Written by Carolyn Doyle for customers of
The Dorado Company
and other visitors to the azgem.com website who subscribe.

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Usable Gems... and a little opinion.

Making Gemstone Stud Earrings

Making gemstone stud earrings is the subject of this month's newsletter. Specifically, I'll walk you through how we at The Dorado Company custom  manufacture our popular gemstone stud earrings.

I say we because I just could not do it alone. I rely on reputable vendors to supply the components necessary to produce quality jewelry.

These gemstone stud earrings have been sold online to individual customers, to our jewelry dealers, and direct to jewelry shops for several years now.

They are popular for several reasons, including:

	Quality
	Simplicity
	Selection
	Price

Our gemstone stud earrings are priced low... but they're not cheap!

As we walk through the manufacturing process, you'll see how each of these points plays a key role in the success of our gemstone stud earrings.

The process begins with selecting the right vendors. I don't have employees, it's just my husband and I here.

So when I need more earrings, I look to vendors who supply quality components and services at a fair price. 

The gemstones come first, naturally. Our custom gem cutters just aren't able to provide us with the number of stones we need for our gemstone earrings, so I look to volume cutting houses.

Our custom cutters facet gems a few pieces at a time, working with the gem rough we provide to them. The finished gems they cut are individuals.

When manufacturing gemstone earrings we require consistent color and quality gems... in volume. We need hundreds of each gem.

We meet a few of these volume gem cutters at gem trade shows. Here we can judge the consistency of their gems' color, the clarity of the gems, and the quality of the cutting.

Machine cut stones with superior final polish are what we require. Machine cut gems all have the same dimensions, and this attribute becomes critical when the gems are mounted.

Jewelry findings are the next item of interest. What are jewelry findings? Those are the metal components of a piece of jewelry. In this case it's a basket head with four prongs, on a post (and a friction back fastener)... all in 14 kt. yellow gold.

There are several quality findings manufacturers across the USA. I happen to use the largest one. I might be able to beat their price, but not their quality and service.

Most findings houses offer price breaks when you buy in quantity. So to help keep the price down we buy in quantity... large quantity.

The price of wholesale gold jewelry findings rises and falls with the international gold market. The price has been well over $400 per ounce for many months now.

Putting the earrings together comes next. We use a couple of local craftsmen to mount the gems in the findings. We keep the schedule reasonable by asking for completion of a few dozen at a time. They use it as fill-in work and keep the price reasonable.

After that I do a final quality inspection , hand matching, and packaging for delivery or shipment when you order.

There are two themes that run through the process you just read... quality and price.

Quality is assured by selecting the right vendors, insisting on their best, inspecting each item in each shipment, and rejecting items that fall below the standard.

Price is achieved by buying in quantity. It's the only acceptable way to keep the final price low. Jewelry shops buy our gemstone stud earrings because... we can sell them a few pair for less than their cost to make them in their shop.

We keep it simple by buying six colors of gemstone:

	Purple amethyst (a gem quartz)
	Red garnet
	Orange-yellow citrine (another gem quartz)
	Gold-green Oro Verde (another gem quartz)
	Paraiba topaz (intense blue-green color)
	Blue topaz

These six gem colors provide a selection of fashion colors. You can also get colorless, diamond cut topaz upon request. We have the stones and findings in stock.

Another way we keep it simple is by buying one style and size of finding.

Now all we have to do is keep selling them, so we can continue to buy in quantity, so we can continue to sell for less than other people's cost.

Use this gemstone stud earrings link to visit my site and buy a few.

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Industry News...

Las Vegas Gem and Jewelry Shows

The gem and jewelry shows are open in Las Vegas and the weather is great.

The shows should attract lots of buyers this year. The economy is strong and the luxury goods market is too.

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Jewelry Dealers

Father's Day and June wedding anniversaries are all but here. These occasions present great sales opportunities, as do birthdays and other special days..

Check your inventory! Is it time to make up a few new pieces? We have the gem stones you need and you already have the resource information to buy the mountings and have the stones set.

Now is the time! Talk it up, and make those sales.

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Jewelry Dealers Program

Do you enjoy jewelry and gems?

Do you enjoy talking with friends and co-workers?

Take a look at our great Jewelry Dealers Program.

Carolyn Doyle

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