Jade has an incredibly long, but sometimes confusing history. It is used for jewelry, as well as other ceremonial and decorative uses. The history of jade mining in China goes back 6000 years, and 4,000-year-old ceremonial jade items exist today. It is associated with the ancient cultures of Korea, New Zealand, and it was also used by the Pre-Columbian Americans.

“Miracle” is the trade name of A. Hill & Company LTD. of Birmingham, England, which started manufacturing jewelry in 1946 and is still the leading designer of jewelry in the Celtic, Irish and Scottish style. The Scottish association is not only from their Scottish Designs but also because some of their jewelry was manufactured at the mint in Edinburgh, Scotland. Most of the jewelry was exported.

Many fine jewelry items of karat gold and sterling silver are not marked, either because of their small size or because they were made prior to 1906, when karat marking became mandatory in the US. In some instances, you may even find contemporary artist-made jewelry pieces that are unmarked for metal fineness.

One of a Kind - Not One of a Million - Reminiscing of past Christmas Holidays brings us such joy and all of all our special decorations, lovely holiday dishes and most of all - our treasured Family Christmas Traditions add to the celebration. This is the time of year when we re-discover our Christmas Jewelry too, which also brings back wonderful memories.

The Christmas Tree is one of the most widely used symbols of the Holiday Season. Along with our version of Santa Claus, it only began to see widespread use in the 19th century.

Hi Jewels,
I was just musing about something tonight. I had a really sweet (very young) couple that purchased a lovely white gold pearl and diamond ring recently:

14K White Gold Pearl Diamond Ring

Ever wonder about all the different stones that are used in jewelry, and what the terms mean? Here are four basic categories:

1. natural- meaning the gem was naturally mined out of the earth and then cut and faceted into its final form. (or tumbled into beads, or simply polished into a cabochon- a highly polished and simply domed cut)

Hi Jewels,

For those of you interested in watches and perhaps expanding your collection, I would like to provide you with a few educational resources:

Have you ever seen a Lisner 'Sculpted Oak Leaf' set? If you haven’t you’re missing a real treat!! Juicy, translucent, little molded plastic treasures that look good enough to eat.