Big Stick

Below are some questions about jewelry and these questions always will be asked when someone shopping for jewelry…

What is The Most Appropriate Way to Clean My Jewelry?

If you take proper care of your jewelry, it can remain looking new. Remove your jewelry at night and put it in a safe place where several pieces will not rub against each other. Also, avoid contact of your jewelry with substances such as perfume, bleach, cosmetics, soap, hairsprays, etc. Gold jewelry may be cleaned in a bowl of water containing any mild liquid detergent. Use a soft brush to create lathers around the jewelry. Rinse the piece off – not over the drain, in a metal or plastic strainer. Dry your jewelry with a soft, lint-free cloth. More guidelines to cleaning your jewelry can be found in our jewelry care section.

What Points Stand Out when Viewing Jewelry Quality?

Unique care is required by some gemstones; however there are certain basic guidelines and characteristics that finely crafted jewelry have in common, regardless of the manufacturing method that was used to produce them. The jewelry shouldn’t have any pits, bumps, scratches or holes. All components of the jewelry should have a smooth finish. If the surface of the jewelry is supposed to be brushed or have a matte finish, it should also be smooth and uniform. The shine should resemble a mirror on every surface if it is polished.

What Makes White Gold White and What is It?

Gold with 100% purity is too soft for use in jewelry, so it is usually mixed with other metals or “alloyed” to make it harder. White gold is produced from the mixing of gold, copper, palladium, and zinc. Various shades of yellow gold can be created from the mixing of gold, silver, copper, and small amounts of zinc.

Why do Pieces of Jewelry that Look Nearly the Same Differ so Much with Price?

Several features can affect the value of gold jewelry. One-of-a-kind designer jewelry can be very costly. Different finishes can alter the value, such as matte or sandblasted. Also, heavier pieces can be more costly than lighter ones, as gold is often sold by weight.

Why 14K Gold Jewelry Worth Less Than 18K Gold Jewelry?

by Philip Yaffe

â??I know that half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The problem is, I donâ??t know which half.â?

This succinct resume of the advertiserâ??s dilemma is often attributed to John Wanamaker, the department store pioneer. Some people prefer to give the credit to Henry Ford, the automobile pioneer, or other favorite business giants. Whoever said it first, it is certain that it has been said thousand and thousand of times since.

The significance of the observation is nothing short of astounding. These are people whose business is investing and harvesting financial assets, yet when it comes to advertising, they freely admit to wasting at least half of their money!

But the observation can be turned on its head. Viewed from this perspective, it means that these same extremely clever and resourceful marketers believe that the power of advertising is so great, even at only 50% effectiveness they still get their moneyâ??s worth. This is equally astounding!

The value of advertising can most easily be seen with mass marketed products. For example, a breakfast cereal launches a major advertising campaign; within a few days to weeks the sales figures will reflect the impact of the campaign. With technical and industrial products, the picture is not quite so clear. Few people buy a car or a piece of industrial equipment on impulse. They build up to it over a long period of time, so that the cause-and-effect relationship between advertising and sales is virtually impossible to evaluate.

Nevertheless, advertising is indispensable. So the question is, can you construct advertising campaigns that will assure the best return on investment (ROI), even when that return cannot be directly measured?

The answer is both yes and no. It is â??noâ? if you believe that advertising by nature is more of an art than a science. It is â??yesâ? if you believe that advertising is a combination of both art and science.

It is certainly true that advertising has a major â??artâ? component, i.e. that people who have a â??feelâ? for it are likely to produce better, more effective advertising than people who donâ??t. Unfortunately, this verity has led to the false conclusion that advertising is predominantly art, i.e. a matter of taste.

When advertising is viewed as largely a question of personal preference, the rational component of the exercise takes second importance. Worse, it often degenerates into a kind of pseudoscience of rules and regulations with no scientific justification: