auglen blog

2011 - 2012

2012-01-29T16:36:00.000-08:00

2011 saw auglen moving further into the trade sector and now we proudly perform repairs for multiple retailers in the south east UK
early 2011 saw the introduction of the new auglen catalogue and then began working on the jewellery guide. The new look and feel can be seen live on auglen.com

I have always set the two entities of the store and the guide apart for several reasons, eventhough i have now made a more fluent look and feel to the site i always wanted to maintain the user awareness in which part of the website they are in. there is alot of search items in both sections of the site and I did not wish for reference material to clog up the shopping cart search.

2012

2012-01-29T16:07:00.000-08:00

well with so much speculation and expectation the foretold year is upon us. What does the new solar calendar have store for us, what destiny of ours lay sprinkled in the dust of time before us.

I have neglected writing here because to be honest I am not a blogging type of person, dont get me wrong, I love writing, I remember telling my father that once and all I could see in his eyes were money symbols. Needless to say I never got to study journalism.

What is blogging? what is twitter? facebook? mobile phones? Thousands of years ago none of these things mattered. Cars, mass industry, nuclear weapons, world wars. How often we think we progress and think we are the evolved species. How seldom do we realise that we may find new things in life but seem to learn less from it as we advance, and forget the things that matter in thirsty persuit of our own greed.

One thing that does always make me pay alot of homage to my trade is that we still employ techniques that were used thousands of years ago and they still are indisputable, simple and direct. I feel that there is an irony in that fact, we should never forget what lays behind us and always learn from it.

into the quarters...

2010-05-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

2010 has now progressed well beyond the quarter and now is a good time for me to reflect on current market trends and the overall auglen approach to products.

Up to now gold has surged in value with a vigorous intensity, leaving most other metals in the limelight. But this year and has witnessed platinum once again rising to stake it's dominance and supremacy among the metals, not only due to its physical characteristics but mostly due to it's rarity and popularity around the world. Along with platinum gold and other precious metals such as Silver are still increasing in value steadily. Platinum prices are however currently at their highest rate since 2008, thus slowly bringing an end to the little enjoyment retailers and consumers had in recent years in purchasing affordable platinum products, this escalation will steadily see a more favorable rise in the need for white gold and palladium products to satisfy the enjoyment of white precious metals.

Although auglen tries to maintain a steady battle against rising prices, it is unfortunate that all businesses, large and small must waiver behind the market prices like donkeys behind a golden carrot.

Auglen manages to keep a decent price on offer to the public by being a small enterprise and supplying directly from trade to customer without the expenses of high street stores and too many links in a chain. This year has begun to see the manufacturing of the auglen product range that will soon slowly begin to be introduced to the online catalogue. These will be unique items along with popular designs supplied directly from the auglen workshop, yet still offering a variety of the normal lines that one would expect from a jewellery catalogue.

Watch this space for more news and updates on the auglen project.

Palladium evolves!

2010-01-09T04:25:00.000-08:00

This will be an interesting year for the jewellery trade with the year starting off with the recognition of Palladium as a precious metal. Along with this acknowledgement Palladium can now have it's own hallmark and be assayed for purity.

Palladium has in the past been used in precious metals as an alloy in the ever popular white gold. Palladium has always been the main ingredient in the alloying process to give gold that white colour, even if the tone was more of a subtle grey. Another member of the platinum family, namely Rhodium, has thus been used to electroplate a nice bright white colour to the surface of jewellery.

Palladium is a Native element and a member of the Platinum family, this makes it a very durable and robust option. Over the years the price of Palladium has dropped down and it is now a very reasonable alternative to the prestigious platinum.

The hallmark for palladium was initially a voluntary process but in 2010 it is a legal requirement. And you can now wear a palladium piece knowing it's purity.

Auglens goldsmith, Glen, has decades experience working with and mixing Palladium and does offer Palladium items in our bespoke service, and will be adding palladium jewellery to the catalogue during the course of 2010.

For more information you can view the Assay Office online website.

have any jewellery related questions?

2009-10-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

The Auglen workshop has decades experience making and repairing jewellery. As part of customer and public relations I am willing to offer free advice and answer any jewellery related question you may have. Please simply leave your question in a comment to this post.
thanks
Glen
Auglen Goldsmith

Questions may be published to the website FAQ

For any customer support on processing an exisiting order or aquiring a quote to have jewellery made by Auglen please use our contact page

from the auglen guide

2009-08-11T05:10:00.001-07:00

an exert from the guide

Ancient tribal beliefs and myths held many minerals with some form of awe and godly supernatural essence. Just as tribal ornamentation serves as a spiritual journey or a symbol of status or to make a statement modern fashion follows this same ancient trend. Jewellery can signify many aspects of modern society and individuals such as religion, wealth, beliefs and even marriage.