_________________________________________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ COLLECTIBLE JEWELS NEWSLETTER & UPDATE NOTIFICATION "Jewelry Spanning 100 + years...into the Millennium. Charlotte Cicale, Proprietoress char@collectiblejewels.com _________________________________________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ A Nice Warm Welcome from "COLLECTIBLE JEWELS NEWSLETTER". You are receiving this newsletter because you requested a subscription. To unsubscribe, see the instructions at the end of this newsletter. _________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ IN THIS ISSUE _________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ => Christmas Traditions - Non Jewelry Tidbit => Jewelry History => Designer Spotlight => Jewelry Update => Handmade Jewelry => Classified Ads => Personal Tidbits => Subscribe/Unsubscribe information _________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Christmas Traditions! - Non Jewelry Tidbit _________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Centuries before Christ, people who worshiped nature brought evergreens into their homes during festival time as proof of continuing life. The ancient Romans decorated evergreens with gifts and ornaments at Saturnalia, a winter festival to welcome the coming spring and the revival of nature's fruit-bearing season. The evergreen tree became part of our Christmas celebration early in the 16th Century. Martin Luther, according to legend, was so impressed with the beauty of the stars shining through snow-laden boughs, that he cut a small fir and took it home. He set up the tree in his house and decorated it with candles to symbolize for his children the star-filled sky over Bethlehem. ________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ JEWELRY HISTORY PEARLS _________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ I'm not sure if you noticed, but PEARLS are really in BIG this season! Though Pearls have always been popular, this season we're seeing a jump in sales and everywhere you look, pearls are adorning the neckline. Women were wearing pearls hundreds of years before Mark Antony wooed Cleopatra. The creation of a pearl within the oyster was a complete mystery to the ancients. Fantastic tales were invented to account for the presence of the iridescent balls. A popular theory explained pearls as dew drops that fell into oysters when they rose to the surface at the full of the moon. Pearls were angel tears to some or the tears of heaven. Many believed that pearls had the capacity to breed when placed in a box with some cotton and rice. Ground up and dissolved, they were said to cure many diseases. Many primitive peoples of the East still attribute curative and mystical powers to the pearl. In early times pearls were so common in the East and the demand for them so easily satisfied, that no great price was attached to them. Only when the center of civilization passed from Asia to Greece, Rome and the nations of the west did knowledge of the pearl become general throughout Europe. As its fame spread farther from its source and as it grew in popularity, the pearl quite naturally commanded higher and higher prices. In the heyday of the Roman Empire, pearls were the sign of wealth. Women wore them to bed to induce pleasant dreams. Throughout the ages a woman's desire for pearls has grown. But the woman of today is more fortunate than her predecessors. In the past, only royalty and the very wealthy could afford to own pearls. Then science entered the picture to bring pearls within the range of everyone. Now, besides the natural pearls, there are cultured pearls and simulated pearls. The former is made by the oyster with the help of man and the latter is made entirely by man. The natural pearl is the only gem that is formed under water and made by a living organism. A pearl's quality rests solely with the whim of nature. The most productive source for natural pearls is still, as it was hundreds of years ago, the Persian Gulf! The size of the pearl depends on the length of time it remains within the oytster. Between four and six years are required to make a fine pearl. It is feared that occasionally pearls grow so large that oysters are able to expel them. If such is the case, doubtless many fine gems lie at the bottom of the ocean. _________________________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT _________________________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Van Dell Since 1938, Van Dell has been designing and producing exquisite jewelry for women. The foundation of Van Dell – rich scarab jewelry, hand-carved cameos, lockets, brooches and earrings in 14 karat gold – is still an integral part of the line. But today Van Dell is a lot more, with the addition of precious metal jewelry accented with colored stones, pearls, onyx and diamonds. As many of you know, my two favorite designers of quality precious metal jewelry are Krementz and Van Dell. Both of these companies have been purchased by Colibri. Today, Van Dell's line also includes a wide selection of women's and children's jewelry, including styles based upon the lovable characters of Mickey & Co.® and Classic Pooh®. ALL VAN DELL JEWELRY @COLLECTIBLEJEWELS.COM IS ON SALE IN DECEMBER AT 20% OFF! *-*-*-*-*-*-*-DID YOU KNOW?