July 2011 ~ Volume 16 Issue 1
End of Centenary Celebrations
Our centenary celebrations have sadly come
to a conclusion – it’s time to reflect on a year
of fun and activity. It began with a dinner
at Melbourne Town Hall, enjoyed by staff
and suppliers, both past and present. Lots
of renewed acquaintances and stories from
the past.
AbrechtBird
‘The reaction was extremely positive...’
With Compliments
Our clients were given the opportunity to
attend exhibitions of diamonds, coloured
stones and pearls over a series of evenings
spread through the year. The reaction was
extremely positive – due no doubt to the
friendly atmosphere, excellent catering
(thanks to Julie-Anne Delanty) and highly
informative talks delivered by experts in their
field – George Palos (coloured stones), Katrina
Marchioni (diamonds) and Luke Snell (pearls)
– it was easy to be swept along by their obvious
enthusiasm for their chosen fields.
Greg John
Thanks to our staff and families for assisting,
and in particular, to Marg and Greg whose
inspiration and planning made each
celebration a success.
The parties might be over for now but we
had such a good time that more events are
being talked about already, so keep a look
out for opportunities in the future to join us.
A reminder, if you are not currently registered
as a ‘Family Card member’, please request an
application form to ensure you don’t miss out.
Insurance
Policy politics
p2
New Releases
Stunning Rings
p2
Gemmology Corner
Red Gemstones
p3
Wisdom from the Bench
Repairs & Restoration
p4
Unique Ideas
For that little
something extra
p5
Meet Our Staff
Eleanor joins
the family
p6
Insurance
Although I love most aspects of our industry, the issue that
concerns me the most is the murky business of insurance
replacement and its impact on jewellery valuations (see
previous article December 2006 issue).
The practice of claimants being pressured by insurance
companies to replace through their nominated jewellers
is particularly irksome. The implication is that all jewellers
are the same. Rather than allowing the customer the right
to make a fundamental choice (for instance, to return to
the jeweller who created a unique piece and has earned
trust and respect), pressure is applied to deal with
replacement jewellers who offer the largest discount to the
insurance company.
This leads to my second point – the distortions created by
the practice of valuing ‘for insurance replacement purposes’
– the most common basis when a valuation is required. As
registered valuers we are bound to apply predetermined
retail margins (supplied by the Valuer’s Association) to raw
cost figures in order to establish a retail replacement value.
This ensures consistency between valuers, but it is hardly
a reflection of the marketplace, and worse still, it leaves
room for unrealistic discounting. In truth, the real value
of an article is the price agreed upon between buyer and
seller. The notion of issuing a valuation for an inflated figure
seems absurd! It also has the clear disadvantage to the
insured of increasing the premium paid. A far better
approach would be to issue a ‘Certificate of Value’ that
states the actual price paid.
These frustrations have been addressed front-on by a new
policy underwritten by Chubb Insurance. The product they
offer is ‘stand-alone insurance’ – there is no requirement to
have an existing house and contents policy. In the event of
a loss the client will be encouraged to return to the original
provider of the jewellery ensuring the likelihood of ‘as
original’ re-instatement and customer satisfaction.
The policy covers damage, accidental loss and theft with
world-wide cover and the premium is based on the actual
price paid. The value covered is recalculated annually (at no
charge) based on factors relevant to the jewellery industry
(gold and gemstone prices and exchange rates in particular).
In the next issue of the newsletter we will explore this topic
a little further. However, for more information, please visit
www.qreport.com.au.
Peter Bird
FGAA
New Releases
2
1
2
Pictured below, left to right:
1. 18ct Yellow and white gold solitaire diamond ring (mount only) $1,450
2. 18ct White gold black and white diamond ring POA
3. 18ct Yellow and white gold Ceylon sapphire and diamond ring $5,810
4. 9ct White gold gent’s diamond ring $710
5. 18ct Yellow and white gold multi-diamond ring POA
3
4
5
Gemmology Corner
Red Gemstones
Gems are minerals that are valued for their colour, lustre
and rarity. Gemstones come in a wide range of quality and
include precious, semi-precious and synthetic forms. Red
gemstones vary in shade and intensity of colour including
crimson, burgundy, cherry, magenta, wine, maroon and
scarlet. Red is the colour of passion, love, strength, health,
energy and protection. It is believed that wearing red will
enhance the wearer with the gemstones’ properties of
strength, energy, love and power.
