You've probably been to a jewelry store where pushy salespeople were trying to get their jewelry sales numbers up by using jewelry repair sales as an add-on. Their obviously aggressive attempts at trying to "sell" repairs to you are not always welcome, are they?

Here is what you need to know. Sure, you can get your jewelry repaired by any so-and-so who claims to know how to fix jewelry. If we're talking about your twenty dollar chain with a five dollar pendant, that might be the right choice.

However, if you need to get an heirloom piece or your engagement ring repaired, you want to find someone who will not only do a perfect job fixing your jewelry, but will also treat it like it's their own. Trust. That's the key.

When you leave your precious pieces with someone you trust, or at least someone your mother or your best friend trusts, you know that your jewelry will be in good hands and come back to you in brand new shape.

Here at BC Custom Jewelry, we understand how you feel about your jewelry even before you purchase it! We won't try to sell you add-on repair services, and if you are looking for someone to trust, just read the testimonials on our website.

We look forward to helping you with all of your jewelry needs.

Jasper is an interestingly colored mineral variety of Chalcedony, which is part of the quartz family. Compared to many quartz and Chalcedony varieties, the Jasper stone may appear a little blah, at first:

But, when Jasper is used to make hand-crafted or unique pieces of jewelry, here is an idea of what you would get:

Since Jasper has a more rugged appeal to it, it makes sense to craft a men's necklace, like the one pictured above. You can get the handsome looking necklace above on Etsy for only $48.

Jasper is usually associated with yellow, red and brown tones, but can also come in many other colors. Expect opaque, multi-colored patterns in these stones, and a hexagonal shape, more often than not.

Jasper also boasts a hardness of 6.5 to 7, which means it will stand up to some wear and tear (a great stone for men!) And, even for women, who tend to be more rough on their jewelry, Jasper makes a great every day wear stone.

What do you think about Jasper? Do you like the gemstone? If not, do you know someone who you think would like it?

Don't forget BC Custom Jewelry for all of your custom jewelry needs!

September 19-21, if you are planning to be in the New York area, don't forget to stop by Coterie. Here are some of the designers to look for:

1. This gorgeous 10k gold-plated brass flower pin features Desert Jasmineth Lucite, chrysocolla, and crystals. Price: $595; Alexis Brittar, NYC

2. Mother-of-pearl Faceted cone studs in 12k gold–plated brass Price: $148; Sarah Magid, Brooklyn, N.Y.

3. Resin links on a stingray bracelet made of 18k gold–plated silver with clasp; Price: $450; Charmed Circle, Houston

4. 18k gold–plated brass fringe necklace with labradorite; Price: $223; Marcia Moran Jewelry, Los Angeles

5. 24k gold–plated silver earring jackets and Vago studs; Price: $175; Elizabeth & James, NYC

For well over a decade now, people have been tracking their website stats to find out where their visitors are coming from, what their preferences are, how long each visitor stays on the website, what makes them click through to the purchase, and much more. Unfortunately, tracking these things in a brick-and-mortar store is not as simple.

Introducing geolocation technology, which uses the signal from cell phones to track information similar to what websites collect with "cookies" online. Geolocation technology is like "cookies" in your retail store.

How long do customers spend in your store? How long do the spend looking at certain products? These are the insights of the future, what will help bring brick and mortar stores up to the next level.

iBeacon, the geolocation technology made by Apple, actually sends information with push notifications to customers. For example, if a customer is looking at diamond bracelets, the notification sent to the customer might offer 15% of off diamond necklaces.

The technology works both ways.

What do you think about geolocation technology? Will brick and mortar stores start to rely on it like website owners rely on Google Analytics?

If you are one of the lucky ones planning to attend the 2015 JCK Miami Show from Oct 13 to Oct 16, you are definitely heading for some fun, glamour and glitz in the sun! Maybe you plan to be at the JIS Show, which is also in Miami October 15th through the 18th. 

Or, maybe you plan to check out both of the shows, considering you are already going to be in Miami, and the show dates conveniently coincide. Either way, whether you have plans to be at one show or the other, chances are, you are heading toward a good time, fun places, and yummy foods to go along with the bling.

