Perhaps a big part of jewelry’s mystique is its durability. Not a week goes by without someone approaching us with a request to “do something” with “mom’s”, “grandma’s” or “great-grandma’s” diamonds. It’s clear that, in some way, they emotionally connect women in the present to their fore bearers; and it doesn’t have to be a post-mortem gift.

Take, for instance, the ring a client and one of our staff worked out as a means to make use of a couple of baguette cut diamonds (diamond ‘sticks’). They were ‘left-overs’ from a previous repurposing of some her diamonds; and they weren’t really large enough to serve as the top of a ring. One of our staff, however, had the bright idea of making the focus of the ring’s top a baguette cut blue sapphire. Less expensive than a diamond; it would keep a simple ring from looking too bridal – an important consideration as the client wished to give it to her “away at college” daughter. So far so good. Working together, the two women decided on an narrow but angular ring that would echo the shape of the diamonds; and to emphasize the gems, they decided to give the ring a very matte finish. When the ring was finished the client liked it and the member of our staff who had guided the project loved it; all that remained was the reaction of the young woman who would receive it. She loved it; so a successful gift, one for a lifetime connection to her mother, had been accomplished.

Then there was the family diamond a young bride-to-be wanted to wear at her wedding. About a third of a carat (round brilliant cut), it had been her grandmother’s; but the ring it was in was worn out. She wanted to be able to wear it at her wedding and had decided that a pendant necklace was in order. The problem was to make the diamond look significant in a piece of neck jewelry large enough to ‘show’ with the low neckline of her wedding dress and yet versatile enough to be a continuing part of her jewelry wardrobe. We managed this in two ways. First, as she liked heart shapes, we designed an open, somewhat abstract heart shape. If you can imagine it as a drawing, it would look like a heart drawn with a thick line from the point up through the notch and then the line narrowed and returned to the notch. At the point end of the narrow line we fabricated a one-of-a-kind setting for the diamond that made it hint at being the head of an arrow; and never had the diamond looked so important! Then we met the problem of versatility (in future wear) by fitting it with a neck chain with two attachment points. This would allow her to vary its effective length and so be able to wear it with both open and less open necklines. In spirit, she was able to have grandmother with her at her wedding and will be able to have her with her often in her daily life.

A not infrequent problem is that of making use of small diamonds of different shapes in a single piece of jewelry. So it was for a woman who approached me a few years ago. She was very close to her niece and wanted to give her something, using a mix of small round brilliant cut diamonds and baguette cut diamonds ‘left overs’; and she wanted to give them to the young woman to wear at her wedding. The problem presented to us was complicated by the imperfect matches of the diamonds one to another. In a ring they would have looked like something just thrown together; it would have been unprofessional. After some consultation, the client decided to go with my recommendation that we use the diamonds to make a pair of dangling earrings. The diamonds would be separated from one another by small lengths of white gold chain so that they would have movement and any ‘mismatch’ would not be apparent. As earrings, of course, they would be on opposite sides of the wearer’s face and the combination of distance and motion would make the disparity in their sizes far from obvious yet capitalize on the visual interest imparted by their different shapes. When we were finished the client was happy – and delighted to later report to us that her niece had loved them and wore them at her wedding!

There are, perhaps, three ‘morals’ to these stories. The first is not to despair of being able to use diamonds that are currently exiled to a safety deposit box for either emotional reasons or questions of fashion. With a little imagination, if not yours, ours, you can use them. The second is don’t despair of using your smaller diamonds in a piece of jewelry that may cost more than such small diamonds may be valued. If they are pretty gems to do so is to overlook the fact that diamonds are, weight for weight, probably the most valuable personal possession you will ever have – 1 carat weighs only 0.2 grams! Finally remember that diamonds are so durable that with reasonable care they can, regardless of weight or value, last very nearly forever. If you are in the market for a diamond you should put yourself in the hands of someone who is interested in the art of jewelry, not just your money. Naturally, that means that you must see us here at Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers. We’ll never sell you a mediocre diamond and we’ll treat your diamonds with the love and respect they deserve. Check us out on line at hurstsberwynjewelers.com; then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment. We’re not the common jeweler.

A 35 carat gem, ‘the Beau Sancy’ is thought to have been found in India and entered Europe’s history in 1570 when it was offered for sale in Constantinople (modern Istanbul). Speculatively, Nicolas de Harlay, Sieur (or “Lord”) of Sancy snapped it up and went on to offer it and a larger diamond for sale to Europe’s royalty, the larger becoming known as ‘the Sancy‘ and the smaller one ‘the Beau Sancy.’ Perhaps ironically, though he was a wealthy man of affairs in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, it is through the diamonds that he sold we best know of him.

