Sunday, February 10, 2013
A Misunderstood Profession: Interior Design
Define your career. If you are a doctor, you diagnose and treat peoples' ailments. If you are a hairdresser, you cut, colour, perm, and style hair. If you are a police officer, you uphold the law, investigate crimes, and in general protect the citizens of the district in which you work. Most careers can be at least briefly described by almost anyone. If you have one of those careers, you are very lucky.
Before I entered the work force and opened my own design firm, I never would have imagined that I would be getting calls to mend curtains, remove stains from carpets, find out why one bulb in a chandelier will not work... I am an interior designer -- I design interiors; but I can recommend a seamstress, carpet cleaning company, electrician... Then the dreaded question comes, "What do you mean you design interiors?"
Once-upon-a-time-ago I thought that to be an easy question to answer. Somehow, I now find it easier to explain to a child why the grass is green.
Rather than trying to define interior design, I have taken to explaining the process of designing an interior.
I analyze, ask questions, draw, review the budget, draw some more while asking more questions. Slowly, what started off as sketches develop into floor plans and other technical drawings. Some of the drawings get coloured in. I help my clients make informed decisions regarding the use of space, materials, products, colour, lighting, layout, construction methods, other professionals... The drawings/plans then go to contractors and specialty contractors. I review the submitted process with my clients -- one submission is higher, but that is not necessarily bad because the others are each missing things. A contractor is selected, the contract signed and the work begins; I'll be there routinely while the work is in progress. I basically act as a representative on my clients' behalf, as well as a protector to my own design. Time schedules are reviewed frequently, problems that arise are handled in such a way that my clients may later know the solution but not the headache involved to understand and work out the problem. The work is wrapping up, only the finishing touches are left but I am already preparing a list of things that have to be finished, repaired or touched-up.
What had been a noisy, dirty, smelly construction site has now fallen quiet and already been cleaned. I walk around looking at and examining the full-size, real thing of all the drawings I had done weeks, if not months, ago. Back at the office, I edit the deficiency list started a few days before and send it to the contractor and clients. The job is soon completely finished, but my work is still not done.
My clients call, happy with the finished space. There are some last minute questions concerning maintenance of some of the new items, where to find certain decorative things and accessories that suddenly have importance, placement of these things, and so on.
About two months later those clients are likely to call again. The voice on the other end sounds either a bit annoyed or even slightly panicked. The tile grout is crack in one area on one wall. It's probably just because everything has had the time to settle; I'll come by to see it, then contact the contractor.
Define my career. I am an interior designer. I am an analyst, an artist, an educator, an interrogator, a project manager, a site supervisor, a purchaser, a space planner, a specifier, a decorator, a technician, a draftsperson, a troubleshooter...
But can I help a client plan an outdoor project? Can I design a cabana or gazebo for a client's yard? Can I design custom furniture or lighting? Work with other professionals to provide technical drawings for things that do not fall into the scope of work of an interior designer? Work with clients and their real estate agent to help in the selection of the perfect home or commercial space to meet their needs? Provide consultation services to do-it-yourselfers? Handle the enlargement of a building? Work on new constructions as well as renovations? Plan the enlargement or relocation of a kitchen or washroom? Do I know the building code? Can I help obtain renovation permits from the municipality? Design spaces for use by people with physical disabilities?... Yes, and more.
In a rush, I sometimes describe interior design as the career that fills the gap between architect and decorator, but the accuracy in that statement is something even I have debated. So I am still left without a solid definition of my own career.
Karen S. Weiner is the owner and principal interior designer of Idealspace Design in Montreal, Quebec (Canada), since 1997. Karen has had many articles on design and decor published both in print and on-line. http://www.idealspacedesign.com
Reinventing the Color Wheel Interior Design
You may wonder what color wheel interior design means when you think about redecorating or decorating your house or someone else's home. When decorating an interior, it is important to understand how to use this wheel while considering color codes and schemes for the interior. In any part of the house, one of the biggest segments of decoration is painting of the house, which may not seem like a very big deal, but is!
Use colors correctly:
In a color based interior design, all you are doing is using a palette of various colors, which need to be used in the right proportion. Color wheel decorating is just like placing decorations within the room. It can be used in different ways. To pull the look of the room together you can used different shades of a color or use various different color combos. As you come towards the end of the project you will see that everything blends nicely, even if you use such vastly varying hues for different things.
If you don't know how it can be a big factor of decoration, research on how the color based interior design goes hand in hand with the rest of the interior designing endeavor and you will automatically understand the essentials of color wheel decoration. When you don't want to do too much, don't want to be overwhelming or want to decorate the room without taking too much of space, then the color wheel interior design suits you great. By this technique, you can be overwhelmed though, but in a more sophisticated way. It becomes important to consider the type of colors and how many colors you intend using.
Shouldn't be too much for the room:
By just using the color based interior design it is possible to have a large amount of decoration in the room and yet give it a spacious air. The difference between using this design and the solid paint color will certainly amaze you. One thing that should be kept in mind is that it should not be too much for the room. Make sure it fits well within the existent decoration of the room.
Without doing too much, it is a great way to include complex decorations in your home. The importance of color and paint can be played upon by including the wheel of color in your home. Without becoming garish, you can have a color wheel interior design that is quite elaborate, and without using too much of space, this can be a great choice for interior decorating. A room decorated with such a design can look more decorated and more complex than other contemporary options.
You may not always get what you want, but you can find what you need on color wheel interior design, be sure to read my reviews at Home-Decorating-Reviews.com
What To Expect When You Hire An Interior Designer
Despite the common assumption that using the services of a professional interior designer is unaffordable to most of us, choosing this option can offer savings in the long run. But have you ever wondered what's involved in the entire process of house interior design?
Phase one involves gathering and analyzing information and making all the necessary preparations before starting the actual design job. You must formulate a detailed home interior design program that will be customized towards your individual needs and objectives, as well as the size and relationship between spaces and a host of other considerations that will affect how you live in your home. If you hire an interior designer for the job, he or she will analyze your home and determine the best positioning of the furniture and spaces within to capture views and sunlight. During this first phase, the budget and schedule will also be estimated.
The second phase goes under the sign of conceptual brainstorming and exploration. It starts with the creation of a concept diagram of the house interior and several rough design sketches. During this period, designers (hired by you) will come up with the general layout, form and overall appearance of the house's interior. When the layout, size and character of the house are refined, designers focus on the different interior elements such as stairs, fireplaces, cabinetry, and built-in furniture. To help describe some of the important technical details, different drawings will be prepared. Once this stage is finished, 70 to 80 percent of the actual house interior design work will be finished.
