Whether you seek a full-time or part-time income or merely an occasional payoff for your lapidary-jewelry abilities, here is the first auction for a new and complete guide of practical tips and methods that can help any hobbyist or professional realize a splendid, dependable income from gemcutting and jewelry making skills. The solutions to your ambitions dwell in this remarkable mullti-media CD-ROM program that features streaming video, narration, music, text, pictures, animations, etc.

Translated to the computer from his best-selling book, "Master Keys for Making Profits in Lapidary," Gerald Wykoff GG CSM offers an expanded computer version of the book that goes well beyond mere theory. Every idea and tactic described has already proven itself in the field. Some of the entries are actual interviews with the marketing originators, how they did it, how they set up, how they price and keep a supply of jewelry merchandise flowing into their business.

There are many, many ways to market gems and jewelry, and the possibility of you realizing substantial lapidary income becomes increasingly attractive - and easy - thanks to the popularity of auctions and home shopping TV shows. Wykoff studied for years how these clever people conducted their marketing plans - and pulled out the best options for his book. His research took him into hundreds of clever ideas and strategies. As with most researched offerings, Making Profits represents the tip of the iceberg when it comes to good, workable ideas that people come up with.

Backed by your own gemcutting skills, you can utilize whatever natural or acquired selling or marketing ideas you possess to easily and confidently break into such markets as:

• selling to the jewelry trade
• selling direct to consumers
• selling on Internet auctions...ebay, epier, ubid, yahoo, amazon
• selling through specialty and gift sops
• selling gems through auctions andfund raisers
• selling in the new kiosk, strip mall arena
• selling in the flea markets, garage and yard sales
• selling direct through mail order
• selling through commission agents
• selling at local and national conventions
• and even more profitable, marketing opportunities

And that's just a few of the many markets available to you. How do you make money cutting gemstones...making jewelry...doing repair work and goldsmithing...other jewelry making techniques.

What do you need to know about the vital area of Gemstone Enhancement and Disclosures. How do you properly describe gems and gold? How do you set prices and what's a good plan for keeping proper accounting? How do you cover your costs? What's DJE (Direct Job Expense) and how do you price to cover yourself so you're not giving your work away?

What are some of the trickier ways of marketing gems and jewelry...tricks like "the window trick...the blind man's bluff...direct mail sales...the puppy dog gambit.

What sells best under what circumstances and conditions?

You'll find facts for complete blue prints for lapidary money making plans, interviews with successful lapidary enterpeneurs, contempoary gemstone and jewelry trends, alternative techniques for pricing your work so you are assure of a profit on your gemcutting work .

This program isn't just an collections of marketing ideas. There are substantative articles by people who have been there, done that . . . people who know how to evaluate and price their work . . . how to analyze gems and buy supplies like a professional . . . how to setup and keep business records . . . and much, much more on making profits.

IF YOU CAN CUT GEMS OR MAKE JEWELRY, THIS PROGRAM WILL PAVE THE WAY TO EXCELLENT PROFITS

Because this program involves itself with profit making, it makes a wonderful free bonus possible. Along with the Profits in Lapidary program, your CD-ROM will aso contain a file folder of independent free files in PDF format. These files contain hundreds of fine home income ideas . Each of these ideas is a good, profitable strategy, but for one reason or another remained in the research file, not in the final book. These ideas are not necessarily lapidary income ideas, but a quick thinker could modify just about any of them. They've been all carefully edited and they're yours to peruse and possibly put together - or just plain copy - to produce a marketing program of your own. It takes only a bit of imagination to connect jewelry with one of these ideas.
Profits in Lapidary - $25.00

You get new and interesting fine jewelry effects. That's what you get, plus a significant savings in tools, equipment and inventory - and learning time. With silk thread weaving tehniques, you can be making commercial level jewelry with your first efforts.

In this new massive multi-media tutorial (Part I of a revolutionary 3-part jewelry making series by Gerald Wykoff), the emphasis is on how to manipulate silk strands (other fabrics work well, too) to make jewelry creations like the ones that you see in the pictures. The program is so huge that it takes a DVD disc (playable only on a computer, not a TV set) to hold all the text, animations, pictures and drawings and 18 sound videos.

The entire spectrum of using silk - the king of fabrics - to make a setting or mounting is explored. You'll learn to make pendants, rings, ear rings, pins with a direct as well as indirect wrap methods, with templates and with such familiar fabric working tools as a French Knitting Spool, a crochet hook and a braiding board. If you're the least familiar with fabric or knitting crafts, you may already possess some of the skills needed. If you aren't, there are sound videos that demonstrate to you the basics - and these are all you'll need to create magnificent cage mountings.

