Housewares Show

I Survived Chicago!!

I just returned last week from my trip to Chicago where I was an exhibitor at the International Home + Housewares Show. I attended this event for the first time in 2009, and I learned a lot over the year, so I was looking forward to going back with all my new found knowledge.

I love going to the McCormick Place Convention Center, it's so big, and I think it's just really pretty inside. I had some meetings on the 5th floor, which looks out over Lake Michigan, even though it was rainy and a little foggy, it was still a really pretty view.

I met a lot of companies this year, as well as some that I had met last year. I introduced a new product that I will have on the market in the Fall of this year, and I was a bit nervous because I wasn't sure how it would be received. However, I was very happy with the initial reactions , and I'm looking forward to completing the remainder of the work in order get it on the market.




Cathy Scherzer (left) Jacque (right)

Even I am Impressed with the Results from Jeweler in the Dishwasher!

If you have read my earlier posts, then you know that I own a retail jewelry store. And like everywhere else, people are bringing in their old gold to trade in for cash or new jewelry. A few weeks ago one of my customers brought in a very worn rope chain that belonged to her husband that she wanted to trade in for a new one. He had worn his chain every day and never took it off until it wore out. I bought the chain from her and when she left I was looking at it and realized it was EXTREMELY dirty. So, just to see what would happen, I decided to take it home and try to clean it with Jeweler in the Dishwasher (JITD). I wasn't really expecting the results to be too impressive because I was using a JITD that is intended to clean rings and chains are very hard to clean even with a professional grade ultra sonic followed by a steamer. The dirt and oils get trapped between the links and it is difficult to get it all out.

I took the chain home with me that evening, and I put it in the JITD and then attached the unit to the top rack of the dishwasher. I ran the dishwasher as I normally would, and when it was finished running through all the cycles I clipped the zip tie, and removed the unit. I couldn't believe the results!! The chain was really clean, however, since the chain was so dirty to start with, I had to use the brush enclosed with the JITD to remove the remaining residue that was between the links. The end result was the same as if I had cleaned it at work. (See the photos below)

Chain before cleaning.

Chain after cleaning.

I have been working on a JITD for chains and bracelets, and am now very excited to get that unit to the market. In the meantime, if you are in the Ohio area, stop by to visit us at The Fabulous Food Show! Booth 133 at the I-X Center, November 13-15th.

Will the heat hurt the jewelry? I get asked this question quite often regarding placing jewelry in the dishwasher. I've noticed that this is the one thing that causes a lot of concern. Consumers are afraid that the hot water splashing around during the wash cycle, and the heat during the dry cycle, might be a little risky and can cause damage to the stones or metal. I am always amazed that someone asks me this, and then I have to remember that none of the people I am pitching Jeweler in the Dishwasher to have a background in repairing and manufacturing fine jewelry like I do.

I decided that this is an issue that I should address. Let me tell you what goes on during the process of sizing or repairing fine jewelry. Let's say you came to my store and you brought me a ring that needs to be one size larger. The ring you have is 14k white gold, and has a ruby in the center, with accent diamonds in the shank. When I take your ring back to my bench and am ready to size it, the first thing that I am going to do is check to see if it has ever been sized before. The way that I do this is to take the ring and dip it in a mixture of denatured alcohol and boric acid powder, and then I light it with my torch, this keeps the metal from getting a fire-coating from my torch. I will then take my torch and heat on the bottom of the ring, and see if a solder joint shows up; if one does, I will cut along this line, and if there is no seam then I will just go ahead and saw into the ring at the bottom of the shank. I will then open up the ring, insert a piece of 14k gold, and solder the the metal in place using 14k hard solder.

Next, I will place the ring on my steel mandrel and I will tap on the metal that I just soldered into the ring, to round up that area. After that, I will clean up the area where I worked. I will file the inside of the ring, then the outside, and then I will use an emery stick to take out the marks left by my file. I will then polish the ring, and when finished, I will place the ring in a commercial ultra sonic and then I will steam clean the ring. As you can tell, working on jewelry is no gentle process.

The heat from my torch far exceeds the temperatures inside your dishwasher. If you follow the directions that are enclosed with each Jeweler in the Dishwasher unit, you will not damage your jewelry.

The most important things to remember when using a Jeweler in the Dishwasher are:

Be sure you have your jewelry inspected by your jeweler to be sure all stones are secure before using Jeweler in the Dishwasher.

