chrome hearts cheap: 2014

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Ryman Hospitality Properties CEO Hosts Investor and Analyst Day Conference Transcript

ï»¿Ryman Hospitality Properties CEO Hosts Investor and Analyst Day Conference Transcript

Colin Reed Chief Executive Officer

Well, good morning everyone. And I think I know basically everybody in this room, but for those on the phone, my name is Colin Reed. I am the CEO of Ryman. And with me this morning are I have few of our leadership team, Mark Fioravanti, our Chief Financial Officer, where is Mark? Mark is there; Patrick Chaffin, our Senior Vice President and Head of Asset Management for our company; Todd Siefert, our Treasurer; and Grant Jarnigan who is the Planning and Analysis and Investor Relations Director, and Brian Abrahamson, who is sitting in the back, he is our Vice President of Corporate Communications. I want to thank you all for being with us today, and welcome to folks that are on the webcast.

And what I want to do today, obviously we have got the Safe Harbor, which I am not going to read. What I want to do today is there is a lot of folks that are sort of circling our equity and are trying to understand our company. And so I am going to go into a little bit of detail about our company. And then what I am going to do is I am going to talk and focus really on the future and try and convince all of you that this is a company that is in fact quite different. This is a company that has extraordinary assets and generates and has the capability of generating very high levels of future cash flow. And thats what I want to do this morning, but initially what I would like to do for those folks that dont know too much about our business, if you go next one please, I wanted to start basically in early 2004, because this is really when this company started to take traction. I came to Gaylord back in 2011. It was pretty much a mess at the time. We had 15 businesses most were losing money and we spent the first year and a half, two years ripping the guts out of the company really repositioning it.

And in early 04, the brand Gaylord did not exist. In fact, it existed we launched it about April of 04. From 05 to 07, we really built a very strong service culture in this company and the meeting planning community really started to take notice of this brand and our business started to really take hold and we did some really good things from a revenue perspective. Late 07, two things were going on in the company. At first, we were ready in this business, this hotel, typical average Hilton right or typical average you pick it brand, but we were already in this hotel for opening and we were also under contract to purchase a hotel in San Antonio called La Cantera as stock had just hit $59 a share and life was good, we loved it. It was a great time. But as we got into the early part of 08 it became very clear to me and to members of our board that things were falling off a cliff economically. And as some of you know, we pulled on the La Cantera deal and we got a lot of flack on that from the investment community, but I have got to tell you I am actually pretty pleased that we have the fortitude to walk on that deal, because in hindsight going into what we all went into, I am glad we went into that with a balance sheet that wasnt stressed in anyway shape or form.

By the summer of 2008, as stock have gone from $59 a share down into the mid 20s, and this is when we attracted, what I call, our competitor shareholder from Texas, TRT who came in, in a period of a week, the owner of Omni and bought 13% of our company. Now, I know some of you this is for some of you this is what I am about to say is sort of toxic and thats when we decided to put it in the shareholder rights plan after Bob came in and bought. And the simple reason we did that was because we wanted to make sure that if he was going to come and take the company that he would have to pay a fair price. I mean, thats the reason we did all of that. We then had what we call a hospital phase with Bob which all sort of cleaned up by the early part of 09. We made love and peace in the early part if 09. And then 2010 came about and we then endured a massive flood in Nashville, a 500 year flood that killed 26 people in that town and it was shocking, but by and our stock by the way by 09 by the early part of 09 had declined from $59 in 07 to $5 a share, which was quite extraordinary now.

Now, I am going give you a piece of data and Ill show you this in a minute here. But in 10, our business dramatically outperformed the 09 when the world was falling off a cliff. Our business dramatically outperformed the industry. Ill show you some statistics on that in a second. By the November of 10, stock had recovered to $37 and then by September of 11 it had declined again to $18 of share. 2011 for our company was a record year. Opryland had produced $87 million of cash flow, its the best year ever had in its 25, 30 year history and our hotel in Texas accomplished almost $70 million of profitability, but our stock was doing this all the time.

By mid August of 11, the economic crisis in Europe that we sit and read about surfaced again and our friend from Texas came in and bought another 8% of the company. And so our tools due to expire two days after he brought the stock so we opt the tool for 12 months and basically said to ourselves we got 12 months to figure this out. So, in November of 11 I went to our board and said board we got five options here and I am not going to go through them, but we got essentially five options, and we got to look at this, because we cannot subject our shareholders to this extraordinary volatility. We got to do something about this. And the board said okay, going out and look at the five options, came back in February of 12 and said we are going to focus on two of them which was converting to a real estate investment trust, and frankly Ill be very kind of you guys. That wasnt my first choice. And I think the reason it wasnt my first choice was because I knew we were going to put ourselves through in a tremendous amount of emotional friction in this company, because so many of the people that we had recruited to build the brand. We were going to have to find any something that I was hoping that, that wouldnt be the right answer.

The other thing that we looked at back in early part of last year was whether we should sell the company. So, our board said okay, go do these two, go check these two things out on a parallel basis, which we did. We had our bankers go out and talk to handful of PE companies who had came and talk to us in the past. And we explored the real estate investment trust idea. Now, I want to give you one piece of information back in early 11, because of the position that TRT had in our company, we bought McKenzie in and asked McKenzie to help us figure out, if we were going to merge our business with a relatively small hotel company, what would be the synergies and the benefits that the merged companies could get and what would be similarly the synergies that we would get, if we were to merge our business with a bigger company.

And what we were trying to understand is what would be the value transfer to the acquiring business? And what was interesting was that the data that McKenzie help us put together back in early 11 correlated very, very strongly to the results we came to when we were going through the RFP process with the big operators that wanting to operate these hotels. And so the reason I tell you this is that the cost savings that we have been articulating to you folks back from May of 2012 and since that time, they have been basically validated twice back in 11 and also through this process that we have been going through.

In terms of the activity with PE having said this publicly before, but we received two verbal office for the company, the price range was between $32 and $37 a share. Lord knows how many conversations in this period of time with our friend Bob, our friend TRT. And Bob have made the comments to me on multiple occasions that he really loved the business, he would love to own the business, and every time he said this to me I said to him. Well, you know where we are, you just got to come and make an offer for the company. And as you all know that never ever came about. So, we decided the real estate investment trust idea was by far the best idea. And so as you all know after a very aggressive, very detailed RFP process, we have selected Marriot. This wasnt a heads Marriott wins, tails Hyatt loses or heads Marriott wins, tails Starwood loses, we literally spent three months understanding their delivery systems, their cost structures, their culture. And so I feel very good about the analysis that we did.

