LONG TIME JEWELER

HANDMADE GEMSTONE JEWELRY

Gayton Arrigotti
wishing@comcast.net
(650) 516-5520

Gemstone PowersAgate:
General: Good for transmutation; helps with the emotion of acceptance; gives a mellow, blended aspect; beneficial in stomach area.Botswana Agate:
Use with high-pressure oxygen therapy; smoke inhalation.Fire Agate:
Master healer with color therapy; enhances all essences; grounds and balances; sexual & heart chakra binder; burns energy.Moss Agate:
Emotional priorities; mental priorities; colon, circulatory, pancreas & pulses; blood sugar balance; agriculture.Alexandrite
Low self-esteem & difficulty centering imply need; central nervous system disorders; spleen & pancreas.Amber
Memory loss; eccentric behavior; anxiety; inability to make decisions; thyroid, inner ear & neuro-tissue strengthener; activates altruistic nature; realization of the spiritual intellect.Amethyst
Headaches; blood sugar imbalance; L brain imbalances; edginess; facilitates healing; inner peace; psychic insight; stimulates third eye; aid for meditation, spiritual opening & internal surrender.Aquamarine
Fluid retention; coughs; fear; thymus gland; calms nerves; problems with eyes, ears, jaw, neck, stomach, teeth; mental clarity; meditation.Beryl
Laziness; hiccups; swollen glands; eye diseases; bowel cancer.Bloodstone
Circulation; all purpose healer & cleanser; stomach & bowel pain; purifies bloodstream; bladder; strengthens blood purifying organs.Carnelian
Grounding; stimulates curiosity & initiative; focuses attention to the present moment; use with citrine on lower 3 chakras; digestion.Chalcedony
Touchiness; melancholy; fever; gallstones; leukemia; eye problems; stimulates maternal feelings & creativity. release.Citrine
Heart, kidney, liver & muscle healer; appendicitis;gangrene; red & white corpuscles; digestive tract; cleanses vibrations in the atmosphere; creativity; helps personal clarity; will bring out problems in the solar plexus & the heart; eliminates self-destructive tendencies.Diamond
All brain diseases; pituitary & pineal glands; draws out toxicity, poison remedy.Emerald
Radiation toxicity; all mental illness; circulatory & neurological disorders; transmits balance, healing & patience; increases psychic & clairvoyant abilities; meditation; keener insight into dreams.Garnet
Rhodolite: Capillaries; skin elasticity; protection from pre- cancerous conditions.
Spessartine: Bad dreams; depression; anger; self esteem; hemorrhages; hormone imbalances; inflammations; sexual disease.Jade
Kidney, heart, larynx, liver, parathyroid, spleen, thymus, thyroid & parasympathetic ganglia healer; strengthens body; longevity.Lapis Lazuli
Neuralgia; melancholy; fevers; inflammations; penetrates subconscious blockages; throat chakra; sore throat; energy focuser for teachers, lecturers & speakers, mental & spiritual cleanser; used on 3rd eye for meditation; eliminates old & negative emotions; use with other healing stones; thought form amplification; helps in creating mantras.Moonstone
Soothes & balances the emotions; helps eliminate fear of "feeling"; encourages inner growth & strength; aids peace & harmony & psychic abilities; aligns vertebrae; digestive aid.Onyx
Objective thinking; spiritual inspiration; control of emotions & passions, help eliminate negative thinking, apathy, stress & neurological disorders; also used as a heart, kidney, nerve, capillary, hair, eye and nail strengthener.Opal
Cherry: Red corpuscle & blood disorders; depression; apathy; lethargy; intuition & joy.
Dark: Reproductive organs; spleen & pancreas; filters red corpuscles & aids white corpuscles; bone marrow; depression, esp. of sexual origin; balances; amplifies creative & intuitive thought; grounds radical emotional body.
Jelly: Spleen & abdominal diseases; cellular reproductive problems; helps absorb nutrients; minimizes wide mood swings; mystical thought amplifier.
Light: Balances L & R brain hemispheres for neuro disorders; stimulates white corpuscles; helps bring the emotions to mystical experiences; aids abdomen, pituitary & thymus problems.Pearl
Eliminates emotional imbalances; helps one master the heart chakra; aids stomach, spleen, intestinal tract & ulcer problems.Peridot
Protects against nervousness; helps alleviate spiritual fear; aids in healing hurt feelings & bruised egos; incurs strength & physical vitality; aligns subtle bodies; amplifies other vibrational energies & positive emotional outlook; helps liver & adrenal function.Quartz
Transmitter & amplifier of healing energy & clarity; balancer, channeler of universal energy & unconditional love; all purpose healer; programmable.Rose Quartz: Lymphatic cancer & circulatory problems; helps the psychologically inflexible.
Heart chakra opener; love & self-acceptance healer for emotional wounds; dissipates anger & tension.Smoky Quartz: Stimulates Kundalini energy; cleanses & protects the astral field; draws out distortion on all levels; good for hyperactivity & excess energy; grounding.Ruby
Heart chakra; balances love & all spiritual endeavors; self-esteem; strengthens neurological tissues around the heart; prevents miscarriages.Sapphire
Spiritual enlightenment; inner peace; colic; rheumatism; mental illness; pituitary; metabolic rate of glandular functions; anti- depressant; aids psychokinesis, telepathy, clairvoyance & astral projection; personal expression; also for pain.Spinel
Leg conditions, when worn on solar plexus; powerful general healer; detoxification aid.Topaz
Balances emotions; calms passions; gout; blood disorders; hemorrhages; increases poor appetite; general tissue regeneration; VD; tuberculosis; reverses aging; spiritual rejuvenation; endocrine system stimulation; releases tension; feelings of joy.Tourmaline
Dispels fear & negativity & grief; calms nerves; concentration & eloquence improve; genetic disorders, cancer & hormones regulated; raises vibrations; charisma; universal law; tranquil sleep.Black Tourmaline: Arthritis; dyslexia; syphilis; heart diseases; anxiety; disorientation; raises altruism; deflects negativity; neutralizes distorted energies, i.e. resentment & insecurity.Rubellite: Creativity; fertility; blanches passive or aggressive nature.Green: Creativity; opens heart chakra; immune system; psychological problems with the father; blood pressure; asthma; balancer; eliminates conflict within.
Blue indicolite: Lungs, larynx; thyroid; parasympathetic nerves.Watermelon: Heart chakra healer; imparts sense of humor to those who need it; balancer; eliminates guilt; nervous system; integration, security & self-containment.Turquoise
Master healer; protects against environmental pollutants; strengthens anatomy & guards against all disease; improved absorption of nutrients; tissue regeneration; subtle body alignment & strengthening; eye disorders.

