JewelryReference.com provides you with various categories of websites linking to jewelry such as jewelry designers, handcrafted, diamond, wholesale, gemstone, manufacturers, necklaces, beads.

Archive for June, 2010

Girls’ Fashion Jewelry

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

Girl’s fashion jewelry encompasses a wide range of jewelry items such as bracelets, earrings, necklaces, hair bands, nose rings, anklets etc. It basically describes any type of jewelry that is used to accessorize your clothes. Girls fashion jewelry has evolved to become a major business today. There are many different sources from which you can purchase these types of jewelry. The amount of design and styles available today is truly mind boggling. Local jewelers, online stores, flea markets, garage sales are some of places where you will be able to find girls fashion jewelry.Places such as flea markets and second hand jewelry stores are also a good place to buy vintage fashion jewelry for any age at a good price. Another great source for fashion jewelry is online auction sites. There are many different types of girl’s fashion jewelry to choose from, some of which we will discuss here.

Necklaces

Necklaces are perhaps one of the oldest and most widely used fashion accessories. The reason for this is because necklaces are the most
easily seen jewelry piece and they come in a wide variety of styles, makes, colors, and lengths and so on. It is safe to say that no other jewelry item whether its girl’s fashion jewelry or any other type of jewelry, necklaces just can’t be beat when it comes to style. You will also be able to attach various other accessories to the necklace such as charms, pendants and so on. Getting a necklace that has a birth stone attached to the pendant is a very popular girl’s fashion jewelry item.

Rings

Rings along with necklaces are one of the most common items in girl’s fashion jewelry. Nowadays larger rings have come back into fashion.
Rings that will have ornate styling and various colors are also very popular with girls of all ages. Rings are also a great accessory for birthstones. The great thing about rings is that they can be found in wide range of prices, which allows the buyer to decide many different styles.

Bracelets

Bracelets and bangles are very popular items of girl’s fashion jewelry. Like rings and necklaces, bracelets and bangles can be made from a wide variety of materials, perhaps even more so compared to other jewelry. Materials such as gold, silver, copper, stainless steel and even crystal are used for making bracelets. Another popular form of bracelets is stringing together different color beads. There will also be choices such as buying a set of bracelets or bangles that will suit your personality.

Earrings

Earrings come in a wide array of styles and prices. There are diamond earrings that can cost thousands of dollars or a metal stud that only costs a few dollars. They will be available for people who have pierced earrings or if you need clip on rings then that will also be available. Some of the more popular earrings in the market today are chandelier earrings and hoop style. You will be able to find many different shapes such as, hearts, various geometric designs such as teardrop and so on.

Cheap Hip Hop Jewelry

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

Cheap hip hop jewelry may seem like a contradiction in terms but it should come as no surprise that in their zeal to follow the hip hop style, regular people with down home budgets spend big money on cheap hip hop jewelry. Although technically not real hip hop jewelry the pieces are still hip hop jewelry that is wearable and made to look and feel quite similar to the real thing. The choice of metal is the first step in creating hip hop jewelry on the cheap.

The most popular inexpensive metal used for cheap hip hop jewelry is sterling silver with a rhodium plate of a couple of microns to give it the pure white look. White gold goes through a similar process to turn it from a dingy yellow to gleaming white so rhodium plated silver looks just like white gold all things considered. The only thing that silver lacks is the heft of it’s precious brethren karat white gold and platinum. Sterling silver may also be plated with yellow gold to make it look like gold. This metal is called vermeil and even though the gold layer is not more than 5 microns thick it still has that lustrous buttery yellow look like real yellow gold. Other metals used to make cheap hip hop jewelry include stainless steel, pewter, and other base metals. These alloys take well to polishing and buffing with a finished look very close to white and yellow gold. The other element that gives cheap iced out jewelry its visceral look is in the choice of stones used to mimic the “blinginess” of diamonds.

The most common material used to give the look of diamond is cubic zirconia. Cubic zirconia has been in commercial production since 1976. Because of its low cost, durability, and likeness to diamond it remains the crystal of choice when jewelry calls for a diamond look without the diamond price. It is also much harder than most minerals. Current commercial production yields crystals that are pure white in color and virtually flawless making cubic zirconia a very good substitute for diamonds in cheap iced out jewelry. At commercial wholesale costs ranging from a dollar to several dollars a carat it is simply a matter of choosing the quality needed as there are varying qualities available depending on the manufacturer. The way these stones are set also matters to the overall look of the piece.

Of course it would not make sense to pay lots of money to master diamond pave setters to set a dollar a carat cubic zirconias into silver or some other base metal. Also, this type of setting work does not involve meticulous reworking of the stone seats and the manual bending of each prong over a stone. More often glue is used to hold the stones in and prongs are given a cursory once over just to get them in position. Painstaking labor cannot be used to fashion a piece that will sell for from twenty dollars to a couple hundred dollars.

So this is how hip hop jewelry can be made for your everyman at a selling price that is easy on the budget but with a look that can be quite close to the real thing. By using materials such as sterling silver and cubic zirconia in lieu of precious metals and stones, low priced blinged out jewelry becomes not only possible but can be quite fabulous looking in its own right. The use of inexpensive Asian labor and inexpensive fabrication, setting, and finishing processes allow jewelers to sell amazing looking hip hop jewelry at a bargain price. Cheap hip hop jewelry allows for everyone to have the rap star look of triumph without the deep sacrifice of thousands of dollars.