Looking back at that phase, I would tell you I think the change of strategy that we have undertaken is the right thing for our shareholders. I have been very I have become very, very, very much convinced that this is the right structure for this organization. And as I told our board yesterday when we had our meeting here, I have no hesitation that this was the correct decision for the company, it clearly was. So, thats the history.

What I want to do now is shift gears and talk about first the assets of the company. Some of you I know quite a lot of you this is the first time youve seen this hotel and you are going to get a tour off too, its massive and its beautiful. But I want to just talk to you quickly about the assets. These hotels and the entertainment attractions we own the wonderful assets. They are very, very large, I am on page eight, they are very large. They have enormous convention and meeting space. These assets are very fresh. We have lots of food and beverage outlets, massive retail outlets, and they are just very, very different. The conditions of these assets, I dont know you will travel and you will go from city to city, but there is a lot of assets that are in the hands of real estate investment trust that have essentially been start of capital from 2008 forward. These hotels are not in that situation. The only refurbishment that we have remaining to be done is in Texas, where we have a room refurbishment that is scheduled to start later this year, but everything else in these hotels are in great shape.

These are just quickly on page 10. This is some of the meeting space, which is quite different, I guess, bedrooms are quite nice. I hope those of you who have stayed in the hotel last night, stayed in decent bedroom in decent rooms and they were cleaned and serviced well. The environments that we have in these hotels, we put a lot of entertainment in these hotels. And some of you have heard me say this before, but let me just tell you, I really feel very passionately about the way the meeting planner thinks about convention assets. When meeting planners make decisions to go places invariably they go to places where they have fun when they take their big groups there. And so for us when we build these hotels and we theme them and we put the culture into these places, great room product, great food and beverage product, and great entertainment. People dont go to places for big conventions that are starchy, they want to go to places that they have fun. So, we put a lot of theming in these assets.

The group hotels in the United States, the big ones these are the top 10 group hotels in the United States from size of meeting space and size of hotel rooms and now to hotel rooms, and we our company owns 4 of the 10 big hotels in this country. Now, I want to switch gears now and talk a little bit about the customer, because forgive me being very direct like this, but so many of you really dont understand truthfully or truly, the niche that we go after, because I get so many questions from the investment community and the analyst community to say well, a convention hotel is opening up here in Washington, isnt that a major competitive threat. And here is why it isnt. The customers, this chart that we are going to show up, put it all up, thank you, Todd, so I want you to look at the green in the middle, these are the 400, these are the hotels that have between 400 and 799 rooms and there is a bunch of those in this country.

Then on the outside, youve got the customers that want these are the customers that are 3,000, 4,000, 10,000 at a time. And these are the customers that tend to want to go to large convention centers that are space hogs. And they have to then be diffused around into 10, 15 hotels and the customer has a hard time with transporting their goods around to get them to convention center. But because of their size they have to go to this massive City Convention Center Hotels. The group that we primarily this company has been primarily focused on is the group that typically are 600 peak plus up to about 1500, 2000. And these customers want this all under one roof experience this crazy group that we have in town for the next two to three days all these kids to dress up in funny stuff those of you here last night know what I am talking about, those of you arrived this morning have no clue when you do your tour be ready. But these folks want to be under one roof and are prepared to pay for it $200 a night they are here for three days over weekend in cold wet Washington in March. And this group is not a group that wants to be diffused around they want to be cocooned so they can communicate and do business. If you look at the part over here, our advantage is we have far more meeting space per a guest bedroom than the competitors in REIT land and thats very important and its important for the attraction of the group customer.

I want to share you this slide, the next slide please, Todd. Okay, so what this is 1000 room hotels that owned by a real estate investment trust in the 19 states. Host has 13 hotels over 1000 rooms and they control 1.8 million square feet of meeting space, 1.6 million we changed the numbers on the overnight. We own four hotels for 1.9 million square feet of meeting space. And then all the rest of the other REITs these four hotels that essentially have 300,000 feet of aggregated meeting space. And the point of this is in REIT land we are the big dog in the group sector by far and I dont think thats an important statistic.

Next one, so, this is the basic summary of the first section about these assets, these hotels of us are we believe a very unique the conditions of these hotels are great. The supply of meeting space we basically have the majority of the meeting space in the REIT sector and then we believe these assets are pretty good. So, now lets talk about visibility and volatility, because I think this is a very important part. So, first of all I want to give you on this slide, I want to give you snapshot of the way our business works. So, the fall part of it, we had of all the customers that walk through our doors every year. Approximately 77% of our customers are group customers and about 23% this is historical our trends in customers.

When we take the group side of it, its broken down essentially about 40 40 20, 40% are corporate, 36% are association and 21% are other. And other would be religious government groups stuff like that. Now I want to tell you something that middle analysis is very, very, very important and here is why. Back in 09 when the world was falling off the cliff, we had about 125,000 room nights that were cancelled and paid for by different customers. But 95% of those customers were corporate customers. The association market turned up in the worst recession this country seen since in 1930s. We like association business and the reason we like it, we think it is essentially almost like an annuity for us.

Now, the booking window of these customers as you will see from this slide. Corporate customers tend to book about one and a half years ahead of time. Associations book a long time ahead of time. So, once they make their commitment 4.5 years on average, 4.4 years on average ahead of time, these boys and girls turn up and turn up very well. The other groups, the religious groups, the government groups tend to be shorter term.

The other statistic I will give you just drop back a second, I am going to give you one other statistic on this. In that middle section over here, that is the group profile broken down between Corporate, Association and Other. 80% of our groups are large, I beg your pardon 80% of our business comes from large groups, but they only represent 10% of the groups, 80% of the revenue comes from about 10% of these large blocks of groups, 80% of the 10% of the groups generating about 80% of the revenue.

