Marcasite Jewellery

World Silver Prices

2011-09-01T11:41:00.000+01:00

The price of silver in the world has been rising at a fast pace this year and has impacted upon the cost/price of silver jewellery. Below is a graph showing the increase in price over the last 5 years:

You will see that the price of silver has increased approximately four-fold over the past 5 years!

As a seller of silver marcasite jewellery this has obviously had a significant impact upon our costs - QT Silver Website - and also our prices. Whilst we have done our best to keep price increases to a minimum it is inevitable that prices have risen over time.

Given the current supply and demand situation with silver it is extremely unlikely that the upward trend will not continue. Silver has unique qualities as a metal that has seen the demand for its use in the fields of electronics and medical supplies grow significantly in recent years. On the supply side there do not appear to be significant silver finds taking place so demand has been out-stripping supply, which inevitably leads to an increase in the price.

If you are reading this blog then you are likely to be a fan of marcasite jewellery and therefore are likely to own some silver jewellery. The increase in world silver prices will mean that the value of some of your old pieces will have been increasing in recent years. Now may be the time to have a hunt around for any old silver/marcasite jewellery that you may have forgotten about and make sure you give it a good clean and store them more carefully! Silver oxidises when in contact with the air so will tarnish. It is, therefore, best to keep your silver jewellery in sealed plastic bags, keep away from the damp and away from direct sunlight.

Types of Silver

2010-06-16T00:36:00.002+01:00

There are several different types of “Silver”;

1. Sterling silver is the main type of silver used in jewellery, ornaments & dinnerware today. This is solid silver. Sterling silver is a mixture of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% metal alloy. Sterling silver is usually now hallmarked as “925”. Our own websites - libramarcasite.com and marcasitethailand.com both only sell 925/sterling silver items as does our UK retail site qtsilver.com

2. Fine silver is 99.9% pure silver and is normally considered too soft to use for most items. It is also solid silver.

3. Plated Silver. Silver plating is common and sometimes dishonest sellers try to pass this off as sterling silver (a practice that has made many wary of dealing with companies in Hong Kong and mainland China, where the practice has been quite prevalent). It’s also call electroplated silver or silver coated as well. Silver plated items are made using a base metal, normally brass or nickel, which is then put through an electroplating process. Electroplating is a process which adheres a very very thin layer of pure silver onto the base metal. The result is a sterling silver looking item at a much reduced price. It may look like sterling silver but the silver plating tends to wear off quite quickly exposing the often unattractive base metal.

4. Alpaca Silver or German Silver is not actually silver at all. It is a greyish looking alloy which resembles silver. It is sometimes referred to as nickel silver, paktong, and new silver. It is also used as a base for silver plated items because of its appearance. If you want real silver, stay away from this. Also, beware of sellers selling this as “fine jewellery” to consumers that don’t know the difference between sterling silver and alpaca silver.

5. Mexican Silver is silver is used to describe silver made in Mexico. It must have more than 90% pure silver content to be Mexican silver. Most silver jewellery from Mexico today is actually 925/sterling silver.

6. Britannia Silver has a pure silver content of 95.85% and no more than 4.16% copper. This silver is marked in the U.K. and Ireland as "958 silver." It is an even more pure form of silver than sterling silver. Hence it’s higher value. This grade of silver is far less common than sterling / 925 silver.

New Thai Based Retail Site

2010-03-31T04:40:00.003+01:00

I have now completed my new retail website - MarcasiteThailand.com - which, as the name suggests, is Thailand based. The quality of the marcasite jewellery is exceptional and the prices are, without doubt, the best anywhere on the internet.

Wholesale Marcasite

2010-03-22T03:43:00.002Z

Having had to abandon my own UK based wholesale site - due to having to move to Thailand to care for my wife - I have spent the last few weeks assisting QTSilver.com's long-term supplier (Libra Jewelry Co Ltd) set up their own wholesale site - libramarcasite.com. The site will develop in time as more and more designs become available for sale.

