Many people have no idea what the Ichthus represents, they just wear it because it has a nice design.  Many wear the Ichthus to remember who and what they believe in.  Some wear it to remember the old Bible stories they learned as a child in Sunday School.
An Ichthus on religious jewelry is simply a fish outline.  The fish can have a cross or the word IXOYE inside of it.  There are many meanings to the Ichthus on religious jewelry.  People should learn all of them so they can explain what it means when they are asked the purpose behind why they are wearing the symbol.  The fish is made with two simple crossing lines.

An Ichthus on religious jewelry or a fish is a very popular symbol today.  Not only do you see it on jewelry, but you can spy it on car bumpers, business cards, magnets, and in your local telephone book.  The IXOYE simply symbolizes the word ICHTHYS which in Greek means fish.  Jesus was a fisherman of men in that he tried to gather all the people together.  In the Christian translation of the word IXOYE, it means Jesus Christ, son of God the Savior.

The idea for the Ichthus on religious jewelry was first brought about in the second century by St. Clement of Alexandria.  He said that any Christian should be recognizable to everyone else.  So he mandated that they wear the Ichthus on religious jewelry to do just that.  It was something plain and simple and not too flashy.

Some say the design for the Ichthus on jewelry came from the Greek letter for Alpha.  It is very similar to the fish design.  World religions today are trying to phase out the cross and bring the fish into popular culture.  Some say the fish does not represent the sacrifice that Jesus made for his followers, and so, they refuse to use it as a symbol.

Other meanings of the Ichthus on religious jewelry include several things from the modern Bible.  Jesus tells his disciples he will make them fishers of men.  When a small boy brought Jesus two fish for 5,000 people, Jesus greatly increased the number of fish for the multitude of people.  It is said that God will make choices as to who will get into Heaven and who will be thrown into Hell.  This follows the fisherman tossing out the bad fish and keeping the good ones to eat.  In one story, Peter is worried about how he will pay his taxes.  Jesus tells him to look in a certain fish’s mouth and he would find enough to pay them.  There are many such stories in the Bible to show the true meaning of the fish some wear.

There are many pieces of religious jewelry with an Ichthus on them.  You have to decide which you like and which has the most meaning to you.  The fish does represent a part of history and a part of some of the more well known Bible stories.  The fish will be around for a long time as long as everyone keeps remembering the Man it really stood for and the Man who helped us all.

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For customers you have to spend a great deal of time educating them so that they understand why they should buy from you and for suppliers you just want to be sure no one is ripping you off which is always a very delicate balancing act.

Opening a retail jewelry store is a challenge that is made worse by all of the smaller challenges that you have to deal with every day. It isn’t bad enough that you have to be sure to pay the rent on the store so the store can stay open, make sure you balance the books so you don’t go bankrupt, and make sure that you pay the electric bill to keep the lights on. On top of all of that you have the very difficult job of making your customers happy and keeping tabs on good suppliers. The jewelry business has its share of issues like any other business. Recently there has been a lot of attention paid to how the diamonds are mined in third world countries and retailers have to be very careful that they do not get themselves caught up in that kind of a situation as it can not only be bad for business but it can be bad for you conscience as well. Jewelry craftsmen are expensive to hire and jewelry sales people usually need to be certified which can get expensive as well. There is a lot to consider and the biggest concern is your customers.

Customers help keep your business alive of course but they also can cause you to pull your hair out. If you are an independent retailer, that is to say you do not belong to a large chain of stores, then chances are your prices will be a bit higher than some of the other stores you will be competing with. One of the first questions your customers will have, and rightfully so, is why are your prices so much higher than the chain store down the street. To you the answer has to do with the quality of jewelry you are buying and the fact that your craftsmen are true craftsmen and your sales people are very qualified. But the reality is that the chain store has so many ways to cut corners that in some cases you cannot compete. What you need to do is focus on your knowledge and your ability to serve the customer. You will find that most customers will invest the extra money if they feel that they are getting the jewelry they really want. A good sales touch is essential to overcoming something like this.

Then there are your suppliers. Their prices change from week to week and after a while you start to wonder if maybe their supply of jewelry is a little suspect. The jewelry business is one of the most difficult businesses in the world to try and keep wholesalers honest because so many are used to doing business in an off the cuff kind of way. All you can do to protect yourself is keep very detailed records and keep a very close track on everything you buy, who you bought it from, what you paid them, and anything else you think may be pertinent. If you have detailed records you can at least present your side of any story much clearer should it ever come to that.

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But with jewelry there are some extra things to consider because as wonderful as the internet is at bringing people together it also has a way of attracting criminals as well and criminals can be a really bad way for you to do business.

