E-BENCH Pilot Issue

* * * E-Bench * * *
A New Way to Learn in a New Millennium

Pilot Issue
Fall 1999

The first monthly issue will premiere January 2000

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To reduce eyestrain, print the E-Bench Newsletter before you read it!
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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER

E-Bench is a FREE monthly newsletter for Retail Jewelry Store Owners, Shop Managers, and Bench Jewelers. We encourage you to forward this newsletter to anyone that you think may benefit from it, provided that you forward all of it without modification and not just portions of it. This document may NOT be distributed for profit. E-Bench is a copyrighted newsletter and all rights are reserved!

E-Bench is an informational and marketing publication of B W Simon (formerly Institute for Bench Jewelers). It is written and edited by JA Certified Master Bench Jeweler Bradney W. Simon. To subscribe send an E-Mail to mstrjwlr@spartanburg.net with E-Bench on the Subject Line.

If you do not wish to continue receiving this, send an E-Mail to: mstrjwlr@spartanburg.net with UNSUBSCRIBE on the Subject Line.

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CONTENTS:

LEADERS EDGE
A feature article on shop management issues.
This Issue - Waste Not - Want Not

QUOTES WORTH RE-QUOTING
Motivational insights from some of the best.

FEATURED PRODUCT
Make your Shop more Profitable with Products from B W Simon.

TRADE SECRETS
Tips and Tricks to make your work on the bench a little easier and more productive.

SIMON SEZ
See and hear Bradney W. Simon in person, check when he is speaking in your area.

ON THE BENCH
Learn a new technique or brush up on basic skills with this feature article.
This Issue - Lasting Forever

EMPLOYMENT NEWS
Looking for a new jeweler or a new job? Check out this column each month.

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* * * LEADERS EDGE * * *

Waste Not - Want Not

A dirty cluttered shop has a detrimental effect on productivity. A jeweler dropping a stone in his lap tray, that is full of tools and three months worth of filings, will spend more time trying to find that stone. Not to mention the chance of chipping a stone from hitting a steel tool. Never place tools in the lap tray.

The same applies when items are dropped on the floor. If the floor is dirty and has not been swept, it takes a greater amount of time looking for the item. It not only cuts down on productivity; it also affects Profits in the shop. Many times, small items become misplaced or lost among the clutter adding unnecessarily to the expense of the shop.

A dirty cluttered shop also affects profits because of the high value of the metal that is used. Small pieces of gold on the floor from filing, buffing, and other operations in the shop, cling to the bottom of shoes. If the floor is not kept swept, the gold literally walks out the door of the shop. If allowed to accumulate gold dust from filing, grinding, and other operations becomes lost. Rather than collected at the source, it is spread around the shop. It is then carried out of the shop on workers' hands, and clothes.

When it comes to recovering precious metal, nothing is worthless. However, If you walk into many repair shops you will find people behaving as if it were. Many people do not realize what a valuable asset their scrap is. They have been pleasantly surprise by the amount of additional revenues received from a refiner when a clean and orderly shop is maintained.

To keep your bench clean a procedure needs to be followed. At least once a day clean out your lap tray on your bench. At the end of the day, sweep the floor. Do this while the jobs you worked on are in the cleaner. Perform a more complete job once a month.

You should clean out the polishing machine once a week, including vacuuming off the filter. Always vacuum from the side dirt enters the filter. Never from the other side pulling dirt through the filter. Change the filter every other month.

If dirty air blows out of the polishing machine while using, you have waited too long to clean it out and replace the filter. You can tell if dust accumulates on the wall or around where the air comes out of the dust collector. Changing the filters regularly not only helps profits by accumulating more precious metal dust, but also improves the health of the workers, not having to breathe all the dust and dirt into their lungs.

I must emphasize here this is not extra time you need to find. It is time you would spend looking for stones etc. if you did not do the cleaning. It is not spending more time it is just spending the time differently. If your bench and shop are organized and you clean regularly it does not take that much time.

Workers should always wear an apron in the shop. This keeps gold from filing, grinding, and polishing operations from accumulating in their clothes and washed down the drain. Thin leather with a tanned smooth surface is best. Cloth aprons, such as denim, are better than nothing, but they will accumulate precious metal down in the fabric. If cloth aprons are used they should not be washed but sent to the refiner to be burned and the gold recovered.

Place a piece of leather or mat board in the bottom of your lap tray. This will aid you in cleaning the sweeps out of your lap tray. Simply pick up the leather by the corners and dump the sweeps into the container for bench sweeps. This also protects stones from the hard metal bottom of the lap tray, when accidentally dropped.

