<![CDATA[FifiRose: Latest News]]> https://www.fifirose.com Mon, 04 May 2026 08:38:41 +0000 <![CDATA[Kidneys and transplant gifts]]> https://www.fifirose.com/blog/kidneys-and-transplant-gifts/ Sun, 15 Oct 2017 12:59:45 +0000 https://www.fifirose.com/blog/kidneys-and-transplant-gifts/ In this post I want to highlight Myra Schwartz from 
Chicago and her business offering kidney and other organ transplant gifts. I met Myra 5 years ago online on eBay as she was perusing my listings for anything resembling kidneys. While we talked I learned that Myra was a kidney donor recipient. She explained to me that this gift of life often develops into a strong bond of friendship between donees and their donors. Myra wanted to express her gratitude to her donor with a gift but she couldn't find something special. And from that realization a business was born.

Soon we were talking about her ideas for custom designs and of course we were happy to work with her to bring them to fruition. Over the years we have collaborated on many of her designs. Below is an example of a piece based on her sketches that I am particularly proud of as it applies traditional Balinese scrollwork to a beautiful kidney inspired design. 

The collage below shows elements of the design process from various concepts to a finished piece.  

 


Myra just opened her new online store. I invite you to visit her website TransplantGifts.com. There you can read her story and view and shop her creative and unique designs. You can also follow her on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TransplantGifts

]]> In this post I want to highlight Myra Schwartz from 
Chicago and her business offering kidney and other organ transplant gifts. I met Myra 5 years ago online on eBay as she was perusing my listings for anything resembling kidneys. While we talked I learned that Myra was a kidney donor recipient. She explained to me that this gift of life often develops into a strong bond of friendship between donees and their donors. Myra wanted to express her gratitude to her donor with a gift but she couldn't find something special. And from that realization a business was born.

Soon we were talking about her ideas for custom designs and of course we were happy to work with her to bring them to fruition. Over the years we have collaborated on many of her designs. Below is an example of a piece based on her sketches that I am particularly proud of as it applies traditional Balinese scrollwork to a beautiful kidney inspired design. 

The collage below shows elements of the design process from various concepts to a finished piece.  

 


Myra just opened her new online store. I invite you to visit her website TransplantGifts.com. There you can read her story and view and shop her creative and unique designs. You can also follow her on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TransplantGifts

]]> <![CDATA[Druzy wire wrapping art]]> https://www.fifirose.com/blog/druzy-wire-wrapping-art/ Thu, 27 Oct 2016 03:19:31 +0000 https://www.fifirose.com/blog/druzy-wire-wrapping-art/ For some time now we have been offering titanium druzy. Titanium druzies are very special stones. Typically, they are agate mineral stones which are crystalized into druzy formation. Although beautiful in their natural form, these stones become quite special once you perform a little trick called Chemical Vapor Deposition.

It's a mouth-full but basically what is means is that a thin layer of titanium is bonded to the agate. This is a molecular bond, extremely strong and thin so that it preserves the jagged edges of the tiny druzy crystals. The result is a vivid stone displaying vibrant colors and sparkling like 1000's of little diamonds.

Although we love to use titanium druzies in our own designs, we also offer them to designers all over the world.

One such designer is David McQuinn from Vero Beach, FL. David sent in these pictures of a jewelry set he designed for a customer. The stone is a 2" oval window druzy in Top Notch color. It is wrapped in 5 feet of Argentium silver finished with Swarovski stones. The piece is attached to a necklace in matching Swarovski pearls strung in silk thread and hand knitted between each pearl.

It is a stunning set that I am thrilled to share. If you want to learn more about David's work you can visit his Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/david.l.mcquinn

img-2196.jpg

]]> For some time now we have been offering titanium druzy. Titanium druzies are very special stones. Typically, they are agate mineral stones which are crystalized into druzy formation. Although beautiful in their natural form, these stones become quite special once you perform a little trick called Chemical Vapor Deposition.

It's a mouth-full but basically what is means is that a thin layer of titanium is bonded to the agate. This is a molecular bond, extremely strong and thin so that it preserves the jagged edges of the tiny druzy crystals. The result is a vivid stone displaying vibrant colors and sparkling like 1000's of little diamonds.

Although we love to use titanium druzies in our own designs, we also offer them to designers all over the world.

One such designer is David McQuinn from Vero Beach, FL. David sent in these pictures of a jewelry set he designed for a customer. The stone is a 2" oval window druzy in Top Notch color. It is wrapped in 5 feet of Argentium silver finished with Swarovski stones. The piece is attached to a necklace in matching Swarovski pearls strung in silk thread and hand knitted between each pearl.

