Blog — education & resources

I've been in need of an updated head shot, so Kerasan R. LaMar of Kerasan R. LaMar Photography recently took my portrait. He focuses on wedding photography and portrait photography in Philadelphia, and we've collaborated a number of times. As he chatted and coaxed smiles of me, we meandered from the Macy's Wanamaker Building to City Hall in Philadelphia, using the historic architecture as a simple, classic backdrop. I'm loving this new photo!  

For WJA Philadelphia’s first virtual event, we hosted a webinar with gem dealer and world traveler, Yvonne Jiew. She gave a short presentation via Zoom, which was followed by a Q&A discussion. Then, we had exclusive access to a private screening of her upcoming short film, Chasing Color. Image source: Rockstoc LLC on Facebook   Yvonne's passion is colored stones. Originally from Australia, she is a global gem sourcer and the founder of Rockstoc LLC. She spoke to us about how she spends many months of the year traveling around the world to buy directly from miners, cutters, and dealers,...

At the beginning of this year, I was at home on maternity leave with my new baby, Michael. In the weeks leading up to March 9th (my return to my day job), I did a few test runs at daycare, practiced using my breast pump, and labeled everything my son owns with a marker. I was so busy getting ready to go back to work that I wasn't paying any attention to the approaching health crisis: coronavirus, or COVID-19. After only six days back at work after maternity leave, Philadelphia was shut down. We've been staying home as much as...

  Can You Make New Jewelry from Old Jewelry? The answer is YES! I can take gemstones out of your old jewelry and remount them into a new piece. Pick a piece of jewelry from my website and we'll set your stone into it. Or, we can create something totally new and unique for your heirloom gems. We can also recycle your silver, gold, or platinum metal and put the proceeds towards this project. Reasons for Redesigning Your Jewelry There are tons of reasons you might want to re-purpose your old jewelry, including: Update the style of your jewelry Move...

Thank you to Joshua Hyman, GG (GIA) of Philadelphia Jewelry Appraisers for spending time with us this past sunny Sunday afternoon!Josh is a 4th generation Philadelphia jeweler with an interesting journey, both on Jeweler's Row and off. He showed us the tools he uses for his appraisal work, as well as his fascinating collection of gems, minerals, and crystals. As always, he entertained us with the stories of where the different pieces of his collection came from. Right before we arrived for his lecture, he and Lauryn Volovar had just recorded their newest podcast episode of Gemology Worldwide. Make sure...