The next phase is called Construction Documentation and during this period, the house interior design is translated into a technical language used by the contractor. Working Drawings and specifications are made that outline in detail all of the materials that will be used, where they will be positioned and how they will be installed. Despite the fact that this stage is mostly intended for working out the technical aspects of the project, some design work also takes place. Furthermore, plumbing fixtures, light fixtures, and finish materials such as carpet, paint colors and tile are also selected.
In the Bidding and Negotiation phase, you will receive bids from different contractors that will do the actual work. The designers you work with have a list of contractors for hire. You will be able to review their bids and negotiate the different proposals.
The last phase of the house interior design process is the actual making (construction). During this stage, interior designers will answer questions, review submittals and shop drawings and review monthly certificates of payment that are submitted by the contractor. The very final selections of fixtures and finishes are also done here. Once this stage is completed, the entire house will be thoroughly inspected to guarantee that everything is done as it should.
Richard Mitchell owns and operates [http://www.interiordesignessentials.com] Interior Design [http://www.interiordesignessentials.com] where you can learn more about the basics of interior design.
Kitchen Interior Design - What to Consider
Changing the Cabinets
One of the features that can improve the interior design of your kitchen is the way the cabinets are designed and also the way that they are used. If your cabinets are too small for adequate storage for your kitchen implements, causing pile-ups of pots and pans, then a redesign may be imminent. For instance, when planning the interior design of your kitchen, you may want to choose the use of deep drawers in which to store pots and pans. This allows for easy access as opposed to having to hunker down and peer inside those dark spaces of the cabinets.
Is The Lighting Adequate?
Do you enjoy cooking, but find yourself frustrated because you end up straining your eyes in the kitchen? Then the interior design of your kitchen should include a drastic change in the area of lighting. By identifying areas where your kitchen is too dim, you can then decide where to place task lighting to brighten your kitchen chores. A little light to shine on you will make a big difference in your mood while cooking a meal or even simply while cleaning up the dishes.
The Kitchen Layout
For those who are especially motivated, you may want to review the interior design of your kitchen and launch into a total change of the layout. For instance, perhaps your galley-style kitchen may be space-efficient, but it's lacking in space if you want to have multiple cooks in the kitchen. In this case, changing the interior design of your kitchen might incorporate finding a way to increase the space in the room by upgrading to a more open area that will accommodate more people.
Little Touches
While the study interior design of your kitchen should entail your need for ample space, sometimes it's only the appearance that needs attention. For instance, if you decide to stay with your smaller kitchen, the use of lighter colors will make the area appear brighter and more open than say, a wallpaper pattern using dark colors.
Interior design of kitchens will certainly take into account the psychological aspects such as the effects of colors. And this can lead you to make a number of changes in the decoration of your kitchen. No matter if you make large changes or small ones, review the interior design of your kitchen and if you're not happy with it, and take steps towards a more comfortable space. You deserve to feel comfortable in this most-used room in your house.
You can also find more info on corporate interior design [http://interiordesignbliss.com/interior-design/corporate-interior-design-what-matters]. Interiordesignbliss.com is a comprehensive resource which provide information about interior designs.
Library Interior Design Planning
Library interior design or architecture requires detailed planning before plans are drawn. Interior designers can facilitate the planning process if they are skilled in communication and knowledge of the function of a library. The needs of the library patrons must be adhered to when planning the design.
It is important for designers involved in library interior design to be aware of the ambience that the library must convey to its visitors. Many bookstores feature nice comfortable chairs and coffee service enticing visitors to stay longer. In the past, libraries were very sterile and uninviting for many people, especially the younger crowd. How does the modern library compete with the bookstore? The interior designer must use their knowledge of construction and design along with their marketing skills to design a library that can bring in all ages and compete with the modern bookstore/coffee shop.
Some areas the designer may focus on are lighting, acoustics and signage. Library interior design involves designing for different age groups, people who are there for study or research purposes and people who just want to relax with friends and read the paper. Everyone must easily access all products and services offered by the library. Work areas for staff must be ergonomic and functional. Areas for children should include hands on play areas and quiet reading areas for parents and children. The entire facility should be modern and fun. The designer will need to include areas for computer use as well.
An important aspect of library interior design involves the selection of furniture. The furniture must be durable and comfortable. If the library has a set budget, the designer will need to pay close attention to it when selecting furniture. The interior designer will need call on all their supplier contacts to source out the best possible deal for the library in order to stay under budget. There are also commercial manufacturers that design furniture specifically for libraries and other commercial buildings. Interior designers or architects can select standard furniture and then add a custom feature to it to fit the needs of the library design project. Commercial furniture is manufactured to withstand heavy use.
Another aspect of library interior design is a theft detection system must be installed in a strategic location. Staff should have the ability to easily exit from their desk if the theft alarm sounds as well. Other factors involved in the design of the library are related to the specific procedures and policies in place by the library. This is when the interior designer must use their communication skills to plan the design. It can be quite costly to correct mistakes.
Interior designers involved in a library interior design plan, should interview staff members of the library to gain insight into the needs of the staff plus the design of the staff work areas and furniture such as a staff desk. Once the designer has obtained information from the staff, they should then prepare some drawings for staff to review. If the project is quite large then perhaps a mock desk or model could be made for staff to review. Library interior design is one of the many niche areas of designers come across in their professional careers.
Thinking of a career in Interior Design? Use our site as a valuable reference point for niche interior design ideas such as Library Interior Design by T.D. Houser
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Smart Shopping - Handcrafted Jewelry Materials
To the un-trained eye, much of the handmade jewelry available for sale on the internet, in boutiques and at craft fairs may look to be essentially the same. However, this is not the case. Jewelry designers have a myriad of choices when creating their pieces. It is important to be aware of the different materials that may be used and how they compare; both in quality and in price.
Metals
The most common metals found in handmade jewelry are some form of silver or gold. Most jewelry buyers, however, are unaware of the differences between materials that bear similar names.
Fine Silver
Fine silver is the purest form of silver that is commonly used in jewelry. It is 99% pure silver. As well as being more costly, fine silver is softer than sterling, and will not tarnish.
Sterling Silver
Sterling silver is the most common form of silver used in handmade jewelry in the United States. Sterling silver is 92.5% silver, the rest is a combination of other metals including nickel and copper. This makes sterling more affordable, but it also makes the jewelry more likely to tarnish.
Silver Plate
Silver plate is a very, very thin layer of silver over a base metal, commonly brass. Over time, the silver plating will wear off and reveal the duller metal below.
Karat Gold
This is what most people think of as gold. The higher the karat number, the purer and more valuable the gold. Common variations are 10, 14, 18, 22 and 24 karat gold. As the karat number increases, so does the bright yellow color of the gold and the softness. Gold is also available in white and rose colors.