Cindi Avila put together an extensive list of places to eat during the two shows, which will tell you just about everything you need to know while you are in Miami regarding food and drink.

We hope you enjoy your time in sunny F-L-A, Miami is full of fun, but when you add JCK and JIS shows into the Miami scene, you can't get any better than that!

The Jewelers' Security Alliance keeps on top of the latest information on stolen jewelry and other security issues involving jewelry. News about jewelry thieves, wanted and found, and rewards to encourage people to step forward and provide information leading to the arrest of theives.

If you head to their website, you will find that the most recent award is for $10,000. They have a photo of a woman who allegedly stole jewelry from several different stores in several states, accumulating over $1 million in jewelry.

The alliance is also linked with the FBI and Jewelers mutual insurance company in an attempt to publicize and control the theft of jewelery. Their website syndicates all of the latest headlines and news pertaining to jewelery theft and protection.

They also have a hotline that people can call anonymously, 1-800-325-1883, if anyone has any information that they can offer about jewelery crimes. Those of us in the jewelry business are thankful for the JSA for everything that they do.

Not to tell all of our secrets, but there are some tricks of the trade if you have an online business that can help boost your sales - sometimes, even in big ways.

What you want to get away from is selling exclusively on your own website. It may sound strange at first, but think about it. The more places your products are seen, the better change you have of selling them.

If you "partner up" with certain apps, like Like To Know and Craves, you certainly have nothing to lose. They work like consignment shops, in which you pay out a percentage of the sale, but it gets your products new exposure.

What you need to remember is that the wealthy rarely purchase from websites they do not know, but many of the popular jewelry apps and consignment apps are already being used by affluent consumers.

The third party apps normally do all of the work for you, the advertising, collecting the money, the shipping. All you have to do is have a product to sell.

Let us know if this information works for you or if you have tried third party apps to sell your products. We would like to hear about your experience!

As the technological climate changes, us small Jewelers have to think about how we can keep up with the times. One of the best ways to ensure being able to sell our products is being able to take the type of payments that our customers are using.

Out with the old, in with the new.

If the only two types of payment that we accept are credit cards and cash, we are getting behind the times.

Have you considered Apple Pay and Android Pay? The NFC technology is not taking off as fast as they expected, but people are certainly warming up to it. Just take a trip to Starbucks, and you will often see half of the line pay by tapping their phone on the terminal.

While you may not have to jump on the bandwagon right away, but it's just a matter of time before people will be asking you if they can pay with their phones.

Have you thought of switching to an NFC terminal yet? If you have already done it, we would be interested in hearing the pluses and minuses.

Jewelry Television (JTV) is featuring a contest show called Rock Star Designer. The series premiered August 31, starring five finalists, and the winner will not only receive $5000, but also a chance to create their own jewelry collection that will be aired on a national shopping channel.

The final round will be aired September 18th, but before that, each contestant will be eliminated until there is a winner. What started out back in March as 100 potential contestants was narrowed down to 50, then wittled down even more until there were only 5.

We are excited to see who wins, and will write a post after the show has ended to let you know how it turns out. The winner is getting a chance of a lifetime. We wish all 5 top picks the best throughout the competition.

If you own a brick and mortar jewelry store and do not count completely on online sales, one of the biggest mistakes you could be making is closing your store or limiting your hours on Sundays.

The answer why makes sense, too. First of all, Sunday is one of the biggest shopping days of the week, comprising somewhere in the 20% range for sales for the entire week. Secondly, most people work during the week, making Saturday and Sunday the prime days to shop - especially for jewelry like engagement rings and wedding bands, the big sellers.

So, when you are considering your business hours, you should think about these factors and at least run a normal business day on Sunday. Longer hours are certainly recommended, but definitely do not leave the doors locked and closed on Sunday, and if you want to limit hours that you have to work during the week, consider moving the "short day" to Wednesday or Thursday, even Tuesday.

Definitely not Sunday, though.

What have you experienced with Sunday hours? Do you think it is worth being open? Longer hours? Or stay closed?