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We are pleased to announce that Brand Fine Jewelry & Gems will be vending at the following upcoming events. Please mark your calendars and come out to one of these great events to see our collection of handmade jewelry & gems. February 20-21, 2016 | Antioch Gem Club Anuual Show Contra Costa County Fairgrounds | Antioch, CA February 27-28, 2016 | Vallejo Gem Club Anuual Show Solano County Fairgrounds | Valejo, CA March 4-6, 2016 | Mineral and Gem Society of Castro Valley Annual Gem Show Newark Pavilion | Newark, CA March 12-13, 2016 | Gem, Jewelry, & Rock Show - Motherlode Mineral Society of California Stanislaus Fairgrounds | Turlock, CA April 9-10, 2016 | Mariposa Gem & Mineral Show Mariposa Fairgrounds | Mariposa, CA April 16-17, 2016 | SCVGMS Gem & Mineral Festival Santa Clara County Fairgrounds | San Jose, CA The full schedule is available here. 
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We are pleased to announce that we'll be vending at the Sacramento Mineral Society's annual show in November.
November 14, 15 at the Scottish Rite Temple. http://sacgemshow.com/ Bring us your custom jewelry ideas or jewelry repair projects and we'll be happy to work with you to create something you'll love.
My first show! I'll be selling Opals, Jewelry, and Rough material for lapidaries. I hope you can make it. Pricing opals is a bit of an art form. There are so many factors to consider. Here is a recent pricing exercise I did for 6 opals. Behind the scenes I have formulas from books to plug these numbers into, and I have my own history of opals I've already priced for comparison. I also have a few good friends in the industry who assist from time to time.  In the above image, the left hand side should read:
Weight Brightness Colors Pattern Type Price/ct Total Price The main considerations for opal pricing are: 1. The TYPE of opal (Black Opal, Semi-Black, White, Crystal, Semi-Crystal) 2. The BRIGHTNESS of the stone (measured from 1 to 5) 3. The BODY TONE (how white or grey the face of the opal is) from (1 to 9). 4. The COLOR(S), Saturation and Value. 5. The PATTERN, consistency, cut, inclusions, and other smaller factors. I've not even listed all the variables here! So you can see that pricing is tricky. I'm getting better at it, but I still have much to learn. Contact me if you'd like to know more!
    
Just after coming off the cutting wheel. The opals have absorbed water and have become completely transparent all the color is gone
Four days later. The water has started to evaporate leaving Micro condensation inside the opals. This makes the opals look foggy or milky. The color is starting to come back there when you can see it in several of the stones.
Showing the changes in Hydrophane opal as it dries out over time. This is typical of Ethiopian opal from the Welo province. 
 This fantastic .925 Sterling Silver pendant was created for a family friend. I often travel with stones I have cut to show to friends or sell to interested parties. This stone was a challenge to cut, because there are several differrent hardness in this stone. The final results are great though! This looks like agatized jasper! to me, but I'm not sure what kind of stone it is. The slab I cut it from was part of a lapidary collection that I bought five years ago. My friend is going to enjoy this!   |
Owen Brand
Owen is a Lapidary (Gem cutter) and Jewelry artist from Oakland, CA. 
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