Vermeil
This material is actually gold-plated sterling silver. Many people prefer vermeil because it is a more affordable option than pure gold, but is still entirely made of precious metal. Most vermeil is plated with high-karat gold, and has a bright yellow color.
Gold Filled
Gold filled beads, wire and chain are made by applying a coating of gold to a base metal core. It is also called rolled gold. Unlike plating, this layer is quite thick and is very unlikely to rub off in the life of the jewelry. It is an affordable and durable alternative to karat gold. Most gold filled components are made with 14 karat gold.
Gold Plate
Like silver plate, gold plate is made by covering a base metal with a very thin layer of real gold. The layer of gold is likely to rub of, generally within several years of purchase, depending on how often the piece is worn, and what it is subjected to. While plating offers a very affordable option for trendy jewelry, it is not a good choice for jewelry that is intended to be worn often, or to become a family heirloom.
Gemstones
There are many varieties of natural, synthetic, and enhanced gemstones available to jewelry designers today. Although most people have no idea about the vast range of possibilities there are when buying gemstones, it is very important to be aware of the differences when buying handcrafted jewelry.
Dyeing Gemstones
Dyeing gemstones is not necessarily a bad thing. It can bring life to otherwise dull materials. Be aware that jewelry made with dyed stones may bleed color if it gets wet. This may be avoided if the designer rinses the beads before using them in finished pieces.
Many quartzes, including garnet, amethyst and rose quartz are commonly dyed to enhance their natural color. Howlite and malaysian jade (not really jade) are also often dyed in very bright hues of purples, pinks and blues.
Chalcedony is another stone that is often dyed into brighter shades. It is important to be aware that some dyed chalcedony will fade over time. To avoid fading, do not store your chalcedony jewelry in direct sunlight.
Freshwater pearls are commonly dyed as well, but do not seem to have a problem with fading or bleeding their color.
Enhancing Gemstones
Enhancing gemstones is the process of treating them either with chemicals, heat or pressure to increase their value or durability. Smoky quartz is commonly enhanced to improve its color. Turquoise is often stabilized, or impregnated with a resin substance to make it harder and less absorbent of water and oils which may damage it.
Synthetic Gemstones
This is where it's most important to know exactly what you're buying. Many natural gemstones have very convincing synthetic counterparts. Some common ones are turquoise, jade, coral, and many types of quartz.
The synthetic quartzes, actually made of glass, are now found in a rainbow of colors and a wide variety of names. When these synthetic quartzes were first introduced to the United States by overseas manufacturers, they fooled some very experienced bead retailers and jewelry designers. Common varieties of synthetic quartz are tanzanite quartz, amethyst quartz, lilac quartz, and "fruity" quartzes. These include strawberry, cherry, blueberry and pineapple.
Synthetic gemstone beads can be gorgeous and affordable additions to a designer's palette. Some very lovely variations include opalite and goldstone.
Putting it all Together
It is always a good idea to ask the designer direct questions about the materials used in his or her designs if you are at all concerned about authenticity or quality. Most designers will greatly appreciate your interest and happily answer your questions.
All of the choices can be overwhelming, but this shouldn't deter you from buying handcrafted jewelry. A design created by an artist is unique and special. Armed with your new knowledge, you'll be able to find the perfect piece of jewelry that you'll enjoy for years to come.
Georgia Hadley is a jewelry designer, writer, and small business owner who lives in rural Vermont. In addition to her own business, Adorneya Jewelry (http://www.adorneya.com), she is also a founding editor of Craft Revolution (http://www.craftrevolution.com), a website dedicated to promoting mainstream awareness of independent designers and their products as desirable alternatives to big-box stores.
Smart Materials!
As a gung-ho polymath in an era of debilitating specialization, de Gennes saw no bounds to the integrative role of materials science. As he remarked in 1995, 'I've battled for a long time to have three cultures in my little school: physics, chemistry and biology. Even at a time when there are not many openings for bioengineers in industry, this triple culture is already very important for physical and chemical engineers.'
When a group on these lines started work at the Institut Curie in Paris, one of its first efforts was to try out an idea for artificial muscles proposed by de Gennes in 1997. These would not directly imitate the well-known but complex protein systems that produce muscle action in animals. Instead, they would aim for a similar effect of strong, quick contractions, in quite different materials-the liquid crystals.
Discovered in 1888 by Friedrich Reinitzer, an Austrian botanist, liquid crystals are archetypal untidy materials, being neither solid nor liquid yet in some ways resembling both. They were only a curiosity until 1971 when Wolfgang Helfrich of the Hoffmann-La Roche company in Switzerland found that a weak electric field could line up mobile rod-like molecules in a liquid crystal, and change it from clear to opaque. This opened the way to their widespread use in display devices. De Gennes suggested that similar behaviour in a suitably engineered material could make a liquid crystal contract like a muscle.
In this concept, a rubbery molecule is attached to each end of a rod-like liquid-crystal molecule. Such composite molecules tangle together to make a rubber sheet. The sheet will be longest when the liquid-crystal components all point in the same direction. Destroy that alignment, for example with a flash of light, and the liquid-crystal central regions will turn to point in all directions. That will force the sheet to contract suddenly, in a muscular fashion. By 2000 Philippe Auroy and Patrick Keller at the Institute Curie had made suitable mixed polymers, and they contracted just as predicted, as artificial muscles.
'We are now in the era of smart materials,' Keller commented. 'These can alter their shape or size in response to temperature, mechanical stress, acidity and so on, but they are often slow to react, or to return to their resting state. Our work on artificial muscles based on liquid crystals might open the way to designing fast-reacting smart polymers for many other purposes such as micro-pumps and micro-gates for micro-fluidics applications, and as ''motors'' for micro-robots or micro-drones.'
This is Azzam and here is my latest website: barbeques grill [http://barbequesgrills.com/]!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Using a Handmade Glass Sink in the Bathroom - Combining Art & Function
All About Glass Sinks
The hottest trend in bathroom design today is the handmade glass sink - often referred to as a glass vessel sink - which has become the latest must-have for luxury homeowners. Combine the versatility in color and design offered by glass with the vessel mount trend and it's no wonder that our company, Glass Artists Gallery, can barely keep up with demand. Vessel-mounted, fused, slumped, mosaic, under-mounted and hand-blown sinks have even influenced the faucet manufacturers' designs because of their unprecedented popularity.
We find ourselves answering questions and dispelling myths surrounding sinks just about every day. This article was created to answer some of the more common questions such as "What is a handmade sink?" "Are they expensive?" "What are the differences in the glass sinks I see in the showrooms and online?" "Are they durable?"
Types of Glass Sinks
To better understand the three main categories of glass vessel sinks, it helps to understand the three main types of glassmaking:
Cold Glass -- Working with glass at room temperature. Examples are mosaic glass, stained glass, glass carving and etching.
