Things You Should Know When Buying Jewelry

(This regards fine jewelry, not Forever 21-like stuff.)

Take it from someone who worked in a jeweler's/jewelry store, there is a lot of information that you, the consumer, don't but SHOULD know about buying fine jewelry.  I no longer work in the store I was at, so I figured it's safe for me to give you guys a heads up!  Being knowledgeable about metals, finishes, and stones will not only help to get you a better deal when shopping, but will also help store employees to know what you're looking for.

Silver:

1.  WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW: Silver cleaner is cheap (about $6 a small jar) and keeps your jewelry looking fabulous with minimal effort.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:  If your ring is antiqued (has a dark finish in the crevices) or has any type of porous stone, you can NOT use cleaner on it.  It will remove an antiqued finish, leaving a weird frostiness in its place, and can damage and ruin porous stones.  These include opals, pearls, marcasite, and MANY MORE.  If you are not sure if your ring is safe for polishing, then ask a jeweler.  (NOT a jewelry store worker--but an actual JEWELER.)  

2.  WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW:  Many silver rings are accented with marcasite, a slate-colored accent stone.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:  Sorry to trash-talk you, marcasite, but the truth must come out.  If a ring has marcasite accents, don't bother buying it.  Marcasite cannot be put into any type of cleaning solution, which means that your ring can only be cleaned via polishing cloth or actual polishing, and I can promise you that a polishing cloth is not going to do your ring justice, especially if it has little crevices that gather dirt.  Actual polishing is a process where the jeweler smooths out the surfaces of the ring using buffering tools, and it'll typically cost you $10-$15 dollars per ring to get this done.  Polishing can be used to clean rings with marcasite, but there's no guarantee that it won't knock the stones out--most marcasite stones are merely glued in.  So no matter how cute they look, they really aren't worth the trouble.

3.  WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW:  Silver, platinum, and white gold sometimes have similar colors and might be hard to tell apart. 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:  Almost all silver and gold jewelry has a stamp somewhere on the underside that has an identifying code on it.  Silver is typically stamped with .925 or "sterling;" gold will typically be stamped with its karat value (i.e. 10k, 14k, etc) but there's also a variety of numeric codes that can be found HERE; platinum will be stamped with 900, 950, or PLAT.  If your jewelry isn't stamped but you think it's a precious metal, you can take it to a jeweler who can both identify the metal and stamp it with it's proper code (for a small fee.)

Gold:

1. WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW:  Gold comes in different varying karats: 10k, 14k, 18k, 22k, and 24k.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:  Gold naturally is a very soft metal, so when it's made into jewelry, it must be alloyed with a stronger metal--typically silver, copper, zinc, and nickel.  10k is 41.6% gold (10 out of 24 parts,) 14k is 14 parts out of 24, 24k is pure gold.  10k gold (white or yellow) is the most sturdy and least soft of gold alloys when it comes to jewelry, so if you are hard on your jewelry--go with 10k.  14k is softer, so if you're looking for something that's pricier but only for special occasions, then 14k may be for you.  (NOTE:  This is not to say that 10k is able to withstand a lot of beating--it's still a gold alloy, and it can break if you mistreat it or it has undergone a long time of wear and tear.)  Another reason people may choose a higher karat of yellow gold is because the higher the amount of real gold in the alloy, the more yellow it is.  18k yellow gold, which is especially popular in Indian jewelry, is a very bright, rich yellow color, while 10k yellow gold is a softer golden shade.  
2.  WHAT YOU ALREADY (now) KNOW:  White gold and yellow gold are alloyed metals, and the karat of gold influences the color of the gold.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:  White gold is yellow gold alloyed especially with silver or palladium to give it a silvery color.  If the karat of the white gold is high (14k or above) it may retain a yellowish shade.  So how do we get it white?  Through a process called rhodium plating. Rhodium plating is where the piece undergoes a heating and chemical process that applies a thin layer of rhodium all over the metal, giving it a brighter silver appearance.  Rhodium plating is not permanent and does wear away after time, so depending on how much the piece is worn, it will need a rhodium plating every so often.  Luckily, a jeweler can rhodium plate white gold for a fairly low charge (I believe at my work, we charged $25.)
3.  WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW:  Gold prices are SOARING right now.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:  The gold market right now is incredibly unstable.  It changes every day, sometimes down to every hour, and many jewelers will keep an updating window of the prices up on their computers for figuring prices when someone brings gold in to sell.  When a piece of gold jewelry is brought in for repair, for example a gold ring needing to go up two sizes, the price may be very high because when a ring goes up a size, gold is added in.  What many people don't know, though, is if they want to bring in some old gold jewelry, they can "sell" that to the jeweler in exchange for a lower price of repair.  The jeweler sends the old gold out for scrap, and the customer gets the price of the gold getting added in knocked out of the repair price.  Cool, huh?  Something else that I came across a lot in my job is that people would come in with gold to sell and ask us how much money we will give them per ounce.  It is very unlikely that any jeweler will ever give you a specific price per ounce of jewelry for several reasons:  1) the prices on the market are ever changing, and so the jeweler is liable, hour to hour, to possibly give to a different price to match the market according; 2) you may have 2 pounds of jewelry, but some of that is gemstones, plastic stones, add-ons, different karats of gold, etc, so he has to evaluate the jewelry first to find out how much it is actually worth; and 3) you are not going to get full market value.  The jeweler has to keep in mind that he could give you $100 for that 2 pounds of gold jewelry, then the market could crash, and that 2 pounds of gold is suddenly only worth $20.  It's part of business to make wise decisions with regard to profits and margins of error. However, and I can't stress this enough:  an actual jeweler is the most likely to give you the highest amount of money for your gold.  Because he can possibly resell it or use the stones separately or simply scrap it, he's probably going to give you a fair value-- he has less of a margin of profit/loss to look out for.  A pawn shop can only resell jewelry; a jewelry store that doesn't have a jeweler can only resell or send it in... a jeweler has more options and typically isn't a part of a corporation, so he's typically going to be as honest as possible to keep his community reputation in good account.  (In the store that I worked at, we weren't shy to tell people to try to sell their jewelry online if they wanted more money for it; we would give them the most we could, and from there they might have better luck through another method.)
 

Xanga Accent Challenge!

The audio doesn't match up with the video, so just listen and don't watch!

:)

This is a response to OhItWontBeForever's original Xanga Accent challenge, which can be found here: http://ohitwontbeforever.xanga.com/747865570/xangrrrrrr-accent-challenge-vlog/

What I Learned Today :O

I was walking around the mall, shopping a little and getting job applications, and I saw this guy I know.  He's my friend's brother and I kinda had a half-crush on him but after checking out his facebook I saw that even though he's not in a relationship, he hangs out with a lot of girls.  So I decided I was not interested.Anywho, I saw him and I recognized his face and for a moment I thought, sweet!  I'll go say hi!Then the crowds parted and I noticed he was with some pretty blonde girl and he was CARRYING HER BABY.  In one of those strapped-on, front baby carriers.

I ducked into the nearest store veeeeery quickly.

I have discovered there is no bigger turn-off that seeing the guy you like carrying some other girl's baby.
The end. :)

Confused Face

I put on make up today.  Not just the normal mascara-eyeliner, but eyeshadow all blendy and smoky and pretty, and blush and highlight and pale lips.  I let my hair, which has not been straightened but blow-dried, just chill around my face.  I put in sparkly blue earrings.

And started taking pictures.  At first, what I saw in the mirror seemed normal.  And my pictures looked good.  I looked pretty, well, more like sexy.

But looking through the pictures, I got a sick feeling in my stomach soul.  That's not me.

I mean, of course it's me, but the person staring back, with smoky eyes and pale lips and long hair was making me sick.  Because that's not me anymore.

I used to wear eyeshadow all the time, especially when my hair was short and red.  I looked playful and happy, not sultry or sexual.  I struggled with that for a really long time.  I knew that cutting off my hair was a way of not only being me, but also swearing off guys for a while (longer.)  Because guys like long hair.

It was really hard for me to look in the mirror and feel pretty or sexy without my long hair.  And so I hid my face with make up, cuz it was fun and I liked it.

Now my hair has finally started to grow out again, and at the end of the summer I dyed it brown.  

Recently I was sick, and for four days I didn't wear a touch of make up, and my hair was always up in a bun.  I had no problem with this.  But I knew when I was well enough to go out again, I was going to start wearing make up again.  But I felt a little sad when I did.