So, now let me if we could go on to this next one, and I am going to show you something in a minute, I dont think youve seen before. But on the revenue mix typically what tends to happen is that about 40% of our revenue comes from room revenue and the rest of it comes from outside of the room revenue. And that is and we make a lot of money on that outside the room revenues bit like the gaming industry. This is what happened, this bar chart on the right side if you look at it this is actually what happened to our occupancy and to our fee collection as we went through this recession. As you will see, our occupancy was up in the high 70s in 07. We didnt collect a lot of cancellation fees. Our occupancy started to decline as we went into 08. This was the association market. I beg your pardon the corporate market there was cancelling and not turning up $14.6 million of cancellation fees than in 09. In fact those cancellation fees jumped to $27.7 million. And this is very important because if you go into this next slide, this is where I touched on a second ago.

If you look what we have done here, if you look at the average booking window, if you look at the other REITs, mix of revenue that we estimate thats and Smith Travel has helped us with this estimated 35% growth, 65% leisure. The average booking window for all hospitality REITs tends to be about seven months and the average booking window for our company tends to be 2.1 years. Now in 09, this is the important slides I think one of the important slides Id ask you to look at we opened Washington here in April of 08. So, what we did in order to do an apples for apples we assumed this hotel was in business January, February, March, April. And so the true results of our company restated for 09 was our revenue was down 10% and our profitability was off 9%, and as you can see other REITs in this period of time, 22% in revenue and then almost 40% in profitability. Our business just behaves very different to the rest of re planned.

Go on to the next one, Todd, thank you. This shows that we think we have some good days ahead of us in terms of rate, group room rate. The red line is the trends in ADR. And as you can see trends in ADR has recovered a little bit more so than the group ADR. And so we think obviously over the next one to three years, we believe we can grow with Marriotts leadership, the group ADR of this business which is good.

Now, let me touch on supply, this is another important slide. As we were going into this massive recession in 09, supply was growing fairly aggressively in this country. We saw supply growing 6% from 5% in 08 and 09. Supply has fallen off a cliff. New supply has fallen off a cliff. There is a little bit in 14 which is the convention hotel here in downtown Washington and the Omni in downtown Nashville. The very small levels of supply are in the planning stage here for hotels that compete for these large groups. The Smith Travel estimates on the in the green color there are the estimates of ADR. So, in our opinion, this is a good situation that we are coming into. I want to show you this slide; this is Smith Travels RevPAR premium performance. This is as compared to all those hotels in each market, Smith Travel compares to. In 08, when the world was in decent shape before, we had about 129% total RevPAR premium and about 110% RevPAR premium and then wha

Friday, July 4, 2014

How to Make a DIY earring holder

ï»¿How to Make a DIY earring holder This video shows how to make an earring holder. You will need a canvas and some acrylic paint. Paint the entire canvas including the sides. You can paint it a solid color, or paint any design you like. Use glue to attach some glitter, or use puffy paint or glitter glue to decorate the earring holder. When the paint is dry it is ready to use. Simply push your earrings through the canvas. If you have earrings that are delicate, you may want to use a nail to form a hole in the canvas before placing the earring through so that you dont bend the jewelry. If you are using a wooden canvas you can add nails on the side of the canvas that you can use to hang earrings that dont fit on the front like hoops or necklaces and bracelets. Who knew that that mess of random old clothes and knick knacks piled on your bedroom floor that makes it seem like a tornado just rolled on through could actually help you clean up the mess? Often when we see such clutter and actually decide to do something about it the natural and easy thing to do is simply to pick up the junk and toss. But before you throw your clutter away next time, check for two items: 1. Pantyhose, and 2. A box lide. You sure to have both and if not, both are easily found, which is great because these two materials are all you need to create a jewelry organizing. In this video you learn to make earrings out of guitar picks. You will need round nose and regular pliers, wire cutters, 2 regular picks, bead reamer, earring hooks, jump rings, and long silver strands. Use the bead reamer to make a nice clean hole on the top edge of the guitar pick. Use the jump ring through the hole you just made to attach the silver strand. This makes the earrings dangle. On the other end of the silver strand connect the earring hook with another jump ring. This completes your first earring, do the same series of steps to finish your pair and play around with what picks you.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

How to Dress Up Summer Styles

ï»¿How to Dress Up Summer Styles Summer is the perfect season for floaty dresses and casual shorts, but how to dress up these styles for more formal occasions? Here are some easy ways to add some elegant details to summer outfits. Dress Up a SundressThe classic summer dress is a lightweight sundress. Styling a sundress for a party, picnic, or festival is a matter of choosing the right accessories: Belts. Wearing an unstructured sundress doesnt mean having to look sloppy. Accessories go a long way toward making a summer outfit more formal. Avoid flip flops for dressy summer occasions. Leave the oversized tote or hobo bag at home. Opt for a daintier clutch or wristlet for evening events. Tops. A t shirt with shorts is as casual as one can get in the summer. Shoes dictate a lot when it comes to summer outfits. Ward off an evening chill by tossing on a silk or linen scarf. Tops. Sarongs. These long stretches of fabric can be worn around the waist with a swimsuit during the day, and can easily be turned into a strapless dress for evening. A wardrobe of neutral summer staples and the right accessories will take anyone from day to night without sacrificing comfort or great summer style.

How to Dress Up Summer Styles

Saturday, June 28, 2014

How to Care for a Labret Piercing

ï»¿How to Care for a Labret Piercing Use a new, soft bristled toothbrush after you get your lip pierced. According to the Association of Professional Piercers, you can expect swelling, bleeding, bruising and pain for up to five days after you get a labret piercing. While you go through the healing process, exercising proper care is important to avoid infection and other medical complications. Step 1 Rinse your mouth for 30 to 60 seconds with an alcohol free, antibacterial mouthwash or packaged saline solution after you eat and before you to to sleep. However, rinsing too often or using a strong, alcohol based mouthwash while your labret piercing heals can irritate your mouth and the piercing site. Baton Rouge based Deja Vu Tattoo Body Piercing studio suggests rinsing with a solution no more than four or five times per day. Step 2 Brush your teeth gently with a soft bristled toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste. Have a new toothbrush on hand after you get your labret piecing so bacteria from your old brush wont enter your mouth. After your piercing heals, you can brush your teeth, as well as the jewelry inside your mouth, more vigorously to prevent plaque build up. Step 4 Cleanse the exterior of the piercing site no more than two times per day. Use a small amount of fragrance free, antimicrobial cleanser in the shower or bath, allowing it to remain on the exterior piercing site for no more than 30 seconds. Rinse well with water to make sure no soapy residue remains. Step 5 Pat the skin dry gently with paper towels. Cloth towels not only snag the jewelry, but they may also be a source of bacteria. Step 6 Do not touch or remove jewelry during the healing period. The only time your fingers should touch it is during the cleaning process. Be careful when donning and doffing clothing, so it doesnt become entangled with the jewelry. Step 7 Watch for infection. Its common to notice a thin, light yellow liquid to ooze from a new labret piercing, says the APP. To reduce swelling and pain right after you get a labret piercing, the APP advises sucking on small ice chips and taking over the counter pain relievers, such as ibuprofen or naproxen.