In 1604 Sancy sold the larger of the two diamonds to James I of England and the smaller to Marie de Médicis. In 1610 Marie had the diamond set into the crown she would wear at her coronation – high fashion for royalty then and now; but not necessarily good luck. Marie was crowned ‘Queen Consort’ on May 13 and the following day her king, Henry IV of France, was stabbed to death by Francois Ravaillac, a religious fanatic who’s emotional instability had caused him to be rejected by two religious orders he’d attempted to join. After that everything was downhill for Marie. Though she was immediately recognized as regent for her eight year old son (Louis XIII), she soon fell into ‘bad habits’ that led to a coup d’état against her seven years later. She fled the country but continued to intrigue, without success, for a return to power. She did, however, live like a queen – far beyond her means. Upon her death in 1642, and to settle her debts, the Beau Sancy was sold to Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (he was, effectively, the king of the Netherlands). The diamond then passed through his heirs to William of Orange who gave it to Mary Stuart as a wedding present. In 1689 the couple became co-monarchs of England; but the Beau Sancy became only a passing part of the royal jewels of England.

When William and Mary died without issue, the diamond was inherited by a royal second cousin, Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg. In the course of European politics, Frederick became King Frederick I of Prussia; and the Beau Sancy was set in his royal crown. Over the next 200 years it remained part of the Prussian crown jewels and was ‘restyled’ again and again so that in 1913 it was the center piece of a necklace of diamonds. Then World War I spelled the end for the House of Hohenzollern. With revolution in Germany, Wilhelm II (King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany) fled to exile in the Netherlands – leaving the Beau Sancy behind. When the smoke cleared, the bulk of the gems in the Hohenzollern family’s crown jewels were deposited in museums appropriate to their origins; and the Beau Sancy remained in the old Prussian capital, Berlin. That unfortunate city was virtually destroyed in the last days of World War II; but the Beau Sancy was spared. Some unknown person hid the diamond in a bricked up crypt where, at war’s end, it was discovered by British troops. After, I’m sure, some soul searching, it was returned to the ‘estate of the House of Prussia’ – the Hohenzollerns – and virtually disappeared from view until now.

Early this month Sotheby’s (auctions) announced that on May 15 it would sell ‘The Beau Sancy’ for Georg Friedrich Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia, head of the Imperial House of Hohenzollern and great-great-grandson of Wilhelm II, the last Kaiser of Germany. David Bennet, head honcho of Sotheby’s jewelry division for the Middle East and Europe said, remarking on the gem’s romantic history, “It’s a stone that appeals to me greatly as a survivor of all those tumultuous events”. Of course the real question for Sotheby’s and the prince is that of what price that appeal may command. At present, there are no known offers for the diamond, but Philipp Herzog von Württemberg, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, would like the French Government to buy it (at $4 million, or thereabouts) so that it might be put on display next to the Sancy in the Louvre. Given that government’s current tight finances, that seems unlikely – unless a French ‘white knight’ (only the fabulously wealthy need apply for this job) comes to its rescue and buys the Beau Sancy to donate to the Louvre.

There is no luxury purchase that retains its value as well as an important diamond; so what better way is there to express your love for someone than with the gift of a fine diamond? A carat diamond is, quite literally, a one in a million find; and you have to sort through five million gem quality diamonds to find one large enough to cut into a two carat gem. Only an important diamond approaches the rarity of that special person in your life; so if the time to definitively express your love is now, come see us. We won’t sell you a mediocre diamond; and we’re extremely competitive in our diamond pricing. We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers and after you check us out on line at hurstsberwynjewelers.com, phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment. We’ll help you select the perfect gift, custom made for that most important person in your life.

I was barely four when, seventy years ago, the Japanese attacked our fleet based in the Hawaiian port of Pearl Harbor. Needless to say, a great deal has changed since then; but perhaps the event and the war that followed should be examined for its seminal effect on the world we live in.

On the eve of that long ago war, control of the Pacific basin was generally held to be divided between the Japanese and American navies; and Japan’s purpose was to tip the balance to the Japanese fleet. For six months and a bit more, the Japanese had it all their way, seizing control of the raw materials Japan’s militarists felt necessary to achieving economic independence. Then on June 4, 1942, a brilliant confluence of military intelligence, planning, courage and outrageous good fortune at the Battle of Midway allowed the beleaguered American fleet to even the balance. Over the next year and a half the struggle continued and through it all the American economy churned out an ever growing fleet of warships. As they came into service young Americans eagerly filled them; and the U.S. Navy increasingly tipped the balance our way. The growth had been spectacular.

On the eve of Japan’s incursion into China in 1937, the U.S. Navy had 355 ships in service. Once war appeared on the horizon, the Roosevelt Administration actively pushed warship construction so that on the eve of war in 1941 the U.S. Navy had almost doubled its effective strength; but once war began this construction program was dwarfed. By the end of 1944 our active fleet had grown to almost 6100 warships; and by war’s end (the end of August 1945) we had added nearly 700 more ships to that staggering level. The end of the war, of course, meant that the scale of our active fleet could be hugely scaled back; but the ships, mothballed in harbors up and down our coasts, remained silently in wait.