Spinel
Spinel, a very rare gemstone, resembles ruby and carries the
ruby name as ruby spinel and balas ruby. For many centuries
spinel was mistaken for ruby. The most famous spinel is
the Black Prince’s ruby, a 170-carat red spinel mistaken
for a ruby, once worn by Henry V and now adorning the
Imperial State Crown of England in the British Crown Jewels.
Synthetic spinel is commonly used for birthstone rings.
Left to right: Star Ruby, Red Diamond, Red Beryl, Mandarin Garnet, Tourmaline,
Spinel, Ruby, Sponge Coral, Red Jasper, Garnet, Eudialyte
Ruby
Ruby is the most widely recognised and valuable of the red
gemstones. It is the red variety of the mineral corundum and
is identical to sapphire in all properties other than colour.
True rubies include Burmese ruby (pigeon’s blood colour),
star ruby and cat’s eye ruby. The label ‘ruby’ has been added
to many gems that are not truly rubies, including garnets and
other red gemstones.
Rubellite and tourmalines
Tourmalines come in a variety of shades and colours.
Red tourmalines range from shocking pink to blood red
to seductive violet. The tourmalines’ colour and intensity
vary depending upon the light and angle of the light hitting
the stone. Rubellite comes from the family of tourmalines,
but unlike some other tourmalines, a true rubellite never
changes colour.
Garnet
Garnet is not a single mineral but a classification of a
group of minerals with similar properties. Garnet is most
often associated with a deep red colour, but garnets may
also come in a variety of colours. The six mineral types
identified as garnet gemstones are pyrope (popularly known
as rhodolite), almandine, spessartine, grossular, andradite
and uvarovite. The dark red colour of pyrope is the most
famous form of garnet. The most common and widely used
garnet is almandine; it is also known as almandite, oriental
garnet, alabandine ruby, and precious garnet. Spessartine,
grossular, andradite and uvarovite are less common garnets
and are rarely used gems.
love, strength, health,
‘Red is the colour of passion,
energy and protection’.
In our June 2002 Newsletter we wrote an article on ‘red
gemstones’ and followed in December that year focusing on
rubies. Back copies are available upon request.
Leon Corn
FGAA Dip DT
We purchased this antique-cut rhodalite garnet because
we loved it! Now it’s time to design and make! Look out
for a progress report in our next newsletter.
Antique-cut rhodolite garnet (2.56ct)
3
Wisdom from the Bench
‘There should be no compromise made on the standards of
manufacture to bring it back to its original glory’.
Quite often we are requested to repair a piece of jewellery
that to all intents and purposes has quite literally ‘worn out’.
The subject of restoration as opposed to ‘patching up’ has
always been one of great importance to me.
When ‘taken in’ this
ring was so badly worn
that the centre stone
had fallen out and most
of the detail work had
been eroded away.
Naturally there is great sentimental value attached to
jewellery, and when faced with substantial repairs, people
quite justifiably wish to retain as much as possible of the
original piece. Generally, repairs are seen as the only way
to make an item of jewellery wearable again. However,
‘patching up’ an item can be more detrimental to its value
and survival than conceding that the piece requires a
substantial rebuild. There should be no compromise made
on the standards of manufacture to bring it back to its
original glory.
If a setting is worn out then making a new setting using the
original techniques and designs will not only ensure that the
gems are secure but will also provide many more years of
wearing pleasure.
The same goes for the
band. Remember that if
the metal has worn away,
the only way to restore
it properly is to replace
it with new metal. In
most cases the colours
and character of older
metals can be faithfully
reproduced using new
and often superior gold alloys, and basically the same
techniques used to make the piece will be employed in
restoring it. Because what we are doing is hand crafting
in the original style, the design can also be reproduced
faithfully.
