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Welcome to the Deco Belle Inc. Jewelry Blog
Monday, November 15, 2010
 Our latest editorial photo shoot features Paris handmade jewelry with hand-painted enamel jewelry that is from our Catherine Popesco collection, made in France. Also pictured are Shiva Eye double-sided, completely intact, pendants.
Photographs courtesy Gene Kosoy of gkweddings.com, used with permission.
Our Shiva Eye shell jewelry as illustrated below features only intact, double-sided shells. Natural Shiva Eyes are like genuine pearls as they are made up of calcium carbonate and care should be taken not to clean this jewelry in an ultra-sonic jewelry cleaner, nor using a treated jewelry cloth on the surface of the Shiva Eye (nor pearl) shell as the chemicals in the jewelry cloth could react with the calcium carbonate. For more jewelry care tips, please see our articles on the subject.
 This Shiva Eye pendant can be worn with the spiral front, or the clouded back, both are beautiful, and the significance of this can be read on our description of how the Shiva Eye is formed in the shell. The image above also features our hand-painted enamel and 14kt Gold plated Catherine Popesco of La Vie Parisienne earrings.
All of our Catherine Popesco jewellery is gift wrapped with certificate of authenticity, custom organza gift bag, and story card of how the intricate jewelry is handcrafted.
 As with all of our Deco Belle shipments, the order is gift wrapped in our chocolate brown jewelry  boxes and tied with our teale gift ribbon, perfect for gift giving, or a gift for the self.
Free shipping on all USA orders of $30 or more, international orders incur shipping charges respective to the destination country. See what our international and USA customers say about us.
Labels: care, earrings, gift, magazine, necklace, paris, shell, silver
by: Deco Belle Inc.
Friday, November 27, 2009
 Jewelry Care (as published in Bride 9 and Mocha Bride Magazines)
To protect jewelry from scratching or tarnishing, we recommend storing jewelry items in either airtight plastic bags or soft jewelry boxes, armoires, or travel rolls (pictured left as closed). Airtight plastic jewelry (included free in every item order at DecoBelle.com) bags also prevent jewelry from scratching together or becoming entangled.
Platinum, gold, rhodium plated, and silver jewelry have anti-tarnishing qualities directly related to their metallic make-up. The higher platinum percentage allows for a higher tarnish resistance, the same is true for silver, especially when silver is marked “nickel-free”, which provides another degree of non-tarnishing qualities. In gold, the higher the carat count, the less tarnishing will occur. Rhodium is the rarest and most expensive of all precious metals, therefore most rhodium jewelry is only rhodium plated, this providing the ultimate in an anti-tarnish finish. Labels: care, gold, magazine, rhodium, silver, travel
by: Deco Belle Inc.
Monday, April 20, 2009
 The rarest and most expensive of all precious metals.
A note as to why we would not recommend altering or resizing any rhodium plated jewelry (rings, pendant bails, etc.). In the past, we've been asked by our customers if we suggest resizing rhodium plated jewelry, as we carry an extensive collection of nickel-free, rhodium plated, 925 sterling silver in our Venice Millacreli, Millefiori, Designo, plain silver, and China Cubic Zirconia (CZ, cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) to be exact). In short, no.
 Our original blog article on Rhodium, the metal, provides a background as to the reasons why this is highly prized in jewelry.
Despite being a part of the Platinum family of metals, Rhodium does not tarnish, or oxidize, and has a very high reflectance, optimal qualities in the jewelry market. It is the rarest and most expensive of all precious metals, giving each piece a lustrous, white gold appearance. For this reason, when a piece of jewelry is coated with this (rhodium plating, rhodium finishing, rhodium flashing) it can be thought of as having a seal, or a shell.
 Heating the metal to expand it would break this "shell" and the newly exposed metal skin would not be rhodium plated; therefore, suceptible to tarnishing. The recommended way to enlarge jewelry would be to add metal, not heat it and stretch it. In this case, that new metal would then need to be nickel-free, and rhodium plated as well once the jewelry has been re-sized to the desired size to avoid tarnishing in the portions of the metal that are not rhodium finished.
 Have a jewelry question for Deco Belle? Let us know and we'll do our best to provide insightful information on jewelry care to keep your jewels shining brightly and gleaming. Deco Belle Global Jewelry carries a large selection of rhodium plated jewelry, giving the ultimate in brilliance at an affordable price.Labels: care, cz, rhodium, ring, silver, venice
by: Deco Belle Inc.
Friday, February 15, 2008
 Marcasite jewelry is a beautiful display of vintage glamour from a bygone era. It evokes reminders of Art Deco jewelry and just flat out glamour.
In order to preserve your 925 sterling silver Marcasite jewellery, we at Deco Belle have written the following article to keep your Marcasite rings, Marcasite earrings, pendants, bracelets, and necklaces looking gorgeous.  Marcasite stones can fall out of their settings if not cared for properly by avoiding exposure to water and high impacts such as dropping them on counters and such. This is because Marcasite is usually bonded to its setting with a special glue instead of with prongs (as would be used in diamonds and larger gemstones). The very nature of Marcasite (iron pyrite) with small stones, make it difficult to set in prongs.
Over time, especially due to water exposure, the bonding agent may weaken. For this very reason it is important to remove Marcasite jewelry every time there would be water exposure that could cause the jewelry to become wet, such as removing the jewelry before showering, washing dishes, swimming, entering a hot tub or taking part in any other activity that could cause it to be submerged in water.
High heat can also cause the Marcasite stones to become loose and should be avoided. This type of jewelry should never be cleaned in an ultra sonic jewelry cleaner as the stones may easily become loose.
  Instead, Deco Belle suggests carefully cleaning Marcasite jewelry with a soft, jewelry cleaning cloth, being careful to not loosen the small Marcasite stones. Find our silver cleaning cloths in the accessories section of our website. We at Deco Belle hope that this article can help you preserve your glamorous Marcasite jewels as best as possible.
Labels: accessories, care, deco, gemstone, marcasite, silver
by: Deco Belle Inc.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
 Though our Deco Belle Millacreli rings are crafted of 925 nickel free sterling silver and Murano glass, please remember that they are still fragile and to be handled with care.
Impacts, exposure to water, and such may compromise the bond between the glass top and the adhesion to the ring. The special glue used to hold the glass top to the ring frame may not hold up to water exposure.
Here at Deco Belle, our founder has worn her multi color Millacreli ring nearly every day for a year and a half, dropped it several times when taking the ring off to show a curious passerby (even on concrete and hardwood floors!), and it has sustained no damages, completely intact and unscratched.
The Millacreli ring has never been polished as it is nickel free, and rhodium plated. It is as shiny as the day it was purchased! But care to minimize exposure to water and avoid hard impact has been taken.
Shop with confidence with our low price gurantee!
Labels: care, glass, millacreli, murano, ring
by: Deco Belle Inc.
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