Author Archive for fitzcharming
Wanda Fitzgerald is a Florida native and an vintage charm collector who loves to share her adventures in an e-commerce jewelry business with anyone who is interested.
Jewelry Term Definitions – Alphabetical T’s
Tahitian Pearl – A dark colored pearl, often black grown in large black oysters found in Indonesia. Tarnish – A dulled metal finish that is caused by a reaction of chemicals, usually sulfur. Tassel – A bundle of threads bound at one end and loosely hung as an ornament. Taxco – A town in Mexico [...]
Vintage Charm Bracelet Storage Decisions
I’m planning my trip to the annual charm convention where members of my charm group meet up and share our collections and charm stories. This year I’m going to need a new vintage jewelry storage solution.
Jewelry Term Definitions – Alphabetical S’s
Safety Catch – A type of clasp used for a brooch with a locking mechanism that is more secure than a standard C clasp. Sapphire – A member of the corundum family of stones, the Sapphire is any corundum stone that is not red. The birthstone for September. Sardonyx – An onyx stone that has [...]
Vintage Monet Moving Charm Bracelet In Silver Toned Metal
I just received my final charm for my vintage silver toned Monet moving charm bracelet so I’m sharing photos of the finished masterpiece. These all have pull chains that make the charm move in some way.
Jewelry Quote of the Month – August 2010
“The pearl is the queen of gems and the gem of queens.” ~ Author Unknown
Jewelry Term Definitions – Alphabetical Q’s and R’s
Quartz – A common mineral found all over the world. Varieties are agate, amethyst, adventurine, citrine, onyx, tiger’s eye, and rose quartz, among others. Quartz measures 7. 0 on the Moh’s scale of hardness. Radiant Cut – A rectangular gemstone cut that has the facets and sparkle of brilliant cut round stones. Repousse – The [...]
Cini Sterling Silver Vintage Charms and Jewelry
The Cini Jewelry Company makes some of the most intricate and popular vintage jewelry available. I’ve started a collection of Cini Zodiac charms and I’ve also sold a few Cini vintage silver pins so I decided to see what I could find out about them.
Show and Tell Charm Bracelets
Just thought I’d show some pictures of bracelets I have in the works. The photos will enlarge if you double click them.
Brighton Charms And Beads Are A Popular Designer Costume Jewelry Line
The Brighton Company was formed in 1991 and began their signature line of fashions by creating high quality leather belts. Brighton jewelry was a natural extension of the brand and the silver pendants, bracelets, and rings are some of the most popular items sold in the hundreds of Brighton stores today.
July Birthstones – Ruby
For those born in July, your birthstone is a ruby, which is one of the world’s most prized gemstones. A ruby is also given to commemorate a 40th anniversary, and the deep red color represents everlasting love. It is one of the hardest stones with a measure of 9 out of 10 on the Moh’s scale.
Juicy Couture – Happy Comfy and Gorgeous Jewelry
Juicy Couture offers a trendy contemporary line of jewelry. Juicy jewelry is sparkly, bright, and all about the bling. It conveys a sense of fun and playfulness about the wearer. The brilliant glass stones, pave crusted surfaces, colorful enamel, and quality plated metal complement each other to make their jewelry creations spectacular.
Sunshine Polishing Cloth Is The Best Jewelry Cleaner
I’ve been using Sunshine polishing cloths for a long time and love them. They are gentle enough to clean the most precious charms but strong enough to get off really tough tarnish and grime. They clean all types of metal but I use them primarily for silver jewelry.
Jewelry Quote of the Month – July 2010
If wisdom and diamonds grew on the same tree we could soon tell how much men loved wisdom. ~ Lemuel K. Washburn, Is The Bible Worth Reading And Other Essays, 1911
Celebrating Jeanette Cates 30 Day Blog Challenge Finale
Today is the last day of the blog challenge I participated in for the month of June. I’m proud to say that I kept up and was able to write a blog post each day. Even though the posts only had to be 150 words or more, it was still quite a task for me to come up with a topic each day and research enough to write a concise article.
The Carl Art Jewelry Company of Providence RI
The Carl Art company, owned by Carl Schraysshuen, a German immigrant, and American businessman Arthur Loercher, was founded in 1936 in Providence, Rhode Island. Carl had previously been employed by the Speidel Company and is reported to be responsible for creating the twist-o-flex watch band.
Jewelry Term Definitions – Alphabetical P’s
Parure – This is a matching set of jewelry, usually a brooch, necklace, earrings and a bracelet, but can be even larger. Part of a parure is called a demi or semi parure. Paste – A brilliant cut glass stone which has been made to resemble a genuine gemstone. Patina – this term refers to [...]
What I’m Missing in My Vintage Charm Collection
Yesterday I went through some of my charms and made a list of what I’m in the process of collecting and what I need to complete each theme. And I also decided that I’m going to start collecting Nuvo charms that move. Here’s what I’m missing in my already started collections and these will cost a LOT 
Fitzcharming Collects Starbucks Coffee Mugs
Here’s another of a continuing series of articles about my collections (other than vintage charms). I became interested in Starbucks coffee mugs several years ago when I bought a large 18 ounce Christmas mug at an estate sale. It was a blue snowflake mug and I loved it because it was nice and big and had the cutest little snowflake on the inside rim. I knew if there was one, then there were most certainly more so I searched eBay and found 1) a mate so I would have a pair of the same design, and 2) many, many more collectible Starbucks mugs for sale.
Vintage Trifari Coral Blue and Yellow Cabochon Jewelry
Vintage Trifari JewelryI have a small collection of vintage costume jewelry in addition to my charm bracelets. My favorites are plastic jewelry from the mid twentieth century. Featured is one of my Trifari sets. I’m not sure of the name of the collection but these were made in aqua, coral and yellow colors, all coordinated with opalescent white.
Vintage State Heritage Promotional Charm Bracelets
I’ve written before about promotional vintage Heritage Charm bracelets and at the time I just had a couple of them. Since then I’ve acquired more so I thought I would feature them once again. I’ve included photographs of the Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Illinois bracelets that I’ve added to my collection.
Cultured Pearl Treatments
All cultured pearls are cleaned and polished to enhance the luster before being sold to jewelers. There are additional treatments that are applied to lower quality pearls in order to develop a marketable product. It’s always important to at least ask, and then obtain a guarantee when purchasing pearls, in order to be sure of the investment.
Cultured Pearls and Modern Pearl Farms
Almost all of the pearls sold today are cultured pearls grown on pearl farms. The techniques developed and refined over the last century have allowed modern pearl farmers to produce pearls that conform to specific standards. Natural pearls are less than one percent of those available on the market nowadays.
Jewelry Term Definitions – Alphabetical O’s
Obsidian – Volcanic glass that is usually black. Obsidian is formed when cools rapidly. Most obsidian is 70 percent silica. Obsidian has a hardness of 5 on the Mohs scale. Onyx – A variety of chalcedony quartz. Black onyx may be opaque or translucenet and although it does occur naturally in black, it is usually [...]
Cultured Pearls – Birth of the Industry
Pearls have long been a favorite as an embellishment for jewelry and nowadays almost all pearls coming into the market are cultured pearls. Cultured pearls are formed by intentionally inserting a foreign object into a mollusk, typically an oyster, and waiting for the natural process of nacre to build up.