Though our active fleet on the eve of the Korean War (1950) was roughly the size of our 1941 Navy, its composition was far more modern; and it was without a serious competitor for primacy on the world’s oceans. Just to keep things that way, the U.S. hauled out many of its mothballed veterans to make sure that ‘Pax Americana’ would continue on the world’s seas. It did; and as the ‘Cold War’ continued, a funny thing happened, the law of unintended consequences came into play. That is, with the world’s oceans safe highways for shipping, international trade prospered; and over time the global economy of our own time sputtered into being. Japanese TVs, cars and cameras became commonplace, soon to be followed by newcomer Korean goods; and now, the Chinese have benefited from ‘Pax Americana’. Of course, we’re often alarmed at China’s increasing power; but at this moment the U.S. Navy stands as a singular power in the world. That is (and for the sake of comparison), our fleet is the world’s most powerful (by a huge margin); and taken together with the Navy’s air component and the Marine Corps, our Navy is greater in size than the whole of the United Kingdom’s military establishment. So what does that mean for the global economy?

Your clothes, the food we eat, and more, are often very easily imported; but some imports can be morally compromised. Your cell phone was almost certainly made ‘off shore’ using rare metals and minerals mined in still another part of the world – sometimes by people reduced to near slavery. The chocolate you enjoy very likely began as cacao grown in Africa – often harvested by children (Nestlé, the world’s biggest user of chocolate is currently investigating this); and of course, the jewelry business has been hit by the threat of ‘blood diamonds’. Unlike the electronics industry and the chocolate business, however, the jewelry business has been doing something about the moral challenges of a global economy. The mechanism is called the Kimberly Process and the U.S. Government subscribes to it. Without going into great detail, it is a system for tracking diamonds from the mine to the consumer in order to guarantee that they are ‘clean’. So while you may swear off some goods, fearing responsibility for the exploitation of others, you may buy diamonds with confidence.

Global demand for diamonds is growing rapidly; but the supply remains stagnant. Very simply, this means that diamond prices are rising and will continue to rise for the foreseeable future. It also has meant that to meet demands, inferior (homely) diamonds now abound on the market; but not here at Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers. We pride ourselves on the quality of our hand selected diamonds so greatly that we promise you that we will not sell you an ugly diamond. So check out our website, hurstsberwynjewelers.com; then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment with one of our jewelry professionals. We’ll help you buy the beautiful gift you really desire. Come see us!

One night a guy strolled into our store a little before closing time, shoved a ring at me and asked, “Is it a real diamond?” The ring looked as if it had been crafted in the Alabama Home for the Terminally Inept and the gem in its center, I swear, looked frosted. “I’ll have to run a couple of tests,” I said; then I checked its thermal conductivity and refractivity. By golly, it was a diamond; so I pronounced it as such. My inquisitor came to bat again, “How big is it?” I took a few measurements and made a couple of calculations. “It’s about a carat,” I replied. “What do you think of it?” he asked. “You don’t want to know,” I replied. “No, really, what do you think of it?” he insisted. “You really don’t want to know,” I demurred. He relentlessly insisted, “Yes, I do.” Compelled to an honest evaluation, I said, “It’s the ugliest diamond I’ve ever seen.” Somewhat miffed at my candor, he stalked out with a parting shot, “Well, I only paid $2900 for it!” His rudeness aside, I could not help but wonder why he had bought it. If, however, you think he had been ‘pretty cool’ in his diamond purchase, I have formulated the following rules to aid you in emulating his success.
The first rule in “how to buy a mediocre diamond” is to never look at one. Buy one over the internet on the basis of a ‘cert‘ – a laboratory grading report. If you think yourself to be a serious diamond buyer, you’ll know that not all certs are created equally; the worst are inflated sales aids. Diamond experts, however, also know that even the best ‘cert’ won’t tell you everything about a diamond’s appearance. Were you to look at diamonds, you might gather some ideas and form an opinion about the components of diamond beauty. Then, goodness knows, were you to exclusively restrict your choices to beautiful diamonds, you’d have far, far fewer to chose from; and each would cost more than the ‘bargain‘ at the bottom of the barrel.
Our second rule for buying a mediocre diamond is to consider diamond weight exclusively in your purchase (diamonds are weighed in carats – a carat is .2 of a gram). Pay no attention to the fact that the distribution of a diamonds weight has a huge affect on a its appearance (If you think a 5 foot tall,100 pound woman looks no more healthy than a 6 foot tall 100 pound man this will come to you naturally). Ignoring a diamond’s proportions will guarantee that you will buy your “carats” cheaply. They might be homely, and they may not look their weight, but they’ll be cheap.
Our third rule for buying a mediocre diamond is to fixate on color, clarity and price. Pay no attention to the fact that color and clarity were innate in the diamond while it lay in the ground, just buy the color and clarity you want at the lowest possible price. I suggest you buy an uncut diamond. It’ll look like a piece of wax, but you will have successfully purchased your desired color and clarity at the lowest possible price. Indeed, you will have also maximized the weight you will have purchased at that price.
To understand the last rule, let’s go back to the fellow at the beginning of our story and his diamond. We’ll clear up the mystery of its polish (its frosted appearance) and that will take us to the fourth rule for buying a mediocre diamond. Polish is one of the important elements in a diamond’s beauty; so I couldn’t get the ugly gem’s appearance out of my head. A few months later I was talking to Hearts On Fire diamond cutter Brian McCardy; and I had to ask him about that frosted finish. “That’s easy,” he replied. “It had been burnt, exposed to high heat for a long time, probably in a crematorium.” When he said that, everything fell into place. The odds were very good that it had been stolen from someone’s ashes. Of course the guy wouldn’t be sure if it was a diamond, he’d bought “a good deal” but very probably not through a regular retail jeweler who had a reputation to maintain.
So there it is; if you really want to buy a mediocre diamond, you must never look at real diamonds, just buy a piece of paper. Then as you shop, shop for the absolute lowest price for a given weight, color and clarity. Ignore cut; and finally, pay no attention to the person you will buy it from – in fact, the shadier his personality, the better. If, on the other hand, you want a beautiful diamond, you need look no farther than Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers. Each of our diamonds is hand selected for extraordinary appearance. That means that when we turn out the lights at our diamond counter (try asking any other jeweler to do that) the diamond must still look brilliant. It’s up to you, beauty – at competitive prices – or a diamond that will dog you with its mediocre appearance forever. If you’re serious, phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment to buy the very best in diamond beauty.