Read the list of stones that can withstand the heat of the dishwasher before using a Jeweler in the Dishwasher.

Make sure you have the unit completely closed and the zip tie secured correctly.

I am sure that you will be pleased with the results from using Jeweler in the Dishwasher. Most cleaners remove only surface residue, but Jeweler in the Dishwasher removes all the gunk that is caked in the crevices and around stones. The degreaser in the dishwasher detergent combined with the hot water, provides an excellent clean.

Let me give you the following as an example: Have you ever taken your car to the the car wash, put your quarters in the machine, grabbed the sprayer hose, squeezed the trigger and then sprayed your car, only to realize the water isn't hot? There is no way you will be able to clean your car by just spraying cold water on it. Just the same, dipping your rings in a cold solution is not going to remove the dirt that has built up in the mountings.

So, did this blog help to explain how safe Jeweler in the Dishwasher is? I hope so. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via our website

http://www.jewelerinthedishwasher.com/.

My History...

This is my first post on this blog, and hopefully you will find this and all other future posts interesting and informative. I would like to tell you a little bit about myself, and my product, and how I came up with the idea for Jeweler in the Dishwasher.

I am a second generation bench jeweler and have been in the jewelry industry for over 35 years. I began my apprenticeship at the age of 16 (now you have an idea how old I am) under the guidance of my father, John (Jack) Beasley, a well-respected and exceptionally skilled jeweler in the Kansas City area. I worked alongside my dad, two brothers, and family friends at my dad’s trade shop for several years, doing repair work and setting up inventory for several of the chain stores.

My father decided to broaden our horizons, and opened a retail jewelry store. The store, Beasley Trade Shop, appreciated a very rapid growth. However, about a year and a half after we celebrated our Grand Opening, our courier was robbed. In the robbery one of the larger companies that we serviced, had several thousand dollars of inventory stolen. And no, they never caught the individual that robbed us. Within a month of our courier being robbed, our store was held up. All of our inventory was stolen along with all the repair work that we had done for other stores. This time, we could not recover from this loss. The stores that we serviced no longer felt safe sending their work to our shop, and since we designed and manufactured our own inventory, it would take a very long time to replenish our stock.

The morning of the armed robbery I tried to call my dad to tell him what had happened (he had just retired). I felt awful, because he had worked for so many years to open his own store, and now his dreams had been taken away. And, once again, the police never found who robbed our store. This episode changed my life forever.

At the time of the robbery, I was in charge of our store, I handled the more difficult repairs, and it was up to me to make sure that all the work was done correctly, and that everything went out on time. Each day that I went to work I was terrified that I would have a gun pointed at my head again. After a month of trying to get over my fear, I decided I couldn’t take it anymore, and I told my dad that I had to quit. Without me, the shop couldn’t operate, so my dad had to close. I felt awful doing this to him, but I didn’t really have a choice. I helped my dad clean out his store, and I could see the heartbreak in his eyes. For several years I was too afraid to work in other jewelry stores, so I worked out of my house. Then I decided that I would venture out of my house. I was the in-store jeweler for several area jewelry stores, and I learned a lot from that experience. But, at the same time, I felt that I wanted to be more in control of what I was doing, and decided it was time for me to take another step in my profession. I opened my own retail jewelry store January 2, 1998. For the past 10+ years, I have owned and operated my store, waiting on customers, doing custom design and manufacturing, and any repair work that needs to be done.

Over the years I have repaired thousands of rings, designed and manufactured hundreds of rings. The thing I hear over and over again from my customers is their desire to get their fine jewelry as clean as I do. They spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on an item, but within a few weeks of wear, the stones become dull, due to the oil and dirt that has built up under and around the stones. Unlike all other jewelers, I use dishwasher detergent in my ultrasonic at work. As you know, the detergents have a degreaser along with the other cleaning agents. Therefore, I decided that this should work well when cleaning jewelry prior to and after repairing jewelry that needed repair. I found that using a dishwasher detergent works really well, and I knew that there had to be a way that I could design a product that would allow my customers to get the same kind of results. And, that is how I came up with Jeweler in the Dishwasher. It took several attempts to come up with a design that would facilitate enough water and detergent to enter the unit, and would be easy for consumers to use. I think I accomplished everything I set out to do, and I am now in the process of getting this product to the mass market.