There's a dramatic difference between this silk wrapping technique and conventional wire wrapping. The latter technique stresses cabochons whereas the silk threading system can accommodate not only customized cabochons but a wide range of faceted gem sizes with equal ease.

There are even provisions in the system for incorporating the inexpensive line of Ribbon Wrapping metal findings that Wykoff developed earlier. These add-on components include a series of bail designs, various prongs for faceted stones and cabs, findings called "cavities" which allow faceted gems to be mounted in commercial SnapTite settings. There are even special loop clips that simulate the wrapping/looping constructions that wire wrappers use to secure "bundles" or "stacks" of square wire.

The whole key to the silk system lies with a method for hardening or stiffening the fabric into its final mounting shape so the structure possesses sufficient strength to hold a gemstone firmly and reliably. A number of options are available for this process and each method is fully described.

Finally, the program names the products and sources that will allow you to set up any level of operations from a kithen table top to a workbench. One thing is certain: you won't need an extesive investment or a long trial and error apprenticeship to join the family of fine jewelry makers.

Silk Woven Jewelry Making - $25.00

With Gerald Wykoff's new and revolutionary jewelry method that involves the technique of wire weaving, you can produce marvelous metal wire mountings that accommodate any style cabochon - as well as faceted gems - just as easily. That's a hat trick that conventional wire wrappis would be hard pressed to match. This course isn't in conventional wire wrapping although it is a derivative of the method.

This entirely new program - Part II of Gerald Wykoff's new tri-part series on unique approaches to making jewelry - is so huge (nearly 4 gigabits of multi-media information) that it can only be contained on a DVD disc. The tutorial is complelte in one file in Adobe PDF format so it can be played on PC and Mac computers alike (this is a computer DVD, not one you play on the TV set). In addition to text and explanation, numerous step-by-step pictures, you'll also get how-to informatio from 18 sound video that you can play in the program itself or click launch for viewing on their own.

Not only does this new system cover the techniques of making jewelry with a unique approach to wire use, but you'll also learn step-by-step to perform unique 3-, 4-, 5- 6- and 9-strand braiding of wire (even to simulate the difficult Turk's Head Knot so popular for high priced custom ring making).

There's more in this huge tutorial. You'll get a complete course instructions in the ancient art of "chainmaille." Chainmaille is the technique of using various size jump rings for making the wire protective fabric that ancient Knights wore into battle. Various of these link techniques are now used to make fine jewelry - and this course fully illustrates the most popular ones such as

• the Byzantine link
• the Box link
• The Euro 4-1link
• The Euro 6-1 link
• The Euro 8-2 link
• The Japanese Warrior link
• The Lock Spiral link

Using any one of these chain link types will enable you to make all sorts of neck chains, bracelets, ear rings . . . and you can mix up the rings in size, metals (gold or silver or aluminum or brass or nickel silver) and you can even use colored coated wire. Take a look at the illustrations to see the specialized attractiveness of the Byzantine or Box links.

A great bonus of this program lies with the introduction of supply sources. Wykoff has figured out an alternative that allows you to purchase - even at retail - some 250 feet of 20-gage round wire for a mere $2. That means that for a couple of dollars, you'll have all the wherewithall you need to make a wide range of fine jewelry. As for tools needs, you don't really need all the inventory of pliers, cutters and wire types that are so necessary for conventional wire wrapping. You'll be amazed at the low cost of building a tool-material inventory to begn producing attractive jewelry.

With this new approach to jewelry making, the skills required are probably ones you already possess. If not, you'll be shown how to perform rudimentary wire wrapping skills, make metal wire sinnets (a type of braiding that makes a wonderful gem mounting!) or weave cages and metal walls using a French knitting spool or even a cmmon crochet hook (for jewelry making, you'll need only know how to perform the first "chain stich."

Finally, if jewelry making is of interest to you, keep an eye on jerwyk auctions in "silk threading" and "wood turning" as Parts I and Parts III of this upcoming series on new ways to enjoy the jewelry arts.

Wire Woven Jewelry Making - $25.00

It takes skill, knowledge and patience to polish a gemstone so the crystal's surface glistens with all the excitement potential it possesses. This defining work was first published in 1995 as a massive 400-page printed book. Now, it's newly available in a massive multi-media CD-ROM program that features streaming video, sound, amination, text and illustrations where you'll find the answers and keys to developing good polishing techniques. The computer version features something else: the entire index is linked so you can reach a reference with a quick mouse click.