It is a stunning set that I am thrilled to share. If you want to learn more about David's work you can visit his Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/david.l.mcquinn

img-2196.jpg

]]> <![CDATA['Is this real sterling silver?']]> https://www.fifirose.com/blog/is-this-real-sterling-silver/ Wed, 20 Apr 2016 05:47:39 +0000 https://www.fifirose.com/blog/is-this-real-sterling-silver/ It is a question I get all the time! And for good reason, there is so much cheating going on. Ebay is rampant with listings for sterling silver jewelry that are priced below even the world market price for silver. Unless these vendors have a private silver mine in their backyard, it is a dead giveaway they are cheating their customers. Most of these listings appear to come from China. The merchandise looks great, is stamped 925 but after a couple of months, it turns out it is plated when silver starts wearing off. These are the most egregious offenders.

Then there is a huge gray area of manufacturers that cut corners in less obvious but no less insidious ways. They use an actually silver alloy instead of plating, but they lower the content of silver below 92.5%, pocketing the difference. This type of silver is hard to catch for the regular retail customer. Acid tests are not easy to interpret and they damage the jewelry. As a result, these sellers usually get away with it. Especially jewelry made in India but also much silver from Bali is susceptible to this problem.

But you will be surprised to learn that not only retail consumers fall victim to unscrupulous manufacturers. Wholesale buyers get cheated themselves *all the time*. The truth is, most wholesale buyers don't have the know-how, or the budget to test all their sources. It gets very expensive to do fire assays, or x-ray tests. An x-ray gun costs upward of $15,000. Acid tests are very imprecise, fire assays are precise but destroy the sample. No wonder that many resellers prefer the approach of the 3 wise monkeys, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

And that brings me to our own situation. We have our own workshop where we control the alloy, but how do we control the quality of products that we do not manufacture ourselves? 

Well, for that I use a concept called Specific Gravity(SG). It makes use of the fact that a substance will weigh less in water, than in air. The SG is defined as the weight of 1cm3 worth of material in distilled water at 4 degrees Celsius. For silver, this weight is 10.49gram, for copper this weight is 8.93 grams. By measuring the SG of a silver/copper alloy sample, we can figure out the ratio of silver to copper!

The problem with this method is that it requires an extremely sensitive scale (to 1/10000's of a gram) to take a precise measurement. Sensitive scales are susceptible to the outside influence and require a stable lab type setup. Temperature, prep of the sample, water quality, static electricity buildup, vibration, air flow...they can all impact the measurement. Not exactly something for the faint of heart, but a perfect challenge to my inner nerd. 

With the setup pictured I can measure sterling silver content to within 1% accuracy. 

The point of the story is that it is not enough to ask your vendor whether a particular piece is sterling silver. Ask them where it comes from, what is their process, and what method do they use to verify. If the answer does not satisfy, you are well to move on.

Safe shopping!

Mark

]]> It is a question I get all the time! And for good reason, there is so much cheating going on. Ebay is rampant with listings for sterling silver jewelry that are priced below even the world market price for silver. Unless these vendors have a private silver mine in their backyard, it is a dead giveaway they are cheating their customers. Most of these listings appear to come from China. The merchandise looks great, is stamped 925 but after a couple of months, it turns out it is plated when silver starts wearing off. These are the most egregious offenders.

Then there is a huge gray area of manufacturers that cut corners in less obvious but no less insidious ways. They use an actually silver alloy instead of plating, but they lower the content of silver below 92.5%, pocketing the difference. This type of silver is hard to catch for the regular retail customer. Acid tests are not easy to interpret and they damage the jewelry. As a result, these sellers usually get away with it. Especially jewelry made in India but also much silver from Bali is susceptible to this problem.

But you will be surprised to learn that not only retail consumers fall victim to unscrupulous manufacturers. Wholesale buyers get cheated themselves *all the time*. The truth is, most wholesale buyers don't have the know-how, or the budget to test all their sources. It gets very expensive to do fire assays, or x-ray tests. An x-ray gun costs upward of $15,000. Acid tests are very imprecise, fire assays are precise but destroy the sample. No wonder that many resellers prefer the approach of the 3 wise monkeys, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

And that brings me to our own situation. We have our own workshop where we control the alloy, but how do we control the quality of products that we do not manufacture ourselves? 

