End of The Year Savings

December 29, 2009

It’s the end of the of year again, so it’s time to take advantage of our end of the year prices.

Didn’t get that someone special in your life the Christmas present they deserve? well, it’s not too late to do so, with even greater savings for our customers. So please check out our inventory today and purchase a beautiful jewelry box or watch winder for that someone special in your life.

Specializing in handcrafted exotic wood jewelry boxes and an array of affordable genuine leather jewelry boxes and travel cases. Not to mention our elegant selection of wood and leather watch winders by Eilux.

You’ll find our prices are unbeatable by any leading competitor with free shipping on all 100 items, no minimum purchase required here.

Don’t forget to check out our what’s on sale page. These prices have been slashed in excess of 30-40%. Time is running out so don’t hesitate to take advantage of these terrific savings.

Only at: Jewelry Boxes For You, with the highest regards to quality.

Today’s Economy

Due to the economy we here at Jewelry Boxes for You have reduced our prices and increased our sales page to try and reduce the financial crunch that most people have experienced over the last eighteen months. Not to mention we have added free shipping to all of our items, that’s right, free shipping on everything. No minimum purchase required like most sites.

We feel that you as the consumer deserve a break and we’re giving you one, in fact we’re going to give you 100 breaks. That’s all the inventory we carry, all 100 products have been reduced and even slashed.

So take advantage of these great offers today and treat yourself or that someone special in your life with the purchase of one of our quality jewelry boxes, including watch collector’s boxes, cuff link/ring jewelry boxes, his and hers valet jewelry boxes and not to forget our travel case or over night jewelry boxes.

All of our prducts are made from exotic woods, of which are (hand crafted) and genuine leather. If jewelry boxes aren’t your objective, then you may want to try one of our elligant watch winders by Eilux with mutiple styles to choose from. Only at Jewelry boxes For You. With the highest regards to quality. www.jewelryboxesforyou.com

Process of leather production

August 10, 2009

The process of manufacturing leather is divided into three fundamental sub-processes: preparatory stages, tanning stages and crusting stage. All true leathers will go through these sub-processes. A further sub-process called surface coating can be added into the leather process sequence but not all leathers will receive a treatment. Seeing how so many types of leather exist, it has become difficult to compose a list of operations that all leathers must go through.

The preparatory stages are when the hide or skin is prepared for tanning. These preparatory stages could include: soaking , preservation, bating , liming, unhairing, reliming, deliming, fleshing, splitting, degreasing, bleaching, frizzing,  pickling and depickling.

Tanning is the process in which the conversion of the protein of the raw hide or skin into a stable material which will not putrefy and is then suitable for a wide scope of final applications. The principal difference between raw hides and tanned hides is that raw hides dry out to form a hard flexible material so that when re- wetted (or wetted back) putrefy, while tanned material dries out to be a flexible form that does not become putrid when wetted back. There are a large number of different materials and methods for tanning that can be used, the choice is ultimately dependent on the final application of the leather. The most commonly know agent used for tanning materials is chromium, which leaves the leather once tanned a pale blue color due to the (chromium)= a very hard, metallic chemical element with a high resistance to corrosion. This product is commonly known as “wet blue”.

The hides once they have finished pickling will typically be between pH of 2.8-3.2. At this stage the hides would be loaded into a drum and immersed in a float containing the tanning liquor. The hides are allowed to soak (while the drum slowly rotates about its axle) and the tanning liquor slowly penetrates through the entire substance of the hide. Frequent checks are made to see the penetration by cutting the cross section of a hide and observing the degree of penetration. Once a good even degree of penetration has been obtained, the pH of the float is slowly raised in a process called basification. This basification process adheres the tanning to the leather and the more tanning  material prepared  the higher the hydrothermal stability and increased shrinkage temperature resistance of the leather. The pH of the leather when chrome tanned would normally finish somewhere between 3.8-4.2.

Crusting is when the hide or skin is thinned, retanned and lubricated . Often, a coloring operation is included in the crusting sub-process. The chemicals added during crusting have to be fixed in place.
The culmination of the crusting sub-process is the drying and softening operations. Crusting may include the following operations: wetting back, splitting, shaving, sammying, neutralization, rechroming, retanning, filling, stripping, stuffing, dyeing, fatliquoring, whitening, fixating, drying, setting, conditioning, milling, buffing and staking.

For certain leathers a surface coating is applied. Tanners refer to this as finishing. Finishing operations could include: polishing, oiling, brushing, padding, buffing, spraying, roller coating, curtain coating, embossing, ironing, ironing or combing (for hair-on), impregnation, tumbling and glazing.