The internet has the ability to do as much bad as it can good. For every wonderful thing you can accomplish on the internet there are just as many terrible things that can happen if you do not know what you are looking for. If you are a jewelry retailer looking for a new jewelry wholesaler online then you are certainly ready to use the one tool that can bring the world together. The internet has the great ability to take suppliers from all over the world and bring them together with buyers from all over the world. Nothing in the last 100 years has done as much to create a global economy as the internet and nothing has done as much to open up new avenues of business as the internet has. However the internet offers a certain anonymous characteristic to it that can make as many victims as it can happy business people.

So one of the first things you want to do when you look for jewelry wholesalers online is always keep in mind that you should always check out every wholesaler as thoroughly as possible before you do any business with them. Any wholesaler that does not offer their business information willingly is one that you want to be wary of. Any wholesaler that asks for a lot of your personal and company information that may seem inappropriate right off the bat is also one that you want to avoid. Any wholesaler that does not seem to have a history of business on the internet is definitely one you want to avoid. You can find information on any wholesaler on the internet just as easily as you found the wholesaler themselves. If a wholesaler has a reputation for being shady you can usually find some sort of warning on the internet about it. Do not ignore these warnings.

But you can find good wholesalers on the internet and the beautiful thing about doing business on the internet is that it is a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week proposition. You can access a website any time you need and you can always send an email whenever you feel like it. It may take some time to get a response but waiting for a response on an international email sure beats being put on hold with an international phone call. The internet can help you lower your costs and it can introduce you to people that could become valuable business partners to you for many years to come.

The internet is not all bad but also remember that it is not all good either. Just be careful and check out all the jewelry wholesalers you intend to do business with and you should be able to find some very valuable business partners.

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From the dawn of the human civilization these professional charms have also been instrumental in changing the courses of history to a great extent in many countries, and these have been included by eminent historians in different ages.

In the saga of professional charms the significance of the gold jewelry happens to be supreme. It is undoubtedly the most traditional form of quality jewelry that is worn by men and women alike in every culture and society of the world. In different periods of history in the global spectrum this metal has been used to fashion attractive pieces for centuries. According to the belief of many gold was used as far back as pre-historic times by man as a tool. However, in the later periods gold jewelry was first discovered dating to around 3000 BC. It were the Egyptians who sued these professional charms in the most wide sense, and were instrumental in combining gold with other precious metals to achieve varying looks, colors and durability.

Now if you have any intention to use these professional charms in he best manner it is necessary for you to know the gold and its assessment in the global scenario by the means of its weight or karats. To begin with the 14k gold jewelry is made up of 58.5% gold mixed with copper and nickel among other things. Throughout the world it is the most coveted form of professional charms and is known for its affordability and durability. There is also the 18k gold. This form of gold jewelry has its most admirers in the continent of Europe. Keep it in mind that the 18k gold jewelry is made from 75% pure gold. Most premium jewelry is made with 18 k, which is though slightly but expensive than 14 k gold. In the later periods, there has also been the introduction of 22 and 24 karat gold jewelries.

These jewelries in all senses are regarded as the most valuable, and for their elegances and attractions are very popular among privileged gold shoppers. How are they made? It should be taken into consideration that this form of gold is the most pure, consisting of almost 199% gold. By and large, both of the 22 and 24 karat gold products have a richer color than other gold jewelry, and are regarded as the best of the professional charms. Now is one better than the other? Well, there is a point in this regard that should be remembered. It is related with the fact that with the prospect of increase of the purity of the gold, the jewelry will be softer and therefore there is the more probability to scratch. But if the consumer takes proper care and with cleaning over time these fine scratches can be minimized at the earliest. But to have the best quality there is a need to go to the best manufacturers since the notion of quality is more related to craftsmanship than the actual percentage of gold in a particular piece of jewelry.

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Now, with personal health becoming more important to more people, many are looking to use medical alert bracelets in order to properly identify their medical concerns in the event of an accident or medical emergency. In this regard the gemstone bracelets acquire the center stage. What has been the greatest reason? It should be noted, that the concept of boring medical tags is long gone and nowadays the gemstone bracelets have emerged in trendy styles by an increasing amount of vendors.

Therefore, it can be said that the modern trend lies with the gemstone bracelets. Now, if it happens that the shoppers who do deal with the gemstone bracelets prefer to go for some kind of stylish and also fashionable medical alert gemstone bracelets, there is a growing need for them to move from the domain of the conventional metals, and to go with the beads. Now you may ask is there any such necessity to wear the gemstone bracelets? In this respect it can be said that in the modern age it is not only nice to wear the gemstone bracelets, but it has also been found that they are also able to save the lives of common human beings in the largest extent.