Install a special precious metal trap in the drain line on the sink in the shop. There are several styles available from tool suppliers. Be certain to purchase one that is made to trap precious metal particles, not just loose stones. For the retail shop, the small drum trap with a separating screen is adequate. Clean this trap out whenever water slows going down the drain.

Place all broken saw blades in the container with polishing waste. These should always be collected and not thrown away as fine particles of gold become caught in the teeth and can be refined. Also all old emery paper, burs, bristle brushes, rubber abrasive wheels, anything you use to sand, grind, or polish gold needs to be saved in this container after they are worn out.

A shop vacuum cleaner is a necessity. As it makes clean up easier, and you are likely to do it more often. This vacuum is for shop use only, and should never be used outside of the shop. Save all bags and send in with the polishing waste.

Place a doormat in the doorway of the shop. Employees can wipe their feet on it as they leave the shop. This will help in removing particles of precious metal off the soles of their shoes. Replace the mat annually and send the old mat to the refiner with the polishing waste.

If you pay the minimum refining charge you are paying the highest price to have your scrap refined. Always accumulate your scrap long enough to get beyond the minimum charge of the refiner. Never pay a minimum refining charge, if you do you are paying too much to get your scrap refined.

Do Not sell your scrap to a broker who comes into your store, estimates its value, and pays you cash. His margin more than exceeds the money you would save by cheating Uncle Sam on your income taxes.

When accumulating scrap always keep in mind this thought:
WHEN IN DOUBT, DO NOT THROW IT OUT.

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* * * QUOTES WORTH RE-QUOTING * * *

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "Press On" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

Calvin Coolidge
30th U. S. President

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As long as you're going to think anyway - you might as well think BIG!

Donald Trump
Business Executive

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For six months now, I've been visiting the workplaces of America, administering a simple test. I call it the "Pronoun Test." I ask frontline workers a few general questions about the company. If the answers I get back describe the company in terms like "they" and "them," then I know it's one kind of company. If the answers are put in terms like "we" or "us," I know it's a different kind of company.

Robert B. Reich
Former Secretary of Labor

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Good enough never is.

Debbie Fields
Founder, Mrs. Fields Cookies

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If you start your day with these four questions, you'll make every day a more productive day.
1. What's the BEST thing that can happen today?
2. What's the WORST thing that can happen today?
3. What can I do today to make sure that the BEST thing does happen?
4. What can I do today to make sure that the WORST thing doesn't happen?

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Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.
King Solomon - Proverbs 3:13-18

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* * * FEATURED PRODUCT * * *

Run Your Shop Without It Running You - All Day Seminar

Throughout the United States, Repair Shops in Jewelry Stores operate on the 80/20 principle. That is the repair shop produces 80% of the problems, and only 20% of the income. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!

The Jewelry Repair Shop CAN Run Smoothly and Efficiently. Learn how in this brand new all-day multi-media seminar, offered in 22 cities during 2000.

According to the JA Cost of Doing Business Survey, shop services is the third largest product category for retail jewelers. Shop services now out sells traditionally strong product categories such as color stone jewelry, watches, and pearls.

"It is too important to our stores to ignore," says Bradney W. Simon, seminar leader. "Retail Jewelers need to learn how to make their shops efficient and profitable or their business will suffer."

As one of the few JA Certified Master Bench Jewelers, Bradney is knowledgeable about his subject. In addition, he is an accomplished speaker and adds humor, stories, and a touch of magic to make his seminars enjoyable as well as informative.

Participants Listen - Laugh - Learn - Leave with a new understanding of shop profitability.

This seminar will help retail jewelers increase profits by operating an efficient repair shop. It contains innovative and practical information that you can easily use in your store.

Topics include:
Pricing
Take-In Procedures
Productivity in the Shop
Employee Development
And Much More.

Registration
ONLY $149 per person
SAVE $$$
2 or more from same store ~ ONLY $134 per person

Registration MUST be postmarked 2 weeks prior to seminar date or a $20 per person late fee will apply.

See "Simon Sez" section in this newsletter for Dates and Locations.

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* * * TRADE SECRETS * * *

When sizing rings with heat sensitive stones in silver I always place the stone under water. However the water draws heat off the ring (as if silver was not bad enough on it's own). To help the situation, I place a small piece of firebrick through the finger hole of the ring. I use a piece 12 mm X 5 mm X 30 mm. This helps protect the stones but more importantly it reflects the heat back up to the bottom of the shank. This makes sizings MUCH easier.