How to Care for a Labret Piercing

Friday, June 27, 2014

How To Buy Body Magnets for Anxiety

ï»¿How To Buy Body Magnets for Anxiety As more and more people are trying to find alternative cures to common ailments, many different modes of healing are being developed, and one of these is known as magnet therapy. The benefits of magnet therapy are not yet scientifically proven, but it works with theory that magnets may be able to direct blood flow to a particular area of the body, and to adjust the function of nerve cells. Also, there is the premise that putting magnets close to a particular body organ will help restore it to its natural function. One of the applications of magnet therapy is to help in relieving symptoms of stress and anxiety. Many people are finding magnet therapy appealing mostly because it is a non invasive treatment. If you would like to try out body magnets to cure your anxiety, here are some steps to help you buy body magnets for anxiety: Consult your doctor. This is very important in order to make sure that you are not at risk of developing health problems because of wearing magnets all the time. This is especially important if you are using medical devices such as a pacemaker or insulin pump; magnets might possibly cause some interference to these devices. Know your options. There are many types of body magnets sold today, and they can come in the form of necklaces, bracelets, wristbands, and buttons. Find out the magnet properties that you need. Again, there are no scientifically proven benefits to using magnets for health, but researchers recommend that you should purchase magnets with particular properties, for you to get the maximum potential health benefits. Some of these properties include a high magnetic energy called gauss rating for it to penetrate your body; and a bio north or negative polarity. Consider other factors. You should choose a magnet that would be comfortable enough to wear. Also, you could either hide away your body magnet it should therefore be of indiscreet size, or you could go the other way and wear it for everybody to see. If you choose the latter option, you should buy a body magnet thats attractive and could work as an accessory. There you have it! These are just some of the pointers and guidelines for you to remember when buying body magnets for anxiety. Do remember that, in order to ensure better relief from anxiety, you should adopt other measures apart from magnetic therapy. Consult your doctor on how to adjust your lifestyle in order to find relief from your condition. Good luck!

How To Buy Body Magnets for Anxiety

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Holiday Inn Express Suites NEWPORT

ï»¿Holiday Inn Express Suites NEWPORT Welcome to our Newport, Oregon Hotel The modern, fresh Holiday Inn Express Newport, Oregon Hotel Suites is located just blocks from Newports most prominent leisure and business attractions. We offer the quality youve come to expect from our brand at a price that fits your budget. Business travelers find our hotels location in Newport, Oregon a convenient option, as were close to Oregon State University Newport, the Yaquina Bay Coast Guard Station, Samaritan Pacific Hospital and Newport Municipal Airport. Perfect for on site gatherings, our accommodations also feature a conference room with free high speed, wired and wireless Internet access. In addition, the 24 hour Business Center provides a double workstation with copy, print and fax services for your benefit. While staying in Newport, Oregon, guests at our hotel find that our great location makes it easy to spend a fun afternoon at Nye Beach, enjoying Newports Bayfront shopping and dining areas or touring downtown. Additional activities and attractions near our address include the Oregon Coast Aquarium, Hatfield Marine Science Center and Rogue Brewery. During your visit to our hotels facilities in Newport, Oregon, we invite you to take advantage of the complimentary Express Start Breakfast Bar, as well as our indoor, heated pool and well equipped Fitness Center. As you prepare for your trip, be sure to note our exceptional hotel rates, too. Book your room today! Book online using the form above.

Holiday Inn Express Suites NEWPORT

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Greenville Fashion Trends

ï»¿Greenville Fashion Trends South Carolina jewelry designer, Charme Silkiner, believes that jewelry expresses joy. This philosophy drives Silkiners creative process, and inspires her to craft pieces that women love to wear. The blog Thrifty Trendsetters describes Charme Silkiners celebratory pieces as an orchestration of color, textures, movement and luminosity come together in gifted precision. Her designs fuse feminine elegance and sophistication with edgy drama. For this reason, they appeal to contemporary women who own their style and feel confident in their clothes. More Photos There have been numerous Charme Silkiner sightings on celebrities like Michelle Trachtenberg, Mayim Bialik and Maria Menounous. Media buzz from Redbook, Glamour, and InStyle, demonstrates the groundswell of interest in the line. The rising jewelry superstar offered the following style insights during a recent interview with the Greenville fashion trends Examiner:

Greenville Fashion Trends

Monday, June 23, 2014

Gemstone Hardness Befits Everlasting Jewelry

ï»¿Gemstone Hardness Befits Everlasting Jewelry It is important to know a gemstones hardness to determine practicality and desirability for lasting jewelry. Overall hardness ranks as one of the most important characteristics for jewelry toughness, especially with transparent, faceted, precious and semi precious stones. Naturally, there are several elements to consider when determining a gemstones overall qualifications for jewelry brittleness, flaws, cracks, or reaction to changes in the environment, to name a few. However, overall mineral hardness ranks tops when ranking durable gems. Mohs Hardness Scale Helps Rank Gems for RuggednessIn 1822, European Frederich Mohs tested ten random minerals, by scratching each with the others, to determine each minerals overall hardness. Then, Mohs placed the minerals in order, from softest to hardest, and numbered each from 1 to 10, with 1 being the softest. By comparing other gems and minerals with Mohs test group, relative ruggedness for each gemstone and mineral is determined. This is known as the Mohs hardness scale. Exceptionally Hard DiamondIn addition to unquestionable beauty, there is good reason why precious diamond is highly valued for use in jewelry and adornments. Diamond is exceptionally hard. In fact, rated a Mohs 10, diamond is regarded as the hardest mineral on earth. Accordingly, the toughness of this precious gemstone makes it most durable and valuable as a daily wear jewel. On the other hand, although they may be incredibly appealing to the eye, there are many lovely, popular, gemstones, that when set into jewelry, may not endure if not protected and worn with extra care. Softer Gemstones at RiskGem hardness is a measure of how well a jewel resists abrasion due to scratching. Softer gemstones are at risk for surface dulling and abrasions, chipping, internal fracture, and outright breakage. Remarkably, even everyday dust, which contains the relatively hard mineral quartz, rated Mohs 7, can scratch many popular gemstones. Gem Durability and Jewelry StorageWhen storing gems and jewelry together, harder stones, like diamond, will scratch and damage lesser hard jewels, such as emerald, rated Mohs 7.5 8. Ruby and Sapphire Perfect for JewelryThere are great variances between gem species in terms of their hardness. Some stones, like ruby, and sapphire, are rated Mohs 9. These wonderfully hard and durable gems, are perfect for almost any kind of jewelry. Tanzanite Rings Best if ProtectedSome gems, like tanzanite, rated Mohs 6.5 7, may be at risk if worn as daily ring jewels. However, they endure relatively well when worn as more protected pieces, such as earrings or pendants. Prized Rhodocrosite Requires Extra CareOther rare, beautiful stones, like rhodocrosite, rated Mohs 4, are so soft that, in addition to their rarity, they are best considered as collector gems. Generally, softest gems are best kept as loose collector specimens, or, entrusted only to the most skilled gem cutters and jewelry setters to be worn with extreme care. If a prized collector specimen, like rhodocrosite, is to be set into jewelry, care should be taken to use a skilled and experienced craftsman for the job. Proper Storage Protects InvestmentIn all cases, even the toughest of stones, proper and careful storage will help maintain a gemstone investment. Daily wear Gemstones Safest if Rated Mohs 7 or HarderGems for daily wear rings, which require the toughest of gemstones to last, are best if rated at least a Mohs 7. This level of hardness is equal to the hardness of quartz, which is present in dust and may abrade unprotected gem surfaces. Hardness Ratings for Popular GemstonesFollowing, in descending order from hardest to softest, are Mohs scale hardness ratings for popular minerals and gems found in jewelry.

Gemstone Hardness Befits Everlasting Jewelry

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Five Books Every Metal Artist Should Own

ï»¿Five Books Every Metal Artist Should Own Metalsmithing is a skill that spans the border between art and craft. Metal artists not only need to perfect construction techniques, but also refine and hone their artistic voices. The books below provide tips to improve fabrication skills as well as jewelry examples to stir the imagination. Basic Instructional Books: Metal Jewelry Making TechniquesThe Complete Metalsmith: An Illustrated Handbook This all inclusive instructional handbook by Tim McCreight provides a detailed overview of tools and techniques used to make metal jewelry. The book provides a comprehensive list of metalworking terms, as well as illustrated examples of common metalsmithing supplies. A wonderful guide for beginners, this book provides step by step illustrated instructions on how to perform common metalworking techniques. The projects are laid out in detail from start to finish. Beautiful example photos are sprinkled throughout the book as well. The book provides instruction for both basic and complicated practices, including solder inlay and epoxy resin inlay techniques. This book by Jinks McGrath gives jewelry artists a comprehensive look at many common metal finishing techniques. Detailed instructions for over 15 projects are laid out in the book. The book also provides photographs of finished metal pieces. The book provides diverse examples of jewelry art, ranging from the subtle and sophisticated to the kitschy and avant garde. Artists use traditional and unique techniques to create awe inspiring works. The book is filled with big beautiful photos of mind boggling works. Artists in any field should browse through this book to get inspired to think outside of the box.500 Bracelets, 500 Pendants, 500 Earrings or Other 500 Series Books Beyond 1000 Rings, Lark Publishing has also released compilations of other forms of jewelry, such as bracelets, pendants and earrings. These books, along with 1000 Rings, are part of the 500 Series of art books. They showcase work of a variety of artists in a wide array of styles. Metal artists must stay informed and continue to develop their grasp on techniques to improve their work. The books above can provide artists with the resources with which to enhance and evolve their metal work.

Five Books Every Metal Artist Should Own

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Extracting Gold

ï»¿Extracting Gold Removing the gold bearing rock from the ground is just the first step. To isolate pure gold, mining companies use a complex extraction process. The first step in this process is breaking down large chunks of rock into smaller pieces. At a mill, large machines known as crushers reduce the ore to pieces no larger than road gravel. The gravel like material then enters rotating drums filled with steel balls. In these drums, the ore is ground to a fine slurry or powder.Next, mill operators thicken the slurry with water to form pulp and run the pulp through a series of leaching tanks. Leaching dissolves the gold out of the ore using a chemical solvent. The most common solvent is cyanide, which must be combined with oxygen in a process known as carbon in pulp. As the cyanide and oxygen react chemically, gold in the pulp dissolves. When workers introduce small carbon grains to the tank, the gold adheres to the carbon. Filtering the pulp through screens separates the gold bearing carbon.The carbon moves to a stripping vessel where a hot caustic solution separates the gold from the carbon. Another set of screens filters out the carbon grains, which can be recycled for future processing. Finally, the gold bearing solution is ready for electrowinning, which recovers the gold from the leaching chemicals. In electrowinning, operators pour the gold bearing solution into a special container known as a cell. Positive and negative terminals in the cell deliver a strong electric current to the solution. This causes gold to collect on the negative terminals.Smelting, which results in nearly pure gold, involves melting the negative terminals in a furnace at about 2,100 degrees F 1,149 degrees C. When workers add a chemical mixture known as flux to the molten material, the gold separates from the metal used to make the terminals. Workers pour off the flux and then the gold. Molds are used to transform the liquid gold into solid bars called dor bars. South Africa is the leading gold producing country, followed by the United States and Australia. In the United States, Nevada is the leading gold producer.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Emily Elizabeth Jewelry Review

ï»¿Emily Elizabeth Jewelry Review Looking for something that complements a larger frame? I recommend Emily Elizabeth Jewelry for the plus size woman.Design OfferingsEmily Elizabeth has a comprehensive collection with plenty of different styles from which to choose, including flowers, smileys, birds, and whimsical, almost urban designs. Earrings are available in hoops and dangles; necklaces have different gauge chains and lengths; rings are substantial and far more creative than the average find.QualityThe price range is fair for Emily Elizabeth Jewelry: prices begin at $48 for a variety of different looks. For example, you can buy one of her famous saltines, a vintage inspired camera, safety pin, or flower design for this price point.I think that the gold plating is really interesting, and it is available in a bunch of tints like pink, green, and black gold. However, the quality category is where I deducted a point and a half. When I saw the Recession Betty piece available on their website, I noticed that the bauble was clamped together as a hollow shell. I would have preferred it as a solid piece without edges.General AppealEmily Elizabeth pieces are affordable conversation pieces, and thats the major appeal. I love the lariat designs available on the site, as well as the three piece items that correspond with each other. Emily Elizabeth has fresh, unique designs at a fair price point.Plus PointsWhat does this have to do with plus women? More than you would think. If you check out Emily Elizabeths website, you will see that she uses heavier gauge chains in some of her work. This is highly proportional for the larger framed woman dont you hate it when those flimsy chains disappear against the backdrop of your skin, or look so tiny and insignificant? Its solution time.