I’d never heard of the Black Orlov, not to be confused with the historically important “Orlov Diamond”, until it was sold at auction four or five years ago. It was really the ‘legend’ associated with the diamond rather than the diamond itself that caught my attention. Its “history”, as presented in the newsletter announcing the auction, had been provocative. The diamond had been presented as “The Infamous Black Orlov Diamond”, a cursed gem; and the story had begun by tracing the diamond’s origin to the eye of an idol in Pondicherry, India. Stolen by a Russian adventurer in the early 1800s, the story went on, it had become the Black Orlov when it was acquired by Russian Prince Grigori Grigorievich Orlov, who had then presented it to the Tsarina, Catherine the Great. Early 1800’s? Catherine the Great? Not likely, as she had died in 1796. Perhaps the date was a misprint, so I dug a bit deeper.

The British Natural History Museum had displayed the diamond and reported the “curse of the Black Orlov” in it’s September 21, 2005 news release. It made the improbable connection to Catherine the Great as well; and it presented evidence of the alleged curse. It rested on the claimed suicides of Princess Nadia Vyegin-Orlov, Princess Leonila Galitsine-Bariatinsky and J.W. Paris, each reputed to have been a former owner of the diamond. A diamond that drove people to suicide? The story strained my credulity, even the Hope diamond doesn’t have inexplicable tragedy associated with it. In my skepticism I turned to the “Natural Color Diamond Encyclopedia” and found a story that was not associated with “selling” the diamond in any way.

The entry on the Black Orlov described the diamond as a dark “gun-metal” in color and not absolutely opaque; then it went on to discuss the “legend of the Black Orlov”. I was cheered to read, “Regrettably, most accounts of the early history of this diamond must be treated with the utmost skepticism.” The author observed that there is no evidence of black diamonds having ever been found in India (in fact, natural black diamonds have only been found in Brazil and in the Central African Republic). Had one been found, he or she continued, it is unlikely that it would have been used as the eye of an idol since Hindus see black as an inauspicious color. Third, there never was a Princess Nadia Vyegin-Orlov; all princes Orlov descended from the brother of Catherine the Great’s lover, Count Grigori Grigorievitch Orlov. Finally, the diamond’s cushion shape indicates that it was probably polished in the19th century.

“Diamond Legend”, another internet resource, shed a little more light on the story. It reported that one real, historical, princess might have been a cause of the “legend”. While there is no evidence of a Princess Nadia Vyegin-Orlov, it commented, there had been a Princess Nadezhda Petrovna Orlov (probably nicknamed Nadia). Her family had lived on Black Lake before the Revolutions of 1917 and bred horses known as “Black Orlovs”. Thus, though there is no record of it, given the family’s ‘branded’ horses, a large black diamond might have been a natural purchase. After the revolutions, probably using the family’s jewelry to finance her flight and resettlement, Nadia had settled in France. Hardly a suicide, she had lived to the age of 90, dying in 1988; and with no ‘witnesses’ to dispute the story, I suspect the stories of the Orlov (which Grigori, Grigorievich Orlov had given to Catherine the Great) and the Black Orlov were deliberately conflated, the better to sell the black diamond.

If you’re in the market for the perfect gift this Christmas and have become frustrated with salespeople who neither know jewelry nor are interested in you, come see us here at Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers. We know jewelry and we understand that your gift may well be your way of saying, “I love you..” No one will take your search for that perfect gift as seriously as we will. So to know a bit about our offerings, check out our website, hurstsberwynjewelers.com, then come see us. Oh! To save a little money, you may want to check out our ’12 Days of Christmas Challenge”. Your correct answer can save you $50.00!

