Instore Magazine is a leading trade magazine for the jewelry industry and a valuable tool for jewelry stores throughout the nation. Instore has even begun its own annual trade show in Chicago called the Smart Show, where jewelers from around the country gather and conference – providing each other with tips on how to grow and succeed in this business. There is actually a sense of community at the show, and ideas are shared instead of guarded. Mark has been a featured speaker at the last two shows – his out of the box thinking isn’t just applied to his designs, but his business as well. Mark will again be featured at this years Smart Show, and is psyched to head back to Chi-town (his hometown!) and share his knowledge with his peers (and learn from them as well!).
Instore Magazine’s current issue contains a new feature called ‘The Sanity Files’ and Mark Loren is the first jeweler to be highlighted. This time, Mark is being asked to share how he manages to keep his cool and simultaneously run a business and a family. Mark has expertise in many areas, and this is another one he’s a master of! Stress and depression suppress creativity, and designers are not the only ones who need to be creative to succeed.
When asked about the interview, Mark responded: “It was fun to do and I was glad they asked…Good to take a look from time to time and see what are those things we do to keep our sanity and a balanced sense of self.”
If Mark’s tips don’t work for ya, you can always stop in for some ‘Shopping Therapy’!
Put your scrap towards a new custom piece or one of Mark’s existing creations & get an extra 20% added to its value to put towards your purchase!
We all have jewelry we’ve fallen out of love with & some pieces we didn’t like much to begin with, an earring that is missing its mate, and a broken bauble or two. The clutter in the bottom of your jewelry box is taking up space when it could be making you money. Mark Loren Designs offers scrap gold buying services to our clients only. We offer the highest price in town for your gold. Unlike other scrappers, Mark will actually use the materials to create his unique one-of-a-kind designs, rather than re-selling the metal to a refinery. We protect your privacy; bring in your scrap for a free evaluation in our private consultation room.
The kids are on to something – we’ve got bling for their parents and tasty treats for them as well! In addition to all of the rare and beautiful treasures in our gallery, we have a jewelry candy case (featured in InStore Magazine!). It is well stocked with candy necklaces, Ring Pops, bracelets and coins. Also check out our Gemball Machine! It is filled with all kinds of gems, and 50¢ buys you a crank of the machine – and a gem! The money put into the Gemball Machine is then donated to Dr. Salman’s Pediatric Oncology Group.
We are proud to have added Jen Hilliker to our team! Jen got her BA from Furman University; she majored in Communications with a minor in Spanish. She also attended FIT studying Fashion Merchandising, Management and Visual Display. After college she traveled abroad and spent time in Italy. Jen is wonderfully talented and fun to be around – we are lucky to have her! As a fan of sparkles (froms gems to glitter nail polish!), she is pleased to be with us as well! Welcome to the family, Jen!
All of us here, at Mark Loren Designs, want to wish Newlyweds Chris and Beth Larson many happy years together! It was an honor to help them in creating the perfect rings to celebrate one another.
Chris writes:
“Hey Mark,
Just letting you know that we are very satisfied customers and the wedding went off without a hitch. We got married in Sedona, AZ in a spiritual wedding inside a Tipi. Mid ceremony the cold rain that had been pouring all day turned to snow. Frozen sunshine from God! It was a meaningful ceremony and our rings were blessed by the shaman and all of the angels present in our ceremony. We will wear our rings proudly and remember the great experience we had with your staff. Designing them was a snap with Cameron as he was really easy to work with and had a clear understanding of who we are and our vision. Going from the pencil sketch to the wax model was interesting and built excitement in anticipation of the big reveal. Wow!!! what an experience, and it is important to mention our thanks to your whole team of specialists, you all deserve the credit. We will be certain to bring in the rings from time to time for proper cleaning and to say hello. We will certainly recommend your company to anyone interested in a high quality custom piece of jewelry. We have had many comments already and it’s only been a few days since we tied the knot.”
He’s loading up his sleigh with all kinds of sparkling goodies, getting ready for tomorrow night! If you need any help with your Christmas list, stop in and we’ll find the perfect gift for you!