Emily Elizabeth Jewelry Review

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Did Sam Lufti Lifty Britneys Swag

ï»¿Did Sam Lufti Lifty Britneys Swag The restraining order against Osmarmy has been extended: Weve learned Lutfi and the conservators have avoided the court showdown tomorrow by agreeing to extend the restraining order against Lutfi for 30 days. Under the existing order, which expires tomorrow, Lutfi must stay 2 1/2 football fields away from the Britster and basically have no contact with her at all. The parties have agreed to extend that order. . Britney Spears confidante reportedly does not plan on fighting the extension. One possible reason? It has apparently come to the attention of father Jamie Spears that Sam may have shanghaied expensive gifts that were originally meant for Britney. Michael Sands, Sam Lutfis spokesperson, tells us that, Britney was aware of the merchandise, and if she didnt want it, Sam donated it to charity.

Did Sam Lufti Lifty Britneys Swag

Friday, June 13, 2014

Cubic Zirconia Jewelry

ï»¿Cubic Zirconia Jewelry Cubic zirconia also known as CZ is a beautiful man made gemstone that is durable, inexpensive and created to simulate the diamond. It replicates the characteristics of a perfect diamond more closely than any other gem material, but at a fraction of the cost. CZ crystals have been known since 1937 and these days cubic stone zirconia is created in a laboratory by heating zirconium oxide and yttrium oxide to very high temperatures almost 5000 degrees Fahrenheit!. The amount of each ingredient is carefully controlled, and finally gets beautiful, flawless crystals. This result is amazing fire and brilliance and certain additives sometimes being used to achieve a similar appearance to genuine diamonds. Other ingredients are also added to produce various colors. There are different qualities in Cubic Zirconia such as white round A quality, AAA and five star AAAAA quality. Generally, it has four main factors that help determine the quality or grade of cubic zirconia. These are carat or carat weight, clarity, color, and cut. Cubic zirconia jewelry is designed to imitate the perfect diamond; its most important characteristic is the sparkle. Five star AAAAA CZ is the highest quality diamond available in the world of faux diamonds, and is widely known for its magnificent shine. Cubic zirconia jewelry is affordable, beautiful and charming. Cubic Zirconia is available in all types of zirconia jewelry. rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, pendants, etc. Now Cubic zirconia jewelry comes in many fashionable colors, making it even more attractive. You can buy cubic stone zirconia that looks like genuine diamond jewelry for a fraction of the price.

