About My Jewelry
For Your Ears Only
About My JewelryFrom old to new to old again! Several years ago, a serious illness forced me to leave a 20 year career in the medical field. A beneficial consequence was the freedom to devote time to a long harbored dream of designing and creating jewelry. As my craft evolved, I used old jewelry to create new pieces. At a show a few years ago, a kind gentleman picked up a pair of earrings I had created from an "old" rhinestone necklace and new amethyst stones. He gently told me that he recognized the rhinestone flower as being part of a 1930's Eisenberg necklace in his wife's costume jewelry collection. Intact, it was probably worth $1000 dollars. I was selling the earrings for $20!
The next day I bought my first book on old jewelry and quickly became hooked on acquiring the beautiful pieces of yesteryears. Although I still create new jewelry, I am able to successfully use the skills I learned as a jewelry crafter to repair and restore older pieces that were destined for jewelry heaven.
About Vintage Jewelry
Unless specified 14 karat gold or sterling silver, all pieces are made of base metal with either gold/silver finish, plating, or gold filled. If gold or silver is stated in the description it simply refers to the color, it does not mean the jewelry is 3real gold2 or sterling silver.
All jewelry is sold in working order... pin, necklace and bracelet catches should open and close properly. In some older pieces, either the pin no longer springs, or in some pieces, never had the spring we are used to in newly made pins. This does not affect the wearability of a piece.
Earrings will have working clips, posts or screws and have been cleaned. Unless noted, jewelry pieces will not be missing stones, including rhinestones and colored glass. Prior to shipping, I check stones for looseness, and reglue or reset any loose stones. Although unlikely, should your item arrive with a missing stone it is likely to have fallen out in transit. Please check the shipping container and paper carefully for the stone and place it in a zip lock bag. You can contact me at that point and we will work out a solution.
Care of Vintage Jewelry - The cardinal rule of care for all rhinestone pieces is to avoid water! If moisture seeps under the stone, it gets caught. The stone will discolor and the metal will oxidize. The best way to clean a stone is to use a cotton swab slightly dampened with mild soapy water or jewelry cleaner. Clean the top surface of each rhinestone ONE AT A TIME, taking care not to get the solution under the stone. Quickly dry each stone with the other side of the cotton swab. Polish metal very gingerly or clean with mild soap and water on a cotton swab. Aggressive cleaning will easily ruin your item rather than improve it. Cleaning vintage jewelry is a tedious process. It takes me longer to clean and restore a piece of jewelry than it does to create a new one!
As pieces age, glue hardens and becomes brittle. Wear your pieces with care. Don't leave them on clothing, or store them in a pile with other jewelry items. Rhinestones scratch easily, and the finish will wear with excessive handling. If during normal wear, you lose a rhinestone, please don't use super glue or epoxy to replace them. Many local jewelers carry old rhinestones and will reglue them for a very small fee. You may also try local pawnbrokers! They often have loose rhinestones. If you decide to reglue the stones yourself, I have found crystal watch glue non yellowing. Check with me for sources of this glue by mail.
About For Your Ears Only Creations
My hand-crafted items are made with the utmost of care. Today, most costume jewelry is made with a life span of 6 months to 1 year of sporadic use. I make most jewelry to last for the lifetime of the owner. I obtain findings and wire by the quality of the item, not price. Many of my earrings are continued in stock. Should you lose one, replacement can be easily arranged for 1/2 the original price! In the unlucky event beads need to be restrung or if a finding breaks in the course of normal usage, I will fix the item free of charge for up to one year. After one year I will not charge a fee for labor costs, but will charge you cost for shipping.
Beads and semiprecious stones are hand chosen. Please note that some stones such as rose quartz and aventurine are hand dyed to enhance coloring. This is standard industry practice, and does not affect the quality or beauty of the stone. Amethyst varies greatly in quality by grade. Some stones will not be as dark in color, but are still very beautiful. Some large (10mm or greater) drops may have fault lines visible to the eye, but do not detract from the color or cut of the stone. You will be told the grade and condition of the stone prior to purchase.
Brass "collage pins" are coated with an acrylic glaze to prevent oxidation. These items should not be polished or cleaned with anything except a damp cloth to prevent removal of the coating.
Sterling Silver will tarnish. If you are wearing a sterling silver item against a white or light colored piece of clothing, make sure your jewelry piece is without tarnish before wearing it (including pins). I recommend you clean silver with a soft cloth made just for this, available in most jewelry stores. Occasionally, I use stainless steel for the wire piece inside the bead instead of sterling silver. This prevents tarnishing inside the stone, where it cannot be cleaned and may discolor over time.
Earring backs - If you purchase earrings made of open back French wires, I will enclose several rubber like "backs". Wearing these backs on French wires will prevent the loss of your earring during normal activities of living (putting on and off a coat, getting caught in your hair). The first time you put them on the earring wire, do so with the earring off your ear. Twist the rubber stopper onto the wire. Once the stopper has been broken in, they are easy to use.
Metal allergies... Many people tell me they are allergic to anything except 14 karat gold. 99% of all metal, including 14 karat gold, contains nickel. Most people are allergic to the nickel in metal. All of the earrings I make with posts are made using nickel free posts unless otherwise noted. If you are allergic to metal, try a pair of these, but make sure you use the nickel free back. I have been unable to find a quality vendor for nickel free wire or French ear wire findings. Should you know of one, please let me know!
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Modified 9/8/97, G. W. Foggin