If you’re a champion of green causes, it’s possible that you make nearly every purchasing decision with an understanding of how the product was made and where it came from. This extends to food, of course, clothing and housewares. But what about jewelry? Yes, now you can find eco-friendly rings and bracelets.

Dawes Design, run by metalsmith Jennifer Dawes in Northern California, is offering a series of unique pieces made from stones that are mined responsibly and recycled gold. In fact, Dawes will take your old ring and fashion a new one out of it. Green Daily has put together a cool slideshow of the pieces.

According to their official site, Dawes Design is a “slow business” using locally produced products and working with sustainable businesses that use recycled products.

Ms. Dawes says, “I want to add something to this world, not take it away. Becoming a mother has been the most profoundly meaningful and spiritual experience I have ever come to know. It has changed the way I perceive our future and how important it is to the commitment to a socially and environmentally responsible lifestyle.”

If you’re already in the market for custom jewelry, like monogram rings, pendants or bracelets, why not save $25 instantly?

John Christian Jewelers is offering a $25 Gift Card when you join the John Christian Club. No purchase is necessary, if you just want to join the club and hold on to the Gift Card for later, and your information will not be shared with anyone.

Click here, join today and start shopping!

The holiday giving season may be over, but now is an excellent time to start window shopping for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. Carved Creations offers the boldest custom-crafted designs available with your special names, dates or personal message. No two designs we create are exactly alike. Each one is made just for you…

Order a free Carved Creations catalogue today! Click here for the simple order form.

Jewelers around the country had a tough time of it this holiday season, but they may have had a surge of December sales to make up for it. According to Nielsen’s National Jeweler Network annual holiday weekend sales roundup, which interviews independent jewelers around the country, some perfectly timed sales last week helped a few jewelers break even for the year. However, many jewelers reported an overall drop in holiday sales and lots of concern for 2009.

Owner Wilson Glasgow of Elizabeth Bruns Jewelers in Charlotte, N.C., said that both a weak economy and local bank-related job losses contributed to the poor sales. “In the Charlotte region,” he said, “we are doubly affected not only with the economy but with the loss of Wachovia bank. That’s given us a double whammy.”

Read the full story here.

A brilliant cross-post from Planet Green:

It’s incredibly vain, but I love to see my jewelry shine like the afternoon sun. But as silver is exposed to the air, it oxidizes, which causes it to tarnish. Additionally, your precious gems can become clouded by oils on your hands. Many of us turn to chemical cleaners to keep our silver shinning and gems gleaming. However, making your jewelry sparkle can be way easier on the planet and even cheaper than many conventional jewelry cleaners.

Make your cleaner from all plant and mineral based cleaning products to ensure that your cleaner is eco-friendly and free of unnecessary packaging.

What you’ll need for the jewelry cleaner:
A soft toothbrush
¼ cup (non-ammonia) eco-friendly window cleaner
1 tbsp natural toothpaste
A damp cloth

Full post here.

To past, present and future customers of John Christian and Carved Creations: Thank you very much for your business this season. There are plenty of jewelers out there to choose from, and we truly appreciate that you considered us. Please let us know if you have any concerns about the delivery or quality of the products you ordered.

We hope the season brings plenty of joy, happiness and thankfulness, and that you continue to turn to John Christian again when the need arises for unique, personalized jewelry and special gifts.

A crosspost from The Detroit News with a very interesting slant on recycled jewelry:

Marsha Hawkins of Detroit has come full-circle, so to speak, with using old records, CDs and DVDs as the “base” for creating a unique line of jewelry.

“Back in the ’80s, I had a little company with a partner named Wicked Women. We were fooling around with old phonograph records. She was painting them with wearable art paint, experimenting and letting them dry. We turned them into earrings and brooches,” Hawkins remembers.

She later gave up her jewelry-making to start another business, Always and Forever Wedding Chapel in Detroit which specialized in cultural weddings. After about five years, she closed the chapel and got back into jewelry-making when “people started asking me about my jewelry.”

This time around, she designed her one-of-a-kind “pieces” using disgarded CDs and DVDs in place of old records. She sells her collection under the name “Pieces” and describes her work as “fragments of wearable art for those with a passion for unique fashion.”

Full story here.

When you consider the availability of rings online, especially customized rings, it’s no wonder people are skipping the jewelry stores for the huge selection on the Internet marketpace. But, how do you know what your ring size is? Or, what if you want a ring for your pinky, and you have no idea what your pinky size is?

Carved Creations offers a free online ring sizer. Just download the PDF and you’re all set!

Many thanks to Jewlery guru Maggie MacLean and the entire team at the Jewlery Weblog for their article on the John Christian Company.

A full-page feature about jeweler John Christian can be found in this month’s FORTUNE Small Business! The story, which details the company’s decision to launch a less expensive product line (via Carved Creations), can be previewed below: [Click on the image to enlarge]