*-*-*-*-*-*-* The entire U.S. patent database is now searchable on the web! Yes, that means design patents... you get to view the image, and (should you happen to know which CJ manufacturer the "inventor" worked for) you can identify items that carry only a design patent number, but not a signature. (FYI, design patents are issued to the inventors, not the firms for which they work.) To view the images, you'll need the QuickTime plug-in, if you don't already have it. Here's where to begin: http://www.uspto.gov/patft/#notices You can do a Boolean search, a manual search, or a number search. Important: Boolean searches don't work for the older patents; I believe it's for the ones before 1975. So, you can't keyword search on, say, "A. Philippe." (I hope that someday we'll be able to do just that, but for now, this is pretty fantastic.) But you can search a specific patent. If you want to search a design patent, you must enter "D" before the number; otherwise, you'll get some really old regular patent from the early 1800s. For the older patents, no text is available; you need to click on the "image" icon. In a few seconds a photographic image of the design patent will come up. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- __________________________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ REVIEW: JEWELRY UPDATE/SALE __________________________________ I've updated the site again... and there are many great gift ideas yet to be discovered! Same DAY shipping on ALL CREDIT CARD ORDERS... Ok... now for the sale. All VAN DELL JEWELRY IS 20% off Sale ends December 31st. [Other than Handmade and Consignment areas] TAKE 15% off your order until December 31st. Free surprise gift with EVERY order! Orders over $50 (after discount) receive free shipping in the US ONLY. ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Handmade Jewelry - GIFT GIVING TIME!!!! _________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Be sure to check out Cele's Handmade Jewelry. Cele uses semi-precious stones in most of her creations, as well as vintage glass beads, vintage findings, etc. and her designs are beautiful. Free shipping to list members on Cele's Handmade Jewelry as well as the NEW "Jewelry Like Mommy" items. _________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Feel free to email me your thoughts! Would you like to see a subject matter covered in this next issue of CollectibleJewels.com Newletter? Email me! ---------------- CLASSIFIED ADS ---------------- Would you like to receive free earrings? All you need to do is pass this newsletter on to a jewelry friend and if they like it and want to join the list, I'll send you a free pair of earrings! Email me the name, email address of your jewelry friend, your name, address and preference for earrings: clips, screwbacks or pierced. I will your friend an invitation to join...if they accept, I'll ship out your earrings and notify you via email. -----===(*)===----- Looking for a Professional looking Website? Be up and running in no time! http://www.theplace2b.com -----===(*)===----- About Costume Jewelry Collecting The above link is a great place to find yet more information online in regards to collecting costume jewelry. Liz Bryman is also the owner of Jewelcollect listserv which consists of a group of people who just LOVE jewelry! They share their pieces, their knowledge and are the best bunch of people you could meet. If you'd like to find out more about this group...http://www.jewelcollect.org/ -----===(*)===----- ________________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ PERSONAL TIDBITS ________________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ On November 9th, 2000 I became a first time Grandmother at the ripe young age of 45. Nicole Lynn Johns, 6 lbs. 6 ozs. HEALTHY! Blue eyes! Blonde hair! I'm so excited! During the first week of January, I'll be closing up the shop and flying San Diego to visit my grandaughter for the first time... tentatively, the shop will be closed between 1/4/2001 through 1/11/2001. WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST THIS HOLIDAY SEASON! May your dreams soar in 2001! Thanks to you all who have made 2000 the best year for me EVER! ________________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Copyright Information COLLECTIBLE JEWELS NEWSLETTER © Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 All rights reserved. ________________________ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ======>> Please Pass this Newsletter on! *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- How to Subscribe http://www.collectiblejewels.com/cjcgi-bin/mailing_list/mailing_list.cgi *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- How to Unsubscribe To unsubscribe, write to REMOVE@collectiblejewels.com *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- => Online issues can be found at => http://www.collectiblejewels.com/archives __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ Charlotte Cicale char@collectiblejewels.com CC Enterprises www.collectiblejewels.com http://www.collectiblejewels.com Jewelry spanning 100+ years... __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/