Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with jewelery

A ring....

tropikal — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:41:09 -0800

OK, I've searched all over the internet, MeFi and tons of blogs. I've learned a lot, but I haven't found what I'm looking for. I want to carve a simple ring design for my girlfriend, out of jewelers wax, then send it to a professional silversmith and have it cast. Now I could do it myself, but I neither have the space nor the equipment to do it properly. So yes I have seen and read just about every tutorial about DIY casting. So...anyone out there know where I could find an actual silversmith, only found one, they want a minimum of 25 pieces....

Canadian diamond wedding band in NYC/NJ?

exhilaration — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:21:18 -0800

Know of any jewelers that carry Canadian diamond wedding bands in North Jersey or Manhattan? I need a wedding band (getting married in 2 weeks!), and my fiancé doesn't want an African diamond after watching Blood Diamond. I'd like someone I can deal with in person rather than a website. I called like 15 local jewelers in New Jersey and none carry Canadian diamonds. What's up with that? I tried two local Ultras and they don't have wedding bands. Any other recommendations?

Cool Toronto independent jewelery stores?

laroodles — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 08:04:52 -0800

In the market for a non-traditional engagement ring from an independent local jeweler based in Toronto. My SO and I are looking for a non-traditional engagement ring and have ruled out buying it online. So far we are looking at pink and yellow sapphire rings. I like art deco jewelery, or pieces that look vintage with a modern twist, and would like to support small independent local jewelers based out of Toronto.

So far my favorite place is Linda Penwarden. We have been and I'm in love with all of her jewelery, however my SO wants us to keep looking around to make sure we see everything before making the final decision.

Where are your favorite places, Mefites? Specifically ones similar to Linda Penwarden. NB: I have consulted this previous thread and this one.

I look forward to your responses!

Where can I find some beady jewelery for mom?

lunasol — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 05:24:02 -0800

Where in New York can I buy some of that nice-but-inexpensive non-blingy street stall jewelery? Today, that is. I have a few necklaces that I've bought on the street in Manhattan that my mom really loves, and she's hinted that she would like something similar for Christmas this year. I don't live in NYC, just visit often.

The necklaces I'm talking about are of the chunky-bead variety, brightly colored. I've usually found them just while walking along, always on weekends.
However, now it's a weekday and I'm short on time! Any suggestions for where I might find such stands on a Monday, or of course, a store that sells stuff like that? I'm also looking for something under $30. Obviously I know this isn't some obscure type of item and I'm sure there are a million places I could look, I just don't know where!

I'm currently in Greenpoint, will be traveling to Flushing and the Upper West Side today, but could make a side trip if necessary.

Buying jewelery in Thailand.

latentflip — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:08:58 -0800

Buying jewellery in Thailand/Bangkok. Need good advice/website/stores to go to so that I don't get ripped off. I am off to Thailand for a month on Saturday, and would like to bring some nice jewelery back for my girlfriend. However, I know next to nothing about jewelery, and want to avoid getting scammed. Has anyone here done this successfully? If so any advice on which websites to read before I go, or which stores in Thailand/Bangkok are reputable.

Google comes up with lots of general "talk to them a lot to make sure they seem reputable" type tips, but personal experience would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

D1am0ndz r 4ever

ReiToei — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 05:23:18 -0800

Can anyone recommend somewhere good to buy an engagement ring in Toronto? O glorious hivemind. My beautiful fiancee and I are travelling from Ireland to Toronto in August for 7 days. With the euro being as strong as it is, we thought it might make sense to buy the engagement ring while we're there. Could anyone recommend a good jewelery shop in the city that might be worth visiting?

How do I drill a hole through a human tooth without shattering it?

mediocre — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:40:42 -0800

How would I drill a hole through an extracted human tooth without shattering it? Tracking my history of posts in the green it's easy to see my life has revolved around my teeth, or lack thereof lately. I now have no teeth in my head, a cup full of teeth, and a head full of ideas of what I want to do with them. My first idea was a chainmail bracelet with the teeth woven into rings, but I'm not sure that would work at all. So I guess I have two questions. First, how the hell do I drill a hole through these things without shattering them? And second, any ideas for tooth based jewelery? I'm not really a necklace person, as obvious as the idea sounds. I would prefer something like a bracelet, but can't think of a way to integrate human teeth into a bracelet.

Help me save my ear-holes.

ultraultraboomerang — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 08:42:03 -0800

Is there any point in re-piercing my ears properly, 20 years after they were pierced with that damn gun they use in the mall? I have 3 piercings in one ear and one in the other. The first two are about 20 years old, the other two are more like 10-12. There have been times when I could wear earrings 24/7 for years with no problem, but lately I'm lucky to get one evening out of them, even with all the elaborate cleansing and neosporin-ing and everything else I've read about to try and prevent that hot, itchy, painful reaction (presumably due to nickel, so I've given up on cheap jewelery).