Warm Glass -- The process of fusing, slumping or other kiln forming techniques at temperatures between 1100 and 1700 degrees Fahrenheit.
Hot Glass-- The process of blowing glass using a furnace that melts the glass at 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the glass is gathered on the end of a pipe, the artist forms the hot glass using a "Glory Hole" (an oven that maintains a temperature of around 1200 degrees Fahrenheit). The resulting work is then slowly cooled in an annealing oven.
With the above in mind, there are three main categories of artisan crafted glass sinks you will find at Glass Artists Gallery:
Fused & Slumped -- Glass fusing is the process of joining together pieces of glass. When the right kind of glass is heated and then cooled properly, the resulting fused glass piece will be solid and unbroken. Using fusing techniques, the artist creates patterns and designs in color. The resulting sheet of fused glass is then slumped into the vessel shape. In the slumping process the glass is laid into, or on top of a mold and heated just to the point where it "Slumps" to fit the form of the mold. Once the glass reaches the desired form it must be cooled quickly enough to stop the movement that will result in cracking. Although this might sound simple, the resulting sinks can be quite intricate in their design and require hours of painstaking labor.
Blown Glass -- Hand blown glass sinks are created through a much different process. This "hot glass" process allows an artist to create myriad different styles, colors, shapes and sizes that are always unique. Layers of glass are "gathered" onto the end of a "rod" or "pipe" and formed, blown and worked into a vessel shape. Color is applied in many different forms at the beginning of the process. Once finished, the piece is "annealed" for a minimum of 48 hours for maximum durability. Due to variations in the glass blowing process, every sink will be unique.
Mosaic Glass -- Pieces of hand-cut colored art glass are adhered to the inside surface of a 1/2" thick annealed glass bowl. Annealing is a process of bending the glass at extremely high temperatures to assure durability of use in the most extreme temperature conditions. The sink is then grouted with a specially mixed blend of sand and tinted cement, then sealed and finished with a protective clear polymer coating to create a smooth surface which is colorful, sturdy, easy to care for and a breathtaking focal point for any bathroom.
Handmade or Production?
As you can see from the types of glass sinks that are available, you have many different choices for incorporating a stunning centerpiece in the bath. The choice you will need to make is whether you want an original "work of art" - an artisan created sink - or a "factory produced" glass vessel. The trend in glass sinks has created a flood of offshore imports that are now available. We liken the current choices to the art world where you can find original art as well as "prints" or "reproductions". Production sinks made in a factory are mass produced generally using single sheets of glass. Many are painted with a design. Few, if any, are truly "slumped & fused".
Durability of Glass Sinks
How do we, as glass specialists, reassure the end user of a glass sinks durability? The analogy I use is that the glass sinks we sell are made by professionals and are able to withstand similar abuse as a porcelain sink. In other words, if you drop a heavy object into a glass sink with enough force to break it, you would have also broken a typical porcelain sink. They both have similar strength characteristics.
The difference between these two materials is that glass is more prone to "thermal shock". Thermal shock can occur when there is a sudden temperature change of more than 70 degrees. For example, you don't want to pour scalding hot water (over 120 degrees) into a glass sink. Hot water from the tap is generally 100 - 110 degrees, so the temperature difference is well within the safe zone. The most common occurrences of thermal shock happen when a sink is left on a jobsite where the temperature is unregulated.
When installing a glass vessel sink, be sure your contractor knows that thermal shock can be a problem if the jobsite is not yet heated. In addition, make sure they know that the drain assembly should be hand tightened only. Over-tightening the drain is the second most common cause of breakage.
At Glass Artists Gallery, our clients use glass sinks not only in the powder room, but also in the master bath, guest baths and even children's baths. When treated and installed properly, they are durable, safe and fantastic design options. With proper lighting, they will "glow" and cast wonderful light and shadow effects throughout the bath. They will certainly set your project apart!
To see all of the glass sinks available, as well as artisan crafted sinks in other mediums including stone, metal, ceramic and even wood - please visit Sinks Gallery
Jack Healy is a principle of Functional Art Gallery, LLC - Functional Art Gallery - a growing family of online resources for the designer, architect, builder and discerning homeowner. The company focuses on handcrafted functional & architectural works of art for both residential and commercial projects. The Functional Art Gallery family includes Glass Artists Gallery, Sinks Gallery, Copper Sinks Online and Art Lighting Gallery. Together these resources provide the largest collection of artisan and designer products available in North America.
Window Cleaning Business Future Challenge With Self Cleaning Glass
Self-cleaning glass has been talked about a lot, with such a catchy name in his hit the headlines of not only the trade journals, but also the mass media. Does self-cleaning glass mean that all the window cleaners and small businesses across this country are doomed? No, not yet. First of all, self-cleaning glass is not really self-cleaning at all, so many Industry call it low maintenance glass, but either way the idea is intriguing and appeals to consumers. In a recent article in Window and Door magazine, in March of 2003 the industry was asked what they thought of self-cleaning glass many of those interviewed were among the building industry, interior designers, architects, glass manufacturers, new homebuilders, tenant improvements retrofitters and window cleaning service companies. Having been watching the developments of self-cleaning windows for quite some time, we see a time when the big mirrored glass buildings will no longer need the same frequency of services. What does this mean for companies like; the Window Genie; the Window Gang; the Window Butler; and the Window Wash Guys.
Should we be concerned that this new innovation will upset the market sector causing and your reversible micro sector rotation, which will put out of business thousands of small time entrepreneurs engaged in the cleaning of windows? Well, not exactly, however in the future we will see a change in the industry and that change will likely come through a combination of self-cleaning windows and Nano-technology. But for now PPG industries, Pilkington and at least 50 other large glass manufacturers are riding the wave in this newest trend. However, as we watched the industry we have seen surveys that claim over 71 percent of consumers given the choice would be more likely to choose self-cleaning windows over the regular windows even with the increased cost.
A company in Pittsburgh called SunClean self-cleaning glass products introduced their version of self-cleaning glass at the end of 2001, while their sales have increased and have met company expectations, we have seen the industry as a whole lag behind the original hype of the innovation. So it's 71 percent of consumers given the choice would be more likely to choose self-cleaning windows, within how come we have not seen the promised Boom? Well there are a couple reasons the first being that often consumers do not choose what can glass one other homes as the builders choose 70 percent of what goes into their homes. In custom homes and renovations to numbers are quite promising. Oh what we've seen in new home construction is a move to lower-cost, to standardize, and to move quickly. When new home shoppers go to new models and discuss the purchase of a new home those sales offices indicated that they had approximately 40 minutes with the clients and at that time they either made the sale, made of favorable impression for a return visit or had lost the customer completely. The option of self-cleaning glass comes with it a host of questions for instance; what is it? With no time to explain, they rarely got into the subject matter. Also with new customers buying on 1 to 3 percent down they also indicated that most customers and consumers barely squeaked by.
