One pair of loopy gold earrings has been with me since high school. I wore them all the time in college and years afterward. Eventually, the back stem broke off one earring. Yet, I kept them. They were a high school graduation gift from a treasured journalism teacher. So, really, there was no way I was about to lose one earring at a Warren pawnshop. Drive down the road and billboards are proclaiming "We Buy Gold." Newspaper and television ads shout "Cash for Gold." Plenty of jewelry stores and pawnshops are offering to buy gold on the spot, too. Seems like a perfect time to sell: Gold is bouncing around record levels, as is economic anxiety. [See chart, below] So I wondered: How much is my stuff really worth when the price of gold was soaring at record levels? I dug out those loopy gold earrings and my school ring from St. Florian High School in Hamtramck. I found an old ring that I think belonged to Uncle Joe; my father's thin, heart-trimmed wedding band, a locket and other earrings. I asked my husband one day at dinner to hand over his gold wedding band. I don't own much gold, but my friend JD had set aside ...

Oh Mayan! By Amy Saltzman/stoneham@cnc.com Stoneham - Last Friday afternoon I found myself under the influence of ancient Mayan gems. The stones, which are best known for their healing powers, were being used to relax my facial muscles, while simultaneously diminishing the bags under my eyes and my furrowed brow. What I was experiencing was the new Acugems Facial Rejuve treatment, offered at reVive Skin Therapies, 468 Main St. Beth Ann Fischberg, owner of reVive, who was trained in California to administer this unique, anti-aging facial, is currently the only esthetician offering the service in Massachusetts. Her faithful clients come from all around the area — Melrose, Reading, Brookline, Cambridge, etc. For her clients, the treatment is a comforting alternative to plastic surgery and Botox. There’s no recovery time or risk of permanent mistakes; plus it’s a financial break for those wanting immediate beauty enhancements. For Fischberg, it’s a spiritual procedure, using ancient healing techniques adopted by Mayan culture to rejuvenate and firm the skin. She refers to it as an “all-natural facelift,” using gemstones, micro-currents and therapeutic light, instead of surgery or needles, to “re-educate” facial muscles. Acutrone, the machine used to circulate the micro-currents with gemstones, was designed by Aracely Plateroti, practitioner of oriental medicine ...

By BlueTopaz.com In recent times, there has been lot of debate regarding use of radiation to enhance the color of gemstones, specially Topaz . In U.S.A, all irradiation facilities and the import & export of radioactive material is regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) ( www.nrc.gov). The USNRC has control over reactor-irradiated radioactive gems imported into USA and import of any such gemstone requires a license from USNRC. In the last few months, the NRC has stepped up enforcement of regulations regarding irradiated gemstones. This is because there were no jewelry industry laboratories with equipment or a license to test to NRC requirements, nor were there licensed importers of blue topaz. This had caused a lot of confusion in the US market & the import of Swiss and London blue Topaz into USA had virtually stopped. Various representations were sent to NRC by trade bodies including AGTA for clarification. The NRC is now working with the gemstone industry to re-establish the necessary regulatory framework and at the same time allow the business to take place. NRC requires that the initial import/distribution of reactor treated gemstones be by a distributor licensed by the NRC. After initial distribution, the gemstones will no longer be ...

By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA -- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone The gem and jewelry industry has little to worry about from irradiated blue topaz, says Dr. Andrew Karam, adjunct professor of radiation safety at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He says a blue topaz bracelet with 6.00 cts. of reactor-irradiated gemstones would produce a radiation dose between 700 and 800 mrem (millirems) if worn continuously for a year after being irradiated but notes that's less than regulatory limits. “This level of radiation exposure poses no risk to the wearer,” Karam says. “They will not get radiation burns, they will not get cancer, and they don't have to worry about radiation affecting a pregnancy.” Karam says the risk to workers in the jewelry industry is even lower. To reach a radiation dose limit, a worker would have to spend 1,000 hours annually in an area with huge quantities of blue topaz and would still be far from a level of exposure that's likely to cause cancer or any other ill effects. Karam works with local, state, national, and international organizations to help them prepare for a terrorist radioactive attack and provides consulting services to the International Atomic Energy Agency on radioactive materials security and national ...

Published September/Octoer 2007 By Stuart M. Robertson, GG Acting on a complaint earlier this summer, the NRC informed retail jewelers that they may be selling blue topaz in noncompliance with NRC regulations. The NRC letter also purportedly requested the names of the retailers’ blue topaz suppliers and producers. At issue is the ability of jewelers to provide the required documentation that the stones have been produced or tested by a NRC licensed facility. Since it is now being widely reported that no such licensed facility is currently servicing the U.S. gem industry, it would appear that the NRC concerns are well founded. Background Topaz commonly occurs in yellow, brown and colorless varieties. The popular blue varieties that sell with the trade names of Swiss and London blue, among others, all result from irradiation treatment. These stones can be treated using neutrons in a nuclear reactor, or using electron excitation in a linear accelerator. Using the nuclear reactor creates a potential that the resulting material may possess dangerous levels of radiation, hence the NRC regulations regarding treatment and distribution of such material. (For further details on the treatment of blue topaz refer to the article, Red Hot and Blue Irradiated Blue Topaz posted on GemGuide ...

