Hand Trades

Items
Under $25 or Less

Budget shoppers love to search
through the “Shop By Budget” section at Hand Trades.  Knowing you’re always
a savy saver, these beautiful pieces certainly don’t look like low cost items
but the certainly are.  In fact, there’s over 176 designs in the $18 – $25
range alone.  While these items go fast, they’re priced like this each and
every day for you.
View: Earrings | Pendants | Rings

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Jewelry
Wholesale 
Hand Trades provides fresh
ideas, a HUGE assortment of designs (over 6,000) and  the #1 prices on
wholesale sterling silver jewelry.  Our low overhead way of doing business
with partnering artisans for large batches of jewelry can make you a lot of
money right now.
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> Click Here for Wholesale Pricing <

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Red,
Rich Garnet Jewelry for January
Aren’t garnets those
wonderful deep-red gemstones you often find in antique jewelry stores? Well yes,
to a certain extent, a deep, warm red indeed being the color most frequently
found in garnets. Spectacular finds, especially in Africa, have enhanced the
traditional image of the garnet with a surprising number of hues – even if red
does continue to be its principal color.  A January gem. 

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Properly storing jewelry does not need to be expensive. Some jewelry comes in boxes or pouches which you can continue to use. You can find other reasonable solutions with a little creativity.

• Since the idea is to isolate each jewel from one another, an easy and effective solution is to wrap each piece in layers of acid-free tissue paper, untreated cotton, or raw silk. If you sew, you might try creating individual, acid-free bags for this purpose. If sewing isn’t one of your talents, then several ebay sellers regularly list pre-made drawstring bags which will work.

• Brooches, earrings and stickpins can be stuck onto a board or cushion. The board or cushion may then be placed into a soft, padded bag for storage.

• Neckchains may be stored on wooden or fabric-covered hooks, or draped across cushions and stored covered in a drawer. You can also use the long box or folder in which the neckchain or necklace was delivered by the jeweler. Bracelets and knotted (on string or silk thread) necklaces are best stored laid flat.

The disadvantage of storing in wraps or bags, is that the jewels are hidden from view. This isn’t always a bad thing (some stones and materials can fade with prolonged exposure to light). But as your collection grows larger, it is more convenient to locate items by sight. Some people also take great pleasure in arranging their gems, and even a small, neatly arranged, jewelry collection can be an impressive sight.

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Handcrafted Sterling Silver Rings – Special Promotion


Save an additional
15% on all gemstone rings. At
check out, simply enter coupon code  RRNG15.
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BONUS: Save an additional  25% on all rings with a purchase of $75 or
more.At check out, simply enter coupon code RRNG25.
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All of them are handcrafted with .925 sterling silver.
Available for a limited time and while supplies last. Not available with any
other offer. Your cost just $15-$24 for a retail savings of $45 and
more! 1,200 designs available for your selection.
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Shop by Size:
5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
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Shop by Popular
Gemstones:
royal purple amethyst, greeny turquoise, faceted quartz, color changing mystic topaz, deep rich garnet
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Article: How to Determine Your Ring Size
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We have been selling a lot of different types of pearl jewelries, and many people have asked us “Are Freshwater Pearls worth buying? ” Most of the times I answered “yes”, and here is why:

Freshwater pearls have more nacre than their saltwater cousins. When the freshwater pearl is drilled, the mantle tissue used to nucleate the pearl is either dissolved or drilled out — you are left with a solid pearl that will last a lifetime! This is unlike the various saltwater pearl varieties that still contain the nucleus in the finished product. Also, for the same grade/quality of pearls, freshwater pearls are a lot more affordable than saltwater pearls.

Why, then, is the freshwater pearl so much inexpensive than all the others, one might ask. There are a couple of reasons, but none of which affects the quality.

One of the main differences between freshwater and their saltwater cousins are their bearer. While Akoya, Tahitian, and South Sea pearls are cultured in Saltwater oysters (e.g. Akoya /pinctada Fucata, Black-Lipped Oyster/pinctada Margaritifera, Golden-lipped Oyster/pinctada Maxima etc.), freshwater pearls are most commonly cultured in freshwater mollusks such as the Triangle Shell. Most of the oysters can only produce one or two pearls at a time, while it’s possible to harvest up to 50 pearls in a single freshwater mollusk. Therefore freshwater pearls are more cost efficient to grow.