Sterling Silver
Silver has been used to make jewelry since ancient times, but the exploration of continents in the western hemisphere uncovered more productive silver mines than Europeans had ever seen. More silver has been mined and used since the late 1700's than in all prior centuries combined.
What is Sterling Silver?
Silver is a soft metal in its pure form, too soft to be used for jewelry and other items, so it's mixed with other metals to make it more durable. A popular silver mixture, called an alloy, is known as sterling silver.
The US Federal Trade Commission, FTC, dictates that jewelry sold in the US cannot be marked or described as silver, solid silver, sterling silver, sterling, or using the abbreviation Ster. unless it contains at least 92.5 percent pure silver.
The minimum silver content is also stated as 925 parts per thousand of pure silver.
Copper is the most common metal used to round out the 7.5 percent alloy balance. It adds hardness to pure silver, but brings with a tendency to tarnish--a darkening that occurs when sterling silver reacts with gases in the air or with other substances that it comes in contact with.
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Cleaning Your Sterling Silver Jewelry
Silver may be cleaned with a phosphate free detergent. A low abrasive cleaner, such as 3M Tarni-Shield Silver Polish, is a good choice for removing light tarnish. Most silver experts do not recommend you use toothpaste to clean your sterling silver jewelry because they feel it is too abrasive and can dull the piece.
Sterling silver jewelry that is worn continually often develops a pretty patina, a kind of glow that's combined with darkened areas. If you like the look, leave it alone. If you prefer a bright and shiny look, use polish to restore the jewelry to its original appearance.