In some cases only sections of a
worn band need to be replaced,
but in this instance a hinge was
to be fitted and a strong, onepiece band was recommended
for maximum strength. The
whole process is indeed a remake of the original using as much
of the original as possible without
compromising the quality and value, both
sentimentally as well as financially.
Our advice here was to remove the
shoulder sections (still in reasonable
condition) and fit them to a new band
and setting. Even though the sapphires
in the shoulders were worn and
chipped, they were the original stones
and therefore sentimental. Using
modern techniques (refer ‘Baldric’
in previous newsletters) these stones
could still be made secure.
The happy couple
Greg John
FGAA Dip DT
Before and after: The
original badly worn
piece (left) and the
beautifully restored
final product (right)
Unique Ideas
1
2
4
3
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Pictured above, left to right:
1. 18ct White gold diamond ring POA 2. 9ct White gold blue topaz and diamond drop earrings $1,155
3. 18ct White gold three stone ring POA 4. 18ct White gold diamond ring $1,340
5. 18ct White gold South Sea pearl and diamond drop earrings $1,955 6. 18ct White and yellow gold gent’s ring $1,765
7. 18ct White gold gent’s ring $1,205 8. 18ct Yellow and white gold solitaire diamond ring POA
9. 14ct White gold Tahitian pearl and diamond stud earrings $2,690 10. 18ct Yellow gold diamond ring POA
11. 18ct White gold South Sea pearl and diamond earrings $2,495 12. 9ct White gold gent’s ring $415
13. South Sea graduated pearl strand (15.9–12.0mm pearls) $18,600
5
Meet the Staff - Eleanor
Having a dressmaker for a mother and an embroiderer for
a grandmother I grew up with a lot of artistic inspiration
around me and I was always encouraged by both of them
from a young age to take part in art and crafts. Some of
my fondest childhood memories were playing in Mum’s
old button box, playing with the off-cuts of fabric from the
garment she was making and watching Granny sew and
bead her newest embroidered creation.
My love and appreciation for jewellery has only grown since
leaving NMIT and I find it so satisfying starting with a sketch
on a piece of paper and a plate or profile of raw precious
metal and moulding and creating the metal into something
beautiful that someone will feel pride in wearing. There is
nothing better than seeing the pleasure and appreciation
of your work in the client’s eyes when they see their new
jewellery piece for the first time.
Through early high school I used my spare time making
beaded jewellery which I would sell at craft markets on the
weekends. I have always had an interest in making jewellery
since then and in Year 10, I took part in work experience
with a Melbourne contemporary jeweller. This insight into
the jewellery trade set me on the path of wanting a career
as a jeweller. In VCE, I elected to do as many art subjects as
possible and completed my study with Art, Studio Art and
Visual Communications.
Having a family background in the jewellery industry going
back through to my great grandfather owning the large
manufacturing jewellery company ‘The House of Hawke’
and the ties between my family and the Abrecht family,
I feel proud to be a part of this trade and welcomed
into the Abrecht Bird company and family. I’ve enjoyed
meeting our clients and suppliers over the last 6 months
and look forward to helping you at Abrecht Bird into
the future.
After finishing high school I was accepted into the Jewellery
Engineering course at NMIT in 2009 where I learnt the
basic techniques of making and crafting fine jewellery.
In our newsletter we offer a complimentary clean and polish
to all our clients (see below). This gives us the opportunity
to check over your items and ensure that any preventive
maintenance can be undertaken if required before any
major issues arise. A light buff to shine the metal and a
thorough clean to enable the check up, and usually you can
be on your way.
Eleanor Hawke
If an item requires a full polish to remove scratches or
dents this then becomes a ‘take-in’ job and is chargeable.
It takes quite a bit of time to apply an ‘as new’ finish to a
piece of jewellery. Often a light emery is required prior to
polishing to remove scratches and/or old rhodium plating
in order to restore your jewellery to the high standards you
expect from us.
The exception will be white gold articles that require rhodium plating
(additional charge) – we will endeavour to have these pieces available
at the end of the same day.