Q.  What if a bracelet is too big or too small to fit the wearer?
A.  My bracelets fit most everyone comfortably.  If yours does not, simply return it and it will be adjusted for you at no charge.

Q.  What about breakage, quality issues, etc?
A.  Each piece of jewelry is designed to provide many decades of wearing enjoyment.  All  components are of the highest quality, strung on special jewelry wire that is comprised of 49 strands of steel coated in nylon and extremely durable.  In the unlikely event of breakage the piece will be restrung at no charge.

Q.  Do you make earrings that are not for pierced ears?
A.  Not usually but if you see earrings you’d like to have on a clip back let me know and I will try to modify them for you.

Q.  Do you do custom work?
A.  No, but if you’d like me to alter a piece you’ve purchased before I ship it to you I will do
that for you for a small charge.

Q: If something I want is already sold, can you make another one like it?
A: Many times I can come very close; it depends upon the availability of the components. I am happy to try; just email me and we'll see what we can do.

Q.  What Is A Netsuke?

A netsuke (pronounced net-skeh) is a small carving of wood or ivory originally developed in Japan in the 1600s, with both functional and aesthetic uses. Because the kimono had no pockets wearers would tuck small personal items into an inro that hung on a silk cord from the obi (sash) of the kimono.

The wallet or box was called an “inro.”  To prevent the silk cord holding the inro from slipping through the obi a small toggle was attached, and this was the netsuke.  It always had two holes drilled in it to allow the cord to thread through.

A sliding bead called the “ojime” (pronounced o-jeh-meh) was strung on the silk cord between the inro and the netsuke, and the ojime served to tighten or loosen the cord thus allowing access to the inro.

All these components were often elaborately carved and beautifully decorated with lacquer work or inlays of rare and exotic materials.  All have become highly desirable and collectible art forms, especially the netsuke, with antiques commanding tens of thousands of dollars among serious collectors.

Our ivory components are CITES-certified to be mammoth ivory, never elephant ivory.  Mammoth skeletons and their ivory tusks surface with surprising frequency on the vast plains of Siberia and Mongolia, having been forced to the surface through repeated freezing and thawing of the ground.  The yak herders in these regions gather these tusks and sell them to local traders, who ship them to the Orient for carving and resale.

Q.  What Is CITES?

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in force since 1975,  is an organization of 175 countries whose aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival and it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 30,000 species.