPEECHLESSNESS AND COMPLETELY OVER THE MOON. Yes, she was one happy lady.

Another one of our customers sent us several rings, as she lives out of town. One of the rings was her mother's multi diamond engagement ring. We removed the large diamond in the center and reset it into a beautiful rose gold ring which originally had a ruby in it. Into her mother's engagement ring, we set a beautiful rich garnet in the center, which was surrounded by smaller diamonds. The little ruby was set into another gold ring which originally had a glass stone. When she received all the ring she emailed me with the subject line 'Christmas in March'. She loved all her 'new rings' and did not which which one to wear first.

Stay tuned to this dial, cause I have a lot to share on this topic.

Remember, stay positive because you will be prosperous in all aspects of your life :)

Baya