A lot of people have been curious about how the jewelry industry can be so damaging to our earth and what we're doing to be environmentally and socially conscious. It has been a long and hard road of research, experimentation, trial and error, questions, seminars, and good old blood and sweat in establishing our methods and materials, but we are almost there! I will be writing about it shortly so stay tuned.
If you would like to keep in touch, please e-mail me at: abbeyjewelrystudio@gmail.com
and I will add you to my contacts (especially good for craft beer nights at the studio!)
With Everything,
Justinder
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Integrity in Metals
The world of metals has me pulling my hair from its roots. There are so many different alloys, mixtures, strengths, purities, properties, and toxicity variables that choosing the 'right' one is a painstaking and convoluted endeavor.
Recently looking into platinum, after foraging through hundreds of pages of journals, reports, tests, articles, and personal experiences, I thought I had stumbled upon a good safe alloy in 95% Platinum 5% Ruthenium mix, only to find an obscure article by Jurgen Maerz (the godfather of platinum-smithing), which I am sure 99.999999% of jewelers don't even know exists, where he states that when exposed to the oxygen during heating will form Ruthenium Oxide which is not only toxic to humans, it creates a mutagen that will attack and change the DNA structure of our cells! Ruthenium in the blood stream mimics Iron, and our bodies will naturally bond it to our cells, and most prominently in our bones and bone marrow where it will remain for the remainder of our lifetimes.
'All ruthenium compounds should be regarded as highly toxic and as carcinogenic. Compounds of ruthenium stain the skin very strongly. It seems that ingested ruthenium is retained strongly in bones. Ruthenium oxide, RuO4, is highly toxic and volatile, and to be avoided.' http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/ru.htm)
Recently looking into platinum, after foraging through hundreds of pages of journals, reports, tests, articles, and personal experiences, I thought I had stumbled upon a good safe alloy in 95% Platinum 5% Ruthenium mix, only to find an obscure article by Jurgen Maerz (the godfather of platinum-smithing), which I am sure 99.999999% of jewelers don't even know exists, where he states that when exposed to the oxygen during heating will form Ruthenium Oxide which is not only toxic to humans, it creates a mutagen that will attack and change the DNA structure of our cells! Ruthenium in the blood stream mimics Iron, and our bodies will naturally bond it to our cells, and most prominently in our bones and bone marrow where it will remain for the remainder of our lifetimes.
'All ruthenium compounds should be regarded as highly toxic and as carcinogenic. Compounds of ruthenium stain the skin very strongly. It seems that ingested ruthenium is retained strongly in bones. Ruthenium oxide, RuO4, is highly toxic and volatile, and to be avoided.' http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/ru.htm)
Thursday, January 13, 2011
We are not a Luxury jeweler, we are a Quality jeweler
The Abbey is not a luxury jeweler, in fact the Abbey doesn't even exist to sell jewelry.
For some reason, the greatest aspiration of many jewelry stores is to become a 'Luxury' jeweler; a jeweler of the stars, the rich and famous, people who know people. I see it everywhere. In store ads, brands, magazines, even the type of jewelry products being pushed to be consumed. There are all sorts of ranges of luxury jewelry out there: in watches you have a range from Gigantto to Rolex to Patek Philippe, and everything in between from every 'Luxury' purveyor in the world out there: Louis Vuitton, Prada, Mont Blanc, even Juicy Couture. I see the term popping up in the mall jewelers, big jewelers, even the small mom and pop jewelers. Luxury has become all consuming in our culture, and quite frankly it makes me feel queasy.
Our society has placed such a high level of importance on luxury that life for many have transferred the focus of their lives from living to acquiring, the more the luxurious the better. No longer is luxury the icing on the cake of life, the people who market and profit from it want a bowl of icing to be eaten three times a day, and they have the audacity to call it a balanced meal.
The Abbey is not a luxury jeweler. I did not create the Abbey to sell jewelry. That's right, I will repeat that again so it will echo forever and be ingrained within the very foundation of the soul of the Abbey: We are not a luxury jeweler and we are not here to sell jewelry.
The Abbey exists to give life. To create, to love, to capture within metal and stones the essence life. Love taught me the greatest virtue achievable in this life is compassion: in which the suffering of others drives and gives an active desire to alleviate it.
For some reason, the greatest aspiration of many jewelry stores is to become a 'Luxury' jeweler; a jeweler of the stars, the rich and famous, people who know people. I see it everywhere. In store ads, brands, magazines, even the type of jewelry products being pushed to be consumed. There are all sorts of ranges of luxury jewelry out there: in watches you have a range from Gigantto to Rolex to Patek Philippe, and everything in between from every 'Luxury' purveyor in the world out there: Louis Vuitton, Prada, Mont Blanc, even Juicy Couture. I see the term popping up in the mall jewelers, big jewelers, even the small mom and pop jewelers. Luxury has become all consuming in our culture, and quite frankly it makes me feel queasy.
Our society has placed such a high level of importance on luxury that life for many have transferred the focus of their lives from living to acquiring, the more the luxurious the better. No longer is luxury the icing on the cake of life, the people who market and profit from it want a bowl of icing to be eaten three times a day, and they have the audacity to call it a balanced meal.
The Abbey is not a luxury jeweler. I did not create the Abbey to sell jewelry. That's right, I will repeat that again so it will echo forever and be ingrained within the very foundation of the soul of the Abbey: We are not a luxury jeweler and we are not here to sell jewelry.
The Abbey exists to give life. To create, to love, to capture within metal and stones the essence life. Love taught me the greatest virtue achievable in this life is compassion: in which the suffering of others drives and gives an active desire to alleviate it.
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