Since being in Thailand I have been amazed at how many different designs are available for production by Libra Jewelry, more than 4,000! The difficulty lies in deciding which designs to produce.

Over time Libra Jewelry are looking to have the largest range of wholesale marcasite available on the internet. Through specialising in marcasite only it is possiblle to offer wholesale customers a far greater range than normal silver jewelry wholesalers who usually just have marcasite as a small part of their overall range. Libra also offer the facility for customers who are interested in purchasing larger quantities (50 pieces per design) to have their items made to order.

Auctiva for Ebay Listing

2010-03-04T03:51:00.002Z

We have recently started selling on Ebay.com, supplying direct from Thailand to the USA and Europe. Prices for auctions will be starting at a very low level and P&P will also be at a minimum, so if you do not mind a wait (shipping times vary from 5 to 14 days from Thailand) you could pick up some real bargains. The Ebay.com listings can be found in "items for sale" on the marcasite_thailand My world page on Ebay.com;

http://myworld.ebay.com/marcasite_thailand

Hopefully things will go as well as they have for our UK listings, which can be found at;

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/QT-Silver

One thing that we are doing a little differently with our approach to Ebay.com is that we are using Auctiva - a company that provides listing and hosting services for Ebay sellers. The experience so far has been very positive and although you need to do a reasonable amount of work setting up listings, importing pictures etc. the time savings for the future should be significant, as you can host an unlimited number of listings. This will be hugely beneficial to us as we have many, many designs and having to constantly recreate listings on Ebay can be very time consuming.

If our experience with using Auctiva for our marcasite_thailand Ebay.com account continues to be good then I can envisage that we will begin using them for our already well established UK Ebay busines.

UK Ring Size Table

2010-02-05T04:43:00.002Z

Ring Size UK	Size mm
G	45.5
H	46.7
I	48
J	48.7
K	49.9
L	51.2
M	52.5
N	53.8
O	55
P	56.3
Q	57.6
R	58.9
S	60.1
T	61.4
U	62.7
V	64
W	65.2
X	66.5
Y	67.8
Z	68.4

Measuring Your Ring Size

2010-02-05T04:05:00.006Z

One of the most common questions I have had since starting selling marcasite jewellery online is "I am not sure of my rings size, how can I find what it is?".

Below is a quick guide as to how you can measure your own ring size and also a few tips to ensure that the measurement is as accurate as possible.

1. Find a piece of string (or a thin stip of paper - no wide than 1/2").
2. Wrap it around the base of the appropriate finger.
3. Use a pen to mark the point on the string/paper where it overlaps, forming a complete circle.
4. With a ruler, measure the length from the starting end of the string/paper to the pen mark.
5. Use this measurement and a ring size chart to determine your ring size.

Tips to improve the measurements accuracy;

* Don't measure cold fingers. This is when fingers are their smallest.

* For the most accurate reading, measure the finger at the end of the day when the finger is the largest.

Valentines Day Marcasite

2010-01-31T09:55:00.003Z

With Valentines day rapidly approaching marcasite with a heart theme is beginning to sell very quickly. Whether it be lockets, rings, pendants or earrings, the heart theme is always popular at this time of year. Here are a few examples from www.qtsilver.com;

In Thailand Now

2010-01-30T05:02:00.002Z

Have been in Thailand for almost a week now and have found a small and inexpensive place to stay in Bangkok. My wife and daughter will be staying in Buriram until the school term finishes, at which point we will find Amy a school in Bangkok.

I will now be working on developing the jewellery business and hopefully finding good customers/resellers around the world, rather than predominently the UK.

Han estado en Tailandia por casi una semana y he encontrado un lugar pequeño y barato para permanecer en Bangkok. Mi esposa y su hija se alojará en Buriram hasta que termine el período escolar, momento en el que vamos a encontrar a Amy una escuela en Bangkok.