Through an assortment of studies conducted in the recent years, it has been perceived that the gemstone bracelets, other than being stylish are quite significant for anyone with a medical condition to relay their personal medical information in the event that they cannot do so. If you ever go through the web world it will be found that there are indeed several websites on this very subject that do play imperative roles in benefiting you.

The websites have been made for the sake of more business and publicity of this innovative concept. There are also several non profit organizations that are quite proficient in making gemstone bracelets for the children. Besides, there are also jewelers who do also make gemstone bracelets that in all respects look elegant. But it should be kept in mind that in both respects these sorts of beaded bracelets are made to suit personal needs and tastes. If you ever place an order in the shopping cart of any website you can select from all sorts of beads that are highly needed to make beaded medical alert gemstone bracelets look attractive. Now what options do you have from where you can select? Indeed, there are many materials and colors from where you can select, the most prominent of which are lamp-work beads and sapphire crystals to turquoise and coral. But before you opt for any such you shall have to make your mind or better to say, to remain free from any confusion regarding their uses.

Buying medical alert gemstone bracelets is ideal for any person whoever wants to remain both trendy and colorful. With the passage of years and with the growth of demands in the market these bracelets in the recent years have brought a new style to the domain of the ever-growing number of designs. They, besides responsible for initiating an element of color to this ever expanding industry are found to proffer creative solution for the clientele who prefer to have these bracelets for health, and also to maintain style. If you want to buy be assured, that the beads do always provide a classic look that never goes out of style.

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To get the point across, officials from the department were at Zebra Tattoo & Body Piercing Shop on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley last week to spread the word that jewelry must have less than 10 percent lead as of March 1 and less than 6 percent by Aug. 30, 2009.

If piercing shops violate the new law, they can face fines of up to $2,500 a day for each piece in their possession.

Kerrie Naslund, 34, a senior piercer at Zebra for 16 years, said she is confident that her shop is lead-free because it gets most of its jewelry from American manufacturers who provide certificates showing the metals in piercing jewelry they buy.

California piercing shops that buy from oversees, where there is little or no lead regulation, might be in trouble, though.

“Once this story breaks, I’m sure some of the piercing studios are going to reconsider the good deals they have gotten on jewelry from oversees,” Naslund said. “They’re going to be a little nervous.”

At Zebra, state employees showed off one of four new $40,000 X-ray machines that can detect lead in jewelry, and staff members at the shop gave a piercing demonstration. About 20 pieces of body-piercing jewelry from Zebra were tested, and none was found to contain detectable levels of lead.

The state is going after jewelry manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

The new law is an expansion of another law that went into effect Sept. 1 barring lead in children’s jewelry. Children’s jewelry must have less than 1.5 percent lead, because those 6 and younger are more susceptible to lead poisoning.

While regulators such as Michael Berriesford, the supervising investigator with the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, said he knows of no adults who have been poisoned, the Environmental Protection Agency reports some tragedies in children.

A 4-year-old Minnesota child died in 2006 after swallowing a lead-laden jewelry charm, which prompted a recall of 300,000 charm bracelets. And in 2004, 150 million pieces of toy jewelry sold in vending machines were recalled because of lead.

Berriesford said that state testing of children’s jewelry since Sept. 1 found 18 percent to 20 percent was contaminated with high levels of lead. Given those numbers, he is assuming that adult jewelry is being sold with lead in it, too.

“Body-piercing jewelry may have lead in it; that’s why we’re here,” Berriesford said. “A lot of the industry has been aware of it for years (and not sold it), but there may be some outliers.”

Wickert Beasley of Intrinsic Precision Body Jewelry in San Francisco said that as long as consumers buy made-in-America body-piercing accessories, they should be safe.

“Domestically made jewelry is almost in every case made out of the best material, but there’s been a flood of jewelry from oversees where labor costs are just a fraction of what they are here,” and where standards are lower, he said.

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Now, just in time for Valentine’s Day, jewelry retailers are stepping up a campaign that aims to discourage the mining and sale of “dirty gold.”

A group of prominent jewelers including Tiffany & Co., Helzberg Diamonds and Fortunoff will announce today that it opposes the massive gold and copper Pebble Mine planned for Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed, site of the world’s largest sockeye salmon run.

The jewelers’ “Bristol Bay Protection Pledge” marks a new front in the “No Dirty Gold” initiative waged by environmental and human rights groups against destructive mining practices.

