Tonal Machiotl Ihuan Baston Cuauhtemoc

Cuauhtli is just putting the finishing touches on an Aztec Tonal Machiotl Ihuán Bastón Cuauhtémoc, for the Cuauhtémoc ceremony.  It is made of sterling silver, set with a large rock crystal quartz crystal and polished turquoise.  It is mounted on the top of a long and straight staff of black oak hardwood.  The base of the staff is said to have come from the original staff of Cuauhtémoc, passed down through the generations and handed directly to Cuauhtli from Cuauhtémoc’s grandson while in México.

http://www.jckonline.com/2012/01/18/57000-carat-emerald-called-worlds-largest-up-auction? 

Photo Courtesy of www.JKConline.com

Steve answers the question:

Retipping is where there is still enough prong from the bottom of the head up to the stone to add a matching piece of metal on the top part of the prong to cover and hold the stone in place.  It is welded on and refinished to match the other prongs.

Reprong is where the existing prong is so worn that an entirely new piece of metal, such as round gold stock must be welded in place and refinished to match the existing prongs. 

When prongs are worn down, there is a higher chance of breakage ie: a higher possibility of losing your stone. 

These prongs are very worn and flat against the stone.

This a brand new head with nice heavy rounded prongs holding the stone.

We check and clean your rings for no charge, so bring them in to make sure they are safe and you can leave with sparkley clean jewelry!

All our estate items are priced to sell so come see them today!

Pam and olivea pose after Olivea had her ears pierced.

Olivea came in with her mother today and got her ears pierced!  She was such a brave girl, and everything went well, even though today is Friday the 13th.  Way to go Olivea!

Click here to learn how you can give back to the community by having your ears pierced!

Sapphires, both natural and synthetic, come in all colors of the rainbow!

Synthetic (lab-grown) sapphires–along with many other stones–were first created in the late 1930s by Carroll Chatham.  Here’s the history from the Chatham website (www.Chatham.com).

—

In the late 1920’s a young boy followed his dreams in what was to become, one of the world’s preeminent crystal growers.  Carroll Chatham took his avid interest in chemistry and pursued his dream by endeavoring to duplicate nature’s process to create a diamond. Chatham was intrigued by chemistry and created a lab in his family’s garage at the young age of 12. He learned by trial and error, making fireworks and smoke bombs for his amusement. He read of failed attempts by Henri Moissan to make diamonds, and replicated his 1890’s experiments.

One attempt resulted in an explosion that rattled his San Francisco neighborhood, as well as the police. To calm the police and his parents, he shifted his focus to growing emerald crystals, hoping a crystal formation would not require immense pressure. Many years passed with nothing to show for his on and off again attempts to duplicate what happened in the earth’s crust millions of years ago.

In 1931, Chatham entered college at the California Institute of Technology, leaving his latest efforts in his family’s garage still running in his absence. As fate would have it, Chatham’s father turned off the power supply to his science project. This simple action caused his emerald crystals to grow in the crucible, and the legacy was born. It took Carroll another 3 years to understand why the emeralds formed! When he did, he never had another failure.

After emeralds in 1938, rubies, alexandrites, blue sapphires, and orange sapphires all came to fruition over many decades of research in the hands of Carroll Chatham. A few years after his passing in 1983, his lifelong dream of diamond cultivation finally became a reality for his son, Tom.

—

Come into KJon’s if you’d like to learn more about the differences between genuine and created stones!

Kelsey and Debbie pose with Pam after getting their ears pierced.

Kelsey and Debbie just had their ears pierced!  Kelsey (left) came in to have her ears pierced, and her mother was accompanying her.  Debbie thought that was all she was doing, but after she arrived, she decided to have her ears pierced, too.  This was the first time Pam has had a mother-daughter ear piercing together, in one sitting!  Way to go, you two!

As always, Kelsey and Debbie donated 250lbs of food EACH, to the Food Bank Coalition of SLO with their ear piercings.  You can too!  Find out more.

Alyssa and Tara pose with Pam after Alyssa got her ears pierced

Alyssa just got her ears pierced here at K-Jon’s, and she was such a brave girl!  Her sister Tara came along, too.  Tara had her ears pierced at K-Jon’s awhile back.

Now Alyssa has brand-new earrings to show off!