The increased costs of self-cleaning windows throughout a home could be as much as $2200.00 in this increase could cost in the sale those manufacturers that dealt with selling remodeling and replacement type glass showed that steady increase in sales will probably continue into the future. Does this mean the residential market for window cleaning could be substantially hampered given these numbers. The answer is yes and no. Yes, because consumers may feel that there is no need to clean the glass now, because it is supposed to be cleaned itself. No, because those people who might buy self-cleaning glass are overly concerned with clean Windows, as it is a high priority in their life. A clean outlook, if you will? The fact is that self-cleaning glass is really lower maintenance glass, and it is easier to clean, thus a window cleaning company; like ours for the ones mentioned above could actually make more money per hour worked, thus become more efficient and have more money to market and get more business. Also with windows easier to clean, the finished job will look better and therefore more referrals of people who both do and do not have self-cleaning glass themselves. We feel that it is a tossup as to the decreased sales due to people believing that the glasses to clean itself completely into those who still beside the service.
In the automotive industry when Cadillac came out with a car dad went 100,000 miles between services, many automotive aftermarket service companies such a Jiffy Lube, Penske automotive and Midas muffler believed that this could affect their business. It did not, there were some people who it bought the Cadillacs who believed the salesman at the dealership and assumed the car did not need oil changes per 100,000 miles. These consumers he did not understand what they were getting into often drove the car for 25 to 30,000 miles without any problems and then went a dealership when they heard a noise, no kidding. One dealership told us of five such customers. Others who bought the Cadillac because of its incredible warranty and 100,000 miles between services did so because they felt that a car that ran extremely well played a major part in their decision to buy that automobile, so this is why they bought it in the first place. And those customers who care about the reliability and maintenance of their vehicle who bought the cars, turned out to still be great customers to the automotive service companies they normally patronized. As a matter fact they continued to go to the service companies at the same intervals and often used it as a way to Brag about what a wonderful car they had bought, and how smart they were for buying it.
We have had customers was self-cleaning glass show was the windows in the home which they have remodeled and pointed to the glass that they had bought for their kitchens or living rooms or master bedrooms that were self-cleaning. They still asked us to bid on the entire house and we still got the job and we did not have to reduce the price but rather confirmed to the consumer that indeed they had made an excellent choice. Because they had self-cleaning glass is better, it is much better, and we know it's true. Many customers who are do-it-yourselfers may clean their glass themselves in overtime realize that their self-cleaning glass, does need occasional touchup. And therefore would eventually call us to do the whole thing or bid on the entire house they now that while so of cleaning glass is absolutely awesome, it is not be end all be all.
Most people who have self-cleaning glass are happy with their decision and see its value and are pleased with its results. The biggest problem industry sees was self-cleaning glass is that it can be over-sold, over hyped by a salesman and therefore can cause issues between consumer watch groups, the worthless and overrated self aggrandized FTC. So the name, self-cleaning glass is really the issue not that its performance is substandard or that current innovations due to increased money flow in increase sales are not pushing for more research and development to make it even better, because this clearly is happening and self-cleaning glass is twice as good as it was in 2000.
Today self-cleaning glass with certain coatings is absolutely incredible. And it is getting better all the time, but manufacturers are still skeptical and are working to make it better, meanwhile everyone is trying to figure out a way to bring the cost down, it did not be end up in all these new homes, which were just build during this incredible run in new housing market, however you can expect to see its amongst the specs for custom homes high-rise office buildings and most commercial buildings due to its maintenance savings cost and ability to stay clean. One major leader in glass manufacturing, Peachtree, has a product called easy care and the pitch is; low maintenance and not self-cleaning glass. After all the glasses on to grow arms all of a sudden and grab a squeegee and clean it's self and the neighboring windows. They believe that low maintenance makes a good statement and is much better than zero maintenance or self-cleaning. We use a hydrophobic Coating, which works under different principle but works very well.
SunClean self-cleaning windows works on a different principle, there is a transparent coating of titanium dioxide which is applied during the manufacturing process but coating helps breakdown and loosen the dirt and any other organic material such as bird droppings when the water hits the glass in the droplets spread out and rinses away the loosen dirt is combined also falls down. This means it works perfectly with a medium pressure, pressure washer unit. This coating is completed in the application process and makes the coating an integral part of the manufacturing process. http://www.PPGSunClean.com.
Cardinal Glass Inc. uses a thin layer of silicon dioxide applied to the surface and therefore it is best described as a glass on glass coating. This of course provides an enhanced resistance to dirt and other residue an the coating lowers the glass contact angle allowing water to disburse across the service and evaporate more quickly. A temporary zinc oxide overcoat, removable with vinegar and water protects the coating from suction cup marks, labels and rollers and here to the glass prior to installation. The neat thing about this process is that the glass also retains the high energy efficiency characteristics of the companies other glass and can also be used in conjunction with laminated glass and custom sizes and shapes for any window, of any shape were even a port hole of a ship. These new processes would work good on ocean going ships and water front properties. http://www.Cardinalcorp.com.
ACTIV - Pilkington Activ self-cleaning glass uses the sun's own trove I would raise to gradually and continually breakdown organic dirt by using a photocatalytic effect. At the same time the glass reduces the surface tension of water causing it to she down the surface and washed the dirt away rather than bead up, this is called a hydrophilic effect. This is done with the coating is applied during manufacturing process using a pyrolytic method. It becomes a permanent part of the glass on its surface; http://www.activglass.com.
As the competition heats up for the best self-cleaning glass on market, there may be some companies that are willing to allow the over hyped in order to sell more product, this could affect the sales of services from small window cleaning companies, although we are confident and our ability to help the consumer understand exactly what they've bought and how it works. We do not feel this will be significant for quite some time become. And even when self-cleaning glass actually does clean it's self which we expect another decade or two there will still be all those buildings which have the old glass, and a return on investment for the increased price of lead say in large office building may be more than the owners wish to spend to upgrade, based on the minor savings they might achieve in dismissing their window washing contractor. At the wash guys it's we do not pretend to be invincible, we understand that disruptive technology does affect low technology businesses just as much as it affects high-tech businesses, we are therefore keeping our eyes on a self-cleaning glass revolution. We know that every innovation and any innovation effects something else. We also realize there is opportunity in chaos and therefore we say "Bring it On!".
"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.