It is the first time that retailers, which have hitherto limited themselves to supporting general rules for mining, have joined in a campaign to halt a specific mine.

An estimated 80% of the gold used in the U.S. is for jewelry. And gold mines — typically huge open pit operations where tiny veins of metal are ground from millions of tons of rock — produce an average of 76 tons of waste per ounce of gold.

The resulting air and water pollution have made metals mining the leading contributor of toxic emissions in the U.S., according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“There are places where mining does not represent the best use of resources,” Michael Kowalski, Tiffany’s chairman and chief executive, said in an e-mail. “In Bristol Bay, we support . . . the salmon fishery as the best bet for sustainable, long-term benefit. For Tiffany & Co., and we believe for many of our fellow retail jewelers, this means we will look to other places to source gold.”

Sean McGee, a spokesman for the Pebble Mine, said the jewelers had not contacted the mine’s developers, a partnership of Vancouver, Canada-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and London-based Anglo American.

“There is a lot of common ground between the Dirty Gold camp and the approach we are taking,” he said. “We support high environmental standards for mining. If the fisheries can’t be protected, we won’t advance the project.”

The campaign to clean up gold mines echoes the opposition to so-called blood diamonds, sold to finance conflicts in developing nations.

In the last few years, jewelers, working with nonprofit groups and the mining industry, set up a system to ensure diamonds as “conflict-free.” Now the “ethical jewelry” movement is preparing to expand with a certification program for gold and silver.

“It’s what’s happening in the marketplace,” said Stephen D’Esposito, president of Earthworks, a Washington-based advocacy group for mining reform. “Jewelers are highly sensitive to consumer concerns about the impact of the products they buy. It is a trend you see with food, coffee, wood, even sneakers.”

At the moment, retailers cannot tell where their gold has been mined. But in the coming year, D’Esposito said, jewelers will take the first steps to establish a chain of custody from mine to store.

A set of standards is under negotiation between mining companies, jewelry retailers and environmental and human rights groups.

So far, 28 companies, including eight of the 10 largest jewelry retailers in the U.S. have endorsed the “No Dirty Gold” campaign’s “Golden Rules.” The measures seek to ensure that gold is mined without threatening fragile ecosystems,that waste is not dumped into waterways and that workers’ rights are protected.

Signatories include Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Sterling Jewelers Inc., which markets Kay Jewelers and Jared the Galleria brands.

Earthworks wants all 28 companies that signed the Golden Rules pledge — and others — to also sign the Bristol Bay pledge. So far, only five have done so (besides Tiffany, Helzberg and Fortunoff, they are Ben Bridge Jeweler and Leber Jeweler Inc.).

Wal-Mart, the nation’s biggest jewelry retailer, is reviewing the measure.

“We are committed to sourcing gold and other metals produced under the highest social, human rights and environmental standards,”spokeswoman Linda Blakley said.

Worldwide shortages and skyrocketing prices for gold and copper are fueling the push for Pebble Mine, which holds an estimated $300 billion in gold, copper and molybdenum. Northern Dynasty executives say the mine will bring well-paying jobs to an impoverished area of rural Alaska.

If the mine, which lies on the edge of two national parks, gains the necessary permits from the state of Alaska, it would involve excavating as much as 12 billion tons of earth which, after extracting the ore, would fill 10 square miles of impoundments. Two dams would be built to hold the waste.

“These lands were selected by the state of Alaska for their mineral potential, an important part of the rural economy,” McGee said.

But Dan Consenstein, head of the Renewable Resources Coalition, an Alaska-based group that opposes the project, said pollution from the mine would destroy the fishery, a globally significant resource and economic backbone of the area.

A coalition of native villages, sports fishing lodges and environmental groups has filed a ballot initiative to stop the mine, but the mining companies are battling it in court.

margot.roosevelt

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Breeden, the former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has been buying up shares of Zale stock through his company, Breeden Capital Management LLC, since September.He now owns an 18.1 percent stake in the company. Breeden, who is known as an activist investor, has served on the boards of a number of public and private companies in the United States and Europe. He currently is the non-executive chairman of the board for investment firm H and R Block and sits on the board of BBVA of Spain, one of the largest banks in Europe. Cotter is a founding partner of Breeden Capital Management and is a senior managing director of Richard C. Breeden and Co. Prior to joining Richard C. Breeden and Co. in 2005, Cotter was a senior partner and vice chairman of the law firm Simpson Thacher and Bartlett LLP. Following the appointment of Breeden and Cotter, Zale announced on Friday that it is looking for an additional, independent director to bring the board to its full complement of nine directors.

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