When we receive any new gem or piece of jewelry from a vendor it is subjected to an exhaustive inspection. Our quality standards are so high that on one occasion I was not particularly startled to overhear Kathleen say (speaking on the telephone), “I don’t care if it is good enough for (fill in the name of a prestigious jeweler), it’s not good enough for me!” She was addressing faults she had found in the manufacture of a piece shipped us, however, not the gem with which it was set. Gems pose other problems.
A few days ago, for example, one of our office people, a person without gem knowledge, was given a piece of jewelry that had just arrived and asked to begin the inspection process by checking it for obvious defects in manufacture and for the presence of hallmarks and trademarks. (To protect consumers against under karating, that is, cheating on gold or platinum content, U.S. law requires that fabricated precious metal jewelry shipped interstate must be trademarked if it is hallmarked – marked with a statement of gold or platinum content.) At any rate, our diligent staff member strayed into an inspection of the gems included in the piece and was horrified to see that one of them (a bead, probably faceted in India) had internal fractures. She called it to my attention and in the short conversation that ensued it became clear she was not aware that more gems are flawed with internal fractures than not. Indeed, these days most of the small diamonds incorporated into the inexpensive 10 karat gold jewelry found in mass merchandise outlets are so heavily fractured that they are opaque. Interestingly enough, in larger diamonds, those not so terribly fractured, this has led to “fracture filling”.
In principal, this is usually accomplished by flowing molten leaded glass into its fractures. Leading increases the index of refraction of glass enough to bring it close to that of a diamond, sufficiently close to “heal” the fracture and in so doing make the diamond appear to be perfect to the naked eye. Firms that specialize in fracture filling are continuously working on ways to improve their processes, but the buyer should be informed of fracture filling since the process (though it enhances the gem’s appearance) does not increase its value. Beyond that, no fracture filling process that I know of is as durable as the diamond, so, under some circumstances, it can fall out (a possibility usually covered by the processor’s guarantee). Of course, fracture filling some gems is nothing new.
Though I have access to some gorgeous, relatively ‘perfect’ untreated emeralds, most commercially available emeralds are fractured and for literally hundreds of years Asian gem cutters have “healed” their fractures by immersing them in oil – traditionally, cedar oil. The oil seeps into the fractures and stays there after the gem is removed from its “bath”, thus hiding its internal flaws. Of course, this treatment is far from permanent. Industrious washing using modern detergents or cleaning “oiled” emeralds in an ultrasonic cleaning machine will remove the oil and “restore” the gem to its fractured appearance. More durable fracture fillings for emeralds have been developed over the last few decades; but they must still be worn and cleaned with care. Most recently, fracture filling rubies has become commonplace. In this process rough rubies are mixed with powdered leaded glass (and some other, color specific, additives) and heated to between 1600º and 1900º fahrenheit. The range of temperatures is a reflection in the variety of techniques employed in this process; but simply put, the powdered glass melts and flows into the fissures in the rubies to hide them. As with all other types of fracture filling, this process enhances the gem’s appearance but not its inherent value. Like diamonds that are fracture filled, the consumer should be alerted to the treatment before he buys a fracture filled ruby – but I fear this will not always, and perhaps, seldom happen. They are likely to be set in inexpensive jewelry and sold by mass merchandisers who commit little time or money to training their sales people in the niceties of gem sales. Ignorance usually triumphs – Caveat emptor.
The buyer never need be wary when he buys a Hearts On Fire diamond or fine diamond Jewelry by Hearts On Fire. The brand is dedicated to quality, not price; and this drives Hearts On Fire to perfection. So uniformly perfect is the work of Hearts On Fire’s cutters that it is the only diamond we will buy sight unseen. We know it will be perfectly cut, amazing in its beauty. And while we rigorously inspect each piece of Jewelry by Hearts On Fire (you can’t compromise standards and be a Hearts On Fire jeweler), it is quite unusual for a piece of Jewelry by Hearts On Fire to “flunk” our inspection. In the rare moments when one has slipped by Hearts On Fire’s inspectors, we never get an argument. Hearts On Fire replaces it at once because it expects every diamond it cuts and every piece of jewelry it makes to be perfect; so if you need the perfect diamond gift, only Hearts On Fire from Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers will do. Check out our collection on line at hurstsberwynjewelers.com; then phone us at 708.788.0880 for our holiday hours.
OH! Don’t forget to check out our 12 Days of Christmas Challenge; you may save yourself $50.00!

I was barely four when, seventy years ago, the Japanese attacked our fleet based in the Hawaiian port of Pearl Harbor. Needless to say, a great deal has changed since then; but perhaps the event and the war that followed should be examined for its seminal effect on the world we live in.

On the eve of that long ago war, control of the Pacific basin was generally held to be divided between the Japanese and American navies; and Japan’s purpose was to tip the balance to the Japanese fleet. For six months and a bit more, the Japanese had it all their way, seizing control of the raw materials Japan’s militarists felt necessary to achieving economic independence. Then on June 4, 1942, a brilliant confluence of military intelligence, planning, courage and outrageous good fortune at the Battle of Midway allowed the beleaguered American fleet to even the balance. Over the next year and a half the struggle continued and through it all the American economy churned out an ever growing fleet of warships. As they came into service young Americans eagerly filled them; and the U.S. Navy increasingly tipped the balance our way. The growth had been spectacular.

