Sharon Zimmerman
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How Do Jewelry Designers Deal With Rising Gold Prices?
Keeping an eye on gold prices is a daily habit for meThat also means keeping a loose eye on what’s happening in the world. There are always theories as to why gold goes up in price, but an unstable and uncertain economy is the most likely reason for this year’s meteoric rise. Historically speaking, steep…
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Tool Talk! Which torch is best for soldering jewelry?
What kind of jeweler’s torch should you get?I know, I know. This is one of those jeweler subjects that gets super judgy super fast. Everyone has OPINIONS and there is this weird gatekeeping nature to the discussion that suggests that you aren’t a real jeweler unless you have the “right torch”. If you spend any…
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Tool Talk! Foot Pedals for Your Flex Shaft
This week on Tool Talk, my most favorite tool – the Lucas Foot Pedal. Watch me compare the action on this foot pedal compared to the foot pedal that comes standard with most flex shafts. If you plan to do a lot of stone setting, or wax carving and lathing, this foot pedal has more…
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Tool Talk – How to Use Compressed Charcoal to Solder Jewelry
A video about charcoal? When it’s compressed or long-life charcoal, then yes, a whole video about my precious compressed charcoal. I would marry compressed charcoal if I could. And you might too once you watch all the ways it is awesome – reduced oxidizing? Use it as a jig to hold prongs while soldering? Carve…
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What is “Tool Talk”?
Welcome to my series Tool Talk – where I help you parse out which jewelry-making tools are right for you.
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How do I read Analog or Vernier Calipers – Tool Talk!
This video shows you how to read analog or Vernier calipers – an essential jewelry tool great for measuring diamonds and gemstones, wire or sheet, or measuring the length of a ring blank.
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Building a Business with Purpose – an interview with Jared from Damadeo
How did you start doing what you are doing?The luminous crystals sprouting from the walls of the recreated Pala Mine tourmaline pocket at the Natural History Museum, not far from where we lived in NYC, beckoned from an early age. Were it not for the glass separating them from sticky-faced kids like me, I would…
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The Jewelry Industry Has a Problem
Portions of this post first appeared on Instagram on June 12, 2020 Black Lives Matter. Black lives with degrees and without; trans and cis Black lives; gay and hetero Black Lives; housed and houseless Black lives; Black lives in the United States and Black lives in the rest of the world. Resist the temptation to…