Colored Stones for Jewelry

ï»¿Colored Stones for Jewelry Orange often underestimated and overlooked by consumers is taking the design and fashion world by storm. Good news for jewelry hounds: each and every type of orange hue is present in oodles of extraordinary, natural, gemstones. Orange Gemstones and Orange Jewelry: Big Range in Price and HueIn terms of price, beautiful orange gems range from downright cheap to astronomically expensive. Like all colored gemstones, value is determined by popularity. But also, a gems age and condition, its source, rarity, and availability come into play. To ensure your gem is all natural, or that treatments are disclosed, purchase from a reputable dealer or collector. For significant purchases, a report rom the Gemological Institute of America GIA is recommended to ensure authenticity. A fine orange gem should be of good weight for its face up size, and should not not show lifeless, dark, or clear areas. Washed out gems are undesirable as well. Examine a stone or jewelry from all angles. you want color! Whether you shop for fashion jewelry du jour, a fine investment gemstone, or the quintessential heirloom jewel, there are all sorts of interesting and attractive orange gems to fit your budget. Consider this list of faceted gemstones to start you on your way to orange bliss: Orange Diamond: Most Durable, Quite Rare and PriceyDiamond is a fabulous gemstone not only because of its bright, sparkly appearance, but also because it is most durable of all stones tough and hard, its rated 10 on the Mohs hardness scale. Diamond gems come in all sorts of colors, called fancies, as well as colorless and near colorless stones. A quality, natural, Fancy orange diamond is a sight to behold. And, the color orange in diamond is extremely rare. More often than not, a Fancy orange diamond is a dark and more complex hue, tinted by brown or grey. Although a complex orange can make an extremely gorgeous gemstone, the most saturated orange color is most valued less tint means more pure, saturated color. Due to its scarcity, a Fancy orange diamond is a very expensive stone, especially a diamond of size. By comparison,At the same auction, a 28.00 ct near colorless diamond sold for $745,000. Fancy Sapphire: Orange and Padparadscha Varieties, Both Highly DesirableMade from aluminum oxide, sapphire, or corundum, is the next hardest stone type Mohs 9 after diamond. It makes for an extremely durable and beautiful gemstone in any color. Pure, orange sapphire is not as popular as well known blue sapphire. However, a quality orange sapphire gem is delightfully appealing and can be quite pricey. Displaying a mix of pink and orange hues, very rare padparadschda sapphire is near the top of the list for desirable and expensive collector/jewelry gemstones. According to GIAs Colored Stone Essentials, pricing for a padparadscha sapphire can be as exotic as the color itself. Only the most experienced gem professionals can navigate a market where sapphires showing the slightest pink or orange might be offered as padparadschas, warns the guide. Generally, the color in the finest padparadschas is an intense pinkish orange hue. Orange Garnet: Hessonite, Spessartite, Coveted Malaya and Mandarin. Fanta, Anyone?Garnets are group of several mineral species, some of which are used as gemstones. Garnets are old and well known gems, and overall, they are considered to be excellent jewelry stones that are easily cut and take a beautiful polish Mohs 7 to 7.5. Many consider the ultimate orange gem to be in the garnet group. Popular hessonite grossular garnet, composed of calcium aluminum silicate, was used long ago by Greeks and Romans for jewelry. Often appearing orange brown, due to manganese and iron, hessonite garnet has swirls of inclusions that give stones a honeylike appearance, according to Cally Hall in her book Gemstones published by Smithsonian. Originally considered a reject color, African dealers call reddish orange garnets malaya or malaia which means outcast in Swahili. According to Rene Newman in Exotic Gems Volume 2 International Jewelry Publications malaya garnet is classified as pyrope spessartine and ranges in color from reddish orange, to pinkish orange, yellowish orange, to light brown. She writes, Imperial garnet and imperial malaya are two terms used for pink or pink orange pyrope spessartines. Made of maganese aluminum silicate, the spessartite type of garnet, known by some as spessartine, is an orange lovers dream gem. Relatively unknown and rare until the 1990s, spessartite is new on the gem scene. However, finest specimens are highly regarded as gem and collectible stones. Hall describes gem quality spessartite as uncommon. Bright orange when pure, she writes in Gemstones, an increase in iron makes the stone darker. Purest tangerine orange spessartite, described by gem lovers as resembling the bright orange hue of Fanta soda, is known as mandarin garnet. Mandarin garnet is considered by many to be the quintessential, ultimate orange gemstone in terms of color. In Exotic Gems Volume 2, Newman writes, This garnet contains small colorless fibers, which creates a velvety texture and masks dark extinction areas, making the stone appear completely orange. Fire Opal, Cherry Opal and Jelly Opal: Whats in a Name?Sometimes confused with garnet, fire opal is very sensitive to every stress, according to Walter Schumann in, Gemstones of the World Sterling. To that end, fire opals rated Mohs 5 to 6 1/2, with very poor to fair toughness, according to the GIA are recommended as pendant and earring stones. If set as ring gems, opals do best if set carefully in protective mountings. Fire opal sourced from Mexico is known for flaming red or orange body color with red flashes. Red or orange opal from Oregon is called fire opal because of its play of color characteristics. Some call bright orange or red opal without flashes or color play cherry opal. Colorless opal with play of color is known as jelly opal. Whatever you call it, the best of this gem type is stunning material. In Gemstone Buying Guide International Jewelry Publications, Rene Newman writes, The most valued fire opal is reddish orange, transparent, and has a play of color within the stone. In Exotic Gems Volume 2, Newman dedicates an entire chapter to fire opal and addresses the confusing nature regarding which characteristics make a gem true fire opal, as well as how to identify natural vs. synthetic and imitation opal. Topaz: Orange and Imperial Gems Make Excellent JewelsThe name topaz may have originated from the Sanskrit word for fire, tapas. According to Karen Hurrell and Mary L. Johnson in Gemstones Metro Books, This is a durable, beautiful gemstone, perfect for jewelry. Topaz is one of the hardest gems in the world, rated Mohs 8, and it is the hardest in the silicate family of minerals. Occurring in several colors, topaz, made from aluminum silicate fluoride and/or hydroxide, appears orange when there is chromium present along with color centers. According to the GIA, Imperial topaz is a trade name for stones with a medium reddish orange to orangey red hue. Hurrell and Johnson contend that Imperial topaz is the most valuable of the topaz group. Beautiful and Unusual: Rare Orange Spinel and Coveted Flame SpinelSpinel, made from magnesium aluminum oxide Mohs 8, comes many colors including the more difficult to find orange hues. The GIA says that spinel is a hard, tough stone thats suitable for daily wear in any type of jewelry. It will always be popular for customers who like beautiful and unusual gems. Acccording to Cally Oldershaws Guide to Gems Firefly Books orange red spinel is also known as rubicelle. Rubicelle was a more popular term in the past than it is these days. Most coveted is the spectacular vivid orange red spinel that is called flame spinel. In his book, Secrets of the Gem Trade Brunswick House Press, gem connoisseur Richard W. Wise writes,Flame spinel, a red stone with a distinct orange secondary hue, is second to red in overall availability and price. In fact, it is the rare spinel that does not show some admixture of orange. He continues, The orange secondary hue can be prominent, usually between fifteen to fifty percent of the total hue. The distinctive color of flame spinel is found in no other gemstone. Citrine: Popular Like TopazCitrine is natural yellow or orange quartz and is very similar in appearance to topaz. Most citrine is yellowish brown; however according to Karen Hurrell and Mary L. Johnson in Gemstones Metro Books, citrine whose colors have been produced by heating are often more deeply colored with hues of orange and red than the pale yellow of the natural stone. Rated Mohs 7, with good toughness, citrine makes a good jewelry stone. Natural Zircon: Diamond like QualitiesNatural zircon is another gem that comes in a variety of colors. According to Hurrell and Johnson, zircon Mohs hardness 6 6.5 has refractive and dispersive qualities which make it comparable to diamond in terms of fire and brilliance. Along with its fabulous diamond like fire and sparkle, zircon makes a good gemstone overall. However, a jewel may chip due to its brittleness, so it should be fashioned into jewelry that gives some protection. Hurell and Johnson write, Zircon is not uncommon, and it is a fairly inexpensive and attractive gemstone. In terms of popularity, orange zircon follows behind blue and possibly red colored zircon. In Gemstone Buying Guide, Rene Newman says that in its natural state, orange zircon is often brownish or pale. Heat treatment can intensify the color and reduce brown tints. To verify the colors are stable, dealers sometimes expose them for several days to the sun. Orange Tourmaline: Hard to Find ColorAccording to Richard W. Wise, in his Secrets of the Gem Trade, despite the fact that tourmaline exists in just about every color, orange tourmaline is exceedingly rare. He writes, Most orange is tonally dark and appears brown. Tourmaline of this hue is beautiful in flavors darkening from mocha to chocolate. Tourmaline is pleochroistic, meaning that a gem shows more than one color at a time. Because of this, finding a tourmaline of any color in a pure hue is quite difficult, if not nearly impossible. Finding a pure, orange colored tourmaline gem would be a real coup.