On the eve of Japan’s incursion into China in 1937, the U.S. Navy had 355 ships in service. Once war appeared on the horizon, the Roosevelt Administration actively pushed warship construction so that on the eve of war in 1941 the U.S. Navy had almost doubled its effective strength; but once war began this construction program was dwarfed. By the end of 1944 our active fleet had grown to almost 6100 warships; and by war’s end (the end of August 1945) we had added nearly 700 more ships to that staggering level. The end of the war, of course, meant that the scale of our active fleet could be hugely scaled back; but the ships, mothballed in harbors up and down our coasts, remained silently in wait.

Though our active fleet on the eve of the Korean War (1950) was roughly the size of our 1941 Navy, its composition was far more modern; and it was without a serious competitor for primacy on the world’s oceans. Just to keep things that way, the U.S. hauled out many of its mothballed veterans to make sure that ‘Pax Americana’ would continue on the world’s seas. It did; and as the ‘Cold War’ continued, a funny thing happened, the law of unintended consequences came into play. That is, with the world’s oceans safe highways for shipping, international trade prospered; and over time the global economy of our own time sputtered into being. Japanese TVs, cars and cameras became commonplace, soon to be followed by newcomer Korean goods; and now, the Chinese have benefited from ‘Pax Americana’. Of course, we’re often alarmed at China’s increasing power; but at this moment the U.S. Navy stands as a singular power in the world. That is (and for the sake of comparison), our fleet is the world’s most powerful (by a huge margin); and taken together with the Navy’s air component and the Marine Corps, our Navy is greater in size than the whole of the United Kingdom’s military establishment. So what does that mean for the global economy?

Your clothes, the food we eat, and more, are often very easily imported; but some imports can be morally compromised. Your cell phone was almost certainly made ‘off shore’ using rare metals and minerals mined in still another part of the world – sometimes by people reduced to near slavery. The chocolate you enjoy very likely began as cacao grown in Africa – often harvested by children (Nestlé, the world’s biggest user of chocolate is currently investigating this); and of course, the jewelry business has been hit by the threat of ‘blood diamonds’. Unlike the electronics industry and the chocolate business, however, the jewelry business has been doing something about the moral challenges of a global economy. The mechanism is called the Kimberly Process and the U.S. Government subscribes to it. Without going into great detail, it is a system for tracking diamonds from the mine to the consumer in order to guarantee that they are ‘clean’. So while you may swear off some goods, fearing responsibility for the exploitation of others, you may buy diamonds with confidence.

Global demand for diamonds is growing rapidly; but the supply remains stagnant. Very simply, this means that diamond prices are rising and will continue to rise for the foreseeable future. It also has meant that to meet demands, inferior (homely) diamonds now abound on the market; but not here at Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers. We pride ourselves on the quality of our hand selected diamonds so greatly that we promise you that we will not sell you an ugly diamond. So this Christmas check out our website, hurstsberwynjewelers.com; then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment with one of our jewelry professionals. We’ll help you buy the beautiful gift you really desire. Come see us!

Back in the 1800s English historian Thomas Carlyle coined the phrase “The Dismal Science” to describe the economics of a proposal to reintroduce slavery into the British Empire. His recommendations went unheeded, but the term has since come to be applied to all of economics, not unfairly I think.

A few weeks ago Professor Thomas J. Sargent (New York University) received a Nobel Prize for economics, primarily as a product of his thought on macroeconomic human behavior. It is built on the notion that the economic behavior of the human race is the product of our ‘rational expectations’. In this, he is not alone. After Professor Sargent published ‘Rational Expectations and Econometric Practice (with Robert E. Lucas Jr.) in 1981, the notion that the universe of our economic lives is mechanistically stable, rational and repetitive became dominant in the world of economic thought. Of course, the key word for the mechanists is “rational”. Its corollary, of course, is that virtually all people govern their economic lives through efficient economic decisions based on a cold analysis of all of the information available to them. Needless to say, I’m skeptical of their thinking.

What puzzles me is how the Swedish Academy could have ignored the economic collapse of 2008 in awarding the prize to Professor Sargent. Though he is clearly a thinker to be reckoned with, I fear that this event, dismissed by the ‘rationalists’ as a ‘random shock‘, has made it clear that rationality is not the only factor in our economic thinking. Indeed emotions such as greed, fear and aspirations seem to play important roles in our economic life, considerations that defied the predictions of Professor Sargent and his ‘posse’. After the fact, of course, macroeconomic thinkers have come up with explanations to link rationality to the behaviors that led to the train wreck; but I am inclined to dismiss this as the rationalizations of those who cannot admit to ignorance. All of which brings me to the price of gold.