Well, for that I use a concept called Specific Gravity(SG). It makes use of the fact that a substance will weigh less in water, than in air. The SG is defined as the weight of 1cm3 worth of material in distilled water at 4 degrees Celsius. For silver, this weight is 10.49gram, for copper this weight is 8.93 grams. By measuring the SG of a silver/copper alloy sample, we can figure out the ratio of silver to copper!

The problem with this method is that it requires an extremely sensitive scale (to 1/10000's of a gram) to take a precise measurement. Sensitive scales are susceptible to the outside influence and require a stable lab type setup. Temperature, prep of the sample, water quality, static electricity buildup, vibration, air flow...they can all impact the measurement. Not exactly something for the faint of heart, but a perfect challenge to my inner nerd. 

With the setup pictured I can measure sterling silver content to within 1% accuracy. 

The point of the story is that it is not enough to ask your vendor whether a particular piece is sterling silver. Ask them where it comes from, what is their process, and what method do they use to verify. If the answer does not satisfy, you are well to move on.

Safe shopping!

Mark

]]> <![CDATA[Necklace blanks for Art From Above]]> https://www.fifirose.com/blog/necklace-blanks-for-art-from-above/ Fri, 25 Sep 2015 23:23:36 +0000 https://www.fifirose.com/blog/necklace-blanks-for-art-from-above/ Recently we were asked by the folks at Art From Above to make collar necklace blanks for their engraving art. We got the specs, went to work and after some iterations, here is the result:

The blanks are hand wrought using traditional silver smith crafting techniques. Art From Above uses these necklace blanks as the canvas for their engraved designs. In the picture below you can see an example of what it looks like as a finished necklace.

This piece has been completely handmade from start to finish. It is a wonderful piece of artistry and you owe it to yourself to check out their other amazing hand engraved jewelry at their Etsy store:

ArtFromAbove

As for us, we love projects like this. These necklace blanks allow Art From Above to focus on their art. If you are an artist and you think we can be of help, let us know!

Mark

]]> Recently we were asked by the folks at Art From Above to make collar necklace blanks for their engraving art. We got the specs, went to work and after some iterations, here is the result:

The blanks are hand wrought using traditional silver smith crafting techniques. Art From Above uses these necklace blanks as the canvas for their engraved designs. In the picture below you can see an example of what it looks like as a finished necklace.

This piece has been completely handmade from start to finish. It is a wonderful piece of artistry and you owe it to yourself to check out their other amazing hand engraved jewelry at their Etsy store:

ArtFromAbove

As for us, we love projects like this. These necklace blanks allow Art From Above to focus on their art. If you are an artist and you think we can be of help, let us know!

Mark

]]> <![CDATA[Gorgeous charoite cabs from Russia]]> https://www.fifirose.com/blog/gorgeous-charoite-cabs-from-russia/ Tue, 25 Aug 2015 22:48:43 +0000 https://www.fifirose.com/blog/gorgeous-charoite-cabs-from-russia/ I am so excited about these charoite cabs, I just had to show them off. 

Charoite is a mineral only found in Siberia, Russia. Good quality charoite is quite rare, which is why I am so excited about these. They each are over 2 1/2" long, with gorgeous shades of lavendar and rich with feathering and chatoyancy. The chatoyancy adds complexity to the surface with reflections that seem to come from inside the stone. The surface changes depending on the angle of view and lighting and it feels as if you are looking into the stone itself.

I wish the picture could do a better job at displaying the depth and complexity of the stones but I am excited to make some amazing statement pieces with them. Let me know if you have any suggestions! 

Mark

]]> I am so excited about these charoite cabs, I just had to show them off. 

Charoite is a mineral only found in Siberia, Russia. Good quality charoite is quite rare, which is why I am so excited about these. They each are over 2 1/2" long, with gorgeous shades of lavendar and rich with feathering and chatoyancy. The chatoyancy adds complexity to the surface with reflections that seem to come from inside the stone. The surface changes depending on the angle of view and lighting and it feels as if you are looking into the stone itself.

I wish the picture could do a better job at displaying the depth and complexity of the stones but I am excited to make some amazing statement pieces with them. Let me know if you have any suggestions! 

Mark

]]> <![CDATA[This made our day!]]> https://www.fifirose.com/blog/this-made-our-day/ Sun, 16 Nov 2014 01:00:00 +0000 https://www.fifirose.com/blog/this-made-our-day/ Every so often I receive a request for a custom piece. Sometimes our customer likes a style she found in our collection but would prefer a different stone, or other times we get a request for something completely new. I especially enjoy the challenge in creating a style we have never done before.