Ahora voy a estar trabajando en el desarrollo del negocio de joyería y espero encontrar buenos clientes / revendedores en todo el mundo, en lugar de predominently el Reino Unido.

Oportunidad de Negocio

2010-01-26T13:51:00.000Z

Después de haber pasado ahora a Tailandia que, junto con mi viejo amigo y proveedor Petch, están buscando vendedores en los siguientes países;

USA
España
Alemania
Bélgica
Países Bajos
Sudáfrica
Canadá
Italia
Polonia

(y consideraría cualquier otro país donde hay un mercado para la calidad de la joyería marcasita)

Ya tenemos un comprador en el Reino Unido (que anteriormente corría), que vende a través de Ebay y a través de su propio sitio web;

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/QT-Silver

http://www.qtsilver.com/

También estamos cerca de lograr ventas en Australia y Francia.

Como podrás ver el funcionamiento del Reino Unido es bastante éxito - una tienda de confianza y Ebay Powerseller y un sitio web que tiene una gran clasificación en Google - la primera página para una palabra clave más importante.

Lo que estamos buscando son personas que están buscando desarrollar un negocio en un a tiempo parcial o tiempo completo. Vamos a proporcionar;

* Un gran producto
* Precios excepcionales
* Uso gratuito de nuestras imágenes (y créanme que esto ahorra una cantidad enorme de tiempo y esfuerzo!)
* Libre plantillas para anuncios de eBay, usando varias imágenes que hemos de acogida para ahorrar en las tarifas de eBay
* Cuando se estableció que le ayudará a desarrollar y promover su propio sitio web (estamos felices de realizar tareas básicas de SEO usted de forma gratuita y le aconsejará sobre la mejor manera de desarrollar su propio sitio)

Si usted está interesado por favor Iain correo electrónico a info@qtsilver.com

Business Opportunity

2010-01-26T13:36:00.003Z

Having now moved to Thailand I, together with my longtime friend and supplier Petch, are looking for sellers in the following countries;

USA
Spain
Germany
Belgium
Netherlands
South Africa
Canada
Italy
Poland

(and would consider any other countries where there is a market for quality marcasite jewellery)

We already have a seller in the UK (which I previously ran), who sells via Ebay and via their own website;

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/QT-Silver

http://www.qtsilver.com/

We are also close to securing sellers in Australia and France.

As you will see the UK operation is fairly succesful - an Ebay Trusted Seller and Powerseller and a website that has great rankings on Google - first page for most important keyword.

What we are looking for are people who are looking to develop a business on a part-time or full-time basis. We will provide;

* A great product
* Exceptional pricing
* Free use of our pictures (and believe me this saves a huge amount of time and effort!)
* Free templates for Ebay listings, using multiple pictures that we host so you save on Ebay fees
* When you are established we will help you develop and promote your own website (we are happy to perform basic SEO tasks for you for free and advise you as to how best develop your own site)

If you are interested please email Iain at info@qtsilver.com

Dual Language / Dos Idiomas

2010-01-07T11:44:00.002Z

From now on I will be posting in both English and Spanish. The translations are courtesy of Google translate.

The reason for this is that there appears to be considerably less information on the internet regarding marcasite jewellery in the Spanish language and given the number of Spanish speaking internet users it seems sensible to post in both languages.

De ahora en adelante voy a publicar en Inglés y Español. Las traducciones son cortesía de Google Translate .

La razón de esto es que no aparece información a ser considerablemente menor en el Internet en relación con la joyería marcasita en el idioma español y dado el número de usuarios de Internet de habla española parece razonable puesto en ambos idiomas.

Moving

2010-01-07T11:40:00.001Z

English;

Due to my wifes arthritis we are having to move abroad as she cannot cope with the weather here in the UK. We will be based in Thailand from around the middle of this month.

Our retail website - www.qtsilver.com - will continue to operate under new management.

I am afraid that our wholesale website has had to close, but hopefully we will be able to restart operations from Thailand, once we are settled.