Howard, one of the characters in John Huston’s 1948 film ‘The Treasure of Sierra Madre’ summarized the problem of gold, both for the viewer and future economists. “Aah, gold’s a devilish sort of thing, anyway. You start out, you tell yourself you’ll be satisfied with 25,000 handsome smackers worth of it. So help me, Lord, and cross my heart. Fine resolution. After months of sweatin’ yourself dizzy, and growin’ short on provisions, and findin’ nothin’, you finally come down to 15,000, then ten. Finally, you say, “Lord, let me just find $5,000 worth and I’ll never ask for anythin’ more the rest of my life.”” If you missed it, that’s greed and disappointment in a nutshell; and reason has little to do with it. And so it goes for the price of gold in our own time.

While the only sweat involved in speculating in gold is the cold sweat of fear (not rationality), I think it’s real enough to have caused the current demand for gold, and thus its price, to wobble a bit over the last few weeks. Those who have lost faith in fiat currency, fearful that the sovereign debt crisis currently afflicting Europe will somehow diminish their nest eggs of saved wealth, have driven the price of gold to new highs. Speculators (speculating on the gullibility of ‘gold bugs’?) have been the other force driving gold prices; but like Howard’s gold miner, they seen to have become a bit disappointed in the easy profitability of gold. After crossing over the $1800/ounce mark several weeks ago, the price of gold has wobbled between the $1600/ounce range and the mid-$1700s; and this can only be a product of the failed anticipation of quick profits. Not being a macroeconomist, I see the ‘ups’ as driven by fear and greed and the ‘downs‘, as Howard observed, driven by the failure of gold purchases to meet greedy expectations. No doubt, rationalist macroeconomists have an ‘after the fact’ explanation for the volatility of gold prices, but I think ‘rational expectations‘ really have little to do with it.

If any purchase is emotionally driven, it is the purchase of a diamond; so we don’t sell commodity diamonds and jewelry. Our gems are hand selected for beauty and our jewelry is design and labor intensive, much closer to art than mere raw materials. For these reasons, ‘one-off’ custom manufacture is part and parcel of what we offer you; and our “crown jewels”, of course, are our diamonds, particularly our Hearts On Fire diamonds. They are the ultimate in the diamond cutter’s art; so their singular blazing beauty makes them the perfect gift. Giving one to her or him will say “I love you,” perfectly. So check out our collection of fine jewelry on line at hurstsberwynjewelers.com; then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment. We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers; and we have the stuff of dreams waiting for you.

One’s formative years are exactly that, years that shape you. With that as a given, I must confess that my formative years in the jewelry business (more than 55 years ago!) were colored by a certain contempt for costume jewelry. It was gold plated stuff that, at cost, sold at prices like ‘$13.75/dozen’; that is, each piece cost just a bit more than a dollar. My boss hoped to sell half of it at his regular retail mark-up for such merchandise and then close out the balance for half or less of the retail price. Anything that survived the sale would be, quite literally, scrapped. Given the fact that I was being paid fifty cents an hour, the idea of throwing away stuff he’d paid good money for horrified me; yet I could see the sense to it. It was, after all, often referred to in the trade as ‘junk jewelry’, stuff that could easily be discarded. It is equally understandable, however, that as I grew into ownership I would avoid being involved in jewelry of such dubious value. Give me gold, silver, platinum and real gems; that’s the stuff! So you can imagine my puzzlement when I learned that there are people who collect and value jewelry that I had participated in throwing away half a century ago.

I was, for example, stunned to learn that there was a market for the bakelite jewelry manufactured during World War II. The boss of my youth had held on to some of it for eight years after the war’s end, frugal Czech that he was; but even he reached the point where he scratched his head and could see no reason to save it from the trash can. It had no intrinsic value and no one wanted to buy it; why give it valuable space? Yet today, I’m told, a very tall former governor of our state collects the stuff and will pay a pretty penny for some of it. Who knew? Then there are the gold plated cuff links we had in for our recent estate sale. Fifty years ago I bought a pair like it in a men’s store (and better looking, I think) for $5.00. I still have them and I would have to say that they are valueless. The pair that arrived for our estate show, however, had belonged to Bob Hope; and apparently his fame had rubbed off on them to the tune of a couple of hundred dollars. I scratched my head in bewilderment at that. Certainly, their perceived value would dissipate as the late Mr. Hope became just a faint whisper in history; but perhaps therein lie the tales that impel people to collect. It’s romance. I will guess that somehow bakelite jewelry has some emotional meaning to those who collect it (association with what is perceived as an heroic age in our history?); while Bob Hope’s jewelry may have nostalgic significance for those who value it. At any rate, I’ve been drawn up short, again, on the subject of costume jewelry.

It seems that a London auction house, Drewatts, has sold some of the late Duchess of Windsor’s costume jewelry at auction (October 10). While the Duchess had a large collection of ‘real’ jewelry, the Financial Times recently quoted her as saying (in 1937, the year following her failure to make the cut as next queen of England), “I hate to admit it, but I am absolutely fascinated by fake jewellery at the moment; I think it is so good.” The pieces auctioned off included a ‘body-sculpture’ necklace of truly regal proportions; that is, it is a faux Middle-Eastern style necklace that, as it extends from neck to navel, is nearly a garment. I can’t say what it must have cost in 1937 nor what its value might be today; but prior to the auction Drewatts estimated that the collection might earn close to $5,000 at auction. James Nicholson, Drewatts, authority on jewelry, defended this estimate observing that “Royal memorabilia is in a different category. It’s the association with a woman known for her style and her jewellery.” “Anything to do with the duke and the duchess will help,” Nicholson observed, “Magical names bring people out.” I’m sure he’s right; but as for me, I’m still skeptical about the real value of anything that’s not ‘real’.