Old rules, which regulated only Swiss blue and London blue topaz, have been expanded to also regulate sky blue topaz beginning November 30. The NRC stressed, however, that there is no reason to believe blue topaz or any other irradiated gemstone pose any health risk. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a statement recently clarifying the issue about irradiated gemstones, most notably blue topaz, after members of the jewellery industry and consumers made "numerous inquiries" that reflected "confusion and misinformation" about the issue. Sometime middle of this year, the NRC tightened its licensing requirements, announcing that only distributors licensed by the NRC can distribute such irradiated gemstones in the US market. This basically dried up orders from the US market for blue topaz - the gemstone most affected by the tightened rules -- gem dealers in Asia told JNA. In its statement dated November 8, NRC emphasized that licensing is required only for the initial distribution, meaning that subsequent distributors: individual jewellers or retailers need not be licensed provided the stones they sell were initially distributed by an NRC licensee. The reason it is requiring licences for initial distributors is "to provide a safeguard against the possibility that stones might reach the market ...

The United States' Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulates the import of irradiated gems into the US market. Its regulations since the late 1980s concerned only neutron-irradiated gems, i.e. those irradiated in reactors, such as Swiss blue and London blue topaz. According to the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) and the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, the NRC has recently stepped up enforcement regarding irradiated gemstones and that additional regulations on irradiated gems are expected to go into effect starting late this year or early next year. Zimmermann BCS Stones GmbH, a Germany-based company that specialises in treating blue topaz, said: "We interpret recent information from the NRC [to mean] that they will apply the same rules also for accelerator-irradiated gems, hence sky blue topaz." AGTA added that this means the new rules would also regulate red tourmalines, many beryls (treated blue, yellow and pink colours, but not emerald), kunzite and irradiated diamonds. Any entity importing the gemstones into the US market needs to have a licence from the NRC. Those treated using Cobalt-60 (gamma ray) irradiation, such as various quartz colours, yellow sapphire and pearls, are not affected by the upcoming regulations, AGTA added. Source: http://www.jewellerynetasia.com

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging! Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO4(F,OH)2. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic group and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces, the basal pinacoid often being present. It has an easy and perfect basal cleavage, meaning that gemstones or other fine specimens have to be handled with care to avoid developing cleavage flaws. The fracture is conchoidal to uneven. Topaz has a hardness of 8, a specific gravity of 3.4–3.6, and a vitreous luster. Pure topaz is transparent but is usually tinted by impurities; typical topaz is wine or straw-yellow. They may also be white, gray, green, blue, pink or reddish-yellow and transparent or translucent. Treatments When heated, yellow topaz often becomes reddish-pink. The color change upon heating was first discovered by a Parisian jeweler around 1750. In particular the yellow Topaz of Brazil has been known to be treated frequently, by wrapping Topaz in Asbestos. Only stones of a brown-yellow color yield the pink; the pale yellow ones usually turn white. The pink color is stable. [1]. Topaz can also be irradiated, turning the stone ...

Round Round shapes are available from 1mm to 15mm and in any quantity. Oval Oval shapes are available from 4X3mm to 20X15mm and in any quantity. Heart Heart shapes are available from 3mm to 15mm and in any quantity. Trillion Trillion shapes are available from 3mm to 15mm and in any quantity. Pear Pear shapes are available from 4X3mm to 20X15mm and in any quantity. Square Square shapes are available from 2mm to 15mm and in any quantity. Octagon Octagon shapes are available from 5X3mm to 20X15mm and in any quantity. Marquise Marquise shapes are available from 4X2mm to 20X10mm and in any quantity. Baguatte Baguatte shapes are available from 4X2mm to 14X10mm and in any quantity.

While bricks-and-mortar jewellers in the US generally saw a decline in sales during the past Christmas shopping season, their online counterparts appeared to have fared well. Amazon.com Inc recently announced that diamond sales on its shopping website increased over 100 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to the same time last year. The online retailer also said in a statement that an increasing number of customers are buying from Amazon.com Jewelry & Watch store, especially for peak jewellery buying seasons such as Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. The "Journey" curve pendant in 14-karat white gold, platinum diamond stud earrings and 2-carat round cut stone were among the top sellers, Amazon said, adding that black diamond jewellery also sold well after it added 150 new black diamond styles during the season. Coloured gemstone jewellery such as those with coated Swiss blue topaz in 14-karat while gold mountings also became many online shoppers' favourites. Meanwhile, giant online jeweller Blue Nile also achieved a sales growth of about 23 percent in the fourth season of 2007 compared to the same period last year. The company reported net sales of US$319.3 million in the full year of 2007, up by about 27 percent from the ...