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Paint whiteout over engraving on the inside of rings before sizing or soldering wedding sets together. This will keep the solder from flowing over the engraving.

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To measure the size of a finger with a large knuckles, take an inexpensive set of plastic ring sizers and cut a slit in them with a fine saw blade. Then when measuring with them, they will open to go over the knuckle and you can measure the finger for a proper fit of an adjustable shank.

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Over time the hinge on an adjustable shank becomes loose, the holes begin to wear oval allowing "play" on the hinge. To alleviate this you CAN NOT plug the hole by soldering a piece of gold and re-drilling the hole. The shanks are assembled of several pieces and the heat will ruin the shank. Instead re-drill the hole with a slightly larger drill bit then re-rivet the hinge with a larger hinge pin.

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* * * SIMON SEZ * * *

See and hear Bradney W. Simon in person at the following Events.

Run Your Shop Without It Running You - All-Day Seminars

Alabama
Birmingham June 19
Mobile July 10

Arkansas
Little Rock June 22

Florida
Jacksonville July 12
Fort Lauderdale July 15
Orlando July 13
St. Petersburg July 14
Tallahassee July 11

Georgia
Atlanta March 18

Kentucky
Louisville August 7

Louisiana
New Orleans June 24

Mississippi
Jackson June 23

North Carolina
Charlotte March 11
Raleigh August 10
Winston-Salem August 9

South Carolina
Charleston March 4
Spartanburg February 19

Tennessee
Memphis June 21
Nashville June 20

Virginia
Richmond August 11
Virginia Beach August 12

West Virginia
Charleston August 8

To register or for more information on these seminars contact:
B W Simon
1066 Hopkins St.
Spartanburg, SC 29307
864 - 598 - 5274
mstrjwlr@spartanburg.net

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Other Speaking Engagements

Minnesota Jewelers Association February 26
Contact:
Nancy Fischer
320 - 654 - 6775

Kansas Jewelers Association April 1 & 2
Contact:
Sharon Blair
913 - 661 - 0084

Bradney W. Simon is an accomplished platform speaker and provides Keynote Speeches, and Educational Seminars. For information on having him speak for your organization send an e-mail to mstrjwlr@spartanburg.net

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* * * ON THE BENCH * * *

Lasting Forever

A James Bond movie in 1971 gave the jewelry industry quite a boost. Savvy jewelers around the country picked-up on the title of the movie and used it as a phrase to sell more diamonds. Still today, the theme song from that film is used as background music for many jewelry store commercials.

As good as a promotion of diamond jewelry this is, it has developed a misunderstanding among many customers. Maybe - Diamonds Are Forever - but the prongs that hold them are not. As your customers wear their jewelry, the metal holding the stones slowly wears away. This puts the security of the stones in jeopardy. A simple procedure in the shop can remedy this. Simple that is, if certain precautions are followed.

Darn It, It's a Garnet

We have all heard that Old Glory is the standard for retipping. That means the colors of the flag; red, white, and blue, are the colors of stones that you can retip on. However, those colors apply only to Ruby, Diamond, and Sapphire. There are many red and blue stones, and imitation diamonds, which will not take the heat of retipping.

I will never forget one incident that took place during the first year I worked on the bench. I received a tennis bracelet (although back then they were not called this) with all red stones. The instructions were to retip all prongs. To my dismay all the stones cracked and shattered. I showed the bracelet to the store manager who informed me the stones were garnet not ruby. The store had to replace all the stones and I learned a new saying; Old Glory may be my guide, but darn it it's a garnet.

Don't It Just Burn You

Although Diamonds will withstand heat, it is possible for them to burn. In order to burn, diamonds need two things, heat and oxygen.

Diamonds burn in pure oxygen at about 1320 degrees Fahrenheit. In air (which is about 20% oxygen), the temperature raises to around 1560 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on who makes your solder, 14k solders melt between 1200 & 1500 degrees. Easy solders are at the low end and hard at the upper end. Most 18k solders are in this range, however some melt in the 1500's and 19k white weld often exceed 1600 degrees. Although most solders melt at a temperature below the burning point of diamonds the heat from the torch will often heat the diamond beyond the temperature at which it will burn.

Because of this, you MUST coat the diamond with boric acid. To do this mix boric acid powder with denatured alcohol. Dip the jewelry in this mixture and light it. As the alcohol burns a coating of boric acid powder remains. When this is heated the powder melts forming a glassy coating over the diamond and jewelry. This seals out oxygen allowing you to heat the diamond to higher temperatures.

Many jewelers use borax or a mixture of borax and boric acid for a flux. Although this makes a good paste flux, this should NOT be used to coat diamonds when retipping. The borax does not properly seal out oxygen and being a mineral itself, the borax can actually fuse to the diamond at high temperatures.

When heating a stone to retip on, be certain the glassy coating of boric acid completely covers the stone. If there is a "hole" in the glassy coating the diamond can burn in that spot. Also, if the jewelry is not completely clean before beginning, problems may develop. For example, if dirt is around a prong it will keep the boric acid from contacting the diamond at that place. As the temperature rises, the dirt burns away exposing the diamond, subjecting it to possible burning.

Hot Rocks

Always allow all stones to cool slowly after retipping. Never quench a hot stone. The rapid cooling can cause a stone to crack especially a stone with inclusions. Do not soak the boric acid off the jewelry until you can pick the stone up with your fingers. In addition, remember that with a large stone the inside of the stone will cool slower than the surface. Be certain the stone is completely cool before soaking.

It's the Pits

Probably the least taught, but most widely used method of retipping is to build-up solder on top of the prongs. This is a quick, inexpensive method to retip a prong, resulting in an average to below average prong repair, and should be avoided for the following reasons:

Torch Control - Although not difficult to master, without proper torch control the solder will run down the prong or build-up unevenly on the prong.

Quicker Wearing - Solder is alloyed differently than gold stock and as such is not as durable. A solder built-up prong will wear faster. To compensate for this, some jewelers build-up the prong larger than normal. This is an unsatisfactory solution as then it stands out and does not look as nice. In addition, it is easier for the customer to catch it or bump it, breaking it off.

Porosity - Solder is not designed to be built-up, when it is, porosity develops. If this porosity is on the surface, it can be large pits visible to the naked eye, or small surface porosity that is not visible but does not allow a proper polish. Either way, it results in less than satisfactory visual results. If the porosity is below the surface it does not effect the visual appearance. However, it does effect the structural strength of the prong tip causing premature wearing of the prong.

Getting to the Point

Be careful when retipping any stone with points such as pear, marquise, and princess shape stones. Metal and stones expand and contract by different amounts when heated and cooled. A problem develops during retipping if solder is allowed to flow completely around the point of a stone. The solder will contract as it cools squeezing the point. This may cause the point to break off.

The best method to retip a stone with a point is to make a cap in the shape of the prong. Then with a minimum of solder, attach the cap to the top of the prong. Do Not allow solder to flow under the stone, completely encircling the stone point. If the prong is worn to the place that it needs more work than just a cap, it is best to remove the stone and replace the crown or prong.

Easy Money

Frequently a ring brought into the store for another type of repair also needs prongs retipped. Prong retipping is probably the most under-recommended repair, and one of the most important. Whenever you take-in jewelry with stones, examine the prongs, and if they're thin, broken, or missing, recommend retipping in addition to the other repairs. Any prong worn to less than one-fourth the original thickness must be retipped or the security of the stone is in jeopardy.

Inform the customer the possible consequences of worn prongs, and encourage them to examine the prongs under magnification. If the customer declines retipping after being informed of worn prongs, state on the envelope the condition of the prongs, the customer's desires, and that you will not be responsible if the stone is lost. Not only are shop profits increased from the additional work, but also store liability from stones falling out after the customer picks up their jewelry is reduced substantially.

You don't need to be 007 to figure out if a prong needs to be retipped, but if you keep your customers prongs in good shape their Diamonds may last Forever in their jewelry.

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* * * EMPLOYMENT NEWS * * *

Bench Jeweler Employment News is a FREE service for Retail Jewelry Stores and Individual Jewelers. No Employment Agency Request Accepted. For your free listing submit your request in 50 words or less to E-BENCH at mstrjwlr@spartanurg.net and type Employment News as the subject. Your request will be printed in the next issue. To keep this area current, your listing will be printed only once. If the position is not filled, you will need to re-submit your request to be printed in the next issue. This is for shop personal ONLY. Request for sales or store manager positions will not be accepted. No blind ads available.

Positions Available

Apprentice Jeweler Needed. Mainly repairs with some custom opportunities. Work with and learn from our JA Certified Master bench Jeweler. Live in beautiful South Carolina with both the mountains and the beaches near by. Call Louis at Smithworks Fine Jewelers 864 - 573 - 5252

Seeking Employment

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Thank You for Reading.

For editorial suggestions, comments, ideas or requests, please send an E-Mail to mstrjwlr@spartanburg.net.

Information provided in this document is provided 'As Is' without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information concerning the subject matter covered. It is provided with the understanding that the author or publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION:
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