Of all the craft skills that a gemcutter must command, polishing remains the most essential - and the most difficult to master. The successful conclusion to nearly any lapidary project . . . whether faceting, cabochon cutting, or carving . . . lies primarily with the quality of the polish. In this critical, ever changing difficult area, gemcutters constantly strive for a better grip on essential principles . . . tools . . . techniques . . . materials and processes. Because the subject of gem polishing is so vast and complex, I spent seven years researching and working on this massive and comprehensive work - nd then another full year converting it for the computer. Regardless of your gemcutting discipline, if you have questions or if you are stymied by a seemingly unanswerable situation involving gem polishing, the answer will probably be found somewhere in the contents of MASTER GEM POLISHING.

Every effort has been made to update this swiftly changing area of lapidary. The reader should also be aware that times and technology change and some of the references may be outdated or, indeed, no longer in existence. In any event, the power of the computer is fully utilized and rather than a static printed version you'll find that the complete index is linked, giving you the opportunity to search a problem area and then reach it with a mouse click. Here are some of the subject areas that you will find in this important reference work:

• gem polishing theories and principles
• polish and carrier materials
• polishing techniques for faceters, cabochon cutters, carvers
• how to make your own laps, wheels, buffs, equipment
• special polishing tactics with different materials
• techniques with mixed polishing agents, devices
• setting up for production polishing
• equipment and tools used in gem polishing
• stones that require special care and polishing methods
• gemstone specifications list
• crystallographic information
• important safety aspects of gemcutting
• sources for materials and supplies
• -and more

Ah, joyous that it would truly be such a simple undertaking!

In the journey from rough crystal to finished gemstone, you'll encounter a lot more . . . a lot more indeed.

There's an answer to these "lot's more" issues, though. In this brand new multi-media CD-ROM program from Gerald Wykoff GG CSM that fills in those challenging glitches that make up the difference between a novice gemcutter and a master technician. With video, animation, sound, music, text and illustrations, you'll learn the inside techniques and responses to the complex challenges that makes lapidary such an interesting endeavor. What makes the program so helpful is that every single subject area is linked immediately that section of the program which addresses the problem.

Master Gemcutting Techniques is a computer translation of Wykoff's famous printed book, "Master Gemcutting Tips." Not only does this PC program contain all of the elements of the oringial but now out-of-print book, even offers a modern update . . . and an easier approach to solving problems.

Here is a sampling of the many technical issues with which this program deals:

• the"tick" method of faceting
• easily removing dopping adhesnives
• "Running the Wheel" method of cabochon cutting
• technology of thin laps
• solving the "repeatability" issue
• what kind of laps for what kind of tasks
• tips on repair work
• the value of a "release form" on contracted work
• using a lapidary saw to best advantage
• making your own laps and polishing pastes
• lap tips from experts
• how to get consistent polishing results
• tips on cutting various types of gem materials
• tricks to guarantee even girdles
• carving, cabbing and faceting advaned tips
• make your own special tools
• interpreting imperfections and crystal surface clues
• DeBeers' 4 best facet designs for brilliance
• controlling lap and disk contamination
• . . . . and more . . .

For the student seriously interested in developing his or her lapidary skills, Master Gemcutting Tips represents a comprehensive selection of practical gemcutting tips and techniques for immeidate use by anyone seeking to excel in gemstone faceting, carving or cabochon cutting. It's a perfect add-on to a gemcutter's library.

Master Gemcutting Tips - $25.00

Now out of print, the original book was published by Adams Publisher in 1985 and ever since has offered cutting-edge research and techniques to would-be and advanced faceters by one of the lapidary industry's most renowned researchers and authors.

It's not difficult to facet a gemstone - a mere 3-step performance really - which is why the majority of the finest faceters are self-taught. On the way to success, it's quite probable that each ruined a few stones or two. That's why one starts with cheap quartz, amethyst and such. But adhere to the Japanese word for "yes" which is "HAI" (H = height A=Angle and I=index) and you're well on the way to placing and polishing flat, disciplined surfaces called facets with geometric precision and discipline.

First, you learn that true faceting is refinement. Anyone can facet a stone, but it takes skill and practice to do it absolutely right. You acquire the know-how, add to this one of the magnificent machines the industry offers, machines that cut and polish with incredible precision - and you're truly on the way.

Because theory (no two rough gemstones - even if in the same type, variety or group - are the same) is so vital to your success, Master Faceting is the only program in the industry that also offers as a free bonus Wykoff's wonderful, copyrighted FacMath computer programs. FacMath is a set of 13 PC computer utilities that calculate all of the main theories of optics, lapidary and light i.e., critical angles, physical identification, Snell's and Fresnel's laws, angle theory, index conversion, refractive index, yield, reshaping, tangents, etc.

There's no gemological secret in any gemstone that one of these easy to use computer programs can't ferret out. Gemstone materials may display different physical, chemical and optical personalities but a good faceter conquers each challenge in the process of producting a final, magnificent gemstone.