Roman Glass Jewelry - Wear History Art and Color in Your Jewelery Necklaces, Earrings, Bracelets
Roman Glass is an ancient glass, discovered in archaeological excavation sites in Israel and in other Mediterranean countries.The fine Sterling Silver Roman Glass Jewelry is one of the most popular types and styles originated from Israel enabling to wear an entirely unique piece of 2,000-year-old history. The glass in this aqua-hued jewelry began life as a vase, jug, or vessel. Uncovered from ancient Roman archaeological sites in modern-day Israel, each fragment has been textured and colored by centuries of wind and weather. Each bear the marks of not only its past life as a household or temple object but also the very earth in which it rested until being transformed into a unique accent. Each piece of Roman glass is framed by a sterling silver bezel.
The designs for the jewels are based on artifacts and drawings also discovered on the archeological digs. The Roman Glass is a beautiful piece of history dating back 2,000 years to the time of the Roman Empire. The Roman Glass used for jewelry today in Israel is found in archeological digs throughout the land of Israel. The natural phenomenon which the glass has undergone over the many years it has been buried have given it the unique and beautiful aqua shades we enjoy today.Initially, in the Roman empire, glass was mainly used for vessels and available only for the wealthy. At that time, glass was manufactured by core forming, casting, cutting and grinding. However, since the invention of the glass blowing, glass was available to the public in vast numbers, mass produced in a large variety of shapes and forms. Due to the great popularity of glass during those ancient times, we today are privileged to make use of these gorgeous historical pieces with which we enhance the beauty of our jewelry. Ancient Israel, due to its large stretches of sandy dunes and beaches, was one of the largest glass producers of the Roman Empire. These same sands helped preserve the glass through the centuries, shaping and tempering it into the jewelry-quality pieces being excavated today. Today the fragments of the 2000 years old Roman Glass that were once part of the lip of a goblet, jar, or other vessel are used in Israel to create beautiful jewelry that mixes the typical blue and green old glass excavated from archaeological digs with silver or gold creating a piece of art and history to wear with love.
A certificate of authenticity is available for the Roman Glass jewelry.
It is interesting to know some facts about the glass history and the Roman Glass history, collected from several sources.
The History of Glass
Glass is formed when sand (silica), soda (alkali), and lime are fused at high temperatures. The color of the glass can be altered by adjusting the atmosphere in the furnace and by adding specific metal oxides to the glass "batch" (such as cobalt for dark blue, tin for opaque white, antimony and manganese for colorless glass). A venerable legend perpetuated as late as the seventh century A.D. in the writings of Isidore of Seville gives a suitable miraculous explanation for the discovery of this elemental--yet truly wondrous--material - This was its origin: in a part of Syria which is called Phoenicia, there is a swamp close to Judaea, around the base of Mt. Carmel, from which the Bellus River arises . . . whose sands are purified from contamination by the torrent's flow. The story is that here a ship of natron [sodium carbonate] merchants had been shipwrecked; when they were scattered about on the shore preparing food and no stones were at hand for propping up their pots, they brought lumps of natron from the ship. The sand of the shore became mixed with the burning natron and translucent streams of a new liquid flowed forth: and this was the origin of glass.(Isidore of Seville, Etymologies XVI.16. Translation by Charles Witke.) It is not surprising that the ancient authorities thought of Phoenicia as the birthplace of glass, for the Syro-Palestine region did indeed become a major center of glass production in antiquity, along with Egypt. However, glass seems actually to have been "discovered" not in Phoenicia, but in Mesopotamia. Archaeological research now places the first evidence of true glass there at around 2500 B.C. At first it was used for beads, seals, and architectural decoration.
Some 1,000 years elapsed before glass vessels are known to have been produced. Vessels of glass quickly became widespread in the second half of the second millennium B.C. They were popular not only in Mesopotamia but also in Egypt and the Aegean. The earliest vessels were core-formed. Opaque, dark glass in its molten state was wound around a clay core attached to a metal rod. The skin of hot glass was fashioned with tools in order to shape its external features. Lighter colored strands of hot glass were then trailed on the surface and often "dragged" to produce festoon patterns. The pot surface was marvered (that is, rolled on a smooth, flat surface to produce a level finish). Finally, it was cooled slowly before the clay core was scraped out of the hardened vessel. This glassware typically imitated forms originally established for ceramic, metal, and stone vessels . Somewhat later, the molding technique was developed, whereby glass chips or molten glass were packed or forced into a mold and then fused. After a molded vessel was annealed (cooled slowly in a special chamber of the glass furnace), it was often ground and polished in order to refine the rim and any other rough edges. One typical shape for molded vessels of the late Hellenistic and early Roman periods (c. 150 -50 B.C.) was the so-called pillar-molded bowl. Here exterior ribs radiate up from the base, stopping abruptly near the rim to allow a smooth margin around the circumference. This type is ubiquitous; and it attests to the free and rapid exchange of ideas in glass-making throughout the Greater Mediterranean sphere. The site of Tel Anafa in Israel is a small settlement in the Upper Galilee. During ten seasons of fieldwork between 1968 and 1986, Saul Weinberg and his successor Sharon Herbert oversaw the uncovering of part of a small settlement of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods.
In Tel Anafa I, Herbert presents the architecture and the stratigraphic sequence (text and some illustrations in fasc. i, locus summary and plates to Chs. 1 and 2 in fasc. ii). The volume also includes studies by other scholars of the geological setting of the site, the stamped amphora handles, coins, vertebrate fauna, and a single Tyrian sealing. Tel Anafa II, i is devoted to the Hellenistic and Roman pottery. A future volume (II, ii) will complete the series with publication of the pre-Hellenistic and Islamic pottery, lamps, glass, metalware, stucco, stone tools, and the palaeobotanical remains. Tel Anafa (recently excavated jointly by the Universities of Michigan and Missouri) has provided critical information on the chronological limits of these bowls within the Roman period. Glass vessels were initially available only to the very wealthy and only in rather diminutive sizes. They were manufactured by core forming, casting, cutting and grinding. The invention of glass blowing around 50 BC brought glass vessels to the general public in vast numbers, mass produced in great variety of forms and hence brought ancient glass into the reach of the modern collector of even modest means. One can nowadays own a Roman glass bowl, or drink from a Roman glass beaker, or wear ancient jewellery where glass was used widely. In 63 BC, the Romans conquered the Syro-Palestine area. They brought back with them glassmakers to Rome.Soon after, the first transparent glass sheets were produced in Rome. The word vitrum, meaning glass, entered the Latin language.Rome's political, military, and economic dominanace in the Mediterranean world was a major factor in attracting skilled craftsmen to set up workshops in the city, but equally important was the fact that the establishment of the Roman industry roughly coincided with the invention of glassblowing. The new technique led craftsmen to create novel and unique shapes; examples exist of flasks and bottles shaped like foot sandals, wine barrels, fruits, and even helmets and animals. Some combined blowing with glass-casting and pottery-molding technologies to create the so-called mold-blowing process. Further innovations and stylistic changes saw the continued use of casting and free-blowing to create a variety of open and closed forms that could then be engraved or facet-cut in any number of patterns and designs.