Español

Debido a la artritis mis esposas que tienen que trasladarse al extranjero ya que no puede hacer frente con el clima aquí en el Reino Unido. Estaremos con sede en Tailandia desde a mediados de este mes.

Nuestro sitio web al por menor - www.qtsilver.com - continuará operando bajo una nueva administración.

Me temo que nuestro sitio web al por mayor ha tenido que cerrar, pero espero que será capaz de reiniciar las operaciones de Tailandia, una vez que se liquidan.

Wholesale Marcasite

2009-08-28T11:41:00.001+01:00

I have just opened a wholesale marcasite site, which aims to serve the UK small retailer/reseller market.

Lines will be limited initially but will be built up in time.

Anyone who is interested should check out the website at;

www.wholesalemarcasite.co.uk

Email Marketing (3)

2009-08-04T11:46:00.002+01:00

My figures for my first email;

Sent	Bounces		Opt-outs	Opens	Clicks
1058	8.2%		1.1%	31.2%	47.5%

I checked on industry averages and these are not too bad.

I was not expecting fantastic figures as I have rather neglected my mailing list, so probably it includes a fair few out of date email addresses.

If anybody is thinking of trying email marketing with Constant Contact please message me first at info@qtsilver.com . Why? Because they have a "refer a friend" scheme - the new user (you) gets $30 in credits and I get $30 in credits - so pretty much a win-win situation. As a small business now really is the time to make sure that you get value from every £/$ so such offers are certainly worth trying to take advantage of.

Email Marketing contd.

2009-08-02T23:41:00.002+01:00

Signed up with Constant Contact, having had a play with their email creation facilities, and sent out my first Email. I put on offer a bracelet that hasn't sold too well (I know why as the photos we have taken just don't do the piece justice). Was actually quite exciting when we got our first order in, which was within 20 minutes of the email being sent!

So far I am very happy with the results as I have had far more traffic today than usual (50%++). Still quite a lot of unopened mail but I think my figures will improve as many users have used work rather than personal addresses so may not see my message until Monday.

I will publish my figures on here in the next couple of days in terms of - bounce rate, open %, click through % etc. Probably just talking to myself here but, who knows, maybe some other small business owners can pick up some tips, even if it is learning from my mistakes.

Email Marketing

2009-08-01T20:07:00.002+01:00

I about to start an email marketing campaign where those signing up to my website www.qtsilver.com get regular special offers on my jewellery - which I should say is already incredibly competitively priced (but I would say that wouldn't I).

I have certainly been slow to try this approach and my base of people who have signed up to my site is now sitting at over 1000! I think it is one of the problems of having a small business, you never seem to have the time to research new approaches or ways to do things and even when you have an idea it can constantly be put on the "back burner" as there always seems to be something pressing that needs to be done.

Well now I am about to take the plunge and will sign up with a firm called Constant Contact . I had looked around for a suitable company and they seemed like the best bet to me. They have a trial period of 60 days (for less than 100 contacts) which I am currently in, although because of the number of contacts I have I can't do much more than experiment with the email creation and send out some emails as testers to friends and family. From my experience so far I have decided to sign with them and give it a go. The emails are pretty easy to create from templates provided and the customer support appears excellent.

Anyway I will be completing sign up in the next couple of days and send out my first "Special Offer" and see how it goes. I will record my experiences on here as it may prove useful information to other small scale sellers who are thinking of doing something similar.

Pomanders

2009-07-25T07:31:00.002+01:00

A pomander, from French pomme d'ambre, i.e. apple of amber, is a ball made of perfumes, such as ambergris (whence the name), musk, or civet. The pomander was worn or carried in a vase, also known by the same name, as a protection against infection in times of pestilence or merely as a useful article to mollify bad smells. The globular cases which contained the pomanders were hung from a neck-chain or belt, or attached to the girdle, and were usually perforated and made of gold or silver. Sometimes they contained several partitions, in each of which was placed a different perfume. Pomanders were used in the late Middle Ages through the 17th century. - from Wikipedia

Although not that common today there are still some examples of pomanders around. Now people would usually place some cotton wool, or the like, scented with some essential oils inside the pomander.

