About Our Gemstones, Pearls and Metal Components

I source my gemstones from a small number of gemstone merchants in India and the USA.  The freshwater pearls in my jewelry are sourced from a small family owned and run Pearl Farm in Yiwu, China. And the metals I use - Sterling Silver and Gold Filled wire, accent beads, etc -- are sourced from a couple of USA-based merchants.

I'm often asked about how Gold Filled wire compares to Gold Plated and Solid Gold.  Gold Filled is the 'next best thing' to Solid Gold, at a fraction of the price.

Here's some more information about the different types of Gold used in jewelry making (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold-filled_jewelry) 

"Gold-filled jewelry is jewelry composed of a solid layer of gold (typically constituting at least 5% of the item's total weight) mechanically bonded to a base of either sterling silver or some base metal. The related terms "rolled gold plate" and "gold overlay" may legally be used in some contexts if the layer of gold constitutes less than 5% of the item's weight.^[1][2]

Most high quality gold-filled pieces have the same appearance as high carat gold, and gold-filled items, even with daily wear, can last 10 to 30 years though the layer of gold will eventually wear off exposing the metal underneath. The layer of gold on gold-filled items is 5 to 10 times thicker than that produced by regular gold plating, and 15 to 25 times thicker than that produced by gold electroplate (sometimes stamped HGE for "heavy gold electroplate" or HGP for "heavy gold plate", which have neither of them any legal meaning and indicate only that the item is gold plated)."