Core-formed and cast glass vessels were first produced in Egypt and Mesopotamia as early as the fifteenth century B.C., but only began to be imported and, to a lesser extent, made on the Italian peninsula in the mid-first millennium B.C. By the time of the Roman Republic (509-27 B.C.), such vessels, used as tableware or as containers for expensive oils, perfumes, and medicines, were common in Etruria (modern Tuscany) and Magna Graecia (areas of southern Italy including modern Campania, Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily). However, there is very little evidence for similar glass objects in central Italian and Roman contexts until the mid-first century B.C. The reasons for this are unclear, but it suggests that the Roman glass industry sprang from almost nothing and developed to full maturity over a couple of generations during the first half of the first century A.D.
Doubtless Rome's emergence as the dominant political, military, and economic power in the Mediterranean world was a major factor in attracting skilled craftsmen to set up workshops in the city, but equally important was the fact that the establishment of the Roman industry roughly coincided with the invention of glassblowing. This invention revolutionized ancient glass production, putting it on a par with the other major industries, such as that of pottery and metalwares (as 20.49.2-12). Likewise, glassblowing allowed craftsmen to make a much greater variety of shapes than before. Combined with the inherent attractiveness of glass-it is nonporous, translucent (if not transparent), and odorless-this adaptability encouraged people to change their tastes and habits, so that, for example, glass drinking cups rapidly supplanted pottery equivalents.
In fact, the production of certain types of native Italian clay cups, bowls, and beakers declined through the Augustan period, and by the mid-first century A.D. had ceased altogether.However, although blown glass came to dominate Roman glass production, it did not altogether supplant cast glass. Especially in the first half of the first century A.D., much Roman glass was made by casting, and the forms and decoration of early Roman cast vessels demonstrate a strong Hellenistic influence. The Roman glass industry owed a great deal to eastern Mediterranean glassmakers, who first developed the skills and techniques that made glass so popular that it can be found on every archaeological site, not only throughout the Roman empire but also in lands far beyond its frontiers.
Cast Glass
Although the core-formed industry dominated glass manufacture in the Greek world, casting techniques also played an important role in the development of glass in the ninth to fourth centuries B.C. Cast glass was produced in two basic ways-through the lost-wax method and with various open and plunger molds. The most common method used by Roman glassmakers for most of the open-form cups and bowls in the first century B.C. was the Hellenistic technique of sagging glass (81.10.243) over a convex "former" mold. However, various casting and cutting methods were continuously utilized as style and popular preference demanded. The Romans also adopted and adapted various color and design schemes from the Hellenistic glass traditions, applying such designs as network glass and gold-band glass to novel shapes and forms. Distinctly Roman innovations in fabric styles and colors include marbled mosaic glass, short-strip mosaic glass, and the crisp, lathe-cut profiles of a new breed of fine as monochrome and colorless tablewares of the early empire, introduced around 20 A.D. This class of glassware became one of the most prized styles because it closely resembled luxury items such as the highly valued rock crystal objects, Augustan Arretine ceramics (as 10.210.37), and bronze and silver tablewares (as 20.49.2-12) so favored by the aristocratic and prosperous classes of Roman society. In fact, these fine wares were the only glass objects continually formed via casting, even up to the as Late Flavian, Trajanic, and Hadrianic periods (96-138 A.D.), after glassblowing superceded casting as the dominant method of glassware manufacture in the early first century A.D.
Blown Glass
SOMETIME AROUND 70 B.C., in Jerusalem, someone realized that, if you took a glass tube -- then the stock for mass production of beads -- sealed one end and blew into the other, you could create a glass bulb. Blow hard enough and long enough, and you could make a small bottle. This was glassblowing at its most primitive. It is quite possible that, without further refinement, this moment of experimentation might have passed unnoticed. A couple of decades later, however, the introduction of a separate blowpipe, together with a tool-kit of variously-sized pincers and paddles, made it possible to blow and shape glass with much greater control, and with much greater novelty.
The new technology revolutionized the Italian glass industry, stimulating an enormous increase in the range of shapes and designs that glassworkers could produce. A glassworker's creativity was no longer bound by the technical restrictions of the laborious casting process, as blowing allowed for previously unparalleled versatility and speed of manufacture. These advantages spurred a rapid evolution of style and form, and experimentation with the new technique led craftsmen to create novel and unique shapes; examples exist of flasks and bottles shaped like foot sandals, wine barrels, fruits, and even helmets and animals. Some combined blowing with glass-casting and pottery-molding technologies to create the so-called mold-blowing process. Further innovations and stylistic changes saw the continued use of casting and free-blowing to create a variety of open and closed forms that could then be engraved or facet-cut in any number of patterns and designs.
But the potential of a technological idea will only come to fruition if its seed is planted in an encouraging cultural environment. During Rome's Republican Era, in the dictatorial times of Sulla and Julius Caesar, such encouragement seems to have been lacking. In the Hellenistic world, the firmly established traditions of working glass -- either by blending threads of it into closed vessel forms or by slumping glass over a pre-shaped model for open ones -- were producing fine wares with which the infant technique of free-blowing could not yet compete. In the Roman world, however, pottery was still the material of choice for everything domestic, from fish platters to perfume bottles, and no one seemed to be in any hurry to change that situation. Enter the Emperor Augustus. It is said that he had no love of foreigners; he viewed the appreciable numbers of them living in Rome around 10 B.C. as a potential source for the corruption of traditional Roman values. If I interpret his subsequent actions correctly, he wanted the Italian mainland to be far more self-sufficient wherever possible. So it was that Italian businesses in certain crafts -- most obviously, pottery- and cloth-making -- were encouraged to expand. The craft of glassworking now was adopted from the Hellenistic world with much energy and skill. An ancient Industrial Revolution was underway.
To get things moving, the Romans simply enslaved hundreds of skilled craftsmen in the eastern provinces, uprooting them from their homes and resettling them in the outskirts of rapidly-growing Roman cities. Pottery-makers were imported from Asia Minor, particularly from around Pergamum, and put to work at Arretium; Greek craftsmen were moved from Athens to Lyons and other cities in central Gaul; glassworkers were brought in from the provinces of Syria, Judaea, and Aegyptus -- most likely from the cities of Sidon, Jerusalem, and Alexandria -- and put to work in shops at Naples, Aquileia, and just outside Rome itself.
