I am contemplating starting a jewelry business. I want to know if
there is a kind of penultimate jewelry making supply house that has
been in the business for years, has the most up-to-date stock and who
everybody who is anybody in the jewelry making business uses to buy
their supplies? Second question, please identify three women in the
public arena(television-radio-newsprint)who currently advise other
women how to invest their money. I am particularly interested in those
women who advise older/mature women how to invest.
Thanks

I make my own costume jewelry (primarily beadwork and earrings). I
highly recommend Fire Mountain Gems. Their print catalog is huge, and
contains just about everything you'd want. Fire Mountain is a
particularly useful source if you like to use pearls and semi-precious
gems in your jewelry. Prices are good, and with larger quantities,
even better. Customer service is superb.

Here's their website:

http://www.firemountaingems.com/

Here you can order the catalog. It's free, and it's amazing:

https://www.firemountaingems.com/login/accountcreate.asp?catalog=paper

Greetings Saabster,

I agree with PinkFreud: Fire Mountain Gems is a great jewelry supply
house.  I have also used them in the past for supplies.

Another great place I used when I made jewelry is South Pacific
Wholesale.  They had better bargains on bulk items than Fire Mountain,
and their monthly product newsletters can be uqite humorous.  Their
website is http://www.beading.com - catalogue begins at
http://www.beading.com/catalogue.html and the monthly sale/new
products flyer begins at http://www.beading.com/month.html - They have
no minimum order but a $5 surcharge is applied to orders under $25.

Best regards,
journalist-ga

I, too, like making jewelry. It's a big hobby of mine. My favorites
include antique glass beads. I don't work with enough volume to care
that all my supplies are bought wholesale (though my favorite dealer
of antique and ancient beads gives me a substantial discount).

In my part of the country, many jewelry shops buy their supplies from
the Rio Grande Company. This includes the jewelry shop that's usually
voted to be my city's best (they do a lot of custom-made pieces). Rio
Grande is big enough to work with jewelry shops of any size, yet
caring enough to want the small-time jewelry worker, too. Their
customer service is tops. I have an account with them. You can buy
everything from gems to raw gold to sterling findings to display items
to professional-level jewelry-manufacturing machines from them. They
sell ready-to-sell gold, silver, and platinum chains, too. They don't
sell antique beads, though, only new. Rio Grande offers three
catalogs: Gems & Findings (which includes beads, cabochons, chains,
charms, and much more), Tools & Equipment, and Display & Packaging.

Rio Grande
www.riogrande.com
1-800-545-6566


I know about Fire Mountain. Though I've never bought from that
company, I've heard and read good things about it.

For part two of your question, I like Newsweek's Jane Bryant Quinn.
She gives advice to all people, not just women, but I find her advice
solid. You can find an archive of her Newsweek columns at Newsweek's
web site. Here's the link to a recent article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6998850/site/newsweek/

Good luck,
dtc

My wife has been making Jewelery for over 20 years and uses Rio Grand
and Fire Mountain Gems. (I believe Rio Grand owns Fire Mountain)  She
does use local stone dealers for some things like diamonds etc.  She
often memos the stones from the local dealer and works with the
customer. Then returns the stones she doesn't use and buys the rest. 
I think she also uses Stoller for some findings etc.

Are you going to be producing Jewelery and selling it or are you
looking for wholesale allready made items and going to retail them? 
(or a combination of both)  Most of the items at Rio Grand and
Firemountain are for Jewelers to put together and would be classed as
findings and raw material (eg stones, sheet, wire, metal).

Thank all of you on your input on the first part of my question.

scubajim-ga
I will be creating my own jewelry and selling it.

In that case Rio Grand and Fire Mountain Gems will be of a lot of use
to you.  Good luck.  My wife has never had any problems with them and
she has been using them for over a decade. (Rio Grand, I think Fire
Mountain is much newer)

I run a small silver jewellery business based here in the uk. Our
supplier is a silversmith with factories around the world. He supplies
most of the larger jewellers in this country like Harrods, Royal Mint,
etc. Usually we purchase only finished pieces but I would contact him
to see if he can design and supply silver items for you to use in your
jewellery. He ususally comes up trumps.

Contact him through his website www.justsilver.co.uk

I buy my stuff from http://www.goldmisers.com they are great to deal
with and their prices are great! You have to set up a wholesale
account with them though. Pretty straight forward with ant supplier
though.