Jon Ber

HAND CRAFTED I design collections at home and minutes later, Pawan starts working on the production in India. It was not always that easy.

STERLING SILVER 100% silver is too soft for the creation of jewelry & silverware. Thus the international industry standards is 92.5 percent silver with 7.5% balance added copper.

AMBER As old as 90 million years, its usually gold & brownish - honey like, but also appears in white, green & rarely blue.

AMETHYST In Greek, Amethyst means "Against Drunkenness" from the belief that the stone inserted in water, will turn a drunk person sober instantly. It doesn't work.

BLACK ONYX Is a translucent chalcedony, similar to agate that contains straight bands usually white or brownish.

BLUE TOPAZ The Blue Topaz color is usually categorize and defined by three main names: London, for the Darkest shade, Swiss for the lightest and Sky for the in between shade of blue.

GARNET The Garnet's most recognized color is the Burgundy red, but smaller quantities of Garnet also appears in nature in shades of blue and green.

LABRADORITE It was discovered in the desolate Sybaritic Peninsula of Labrador, Canada, in the beginning of the 19th century. Its best specimens found currently come from Finland and Madagascar.

LAPIS LAZULI Blue Rock, In Arabic, Lapis Lazuli, is derived from Lazurite, a complex silicate containing a range of minerals such as the Pyrite also known as "Fools Gold."

MALACHITE It imaintains better value and stability than some countries currency, such as is the case in the war torn Zaire.

RAINBOW MOONSTONE The gemstone resemblance of a cloudy, mystical, shimmering moon, made it desirable, but it was unavailable for centuries.

PERIDOT In Roman times, It became known as "Evening Emerald" because it was easier to find when illuminated by lamplight at night.

TIGER'S EYE Tiger's Eye has such a strong following in Africa, that it was for a while, considered as a National Treasure, and was banned from exports in some southern countries such as Namibia, South Africa and Lesotho.

TURQUOISE From Green to Blue, with black unique signature inclusions vanes running untamed, the gemstone universal reverence is phenomenal.

www.jonber.com
JONBER SILVER

HOW I DESIGN AND PRODUCE
HANDCRAFTED SILVER JEWELRY by Jon Ber

Jon Ber

TRANSPARENCY:
I designed the silver jewelry collection by drawing it in my home office in the North Carolina, USA and published it on the web immediately. It included specifications of quantities, gemstones choice, dimensions packing and labeling instructions. My regular rumbling about the importance of quality workmanship and final inspection, were inevitable.

Brutal streets reality demands be the cheapest or your children won't be eating tonight. I was lucky to afford investing few more Rupees in labor cost. This will make all the difference in the world for hundreds of master silversmith who will be allowed the time to perform their best and developed their skills.

SILVER_JONBER1

Next a 15 kilo silver bullion was acquired by Pawan in Jaipur, Rajastan, and the gemstones arrived promptly from suppliers located at the joining allies of Evergreen market.

It is the largest hand stone cutting and hand crafted jewelry creation and trading post on Earth. From Diamonds to Agate Carat to kilo, Platinum to bronze everything sells by weight.

By evening time our Master Silversmith friends where invited to discuss the new styles with Pawan at the shop in the heart of Evergreen. I imagine them watching the pictures on the computer with some skepticism. Most probably needed few Chai (Hindi for tea to digest the new styles. Perhaps they were tilting their head from side to side in a movement the means: "This crazy man. I don't know what inside his mind going?"

Couple of weeks later, the ready earrings and pendants went back to Pawan for inspection and packaging. Then the Indian customs papers were filled. Next the packages were taken to the Main post office and sent by Speed Mail ( the equivalent of the US post Global Express.)

Five days later the US postal service delivered it to my door in rural North Carolina.

A Silver cost The price of silver changes daily, today (July 19th 2005) at 6.94 an ounce, or 25 cents per gram. (update August 29, 2006) the price of silver:$12.23 an ounce. Currently, June 2008, hoovers around $17.50 B Gemstone cost Each gemstone has a different rate that is measured by Carats. (1 gram = 5 carats.) C Labor cost Master silversmith cost accounts for some 20 to 40 percent on top of silver and gemstones costs. D Shipping cost From India to North Carolina and then to your shop door, accounts for some five percent of the total production price.

Jon Ber is the publisher of jonber.com, a former investigative journalist and a traveler of seventy countries living in North Carolina USA .

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