Mardon Jewelers at the Mission Inn

Gold for Recycling

True Story- One of our local police officers stopped by early this week with this group of assorted gold items she owned and wanted to sell– jewelry she no longer wore, broken pieces, etc. We sat down, I examined her gold for karat content and weighed it up.

Our offer for the lot that day was a little over $1000. Then she told me that she would be attending a “gold party” at a friend’s home later in the week. This was one of those “sponsored” events where the homeowner/party thrower invites friends and family to their home to visit a professional buyer and gets 10% of the take. I told her to go to the party and see what price her gold would bring, and please, to come back and let me know what they offered– I knew my offer would be more, but wanted to see by how much. Read the rest of this entry »

A Suite of Garnets

Yes, they are all garnets. The January birthstone is usually thought of as a dark red gemstone, but like the sapphire, garnet occurs in colors we don’t expect to see. In fact, garnets can be purple, red, orange, yellow, colorless or green, almost all the colors but true blue. There is even a garnet that changes color, like the alexandrite!

Garnets are actually a family of gems with six main “members”, all of which are silicate minerals that have similar chemistry and a similar crystal shape.  Each member/type is a combination of two metal ions bound with oxygen to a silicate ion. Most garnets are mixtures of these various members, sort of like the genetic mixtures we see in living creatures.

Our suite contains examples of the four main garnet types used in jewelry, i.e. almandine, pyrope, grossular, and spessartine garnets. Over the next month, we’ll examine in more detail the wonderful garnet family, exploring it’s colors and the other characteristics that make it such a desirable gemstone. Keep your eye on the Mardon blog!

Keeping a sense of humor is so important during the current difficult business environment. We’ve had a couple of sales this holiday season that could be the basis for a sit-com script.

Last spring, a long time client wandered in to the shop and was mesmerized by a fine Cartier Tank Francaise wristwatch in our estate department. Her wistful looks and careful consideration of the watch as well as our conversation convinced me that  she was going to buy the watch, or at least prod her husband into buying it for her– she had a birthday coming up. However, weeks and then months went by and we heard nothing. Read the rest of this entry »

Sorry for the recent lack of updates! As you can probably imagine, December is by far our busiest season. We've been working hard this year on special orders, with quite a few already finished and several still in the process. We're so busy doing things we haven't had time to write about them, but don't worry – we'll have plenty of new pieces to share with you in the new year.

In the meantime, you can check out some of the jewelry we've recently added to the website. There are a number of new pocketknives, pens, and money clips from William Henry; as well as original designs from Kaye and Jenny Sweaney.

Finally, we have a new page detailing the life and times of our very own Jim Sweaney. You've read his blog articles, now find out what kind of experiences have helped him learn to write them!

We've been very busy this month. With the renovation about completed, people are once again enjoying the Main Street Mall. With the Festival of Lights and the holidays eminent, anticipation and excitement are in the air. And, with Thanksgiving, with feasting and family, just think how blessed we are to live in this wonderful community and country. We thank all who have supported our business endeavors over the past difficult year, and hope you all have a joyful Thanksgiving.

Kaye meets Napoleon

Kaye Sweaney, co-owner of Mardon Jewelers, loves birds and was thrilled to met Napoleon II, the blue and gold macaw and his buddy Joseph II, the scarlet macaw. Bird aficionado and handler Ron Tallent takes the birds on periodic walks about the newly renovated Main Street Mall. Read the rest of this entry »

Whew, it’s been busy and hectic the last few days, so much so that I published information about the new enameled Technicolor Raincross without double checking with our enameler, Mr. Fusager of Magick.  When he saw the last two posts, he found these mistakes.

First, the new piece will be enameled on fine silver (100% pure silver), not sterling silver (traditionally 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper).  Sterling silver, with it’s small portion of copper, can oxidize during the heat of enameling and “stain” the colors. Because of the purity of fine silver, the enamels retain their ultra bright color. The bail of the new pendant will be sterling silver, a new sterling alloy made with a small amount of argentium, for minimal oxidizing.

And, alas, the piece will not be available in karat gold– for similar reasons– the colors won’t be bright enough on karat gold. We will be working to create a Vermeil version for those who like the color of gold rather than silver. Vermeil is a heavy gold plating over a silver base.

Technicolor Raincross Design

Last Saturday morning, after all the hectic activity of the previous day and night for our Christmas on Main Street event, we held the drawing to award the free Technicolor Raincross.  Son-in-law Scott, brilliant as always, suggested we do a double blind method to choose the winner.

In Scott’s word’s, “Once we had collected all the entries from the basket, we picked them out at random and wrote a number on the outside of the folded slips (without looking at the names inside).

Drawing Entries

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The Annual Christmas on Main Street party took place last night, and a good time was had by all! Main Street merchants stayed open up and down the Mall til 9 pm, serving refreshments and previewing new goods for the upcoming holiday. Two shops, Mrs. Tigglywinkles and Delight & Invites provided nightlong entertainment with live music by the country band Old Brown Shoe. The evening was enhanced by holiday lights, good wine and food, music, and lots of happy folks– and a touch of winter cool!

Alice Bell and wife Kaye created an absolutely captivating holiday display for our front window.  The stage is set as the curtains open on the story of the Nutcracker, complete with jeweled ballerinas floating thru the air, amidst the Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The ballerina pendants were designed for the New York Ballet by Eichorn, a Californian jewelry designer who specializes in fine colored stone jewelry. Sorry, I wasn’t able to get a good photo in the hubbub of the day, so look for it to follow soon.

At Mardon, we were busy all evening, showing and telling, and just all around socializing.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Flier's Wall Ring

In honor of Veteran's Day, I thought posting this blog would be appropriate! We just completed a challenging assignment– to build a unique ring that would celebrate the famous aviators of the Flier's Wall at the Mission Inn. Our client, who grew up in Riverside and is a great fan of things relating to the Mission Inn, is planning to get his pilot's license. What better way to display his wings than on his finger! Read the rest of this entry »