FOR HIM: This year, we are carrying Payne Mason Cigars. There are four flavors in the Connoisseur Collection – one will delight the connoisseur in your family. The cigars are available for individual sale, or in a gift set that comes with 3 cigars, a lighter and cigar cutter.
Or check out our William Henry Knives – these limited edition knives are collector quality and have a warranty so you do not have to fear using them. These make great family heirlooms for fathers to pass down to sons – a really great tradition to start!
We also have some unique leather goods, like stingray leather iPhone covers!
FOR HER: Our custom locking toe rings – Toe Touches - are the hot item! Living in Florida, we bare our toes 90% of the year! Add a little extra sparkle to her pedicure this Christmas!
Black and white diamonds are dazzling and perfect with any outfit! Earrings, rings and pendants – we have a large selection of really cool pieces featuring black diamonds – put some coal in her stocking, cause it’s extra good when she’s bad!
Colored gems – bright and brilliant gemstones = wow factor. Make her eyes light up with a vivid colored gem – select from our jewelry, already set with brilliant gems, or choose a gorgeous gem to present to her the Christmas and let her come in and design the perfect piece to showcase it.
Merry Christmas from all of us at Mark Loren Designs!
June’s birthstone is pearl. Most people do not know much about pearls, and many of them don’t realize that there is much to know!
Pearls are the only gemstones grown inside of a living organism. Natural pearls are formed when a small foreign object, such as a parasite, grain of sand, or piece of food lodges itself in the mantle tissue of a mollusk. When the mollusk is invaded by a foreign object that it cannot eject, it responds by defensively entombing the offending entity in successive, concentric layers of nacre. Nacre is a combination of crystalline and organic substances that form the iridescent mother-of-pearl lining of mollusk shells.
Well formed, symmetrical natural pearls that are large in size are extremely rare. For pearls to form in nature it may take many years of near-perfect conditions for them to make a significant gain in size. Before the beginning of the 20th Century, pearl hunting/pearl diving was the most common way of harvesting pearls.
Divers would manually pull oysters from the ocean floor and river bottoms and checked them individually for pearls; unfortunately, not all natural oysters produce pearls. It would take nearly one ton of oysters to produce only three or four perfect round pearls, making them highly scarce, and valuable. Because of their scarcity, natural pearls are almost always used in single-pearl jewelry pieces. The most common natural pearls are Penn, Abalone, Conch, and Oyster.
It is commonly assumed that only one out of ten-thousand mollusks naturally produce gem quality pearls. Thankfully, the process to culture pearls was developed – otherwise ownership of pearls would still be relegated to the wealthiest and pearl producing mollusks would be on the brink of extinction due to over-harvest.
The principle difference between Natural and Cultured Pearls is the thickness of the nacre, and human intervention. It can take two to five years for a quality natural pearl to fully develop in the oyster. Quality in the culturing process is key: lower quality cultured pearls are created by inserting a large nucleus to hasten the process – resulting in a pearl with a very thin layer of nacre that will not have a great deal of luster, and will not be very durable. TAHITIAN PEARLS: Tahitian pearls are produced in the black-lipped oyster ‘Pinctada margaritifera’, in and around Tahiti and the French Polynesian islands. This oyster itself is quite large – sometimes over 12 inches across and weighing as much as 10 pounds – which often results in much larger-than-average pearls. Not only are the pearls beautiful, but the black-lipped oyster’s mother-of-pearl inner shell is also extremely attractive. By the early part of the 20th century, before conservation and repopulation efforts began, the Tahitian pearl oyster had almost been hunted to extinction for its shell alone.
SOUTH SEA PEARLS: The waters of the South Seas, that lay between the northern coast of Australia and the southern coast of China, are the native habitat of a large oyster known as Pinctada maxima. There are two varieties of Pinctada maxima, the silver-lipped and the gold-lipped. The two are distinguished by their distinct coloration of the outer edge of the interior. This type of shell is also known as mother-of-pearl, and is responsible for the coloration of the cultured pearls produced, therefore the name. The nacre of a South Sea pearl is unusually thick, ranging from 2 – 6 mm, compared to the 0.35 – 0.7 mm of an akoya pearl resulting in a unique, satiny. South Sea pearls also have a subtle array of colors; typically white, silver, and golden, that are rare in other pearl types.