Of course, my prejudices reflect itself in our jewelry. I just can’t see jewelry that is the first thing to turn green in the spring; so ours is real gold, real platinum and real silver. Our gems are both real and gorgeous; and we pride ourselves, in particular, on our diamonds, which we hand selected for their beauty – very real and lasting ‘bling.’ We do our very best to tightly control the quality of all that we offer since we believe that it, with the careful wear a piece of fine jewelry deserves, should be able to last you for the rest of your life. Check out our jewelry collection on line at hurstsberwynjewelers.com; then phone us for an appointment to select your perfect piece of jewelry. We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers; and our greatest pleasure is fulfilling your dreams. Oh! When you come, bring your sunglasses. Some people find looking at real ‘bling’ hard on their eyes.

I know, you’ve never seen the term before; so think about it. Jewelry that you don’t wear can be scrapped; but if it has emotional content, that will be lost. If its emotional content is important, then you may think about reusing its component parts to make something you will wear, since it is a certainty that if it sits, neglected, in a dresser drawer for the next thirty years its emotional content will diminish. Out of sight is out of mind. Not only that, given the current high prices for precious metals and diamonds, ‘upcycling’ a piece of jewelry that has lost its wearability is probably the least expensive way to enjoy a new piece of jewelry you will love and admire. Perhaps a couple of stories I can tell you will make your decision a little easier.

A few years ago the daughter of one of my oldest friends came into the store with her grandmother’s diamond ring. She recognized that it was worn beyond repair but wanted to be able to wear ‘grandma’s diamond’. That meant scrapping the ring for its precious metal and setting the diamond in a new ring; but as the diamond was really homely (it had, most likely, been cut – for weight, not beauty – at the mine in the late 1800s); I had to stick my nose in with some advice. “Let me have it recut for you. It will make the diamond pop with beauty.” From the standpoint of a sale, I’d made a mistake – no sale; but she did say that she would think it over. To give her some food for thought, I had to remind her that I’d known her grandmother (and had hung around her house for countless hours in high school). She had been a much bigger woman; and I observed as much, remarking, “ If you had wanted to wear your grandmother’s wedding dress, it would have to have been altered. This is no different.” My argument not withstanding, however, she had to think it over.

A few months later she returned to ask me what she could expect if the diamond were to be recut. I measured it and realized that a really radical recut would reduce the weight of her grandmother’s diamond by less than 10%. Moreover, I told her, it would appear no smaller since the diamond cutter’s work would do little to change the diamond’s diameter. She left the diamond and I sent it off to one of the two best diamond cutters in the United States. Six weeks later the diamond was back, and it was beautiful. I phoned her to come see it. She loved it and selected a new ring to put it in, one that she wears to this day; and every time she looks at it or someone admires it and comments on it, her grandmother’s memory lives on.

Then there was the woman who had inherited her mother’s engagement ring and had worn it every day to do everything. She loved the old ring and her idea of ‘upcycling’ had been repairing it. Now it was worn beyond redemption, a collection of what can only be called ‘wires’; and one by one they were cracking. As she hadn’t realized that a gold ring could wear out, she was heartbroken. We looked at new rings for the diamonds; but nothing would do. Then we offered to duplicate her mother’s ring; and though that would be considerably more expensive than buying a series production ring, it was exactly what she wanted. It took a little back and forth with the artisan who would make it; but finally she felt we’d captured the essence of the original ring. We made it. She loved it. End of story.

Currently we’re upcycling grandma’s diamond for a young woman to wear on her wedding day. It has been somewhat problematic as she doesn’t have an easy time visualizing the designs we’ve proposed. It was time for Kathy to the rescue. She found pictures of some commercially available settings, cut them out and ‘pasted’ them on the young woman’s chest until, together, they found one that looked good in the mirror. It was a contemporary heart shape without a place for a diamond in it; but that was no problem. Stepping back into the dialogue, I pointed out a, somewhat unorthodox, place to position the diamond. Kathy removed doubts by placing one of our stock diamonds (of the same size as grandma’s) in the position and the young woman was pleased. Now we’re in the process of fabricating a custom head (the setting for the diamond) that will uniquely complete the piece. Sure it will take time, but fine jewelry is all about forever and the woman is patient.

This is typical of our business. We average at least one custom order each week; and to preserve the value of the pieces we make, we insist that they be crafted to the highest standards in the jewelry business. So if you need to ‘upcycle’ a piece of jewelry or need a new piece of breathtaking beauty, come see us. We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers; and our pleasure is helping you realize your dreams. Check us out on the web at hurstsberwynjewelers.com; then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment. We won’t disappoint you.