Two Tone Hoops
.925 sterling silver and black rhodium or rose gold plated two tone hoop earrings 60mm
Spin Bangle
.925 sterling silver with brass/copper spin bangle 14mm
www.stonesandsilver.com.au
+61 3 9587 1215
Nationwide Jewellers have created a business management course, specifically for retail jewellers. The course comprises ten modules which are designed to encompass the essential business skills required to successfully manage a retail jewellery business in a difficult economic environment.
The modules are :
“This new course is part of our Industry Best Practice Programme, which also includes business analysis, business planning, benchmarking and consultancy services. “ said Nationwide Managing Director, Colin Pocklington. “The Course Reference Folder includes a number of resources that will be invaluable to store owners, covering areas such as consumer law, uncollected goods, awards, training and much more.”
The course which is conducted over two days, will be made available to Nationwide members, in each capital city. As the course is interactive, and the emphasis allocated to each module is tailored to the participants levels of experience and expertise, the number of attendees in each location will be limited to a maximum of six members.
“We estimate that it would cost someone $6,000 or more to do a retail jewellery specific course like ours. However, we will be providing it free for all of our reward level members.” Pocklington added.
For further information contact
Colin Pocklington
02 94180000
colin@jgbs.com
Kunzite crystals display two interesting phenomenon, pleochroism and perfect cleavage, both of which need to be considered when cutters orient the gem for finishing. Cleavage refers to a stone’s tendency to ‘cleave’ or ‘split’ along certain crystallographic structural planes due to a weakness in their atomic bonds. Many stones present perfect cleavage including topaz, diamond and fluorite. Although a gemstone doesn’t necessarily become weak because of perfect cleavage, the gem cutter and jeweller must practice caution to ensure cleavage does not occur. In kunzite’s case, the cleavage occurs in two directions, one being parallel to the length of the crystal in line with the surface striations.
Pleochroism refers to a stones ability to display different colours in different crystal directions. Kunzite crystals exhibit strong pleochroism with the best/ darkest colour visible when you look down the length of the crystal. Due to these two factors this beauty is considered a real gem cutters challenge.
Bunny Bedi, owner and director at Made In Earth, discusses the difficulties with dealing in kunzite. “We source our kunzite from the Pakistan/Afghanistan border and they have become increasingly harder to source. Pre-cut stones are scarce as 15%-20% is the maximum yield we can obtain from the rough and this is the same reason why we don’t cut stones ourselves. It’s a tricky stone to deal with because of its brittle nature and pleochroic attributes although when we do get faceted stones they display a significant dispersion/brilliance and they’re absolutely breathtaking. These days we tend to keep the crystals in their natural state and create pieces that show off their well formed crystal structure.”
Oozing femininity and grace, pink stones have always had an alluring quality. You don’t need to be a girly-girl to appreciate something as magical as a brilliant pink gemstone. Named in honour of pioneering gemmologist Dr. George Frederick Kunz (1856 – 1932), Kunzite is the prettiest of the spodumene crystals in delicate shades of pink and lilac. The heart wants what the heart wants and my heart beats for this magnificent beauty.
First discovered in the Pala district of San Diego California, today these beautiful crystals are mainly found in Afghanistan, Madagascar, Brazil and USA. Sister to the yellow/green mineral called hiddenite; spodumene crystals are long, prismatic and heavily striated parallel to the crystal axis.
Crystals are generally well formed and can be found in large sizes weighing over 1 kilogram. Their hardness is fairly good ranging from 6.5 – 7 on MOH’s scale although their attribute of perfect cleavage means they’re not necessarily ‘tough’ crystals. A known source of lithium, kunzite’s composition can be expressed as LiAl(SiO3)2 and owes its pink hues to trace elements of manganese.
“This precious gem is precious in every sense of the word. We like to advise our clients to pay special attention to these pink stones to ensure that they’re handled with care and protect them from exposure to great heat or bright sunlight to make certain that they don’t fade and lose their colour.”
Rare and beautiful, kunzite’s delicate nature is matched by its delicate colour… certainly pretty in pink!