Below are a few pics of an example of a pomander that I sometimes have in my stock at
qtsilver.com;

You will notice the solid design of the front of the piece, but the perforated back design to allow the perfume to filter from inside.

If you are interested in the look of the pomander please feel free to check out this piece on our website;

http://www.qtsilver.com/Marcasite-&-Silver-Pomander-/-Locket-with-Sapphire/1091.htm

Apologies

2008-02-14T16:16:00.002Z

Have posted nothing for quite some time now.

Myself and my wife have been looking after my mother, who has dementia, since last March. We had adjusted our lifesytle/work so that we could do this, but now my wife has been diagnosed as having arthritis, which has come as a bit of a blow to put it mildly.

Anyway back to the topic of marcasite.

Have been fairly appalled recently having seen the prices of marcasite jewellery at Gemondo http://www.marcasites.co.uk/ and http://www.gemondo.co.uk/index.php?mod=showcase&showcase=Magical%20Marcasite&gclid=CNmvg5SLxJECFR3kXgodpVgOIA

their pricing is appalling and they use the hackneyed "was £66 - now £45, you save £21" marketing approach on their site. Also their prices for gift wrapping etc. are staggeringly expensive.

The example of "was £66" is a ring that we were selling for £9.99!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately they manage to make sales by spending large amounts on marketing - their Google spend alone must be incredibly high.

If you want marcasite at a decent price (or a bloody specatacularly cheap price compared to Gemondo) then visit our site at www.qtsilver.com

BTW the quality of our marcasite is without question the best in the world!

Marcasite Silver Jewellery Today

2007-09-11T13:50:00.000+01:00

Marcasite silver jewellery: silver and gemstone rings, sterling silver earrings, bracelets and pendants are some of the hottest fashion accessories today! Marcasite silver jewellery is enjoying an unprecedented popularity with today's fashion conscious public. Marcasite silver jewellery complements fashionable clothing due to the way it sparkles and shines and catches natural and artificial light so beautifully.

Marcasite is a metallic pale yellow / brass colour mineral and is traditionally set in Sterling (925) Silver creating beautiful, classic jewellery. Cleopatra was known for wearing Marcasite and believed it helped preserve her beauty. Queen Victoria wore Marcasite rather than diamonds for over forty years. Marie Antoinette also showed a strong preference for Marcasite. Marcasite has again risen in popularity in recent years due to its` endearing beauty and stunning value for money.

Silver has been used since ancient times for jewellery making, but has not survived as well as ancient gold because it tarnished and decomposes. There have been times, however, when silver was "in"; we are going through such a vogue today.

Silver is the most common of the precious metals. Fine silver is pure silver, which is seldom used for jewellery because it is too soft. Sterling silver is 925 parts silver to 75 of copper, the alloy most often used. Silver weighs about half as much as gold, has greater flexibility, but is not as malleable, it has always been less expensive as well. A comparable piece of gold jewellery might cost four or five times that of a piece of sterling silver jewellery.

The current fashion trend toward black clothing has made silver jewellery more popular than ever. Silver likes to be worn; it stays cleaner & shinier through movement and friction. So sterling silver is a perfect accessory for today's fast paced lifestyles. Much like gold, sterling silver needs to be cleaned.

Care and Cleaning of your Marcasite Silver Jewellery

1.) For daily cleaning it is recommended to use a simple jewellery polishing cloth that is impregnated with special jewellery cleaner. These are widely available and are very easy to use. Store your cloth in a plastic zip-lock bag, and keeping your jewellery drawer or armoire. It is a good idea to have one cleaning cloth for gold and one for silver.