AKOYA: In the early 1900s, Kokichi Mikimoto of the Mikimoto pearl company was the first to successfully and consistently grow round pearls in the akoya pearl oyster utilizing a technique discovered by William Saville-Kent in Australia. The akoya pearls have been synonymous with classic beauty and elegance. They are the roundest of all pearl varieties, and are known for their sharp luster and pink overtones – they are the classic, elegant pearl that springs to most of our minds when we think of a strand of pearls.
Cameron Pelle, our Gallery Manager & Appraiser, is a gemologist (G.J.G.) certified by G.I.A. (the Gemological Institute of America). Melanie Payne, from the News-Press’Tell Mel column, contacted Cameron for his expert opinion for her current article. Cameron analyzed the gem in question and regretfully informed Mel (and Lee Koneval who purchased the ring) that it was not authentic and that she had paid nearly double its value. There are good deals to be had out there – but always remember, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is! Be ware of any merchant who will not give you the opportunity to do some independent research. Also, if you are nervous about the purchase – be sure that you can return the item if you have buyer’s remorse. If the stores policy is ‘no returns’ or they have no storefront to speak of, and therefore would be hard to track down – you are really taking a gamble. Our gallery offers insurance appraisals (which are legal documents) for a fee, but we are always happy to give you our professional verbal opinion if you have a piece you are curious about.
He has always been there for you – now he can proudly wear a token of the appreciation you have for him! Rough stone pendants suspended from leather cords are perfect for our rugged role models! A Rolex (previously worn by Minnesota Twins’ star pitcher Bert Blyleven!) tells your sports-fan father you appreciate all the time he has given you. Exquisite knives by William Henry are useful works of art (Mark loves his!), that become family heirlooms to be passed down from one generation to the next.
Stop in today to custom design a Father’s Day gift for your Pop – June 20th will be here before you know it!
May’s birthstone is the vibrant Emerald, and it is an appropriate gem for this last month of spring. Its green color symbolizes life & recalls the colors of spring. Spring comes and goes each year, symbolizing rebirth and renewal. The intense color inspires harmony and illustrates love of nature. It is fresh & vivid – never monotonous.
The Vedas (the holy scriptures of the Indians) claim that emeralds are endowed with the promise of good luck and the power to enhance well-being – making them one of the Maharajahs’ favorite gems.
Emerald in the Rough
Emeralds are actually reasonably hard (7.5 – 8 on the MOHS scale), but hardness only relates to scratchability. Emerald’s reputation for being soft is actually due to its brittleness and its many fissures – which make cutting, setting, & cleaning rather difficult. The ‘Emerald Cut’ was developed to reduce the amount of pressure during cutting, as emeralds are sensitive to pressure due to their internal inclusions.
The Chalk Emerald Ring; 37.82 carats
Emeralds belong, like the light blue aquamarine, the tender pink morganite, the golden heliodor and the pale green beryl, to the large gemstone family of the beryls. Generally, the trace elements responsible for emerald’s color (vanadium & chromium) are concentrated in separate parts of the Earth’s crust from beryllium. Fortunately, intense tectonic processes allowed these contrasting elements to find each other and make this vibrant green gemstone. Due to emerald’s turbulent genesis, undisturbed large, flawless crystals are rare and more valuable than diamonds. Slight inclusions do not diminish value and the character they add actually make it more apparent that the stone is genuine. The fissures and inclusions found in emeralds are referred to as ‘jardin’ which is French for garden – as that is what they resemble – a tiny, private garden paradise.
The Crown of Cortez; 306 carats
Early gemstone merchants sought to purify the transparency of their emeralds by immersing them in clear oils or paraffin. They found that clear oils and waxes rendered surface fissures less visible to the eye. This method of enhancing emeralds continues today – which is why emeralds should never be cleaned in the ultrasonic! The chemicals in cleansers can strip away the oils and leave a dull appearance. Emeralds are also heat sensitive, and repairs to jewelry containing emeralds must be handled carefully by a professional who will either ‘heat sink’ the emerald (protect it by immersing it in water) or use a laser welder that can apply heat with pin-point precision.
Stop in today to see some unique examples of this beautiful gem!