My dear customer Jean from the UK recently returned to commission us to make a ring for her in sterling silver with gold plating. She had a clear idea of what she wanted, she just had not been able to find anything exactly like it. She sent us some pictures of rings she liked and we set off to work.

We went through an iteration in which Jean made some suggestions for changes and about 8 weeks later we had a final finished piece ready to send out to her.

Just a few days ago I received this message from Jean that just made our day:

Hi Mark,

The ring just arrived and I absolutely LOVE it!

Having managed a jewellery store for many years, and seen a huge variety of craftsmanship cross my path and I can confidently say the pieces you have produced for me are as good (if not better) than any I have seen made in the UK or Italy.

I am so very pleased, thank you.

Jean

Needless to say we are thrilled with such a 'ringing' endorsement. 

Thank you, Jean, for trusting us to make this piece for you.

img-20141022-114534.jpg

]]> Every so often I receive a request for a custom piece. Sometimes our customer likes a style she found in our collection but would prefer a different stone, or other times we get a request for something completely new. I especially enjoy the challenge in creating a style we have never done before.

My dear customer Jean from the UK recently returned to commission us to make a ring for her in sterling silver with gold plating. She had a clear idea of what she wanted, she just had not been able to find anything exactly like it. She sent us some pictures of rings she liked and we set off to work.

We went through an iteration in which Jean made some suggestions for changes and about 8 weeks later we had a final finished piece ready to send out to her.

Just a few days ago I received this message from Jean that just made our day:

Hi Mark,

The ring just arrived and I absolutely LOVE it!

Having managed a jewellery store for many years, and seen a huge variety of craftsmanship cross my path and I can confidently say the pieces you have produced for me are as good (if not better) than any I have seen made in the UK or Italy.

I am so very pleased, thank you.

Jean

Needless to say we are thrilled with such a 'ringing' endorsement. 

Thank you, Jean, for trusting us to make this piece for you.

img-20141022-114534.jpg

]]> <![CDATA[Open for business!]]> https://www.fifirose.com/blog/open-for-business/ Sat, 15 Feb 2014 20:46:34 +0000 https://www.fifirose.com/blog/open-for-business/ What a thrill, we are finally opening the doors to our very own website! For years we have been offering our sterling silver and bead-worked jewelry successfully at the big commercial online selling venues like eBay and Etsy but that doesn't compare to the feeling of having a website we can call our own.

It's been a learning curve and we had to go through a failed attempt at building a website to get where we are now but it has all been worth it. With this website we will be able to offer a bigger selection of gorgeous Bali silver as well as new services to our valued customers. 

As many of our loyal customers already know, we make our jewelry at our own workshop in Bali so you are buying direct from the maker at big discounts. Moreover, being the manufacturer allows us to be of service to you in more ways than just selling from stock. For example, if that sterling silver design you covet in our store happens have an amethyst stone but you'd like a moonstone, let us know! We may well be able to make that custom design for you that makes the piece *just perfect*.

We're also looking forward to offer other services that the eBay format just doesn't support well. If you are a store owner, you sell at the bazaar or you organize jewelry parties and like to carry our jewelry in your store, here is the place where we can offer wholesale discounts as well as pass on those savings from eBay commissions straight to you.

Thank you for visiting our new website. We'd love to have your feedback so if you have any suggestions or comments, please do not hesitate to let us know!

Fifi & Mark

]]> What a thrill, we are finally opening the doors to our very own website! For years we have been offering our sterling silver and bead-worked jewelry successfully at the big commercial online selling venues like eBay and Etsy but that doesn't compare to the feeling of having a website we can call our own.

It's been a learning curve and we had to go through a failed attempt at building a website to get where we are now but it has all been worth it. With this website we will be able to offer a bigger selection of gorgeous Bali silver as well as new services to our valued customers. 

As many of our loyal customers already know, we make our jewelry at our own workshop in Bali so you are buying direct from the maker at big discounts. Moreover, being the manufacturer allows us to be of service to you in more ways than just selling from stock. For example, if that sterling silver design you covet in our store happens have an amethyst stone but you'd like a moonstone, let us know! We may well be able to make that custom design for you that makes the piece *just perfect*.

We're also looking forward to offer other services that the eBay format just doesn't support well. If you are a store owner, you sell at the bazaar or you organize jewelry parties and like to carry our jewelry in your store, here is the place where we can offer wholesale discounts as well as pass on those savings from eBay commissions straight to you.

Thank you for visiting our new website. We'd love to have your feedback so if you have any suggestions or comments, please do not hesitate to let us know!

Fifi & Mark

]]>