I've always admired those wonderful, Godly girls who don't wear a bit of make up.  They have really cute boyfriends/husbands and wear loose clothes and have no insecurities.  But I don't think I could be one of them.

And God loves me whether I'm hiding behind make up or not.  I've changed a lot this year, and I hardly even flirt anymore.  Even when I think I'm flirting, I'm pretty much not.  Because I know these guys aren't who I'm going to marry.  That thought should be reassuring.  Instead, I feel alone.

And God has changed me to be this way.  I'm comfortable with it, most of the time.  I'd rather wear my hair up in a bun than wear it down.  I'd rather wear minimal make up and look like me.

But I didn't expect it to shake me so hard when I saw myself with make up.  Because that's not me.  And I felt... dirty.  I had taken my temple and covered it in gaudy paint, as if I was trying to please the outside world.  I had taken a church and painted it like a sex shop.  I felt disgusted with myself.

I didn't realize I had changed this much.

Now I don't know if I want to dye my hair red.  Now I don't know if I'll ever wear my bright eyeshadow again.  Looking sexy made me feel cheap. 

I think I'll stick to just looking like me from now on.

Praying for the World

Me and my dear friend Diana were talking today, and we got to the subject of how the earthquake in Haiti made her realize her desire to do missions work with children in countries like Haiti.  She was talking about how people say that all the sin in Haiti was what made the earthquake happen, and we both went off on a little tangent for a moment.

"Ugh, I hate it when people say that!!"  I said.  "Um, we're all sinners, it takes just one sin to send us to hell unless we're saved [by Christ,] and sin is everywhere, so that's not it."

Diana agreed.  "There are so many national disasters that have been happening, too... tidal waves, other earthquakes, floods..."

"And it's so sad that those have to happen for us to even remember to pray for those countries.  Maybe if we had been praying for change in these countries before, then these disasters wouldn't have had to happen in order to make us take notice!"

That was the moment, and it put a thought in both of our heads.  Why don't we take the time to pray for the rest of the world?  And why does it take such disasters for us to even remember a country?  

The Great Commission is Matthew 28:16-20. [NIV]  "¹⁶Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

While not everyone will be a missionary, we can certainly make an effort (and a difference) by just praying for the people of the WORLD!  The Bible also specifically asks us to pray for (everyone) and the leaders of countries as well, (1 Tim 2:1-4.)  Good leadership can always make a huge difference as well, and frankly, the leader of any country could always use extra prayer!  Leaders have tons of weight on their shoulders.

How much more peace would the world be at if we were to pray for them?  How many fewer disasters would there be?  How many more people would be saved?  

There are 196 countries in the world.  If you prayed for just one everyday for the next six and a half months, then you could have prayed for the entire world.  If you prayed for two everyday, then you would be done in three months and a week!  If the world is too daunting a task, you could always just pray for the different American states-- two a day and you'd be done in a month.  

God asks us to pray without ceasing; to pray for anyone and everyone, for our enemies AND those we love.

So let's step up.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_countries_are_there_in_the_world has a list of every country in the world as well as a few facts about each one, including their main religions.  http://www.preventionweb.net/english/countries/ gives statistics about the type of natural disasters which can occur in each country.  (Note:  There are a few countries which don't have statistics for natural disasters, but I've found good information just googling them.)  And finally, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/index.html lists the leaders of every country.  

Prayer is the easiest thing we can do.  We don't have to go anywhere or give money... just dedicate a few extra minutes of our time to the Lord.  We can make a difference, and the Lord will certainly appreciate the extra time we spend with Him.

Your first day's country will be Afghanistan.  Here's a little info about it:  (collected from the sites linked to above)

• Official name: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
• Capital: Kābul
• Total Area: 652,225 km²
• Approximate population: 27,145,000
• Location: Central Asia
• Languages: Dari, Pushtu, Uzbek, Turkmen
• Religions: Sunni Muslim, Shi'a Muslim
• Currency: Afghani
• Organizations: United Nations
• World's 41^st largest country/territory (area)
• National disasters?:  Prone to natural disasters like flooding, earthquakes, droughts, avalanches… Plus war.
• Current Leader:  (President) Harmid Karzai.
• Current Ambassador to the US:  Said Tayeb Jawad. 

Make a note card.  Make a note on the back of your hand.  Whatever you do, just get praying!