My question is essentially, is there any benefit from just starting over? They've never healed shut, even though there have been periods of a year or more where I haven't worn a single earring, so I wouldn't really be re-piercing them. But from all I've read about how awful the mall process is and how you really should heal piercings with titanium barbells or what have you, I'm wondering if there's any benefit to going to a real studio and having them treat them like brand new piercings. Maybe buying some more appropriate, sterile jewelery to wear for a few solid weeks to see if I can heal them properly this time. Or even having them re-done with a needle, since I've heard that the wonky angle caused by those mall guns is sometimes a problem in healing.

Has anyone else had this experience? I'd like to have some simple non-cheap non-nickel hoops I could just leave in all the time. What has worked for you, in terms of getting to the point where you can wear earrings properly again? Can I reverse any of the damage presumably done by exposure to cheap metal? Are my ear-holes a lost cause?

Need to get wedding rings in New York

cyrusdogstar — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:25:04 -0800

Need recommendations for good locations to get wedding rings in New York City. My fiancée and I are getting married in November and are obviously going to need those shiny things you put on your finger at some point. Has anyone had good experiences with specific jewelers in Manhattan or nearby? We're not looking for anything super-expensive.

Help me buy some pearls.

Mid — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 07:52:32 -0800

I need some help buying a pearl necklace, like, today. So time has absolutely run out for buying my wife a Christmas gift. (Because of some travel, we agreed to exchange presents on New Years.) After blundering around jewelry shops for the past few days, I'm leaning towards a pearl necklace. But I have a few questions:

(1) Without a question, Bluenile.com is way, way cheaper than places like Tiffany's for seemingly similar products. I've seen some scattered positive comments on the site regarding purchasing from Bluenile, but has anyone bought pearls from them? Also, have you ever returned something to them? I'll feel a lot better about purchasing over the web if it would be easy to return it if it sucks. This seems particularly important with pearls because they are not "certified" as to color or other qualities, like a diamond, so it's hard to tell if you're going to get something with a nice color.

(2) Pearls seem kinda boring to me, a guy. They don't sparkle, like a diamond, and they don't have any eye-catching "bling" factor, like a sapphire or other gemstone. But my wife has no pearl necklace, and has mentioned in the past that she would like one. So, particularly ladies, this is worth it, right?

(3) Very specific now: I'm thinking of going with an 18" strand rather than the 16". A sales lady modeled the two sizes for me and the 16" looked too much like a "choker" to me -- kinda uncomfortable and awkward. Any experience with this?

Thanks.

Arrrr, matey.

tristeza — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 17:56:28 -0800

Online source for single, gold hoop earring? I've looked at about 20 body jewelery sites, and I can't seem to find anywhere to buy a simple, gold hoop earring (single, no post, thicker than maybe a girl's hoop earring, it's for a guy). All I'm coming across are belly bars and penis rings and eyebrow staples....I am definitely out of my element.

Can someone point me to a good online source for this?

From an ethical perspective, should I go for platinum or gold?

handee — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 01:45:48 -0800

Gold has all sorts of ethical problems, but I have not heard anything about platinum. Is this just because it is rarer and more expensive (so I'm unlikely to come across it), or is it actually a morally better choice?

Anyone wanna buy a ring?

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 15:13:19 -0800

Dis-engagement ring question: After splitting up with my fiancé and agreeing that she would return the ring to me, I'm not sure what to do about returning/reselling the ring to get the most back from this most sizeable of investments. I bought the ring just over a year ago for $4000. I believe I was getting a really good deal as the jewler has done a lot of business with my ex-fiance's family and he was looking favorably on me. I just talked with him and what he suggests is that I send him the ring, he resets the stones in a new setting and puts it for sale in his shop in LA (I'm in northern CA). I have no idea how much I should expect to get back. I'm in no hurry, but there are far better things that I could be doing with the money that's tied up in this ring.

One thing I'm concerned about is if I go through with this LA jewler's plan, how do I protect myself legally? I'd need to have something in writing and I'm not sure how to go about asking for something like that without coming off as distrustfull. I'm also looking for other suggestions as to how to proceed.

How much should this cost?

Jon-o — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 23:57:41 -0800

How much should I expect to pay for my wedding rings? Just doing some preliminary research in regards to the rings, I've already found a range of prices, both far below and above what I expected to be charged for these. Has anyone had any recent experience with this? What can I expect? Is there a significant price difference between in-store and online ring shopping?

Selling an engagement ring

karen — Sun, 24 Apr 2005 17:11:39 -0800

A friend of mine has a nice and fairly expensive engagement ring that he would like sell. The jeweller from which he bought the ring (Tiffany's) does not buy back rings, and it seems like "used" rings get only pennies on the dollar on eBay. Given that he is intent on selling it, can anyone recommend a method for recouping as much of the original expense as possible?