Rhodium is a precious metal that is even more expensive than silver. Therefore, silver jewelry with Rhodium plating is usually at least five cent more expensive per gram. Since Rhodium has the property of being highly tarnish resistant and very expensive at the same time, some manufacturers would coat the sterling silver jewelry with a thin layer of copper before plating the Rhodium to reduce the cost. It might be a good idea to ask the vendors if the Rhodium is plated directly or not because some people have skin type that would turn the copper underneath green. Stone cutting Sterling silver jewelry usually has natural or synthetic stones set on it. The cutting of the stones, even with the same size, might affect the cost. For instance, the synthetic diamond cubic zirconia stones would cost more if they are in princess cut as suppose to round brilliant cut. Furthermore, emerald cut and baguette cut stones are even more expensive than princess cut ones. Stone setting 1. The way that stones are set on a piece of jewelry also affects the cost. Many pendant and bracelet styles employ an economical setting method called wax setting. The stones are not really set one by one on the jewelry. Rather, they are fixed on the mold before the jewelry is cast out from the melted silver and come out of the mold together with the silver. This lowers the cost of the silver jewelry significantly. However, the quality of the setting is not consistent and the heat of the silver in liquid form might affect the quality of the stones. 2. Besides wax setting, there are several hand-setting methods that are widely adopted. The most common one is prong setting, where the stones are held in place by three to eight prongs, depending on the style. More advanced settings include channel setting, bezel setting, pave setting and invisible setting. Understanding the labor costs involved in different kinds of settings is one of the keys to getting merchandize with the best prices. Stamping and Casting Another categorization for sterling silver jewelry is the way they manufacture the metal part. To save cost, some jewelry is made by stamping and cutting the needed shapes out from a large sheet of silver and than bend it into the desired shapes. On the other hand, a more traditional way of producing sterling silver jewelry is to cast the metal out of a mold, which is more labor intensive and hence more costly due
piece
is
an
abstract
triptych
that
I
found
while
I
was
in
Atlanta
buying
religious
paintings
The
piece
was
called
Guardian
Angel
and
I
love
it
My
patrons
fell
in
love
with
it
as
well
They
have
asked
me
to
track
down
the
artist
and
see
if
he
has
anymore
religious
paintings
available
The
only
religious
paintings
that
I
actually
do
not
buy
are
ones
that
reflect
the
image
of
Jesus
on
the
cross
I
don’t
have
a
problem
with
them
some
of
them
are
extremely
well
done
and
would
more
than
likely
sell
well
but
my
investors
made
it
very
clear
when
they
financed
the
gallery
that
I
would
not
put
that
image
into
it
PPPPP
683
Ajello
Candles
The
motto
of
the
Ajello
Candle
Company
is
“It’s
better
to
light
a
candle
than
to
curse
the
darkness”
This
candle
making
company
has
been
in
business
since
1775
The
business
has
been
family
owned
for
seven
generations
The
candles
from
Ajello’s
are
well
known
for
their
beauty
and
quality
While
they
make
more
candles
now
than
in
1775
their
dedication
to
quality
and
to
customers
has
never
changed
The
Ajello
Candle
Company
was
founded
by
Rafael
Ajello
an
Italian
painter
He
was
also
a
beekeeper
so
he
tried
his
hand
at
using
bees
wax
to
create
candles
He
worked
hard
to
create
a
formula
that
worked
well
The
formula
combined
with
his
outstanding
artistic
ability
lead
to
the
birth
of
the
Ajello
Candle
Company
In
1785
the
company
earned
the
honor
of
creating
all
the
candles
for
the
Vatican
He
and
his
wife
ran
the
business
keeping
their
children
involved
in
the
processes
from
an
early
age
As
time
went
on
their
children
and
grandchildren
kept
the
business
running
as
well
as
passed
the
family
business
on
to
their
children
By
1862
the
company
had
established
itself
as
a
leader
among
the
candle
making
industry
They
had
also
added
perfumes
and
many
.
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