The key therefore to master faceting is this: familiarity with the physical reality of particular gemstone types and then responding appropriately - and successfully - to each challenge. Master Faceting takes you from the conceptual considerations and cutting challenges posed by rough hewn, irregularly shaped stone through preforming a shape, laying in the facets, imposing a glistening polish on each facet.

Master Faceting has one goal in mind: to show you the way to supreme mastery in the art of faceting - and do it with every implement of good communications.
Master Faceting - $25.00

Of all the techniques for making beautiful jewelry, wire wrapping is probably the easiest and least expensive. Truth is, you could be producing magnificent gold and/or silver pendants in a day - if you've learned the right basics.

This incredible multi-media CD-ROM computer program (it gets its lessons across with video, narration, text, illustrations) provides those basics - and they're brought to you by a commercial wire wrapper with more than 40 years experience. In a comprehensive how-to-do-it for creating silver and/or gold jewelry you'll learn to wrap fine wires around faceted and cabochon/customized gemstones.

Master Wire Wrapping does much more than show you how to make a few designs. Many people frankly don't like wire wrapped jewelry because it's too fancy with flourishes all over the place. That's not what this program is about: it stresses the stark, simplifed designs that'll compete with cast designs.

Instead of merely wrapping wires around things, it teaches a bundled method that can be adapted and expanded on. With this as a starting place, the reader will learn to wire wrap any stone and in a variety of settings. You will learn how to turn stone holding heads into earrings, finger rings, pins, pendants and bracelets. It teaches a building block procedure. Once you master the fundamentals, you can create your own designs.

Unlike most books on wire wrapping, this one also gives emphasis to faceted gems. It's a handy talent to have when you have a customized gemstone and want an affordable settings.

Lavisly illustrated, it features sections on materials, tools, basic techniques, and gemological information. In addition, there are specifics about pendants, earrings, etc.

The American Society of Gemcutters said "Wire Wrapping" is the most useful program ever written on the technique. Whether you want to learn a simple and inexpensive method of creating custom jewelry, or if you are a jeweler needing special settings for your gems, the answer and solutions are here.
Master Wire Wrapping - $25.00

Just completed, the new totally revised and updated Master Stonesetting offers a whopping page after page in Adobe PDF format - so it'll work on PC's and Macs alike. The program sweeps across the entire range of gemstone setting with text, video, animation, slide sequences, music, sound narration and even more. If you wish to learn how to set gemstones, this is the industry "Bible" now.

With the ability to set and/or mount gemstones, the entire jewelry making field opens itself to your skills.

Here, for the first time, is a comprehensive multi-media CD-ROM tutorial (it gets the information to you via videos, music, animations, narrations, pictures, illustrations, text). Working with this unique program is just like attending a gem setting seminar with an experienced setter working over your shoulder providing inside setting tricks, tactics and techniques. All phases of gem mounting are covered:

1) prong setting

2) bevel setting, and

3) pave and specialty setting

Setting is a unique skill and most beginners mistakenly believe that the key to this technique is bending the prong over the stone. That's wrong.

Preparing the notch and the prong or bevel tip is the key. The proerly shaped notch must be cut at the right height or distance from the tip and the latter must actually be "trimmed" or "weakened" so it will fold neatly over the metal without struggle. There are 5 different ways to cut a notch and each is appropriate after you study the stone's girdle and crown. Then the so-called "pushing over" technique must be adapted properly i.e., do you use a metal "pusher" tool, setting pliars, even a burnisher in some instances.

And what's the best way to cut into the metal and turn it over pave stones? Again, depending on the situation you have 2 or 3 approaches.

Obviously, this isn't the kind of tutorial that you can ingest in one setting. You'll need to go over the techniques and vivid illustrations a number of times, memorizing them and then applying each procedure with your tools. Will you foul up? If you don't, you're not really trying hard - and you'll continue to miscue until you can no longer see the prongs. That's stone setting for you.

You'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy setting and mounting really is once you've gotten the fundamentals out of the way - as well as the cute tricks that years at the bench instill. For instance, why do many professional setters reach for a pair of plain car ignition pliars (slightly modified) as a wonderful stone setting too . . . and how do you modify this small, inexpensive tool?

Master Stonesetting uses a building-block method for instructing. Once you learn the basic steps (such as how to produce a notch in a setting prong) you're well on the way to professional level setting and jewelry making. Each technique is not only explained but fully illustrated so a person may self-instruct with accuracy and precision. With this talent, you can buy any setting you want, buy or cut some beautiful gems - and the world of fine jewelry is yours.
Master Gemstone Setting & Mounting - $25.00