There are certain basic facts about what men do and don’t like in their jewelry which circulate on jewelry designer’s message boards, but at the end of the day most people are as stumped as I am.  The most popular men’s jewelry seems to be cheap, mass produced earthy trinkets from Asia – not exactly my niche

Ask a guy, and his answer will likely be either “I know what I like when I see it,” or “Whatever looks cool.”  Veeeeeery helpful indeed!

I have designed a number of masculine jewelry pieces in the past, and they all sold fairly quickly….to women.  I rank among my single accomplishment as a men’s jewelry designer a couple of grainy photos of a very handsome TV actor wearing two of my necklaces.

Enter….the muse.  While – ahem – admiring some photos of a male model, I was overtaken with the desire to see him modeling MY jewelry.  But, wait.  I don’t make men’s jewelry.  Hrrrm.  Must change that.

The epiphany came while driving home one morning.  Forget what vague notions men have about jewelry design.  What’s the one thing most men want above all?  To be sexually appealing in every way possible.

In that case, my design goal becomes fairly simple: to make jewelry that makes me want to tear a man’s clothes off….and leave his necklace on.  And nibble on it.

This proves to be a rather enjoyable research project.  I open my file of stills of my favorite actors (What? Yes, I have such a file…so?) and study them.  What are the design cues that most inspire me to drag the subject of the photo into the nearest coat room?

Suddenly, I find that it’s no longer hard to come up with designs for men’s jewelry.  I’ll let you all know how it works out

• Guaged earrings, for those of you with stretched piercings.  Look for a variety of designs, starting with 12, 10, and 8 guage.  I’ll be offering a growing selection in both single earrings and pairs.
• More rings featuring beautiful faceted colored gemstones.
• Additions to my popular but currently woefully sold out Galaxy Series.
• Fair trade/ecofriendly items featuring recycled silver, fair trade gems, and stones cut in the US.

Ever look around at the prices of loose gemstones online and been completely baffled?  Ever wondered why one site has a sapphire for $50.00 and another for $50,000?  It all has to do with rarity.

Should I not have said quality, you ask?

Not really.  Quality tends to be an abstract when it comes to colored stones.  Pricing factors include availability, demand, color, size, cut, clarity, origins, and treatment.  I plan to go into some of these factors in more detail in a later article; my point for this one is simple: beautiful gemstones need not cost a fortune.

If there is a certain color you love, you may be happy to find that there is a lesser known or less traditional stone that will provide just what you are looking for.  Aquamarine is a costly stone, but many shades of aquamarine are well emulated by blue topaz.  Emeralds cost a fortune, but chrome diopside provides beautiful, rich green and great clarity at a fraction of the cost.

If it’s a particular, precious stone that is important to you, for example a birthstone, you may find that even precious gems can be affordable in smaller sizes, for instance in the 3-5mm range.  That will, given the right setting in a ring, give you the beauty and the stone you want without bankrupting you.

I love colored gems and would be happy to guide you to a choice that works within your taste and your budget; I welcome custom orders and have both a large inventory of beautiful, reasonably priced gems and some excellent sources for anything you might want me to order.

By the way….the beautiful chrome diopside ring shown in the photo above is available through my etsy shop for only $100.00!  Take a peek!

This bracelet is more adjustable than it looks; because silver is a soft metal, firm pressure will conform it to the size of your wrist, and the clasp can be hooked into any link of the chain. It’s very comfortable for everyday wear.

Currently listed on my etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21875131

Glittering, reflective, and brightly colored, dichroic glass was developed by NASA for use in the space industry. Thin layers of metal (gold, silver, titanium, chromium, aluminium, zirconium, magnesium, silicon) are applied to the surface of the glass, which is then kiln fired at extreme temperatures in a vacuum. Due to variations in the firing process, individual results can never be exactly reproduced, making each piece of dichroic glass unique.

Dichroic glass is incorporated into lampwork glass beads and pendants for jewelry, and is also used in a technique called fusing, where a fine layer of dichroic glass is fused to a thicker layer of glass beneath it. Dichroic jewelry tends to command a high price due to the expense of the raw material and the skill required to work with it.

To which I respond with a pout and a sniff: “But will it have Shep in it protecting his team and looking really good in tight black t-shirts?  And will it have Carson with his compassion and his gentle Scottish accent?  Will it have Rodney making sure we know he just saved a universe or two and ensuring that we don’t stick citrus in his lunchbox? How about Ronon, to hug people and hit them with really big sticks?”

No.  It won’t.  Well, okay, maybe a cameo every so often, but it’s not the same, k?

So what did I do today?  I made puddlejumpers.  Cute little puddlejumpers hand-sawn from sterling silver and waiting for me to turn them into pendants.  *sniff*  The puddlejumper.  I’ll miss the freakin’ puddlejumper!

I made a really cool pendant that has a battered universe – scape on the front, beat to heck and embellished with a dark London blue topaz and a splatter of 14K gold.  It has one of my favorite John Sheppard quotes, “I would do anything, for any one of you,” hand-enscribed on the back, and it looks like something an exploration team would dig up in a ruin.

And finally, an awesome ring in a Stargate-inspired design.  It’s a rough (inspired by, not a replica of) approximation of the stargate itself, with a rugged silver dial and a blue topaz event horizon.  I actually like the design of this one so much that I’m going to make others like it using different stones, for non-fans.  It’s just a really cool-looking ring.

So – I got to invest myself in my love for the show for the day.  But I still want my first puppy back.