For all your jewelry storage needs log onto www.jewelryboxesforyou.com

THE MYSTERIOUS FLAME MAPLE

Flame maple, (also known as Flamed Maple, Curly Maple, Fiddleback Maple or Tigerstripe), is a feature of maple in which the growth of the wood fibers is distorted in an undulating pattern, producing wavy lines known as “flames”. This effect is often mistakenly said to be part of the grain of the wood; it is more accurately called “figure”, as the distortion is perpendicular to the grain direction. Prized for its beautiful appearance, it is used frequently in the manufacturing of musical instruments, such as violins, and fine furniture. Another well-known use of the material is its use in guitars, especially the venerated Gibson Les Paul and the Gibson J-200. The Gibson Les Paul “Standard”, initially manufactured from 1958 to 1960, sported a flame maple top finished in a cherry-red sunburst on a mahogany body. Today, these instruments are some of the most prized on the vintage guitar market, and as such are unaffordable to most musicians. During the westward expansion of early settlers and explorers into the lands west of the Appalachian Mountains, flame maple was often used for making the stocks used on Kentucky rifles. In the United States, most use the terms Fiddleback Maple and Curly Maple synonymously. Fiddleback Maple boasts a three-dimensional series of alternately bright and dark stripes that shade into one another as the wood is slightly moved, thus producing an illusion of actual waves. Changes in brightness result from differential light reflection. Relatively high absorption by exposed fiber ends produces dark bands; reflection and diffraction from fiber walls cause bright bands. Because the fiber walls are curved sharply and act as concave or convex reflecting surfaces, any change in angle of view or incident light makes the apparent waves seem to shift. Again, the same light stripe becomes a dark stripe and vice-versa. The illusion of undulations results from regular and repeated, parallel, wavy lines that produce an interference pattern on the exposed plane. Modern botany and science still cannot adequately account for what exactly causes the visually-stunning figuring in Flame Maple (also known as Fiddleback Maple, Curly Maple, Tiger Maple, Tigerstripe Maple). In conclusion, then, the cause(s) of the rare figuring seen in Fiddleback Maple is yet unknown. The mystery of Fiddleback Maple, in spite of electron microscopes and huge advances in the fields of wood technology, plant genetics, etc., for now remains unrevealed. While the precise cause of the mystery of Flame Maple must remain, at present, unknown, the result is well-known, greatly esteemed, and eagerly sought by wood aficionados as Flame Maple- one of the world’s most transfixing beautiful exotic hardwoods.

Jewelry boxes, from past to present

Jewelry boxes have been around for thousands of years, in fact the date of its origin is unclear, but they may have been called something quite the opposite of what one might expect from the 17^th century, such as feminine Work Boxes. Examples of these work boxes do exist from the 17^th century, but they served a completely different purpose from the jewelry boxes of today.

These 17^th century work boxes were usually fitted with a divider making up many small compartments for needles, reels of silk and cotton, and other necessities for stitchery and would be covered with silk and adorned with beads and embroidery. Work boxes are ordinarily portable, but at times they became affixed to the top of a stationary table.

In the 18^th century you would not find a lady without her work box. In the second half of the 18^th century enormous steps were taken to make these work boxes dainty and elegant.

A jewelry box of old, also known as a casket, is a receptacle for trinkets, not only for jewels. It may take on a very modest form, covered in leather and lined with satin, or it may reach the monumental proportions of the jewelry cabinets which were made for the very wealthy.

Today jewelry boxes are a far cry from jewelry boxes of yesteryear. They are made from various materials such as wood, exotic woods, leather, precious metals, crystal, glass and plastic to name a few. Modern day jewelry boxes come in many shapes, sizes and styles, including individual collections of jewelry boxes that range from jewelry armoires, to jewelry chests, to the overnight travel case, to the jewelry folder that simply slips into your purse.

Although jewelry boxes are known as receptacles for trinkets and jewels, today we may not look at our possessions as trinkets due to the fact that we will store anything from cuff links and rings, to watches and cell phones, including rare coins in what we know as a valet jewelry box for example, to show the diverse assortment of jewelry boxes of today from the work box of yesterday.

Please come and see what we have to offer from our modern day and exotic collections of jewelry boxes and watch winders at jewelry boxes for you, with the highest regards to quality.

Quality Jewelry Boxes

Exotic wood jewelry boxes are called exotic for various reasons, such as the type of wood they are made of, where the wood comes from, and how difficult it is to obtain the wood.
Today I would like to speak of a exotic wood called Bubinga, Bubinga wood is considered exotic because at its inception it was found primarily in West Africa.

The botanical name for Bubinga is Guibourtia Demeusei, also known as African Rosewood, due to its origin and deep reddish color.
Bubinga is a hardwood that is used for multiple applications such as veneer for cabinetwork, furniture, and paneling. Also used for knife handles and quality goods. One of my favorites applications for this exotic hardwood is quality jewelry boxes. This hardwood is worked easily by hand or power tools, stains easily and can be brought to an excellent finish to create a magnificent piece of work.

Although Bubinga is very easy to work with in its raw nature and is moderately durable it has been known to be susceptible to attack by common furniture beetles, and exudation of gum pockets can be troublesome when gluing. Having said that, I don’t know of a finer hardwood to make a quality jewelry box from. Bubinga, exotic wood jewelry boxes.
Please come and see what Bubinga and other exotic woods have to offer at jewelryboxesforyou.com/bubinga-burl-collection