There was an immediate market niche for glassware in Augustan times. Like many ancient peoples, the Romans believed in an afterlife that was an idealized form of their worldly experience. According to its means, the family of each dead Roman was obliged to provide furnishings for the grave. Such furnishings always included regular domestic items -- plates of food, flasks of wine, and so on -- but it was also a tradition to include offerings of perfume. The Roman wealthy would put these offerings in bottles (unguentaria) made of silver or alabaster. The eastern craftsmen who brought with them the skill of glassblowing now offered the rest of the population an alternative in glass; to be sure, not something as elegant or colorful as might have been wished, but which everyone could afford. The free-blown unguentarium was one of the immediate and long-term successes of the newly emerging industry. Modern excavations have revealed many instances where a grave contains not just one or two but a couple of dozen of these, all mass-produced, each in a matter of minutes at most.
At the same time, glass captured the popular imagination by virtue of its translucency. You could see the color of wine in a beaker, or how well a bottle was filled even if it was sealed -- which could not be said for items made of pottery, or indeed of bronze, silver, or gold. The production of wine glasses soared in the Augustan era, actually causing the demise of some of the pottery workshops that specialized in traditional beaker types. It was glass's distinctive property of transparency that stimulated the Emperor Nero's tutor, Lucius Seneca to observe that " ... Apples seem more beautiful if they are floating in a glass." (Investigations in Natural Science I.6). And, from the middle of the first century A.D. onward, squared-sided glass bottles -- typically with capacities in the half- to one-liter range -- were used for a great deal of the short-range movement of liquids such as olive oil and the popular fish sauce known as garum. Thus the industrialization of glassworking in the Augustan era came about through the influence of three distinct forces: First, by virtue of certain historical events (Augustus's rise to power and his promotion of craft-centralization on the Italian mainland); second, because of a technical innovation (the invention of glassblowing in one of Rome's eastern provinces); and third, the social pressure related to fashion or taste (a traditional link between perfumery and Roman funerary ritual). Change in the Roman glassworking industry was always most dramatic whenever all three of these forces came together at one time.
Uses
At the height of its popularity and usefulness in Rome, glass was present in nearly every aspect of daily life-from a lady's morning toilette to a merchant's afternoon business dealings to the evening cena, or dinner. Glass alabastra , unguentaria, and other small bottles and boxes held the various oils, perfumes, and cosmetics used by nearly every member of Roman society. Pyxides often contained jewelry with glass elements such as beads, cameos, and intaglios , made to imitate semi-precious stone like carnelian, emerald, rock crystal, sapphire, garnet, sardonyx, and amethyst.
Merchants and traders routinely packed, shipped, and sold all manner of foodstuffs and other goods across the Mediterranean in glass bottles and jars of all shapes and sizes, supplying Rome with a great variety of exotic materials from far-off parts of the empire. Other applications of glass included multicolored tesserae used in elaborate floor and wall mosaics, and mirrors containing colorless glass with wax, plaster, or metal backing that provided a reflective surface. Glass windowpanes were first made in the early imperial period, and used most prominently in the public baths to prevent drafts. Because window glass in Rome was intended to provide insulation and security, rather than illumination or as a way of viewing the world outside, little, if any, attention was paid to making it perfectly transparent or of even thickness. Window glass could be either cast or blown. Cast panes were poured and rolled over flat, usually wooden molds laden with a layer of sand, and then ground or polished on one side. Blown panes were created by cutting and flattening a long cylinder of blown glass. AN INDUSTRY THOUGH Roman glassworking certainly was, it was one that maintained a remarkable degree of dynamism over the centuries. The shape and decoration of two of its main products -- the unguentarium and the wine beaker -- were being modified every few decades, sometimes quite sharply, and there were many new items of glassware introduced that expanded the glassworker's repertoire in significant ways. The way that the Romans committed themselves so heavily to the maintenance of good ports all around the Mediterranean coastline and of fine roads that criss-crossed the entire Empire on land was also critical for keeping the Roman glassmaking industry so dynamic. Of course, the main purpose of such maintenance was to assure the easy movement of troops from one trouble spot to another, and of administrative information from one city to another. But these ports and roads also allowed the movement of people and their ideas. Signatures and inscriptions in Greek indicate clearly enough that eastern Mediterranean craftsmen settled at various places in northern Italy and central Gaul; that north African and Syrian soldiers were conscripted to serve in the army in northern England, thereafter to settle there as tradesmen; and that businessmen of every background and philosophical persuasion traded wherever it was to their advantage to do so. Thus, every Roman city became a social melting-pot where technical innovations could be passed on, blending with or displacing old ideas, sometimes in the space of just a decade or two. The industrial activities of the Roman world responded accordingly, with a freshness of purpose and an ongoing rise in skill.
Jewelry in the Roman Times
Ancient Roman glass jewelry reached its height during the Augustan age, at the beginning of the Empire. This meant that in many ways the glass jewelry were deprived of much of the expressive freedom one might expect and hope for. The buyers of this fine artistic jewelry were the conservative political. The period of peace achieved during the rule of Augustus and Augustus made this possible, especially after the vicious fighting of the Roman civil wars. Ancient Roman jewelry in earlier times was derived from both Hellenistic and Etruscan jewelry. In addition, as Roman jewelry designs freed itself of Hellenistic and Etruscan influences, greater use was made of colored stones such as: topazes, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and pearls. Trojan and Cretan artisans of the Minoan period, although working at opposite ends of the Aegean region, crafted earrings, bracelets, and necklaces of a common type that persisted from about 2500 BC to the beginning of the Classical period of Greek art 479 BC - 323 BC.
Roman jewelry was highly influenced by some of the designs of the places they conquered and established connections with. The creators spared no effort in making some of the most exquisite and ornamental compositions. Rings were a major symbol in the body of ancient Roman jewelry. Ornamental Roman jewelry was worn by women of high status. They often wore jewelry on their ears, neck, arms and hands. Ancient Roman designs and fashion jewelry also included seal rings, amulets and talismans. The cameo and hoop earrings were introduced in ancient Roman times. Ancient Roman glass jewelry reached its height during the Augustan age, at the beginning of the Empire. This meant that in many ways the glass jewelry were deprived of much of the expressive freedom one might expect and hope for. The buyers of this fine artistic jewelry were the conservative political. The period of peace achieved during the rule of Augustus and Augustus made this possible, especially after the vicious fighting of the Roman civil wars.
The gold beads of ancient Rome were artfully shaped to create images of flowers and animals. The most common fact that is assumed by most is that the ancient Roman jewelry has a similar resembles to the Greek and Etruscan jewelry.
More about Israeli handmade Roman glass jewelry at http://www.bluenoemi-jewelry.com/isroglsije.html