Another reason freshwater pearls have a lower price is their abundance. 15 years ago freshwater pearls were nearly exclusive to lake Biwa (lies very near Kyoto) in Japan. But a decade ago nearly all pearl farms were shuttered due to pollution. Japan has never recovered its freshwater pearl industry until recently, with lake Kasumigaura boasting a small harvest of quality freshwater pearls. Luckily lake Kasumigaura has been protected because of environmentalism and the fact that they need to protect the freshwater eel habitat that is native to this lake and important for the economy.However Kasumigaura freshwater pearls usually cost a fortune. Most of the affordable freshwater cultured pearls now originate in the freshwater lakes and rivers of China. Since pearl-bearing mussels are very sensitive to pollution, we usually buy high quality Chinese freshwater pearls from remote lakes of China, where the labor is abundant and low cost.

That being said, freshwater pearls are definitely worth buying, unless you really want to get a strand of natural black color pearls, then you might want to consider Tahitian pearls. Although you can get many beautiful black freshwater pearls but they are dyed, the only natural black pearls are Tahitian pearls. Unfortunately, contrary to their brand-world advertising, Tahitians are indeed often color treated but not necessarily dyed although some diffusion dying does occur.

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Lapis Lazuli comes from the Latin word lapis, meaning, ‘stone’, and the Arabic word ‘azul’, which means blue. Because of it’s incredible color Lapis Lazuli is has been used and admired by royalties of different countries for thousands of years. It measures about 5.5 in hardness and 2.7 in density. The blue comes from Lazurite, Hauynite, Sodalite, and Noselite. Other constituents are Pyrite, Diopside, Feldspar, and Mica. The major source for highest quality of Lapis in the past and now is Afghanistan, where the ancient mines are located in the rugged mountains of the Hindu Kush. The Afghanistan Lapis has been likened to the night sky bedecked with stars. Lapis Lazuli from Badakhshan, Afghanistan was used in the palace of king Darius 1 (522-486 B.C.) during the Achamenid period. Lapis Lazuli was also a material favored by the pharaohs of Egypt, the leaders of Babylon, and the rulers and nobility of Greece and Rome. The ancient Egyptians regarded the stone as a symbol of heavens and it was thought to bestow wisdom and promote truth. Lapis was also believed to promote the connection between the physical plane and the celestial kingdom. It represents the forces of initiation into wisdom and the mystical realm. Lapis is also believed to assist one in the organization of life and day-to-day activities.

LAPIS LAZULI JEWELRY FROM AFGHANISTAN
As Lapis Lazuli is one of the most common stones found in Afghanistan it has been used for making jewelry and incorporated in various Afghan architectures. Traditional Afghan jewelry and ornaments were made using various precious metals such as Silver and Gold but the nomads of Afghanistan have also used a non-precious metal called ‘Gillit’ by the Afghans for making inexpensive jewelry for personal use and for trade. Gillit is a coin based alloy metal, which is made up of several different kinds of metals. Jewelry made with Gillit metal is easy to clean and care for. If you prefer your ethnic jewelry to be shiny rather than ‘antique looking’, you can simply wash it using a soft brush and mild soap. Cleaning the jewelry with rubbing alcohol adds shine to the surface but you have to make sure to avoid the surface of the stones as this may cause the polish to be damaged. After washing dry the jewelry thoroughly using a towel then polish it with a silver cleaning cloth and the jewelry will become bright and shiny.

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SOFT toothbrush, an artists paint brush, a cotton-flannel cloth, & a polishing cloth. I have also started using Q-Tips in place ofthe artist’s paintbrush–they work quite well on delicate items!