Colored Stones for Jewelry

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Characteristics of Costume Jewelry

ï»¿Characteristics of Costume Jewelry To understand what costume jewelry is you must understand what it is not. First, a mini tutorial on jewelry there are three species of jewelry: fine, bridge and costume. Fine Jewelry is made with precious metals such as karated gold and platinum. If set with gemstones usually only the precious gemstones ruby, sapphire, emerald or diamond will qualify to be designated as fine. Bridge Jewelry The name is quite descriptive. This type of jewelry is made of precious metals also usually sterling silver. The gemstones used are semi precious such as aquamarine, garnet, citrine, amethyst the list goes on and on. Basically any gemstone that is not one of the ones listed under fine is considered to be semi precious. Just a word here on the quality of gemstones. A poorly cut, bad specimen of Ruby can be worth much less than a excellent specimen of say, Topaz or Opal. So while ruby, emerald and sapphire are the three precious colored gemstones, joined by diamond, it does not always follow that jewelry set with these gemstones is fine. Normally a jeweler will not waste the money to use karated gold to set an inferior precious gemstone but it does happen. Bridge jewelry is so named because it is the bridge between fine jewelry and costume jewelry. Costume Jewelry This type of jewelry is made with base metals that are gold, rhodium or silver plated and is normally set with faceted glass stones such as rhinestones or crystals such as the brand name Swarovski. This term to describe nonprecious jewelry came into wide use in the 1930s when coined by movie producer Cecil B. DeMille. This is not necessarily true. Collectors of vintage costume jewelry have paid up to $5,000 and more for a piece of jewelry. For example, Bakelite jewelry is incredibly rare and in the world of vintage costume jewelry collecting very popular. A high quality piece of Bakelite jewelry in excellent condition can fetch a price in the thousands. Of course, there are many contemporary designers of costume jewelry such as Kenneth Jay Lane, Napier and Monet designing necklaces, earrings and bracelets that are reasonably priced and sold at large chain department stores.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Bristol Regional Hospital jewelry sale is underway

ï»¿Bristol Regional Hospital jewelry sale is underway The familiar $5 fashion jewelry sale is going on at Wellmont Bristol Regional Hospital. If you cant get there, the same sale will be held at Holston Valley Hospital next week. The proceeds go to benefit the hospital volunteer group and their projects. All of the items are uniformly priced at $5 dollars each, and people were already doing their Christmas shopping. Besides jewelry of every type, there are watches, cell phone accessories, wallets, totes, scarves, reading glasses, sunglasses, mens items, and more. The most popular display each year is always the sized ring display. Although these rings dont last forever, they are beautiful fakes and fun to wear. This year the sale was held downstairs in the hallway of the convention areas. It has formerly been held in the main part of the lobby. It took some effort to find the sale on the ground floor, so this probably accounts for the much smaller crowd this year.

Bristol Regional Hospital jewelry sale is underway

Monday, June 9, 2014

Bedford Springs Golf Course Hotels

ï»¿Bedford Springs Golf Course Hotels I shoot in the high 80s to low 90s I shot an 85 today and never pay over $50 for a round of golf. I played Bedford Springs because they finally offered a twilight rate of $49 after 2:00 for the winter though its gonna get dark before you can finish real soon. This is the first time in years they have offered a lower rate. The conditions for Nov. 1st were tremendous. Four seperate tee boxes offer each person their own challenge. The design fine. Only one hole plays north to south 6 and one hole south to north 14. Thats a lot of holes into the sun! My afternoon round found me teeing into the sun on my first 4 of 5 holes. There are very few dog legs and only 15 is drastic its called Bunker Hill for a reason. I know some of the history of this course, who designed it and all, but it simply cannot justify its cost to play. I guess the price keeps the hackers away which might be a good thing. Overpriced for what it is! Rooms: 212 Policy for Cancellations: All cancellations received after noon hotel time 3 days prior to the arrival date will forfeit 1 nights stay plus tax deposit. Disclaimer for Rooms and Rates: For specific room rate, please check rates when making reservation. Room Types Air conditioning, Alarm clock, All news channel, AM/FM radio, Bathroom amenities, Bathtub/shower combination, Coffee/Tea maker, Color television, Dining guide, Fire alarm, Fire alarm with light, Grab bars in bathroom, Internet access, Iron, Ironing board, Knock light, Non smoking, Queen bed, Remote control television, Smoke detectors, Telephone, Telephone for hearing impaired, Air conditioning individually controlled in room, Down/feather pillows, ESPN available, Foam pillows, High ceilings, Marble bathroom, Oversized bathtub, Non refundable charge for pets, CNN availaible, Accessible room, Mini refrigerator, Self controlled heating/cooling system, Telephone TDD, Complimentary high speed internet in room, iPod docking station, Handicap room, High speed wireless, Slippers, Pillow top mattress, Luxury linen type, High Definition HD Flat Panel Television 32 inches or greaterBathtub, Coffee/Tea maker, Hairdryer, Iron, Ironing board, Non smoking, Non refundable charge for pets, Mini refrigerator, High speed wireless Bathroom amenities, Bathtub, Coffee/Tea maker, Hairdryer, High speed internet connection, Iron, Non smoking, Non refundable charge for petsAir conditioning, Alarm clock, All news channel, AM/FM radio, Bathrobe, Bathroom amenities, Coffee/Tea maker, Color television, Dining guide, Double beds, Fire alarm, Fire alarm with light, Grab bars in bathroom, Iron, Ironing board, Knock light, Non smoking, Private bathroom, Remote control television, Safe, Shower only, Telephone for hearing impaired, Telephones with message light, Turn down service, Air conditioning individually controlled in room, Down/feather pillows, ESPN available, Foam pillows, Marble bathroom, Pets allowed, Non refundable charge for pets, CNN availaible, Accessible room, Telephone TDD, Handicap room, Slippers, Pillow top mattress, High Definition HD Flat Panel Television 32 inches or greater The 120 million dollar restoration at the Omni Bedford Springs Resort and Spa has returned it to one of the most treasured hotels in America. It has been restored to the manner in which it looked in 1905 but with all the modern amenities of the most celebrated resorts of today. Bedford Springs Resort is nestled in the northern corner of the Cumberland Valley in South Central Pennsylvania surrounded by the Allegheny Mountains and complimented with the rippling sounds of Shobers Run Creek. Omni Bedford Springs Resort And Spa Driving DirectionsBedford Springs Resort is nestled in the northern corner of the Cumberland Valley in South Central Pennsylvania surrounded by the Allegheny Mountains and complimented with the rippling sounds of Shobers Run Creek. For a GPS address please use 2198 Sweet Root Rd Bedford, PA 15522.