Argentium Sterling Silver is a new blend of Sterling silver invented in 1996.
Typically, sterling is blended with copper, which makes a nice strong and attractive blend, but it tends to tarnish easily.

Argentium has the same 92.5% silver but has a little bit of a metal called Germanium blended with the copper.

For chemical reasons, this makes Argentium sterling far more tarnish-resistant than standard sterling silver.

You'll be amazed at how long it stays bright. In fact, Argentium® increases its tarnish resistance over time.

Argentium Silver does not contain nickel. It requires nothing more than a light buffing with a soft cloth to keep its beautiful shine.

If desired, wash gently in warm soapy

Gold filled is a hollow tube of usually 14K gold (sometimes 10K is used) that is filled with another metal. The exterior of the gold filled jewelry is solid karate gold and everything you can see or touch is a solid layer of karat gold.

This tube of karate gold is approximately 100 times thicker than gold plate. It is made by bonding with heat and pressure - with normal wear and tear the karate gold will never tarnish, chip or wear off. By law, this layer of karate gold has to be at least 1/20 of the total weight of the metal portion of the piece of jewelry.

In the USA this process is referred to as ‘gold filled’.

Bali silver is sterling silver made on the island of Bali, in Indonesia in the Indian Ocean. Bali beads are made by hand by Balinese skilled silversmiths.

To measure for proper bracelet fit, hold your hand and fingers outstretched, but cupped as if putting on the bracelet. Measure just above (towards elbow) the wrist bone, then add 1/4" to 1 " (1/2" is average) depending on how tight you like your bracelets to fit. That is the size bracelet you would wear.

Now measure around the widest part of your hand. Make sure the above measurement is a bit smaller than this area of your hand to ensure the bracelet won't slide off.

If this bracelet is a gift for an adult or young lady, and you don't know wrist size, 7 is considered petite, 7.25 is small, 7.5 is medium, 7.75 is large, and 8.0 is XLarge. The average size appears to be 7.25 to 7.5 inches.

Stardust metal finishing effect is created by etching a surface with a laser. The laser treatment roughs up the surface and causes it to catch light in a different way than smooth polished metal and it gives the metal a frosted look.

turquoise "chalk" that is lower grade and has been ground into powder, saturated with epoxy resin, dyed, and compressed into blocks or cakes to be cut into shapes for jewelry making.
Prices should be most inexpensive.

Italian glass blowing techniques such as latticinio and zanfirico are adapted here to make beads. Furnace glass uses large decorated canes built up out of smaller canes, encased in clear glass and then extruded to form the beads with linear and twisting stripe patterns. No air is blown into the glass. These beads require a large scale glass furnace and annealing kiln for manufacture. (Wikipedia, 2004).
You can read more about the ‘Glass Bead making’ at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_beadmaking#Furnace_glass

Hand knotting saves the pearls in case the strand breaks and also prevents the pearls from rubbing against each other.

The reasons for knotting pearls are simple:

- safety and preservation. When any bead or pearl are strung without knotting, they are not really secure. A strand can break for any number of reasons, and when that happens, it is difficult if not impossible to track down all of the scattered jewels! When a cord is knotted, the only thing lost will be one pearl or a clasp, at most. The rest will stay intact.

- knotted pearls will not rub against each other, which can result in marring and chipping. This would devalue good pearls, not to mention making them look less desirable.

Viking Knit is an ancient method of assembling a chain without the use of solder. It is structurally a looping technique that preceded traditional knitting by centuries and was used by the Vikings not only for jewelry but also for woven clothing. The technique consists of backstitching wire in loops producing a very flexible and silky chain. This is a time-consuming process, it takes 4 hours to create an 18-inch chain.

Your pearls will stay clean longer if, you
- put them on after you have applied makeup and perfume.
- do not take them off, after applying hand or body lotion.
- Store them in the velvet or silk pouch that they come in.
Clean your pearls with a soft lint-free cloth and if needed some mild soap and water. Let them air dry before storing them.
Do not put them in an ultrasonic cleaner. To clean the silver parts of the necklace, use a rouge cloth(also called polishing cloth or silver cloth). If you are going to use a dip make sure that it specifically states that it is 'safe for pearls'. Silver oxidizes, that is its natural state, it can be used to add additional character to the piece.