•Cover the drain, in case you drop your jewelry.
•Run luke-warm water at a gentle stream.
•Rub soap on the stone with your fingers or soft artist paint brush, I do NOT recommend brushing gems unless you know they are hard and can tolerate brushing…many stones can NOT be brushed.
• Use the artists paintbrush (or Qtip) on the entire piece of jewelry if it has fine gauge wire or has delicate designs or stones—to avoid bending, scratching, or damaging the wire or gemstone.
•Use the toothbrush or paintbrush to brush soap on GENTLY on the wire, taking care not to catch the bristles between the wires. Moving the brush perpendicular to the direction of the wires helps avoid snagging bristles between them.
•Rinse thoroughly with water and pat dry with paper towel or a non-snagging cotton cloth.
•Once the jewelry has thoroughly dried, you can buff it gently with a polishing cloth.
•HINT- If tarnish is stubborn, I brush the soap on, let it sit for 5-10 minutes and rinse with water.
•HINT- I DO NOT RECOMMEND TOOTHPASTE! IT IS ABRASIVE AND DIFFICULT TO CLEAN OFF WIRE WRAPPED JEWELRY!

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There are several factors typically used to grade the stone, with color and patterning being the primary ones:
1.Color – the deeper, “volcanic” blues are considered to be “best”.
2.Patterning – the richer, more interesting, the better.
3.Luster – is it glossy?
4.Luminosity – does it seem to “glow” or have an inner light?
5.Clarity – is it free of obvious defects? (Pits, cracks, carbon deposits, etc.)
6.Translucence – can light pass thru a portion of the stone?
7.Chatoyance – a luminous band with a silky luster (like that typical of cat’s-eye).
There is no one particular factor that determines the grade; it is a combination of factors. The depth of color alone may not “make or break” the grade; the pattern and luminosity may bring up the grade of a stone whose color may not be as deep as others.

With larimar, perhaps more than with any other gemstone, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some prefer the very light blues of larimar, others prefer larimar stones that tend towards the green, and while others prefer larimar with mineral spots, some prefer larimar with no patterning at all.

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Green amethyst jewelry, whether in the form of necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets or rings has been a favourite of women for centuries. Amethysts are one of the most fascinating gemstones. The word amethyst actually comes from the Greek word for “not drunk” as it was believed that the stone could protect its holder from drunkenness as well as other ailments brought about by intoxication. Leonardo Da Vinci once wrote that the purple gemstone was able to dissipate evil thoughts and quicken the intelligence.

Amethyst is associated with the month of February and is also the birthstone for the zodiac sign of Aquarius. This makes amethyst earrings, necklaces, pendants or rings the perfect gift for anybody born in this month and under this sign. Amethyst jewellery is also the appropriate for fourth and sixth year anniversary gifts. Given its mesmerizing purple hue, amethyst earrings and necklaces are perfect for dark-coloured hair. Any type of amethyst jewellery would also match perfectly with a purple dress or gown.

Part of the appeal of the purple stone is because of the wide variety of amethyst. In fact, amethyst is not only found in Brazil but also found in Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and across South America, as well as in Zambia, Namibia and other African countries. South American amethyst tends to be larger in size and lighter in colour than African amethyst stones. Australia also boasts very dark amethysts that tend to be much smaller in size, but this is not always the case.

Amethysts will sometimes have some kind of heat treatment to enhance their colour. However, extreme heat or light can turn amethyst stones into yellow so it is important to store them away from any strong heat or light sources.

Amethyst is classified as quartz and is the most highly valued variety of quartz available. It has always been a highly prized gemstone and figured prominently in the crowns, sceptres and various artefacts of royalty throughout history. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks thought it possessed everlasting properties and could even extend the reign of a ruler. It was also a favourite of the legendary Russian Empress Catherine the Great and figures as a centrepiece of the British Crown Jewels. Therefore, because purple is the colour of royalty, wearing an amethyst ring or broche shows that you are special.

Today, because of its plentiful supply, amethysts have become an affordable gemstone that is available in a wide variety of colours and sizes as rings, necklaces, pendants, earrings, brooches and other accessories. The relative abundance of the stone however hasn’t made it any less attractive to gift shoppers as amethyst remains one of the most popular gemstones today with an ever increasing demand for all types of amethyst jewellery.

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