i must admit that i have a penchant for jewelries. this is really what i consider my ultimate vice as my friends say. adik ako dito, aaminin ko, ewan ko na lang! hahaha... at least, its an investment... you know what, my ultimate dream is to be a saleslady, a supervisor, or better yet, a manager of a jewelry shop, as in! feeling ko, ang dami kong mabebenta, sobra! they say, follow your dreams and do what makes you happy... so eto, im sharing to you my ultimate dream, to be a jeweller! :)... pero, parang mahirap ata magapply or kung may hiring man, its not being disclosed to public... baka may alam kau, share nyo naman ang mga hiring sa mga jewelry stores, please! hahaha... i tell you, di kau magsisisi sa skills ko in marketing and selling! chos! :).... because of my wanting to have a jewelry with a specific design in mind, i tried looking for a goldsmith who has an eye for detail. recently, i chanced upon this shop, PISCES Jewelry Repair Shop. located in Colon, Cebu. their services include custom-made jewelry, they buy gold and silver scraps, they also do jewelry repair. here's the pic of the shop. :)
PISCES Jewelry Repair Shop - dito ako nagpagawa ng solitaire ring ko! :)
i asked the one-in-charge, "sino ang pinakamagaling gumawa ng jewelry?!"... aristokrata ang pagkatanong para may kabog at intimidating factor! hahaha... and i was introduced to kuya Lito Villatore. so, since i wanted to try his expertise in this field, i had him make the design that i want for my solitaire ring. its really just a simple design, and to test if he's really good at what he does... there's a lot i learned from jewelry making coz i did a lot of questioning while kuya lito was making my solitaire ring... mabuti na lang, matiyaga si kuya sa pagsagot ng mga tanong ko... and i think he likes me as a person and as a customer. chos! hahaha... you know me, very ma-chika! lol :)... i requested for a white gold for my solitaire ring. then kuya lito told me that, we need a 24 karat pure yellow gold to come up with a white gold kasi that's the basic ingredient sa white gold. naloka ako! i thought, pwede na 18k or 14k na yellow gold, and then just add white alloy to it to make it a white gold... i was totally WRONG! hahahaha... it should be 24 karat pure yellow gold, plus the white alloy... so yun! mahal ang 24 karat na pure yellow gold ha, its a whooping Php 2,600.00 per gram! nastress ako bigla! hahaha! :)
kuya lito, in action! he's melting the yellow gold and the white alloy altogther in this pic. :)
kuya lito estimated that we'll be needing 3.5 grams of yellow gold for the design of my solitaire ring. i told him that i wanted a 14k white gold result coz that's usually the type of karat for stone settings coz at this state, the white gold, that goes the same for yellow gold, its in a rock solid state, suitable for any setting design. "setting" is the term used when you want to put stones in your jewelry. oh diba, para akong pro? chos! hahaha :) ... kuya lito pala is in this jewelry making industry for more than 30 years, imagine?! bongga, diba? ... i asked him as to how he learned this skill... kuya told me that its a gift daw from God! Taray ng sagot, hindi ako nakareact! hahahaha... totoo nga naman, not everybody is blessed with this type of skill... i asked him if some of his children is into this, like him... well, sad to say, kuya lito told me that none of his children were interested on this craft... ang iba, nagbulakbol daw sa pag-aaral... "ah, ganun ba?" - ito na lang ang naging comment ko... its sad to know that things didnt turn out the way he wished it for some of his children... i told kuya lito to teach some of his children who's interested... kasi sabi ko, its in the genes. you just need to wake it up somehow to spark the interest.... sabi ni kuya, i have a point daw. then he told me, "i'll take your advise".... oh diba, full of encouragement and positivity ako? hehehe... kasi sayang talaga ang ganitong talent kung hindi mapass-on... hehe :)
after melting the yellow gold together with the white alloy, eto yung kinalabasan! ang liit na lang! hahaha :)
for the stone, i'll be using a diamond para bongga talaga! chos! :)... through the years, i've bought loose diamond stones na from friends and this is the first time that i'll be using some of it para naman mapakinabangan. hahaha :) ... while kuya was cutting bits and pieces to form the parts of my solitaire ring, i noticed that there were gold dusts that came from the cuttings. i know that these can still be melted and be added to the jewelry. i was testing kuya if he would inform me that he can meldt the gold dust and give the excess to me or add it to the jewelry. guess what, he just naturally said that, "these dusts are excess from this jewelry... we can melt it and use it if you decide to have another custom-made jewelry"... oh diba, he's very honest! im so touched... he told me that i should be careful with other goldsmith coz they are fond of fooling people who are not aware. its so true! his mantra is, always be honest, build relationship with customer, and give a lot of option to the customer kung saan makamura, and most of all, satisfy the customer! taray talaga ni kuya! im so impressed by his values, sobra! :)
from titus to points na hindi ko na matandaan kung ilang points ang sukat ng ibang bato na nabili ko before...hahaha
and here's the finish product of kuya lito. my diamond solitaire ring! simple but elegant :) ... after sa dami ng pukpok at pagsusunog na dinaanan... the journey to come up with such a beautiful piece is just so worth it... inantay ko ito ng 4 na oras, ganuna katagal siya ginawa! hahaha... sinuot ko sa office kaya sa office ang peg ng pic na ito...hehehe... i will always be engaged... kung sino... hindi ko pa alam! hahaha :)
wearing my solitaire ring.. engaged? wish ko lang! haha!
this is the closest i can focus on the ring! hahaha :)
to those who are interested to have a custom-made jewelry, you may contact Lito Villatore at 09331509047 (call or send him SMS), or you may visit PISCES Jewelry Shop and look for kuya Lito.
tight hugs,
AC
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