2.) For a slightly more "in-depth" cleaning you may want to use warm soapy water and a clean cotton cloth - ensuring that you very thoroughly dry the piece after cleaning (as moisture will promote tarnishing).

3.) For cleaning badly tarnished silver, here's a neat little trick we use at QT Silver - (i) Use a soft brushed toothbrush with warm water and some standard toothpaste and very gently brush the piece.

(ii) Rinse the piece thoroughly with clean water.

(iii) Dry the piece thoroughly and polish with a cotton cloth.

Here are Some Tips for Greater Enjoyment of your Marcasite Silver Jewellery

1.) Are your silver chains all tied-up in knots? If so, here's a nifty little trick for straightening them out. Dust your chain with a little talcum powder and then try to unknot it. If the knot is stubborn, place a small drop of baby oil on a sheet of wax paper. Lay the knot in the oil and work it out with two pins; then clean the chain as instructed below.

2.) Always apply make-up, perfumes, oils or colognes before you put on your jewellery.

3.) Store your jewellery in a dark and dry place, as both light and moisture can hasten tarnishing.

Hope you have enjoyed this brief piece and has perhaps encouraged those unfamiliar with marcasite jewellery to search some out a good place is at my own website

http://www.qtsilver.com

Some examples of Marcasite Designs

2007-08-22T13:34:00.000+01:00

Been extremely busy adding new items to my website so have had little time to update my blog (not to mention 3 kids off school for the summer hols!).

Some of the designs are marcasite equivalents of some timeless classics - such as the hoops pictured above.

Some are a little more unusual and are designs inspired from period jewellery of the Victorian, Edwardian and also the Art Deco periods. Some examples are shown below;

Hope people like the pics - comments welcome and feel free to check out our extensive range of marcasite jewellery at http://www.qtsilver.com

2007-07-12T12:11:00.000+01:00

Cleaning Marcasite Jewellery

Marcasite Jewellery should only be cleaned with a mild soap and water solution, and then wiped gently with a soft cloth (preferably cotton). To keep the naturally dark areas, be sure to clean it gently. This type of cleaning solution will be fine on whatever stones the jewellery has set within it.

Marcasite definition - the mineral Marcasite is a grey*, lustrous mineral, a sulphide of iron resembling pyrite or common iron pyrites in composition, but differing in form. (* The colour of marcasite ranges from dark grey to almost black regularly with sparks of yellow or gold throughout the stone. As with all natural stones, the colour can vary somewhat.)

2007-07-03T11:09:00.000+01:00

What’s in vogue now, as far as silver and marcasite are concerned, is “the vintage” look. Turn of the century to the early 30’s inspired designs mixed with 21st century freshness. It’s a fun and nostalgic blend. Look for it on all fashion divas everywhere!

Take a look at http://www.qtsilver.com/ for lots more items with a 1930's "Vintage" feel/style.

Marcasite Jewellery

2007-07-02T17:12:00.001+01:00

Started this blog as the weather is shocking and I was at a loose end.

My blog is going to largely centre around marcasite jewellery - it's history, development of designs over history, etc. etc.

My interest stems from actually selling silver marcasite jewellery myself - through my Ebay shop - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/QT-Silver and more recently through my own website http://www.qtsilver.com/

- would be more than happy to here any comments people have on my site if they get the chance to take a look.

Now I have declared my self-interest I will, for today, just provide some very basic details about actually what marcasite is:

Marcasite is a metallic pale yellow / brass colour mineral and is traditionally set in Stirling Silver creating beautiful, classic jewellery. Cleopatra was known for wearing Marcasite and believed it helped preserve her beauty.Queen Victoria wore Marcasite rather than diamonds for over forty years.Marie Antoinette also showed a strong preference for Marcasite. Marcasite has again risen in popularity in recent years due to its` endearing beauty and stunning value for money.

For a more technical and detailed definition check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcasite

- always a good source of info - although not 100% reliable on some subjects I have found.