About

I design and fabricate contemporary jewelry. Gold, Silver, Copper, Brass & quality Gemstones are the materials used in my handmade jewelry.Various metal working techniques are used such as forging, soldering, piercing, riveting, and building of hollow forms. Surface finishing such as tool stamping, satin and hammer tone finishes, rolling mill pattern textures which I produce from acid etched master plates and hydraulic press forms from silhouette dies which I design and cut are also techniques used in my jewelry.To produce multiples from designs I make master models directly from metal fabrication and then make silicon rubber molds of those items to be cast via the lost wax method. From there a great deal of finishing and soldering of parts occurs with more finishing and setting of stones.GAYTON ARRIGOTTI
CRAFTSMAN JEWELER GEMOLOGIST

LONGTIMEJEWELER.COM

Understanding Gold TerminologyGold jewelry never goes out of style, and for good reason, because gold is as wearer-friendly as it is beautiful. Pure gold doesn't react with other elements to create tarnish, the residue that accumulates on some metals before transferring to your skin as a stain. Sometimes people have allergy or staining problems with metals that are combined with gold, but the gold itself is rarely a problem.
Gold can be worked into nearly any shape, from tiny strands that do not break easily to very thin sheets. One ounce of gold can even be hammered into an ultra thin sheet that's ten feet square. Gold can be manipulated nearly any way the artisan desires.How Pure Is Your Gold Jewelry?
Chances are the ring on your finger is marked 18K, 14K, or 10K, with the K standing for karat, the system used to describe the percentage of pure gold an item contains. 24K gold is pure gold.
• 18K gold contains 18 parts gold and 6 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 75% gold.
• 14K gold contains 14 parts gold and 10 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 58.3% gold.
• 12K gold contains 12 parts gold and 12 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 50% gold.
• 10K gold contains 10 parts gold and 14 parts of one or more additional metals, making it 41.7% gold. 10K gold is the minimum karat that can be called "gold" in the United States.
Why Are Other Metals Mixed With Gold?
You'll find examples of pure gold jewelry, but pure gold is soft and isn't practical for daily wear. Other metals are mixed with it to make it more durable (and to lower its cost).
Adding other metals to the mix also allows metallurgists to change the color of gold. Palladium or nickel can be added to create white gold. Adding copper produces a rose or pink tint, while silver gives gold a greenish cast.
When metals are added to the gold the result is an alloy, a blended mixture of the metals that you can think of as a very expensive cake batter. Solid gold is a term that can be used to describe an item that's at least 10K (in the US) gold all the way through. Even though it's a gold alloy--18K, 14K, or anything down to 10K--it can be called solid gold.
When Gold Is Used as a Coating
There are many ways to mechanically apply a coating of gold onto a much less expensive metal, reducing the item's cost. The thicker the layer of gold, the less likely it is to wear away easily and expose the metal underneath.
Gold Filled Jewelry
Newer gold filled items have markings that indicate how much and what type of gold was used for the layer. A marking that says 1/20 12K G.F. means that the jewelry is at least 1/20th 12K gold by weight.
Gold Plated Jewelry
The gold layer in gold plated jewelry is typically thinner than the gold in gold filled jewelry, so it usually wears away more quickly. Plating is done in different ways.
You might see terms such as gold washed used to describe a very thin layer of gold--one that won't be very durable.
So What Should You Buy?
Solid gold is durable, so it is a better choice for jewelry you'll wear regularly. If you have allergies to nickel or other metals, choose items that have high gold content, such as 18K or 22K gold jewelry.
Gold filled or plated jewelry is suitable for jewelry that you wear occasionally. Everyday use would eventually diminish the gold layer, exposing the metal below, which might stain your skin or cause an allergic reaction.
For pieces that will last a lifetime and beyond, buy the highest quality gold your budget allows.

Sea Glass & Stone Setting Workshop