Database question

Why not use Animal, Mineral, and Vegetable?

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "JL Amerson" :

]Why not use Animal, Mineral, and Vegetable?

in that case, all but the mop and abalone would be mineral? but that would put everything i've already classified as glass in mineral too, wouldn't it?

i don't think i can win, no matter how i do it!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

(Jewelry) newest creations: ----------- The measure of the menace of a man is not what hardware he carries, but what ideas he believes.-- Jeff Jordan

I kept them all in the "semi-precious" category, along with goldstone and "cherry quartz". Catseye, I put under "glass beads".

Shell beads (paua, abaone, green shell, etc) are in the "natural materials" section. Kaytee "Simplexities" on

I lost my rock books, but let's see if I can remember off the top of my head...

All of the above are consdered semi-precious. I don't remember the stardard used to designate a mineral as semi-precious, though, but it probably has something to do with hardness, transparency and rarity.

Abalone and MOP are calcium accretions and are minerals created by animals, but only pearls are considered gems.

The transparent/translucent stones (amethyst, flourite, garnet and quartz) are crystals. Seen in their native (rough) form, they have a distinctive shape, and show distinctive patterns when fractured (cleavage).

The rest are cryptocrystaline ("hidden crystal") formed by various processes. The crystals that make up these stones are very tiny, so they have to clump together in order to create a mass. Some are made up of more than one type of mineral, like tigereye which is feldspar and, um, quartz (IIRC). Malachite, lapis and turquoise are oxides of copper. Onyx is related to quartz and hematite to iron.

Obsidian is a glass; it has no crystaline structure.

I'm unfamiliar with unicite.

There is also a class called "decorative stones": pretty to look at, but not usually used in jewelry. One rarely sees marble or granite cut into cabs, for instance, but these are frequently used in statuary.

Arondelle

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from snipped-for-privacy@aol.comnospam (Kaytee) :

]I kept them all in the "semi-precious" category

thanks! i may end up doing that, too. i keep getting so confused! out of over 200 entries so far - 90% is still lampwork!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

(Jewelry) newest creations: ----------- The measure of the menace of a man is not what hardware he carries, but what ideas he believes.-- Jeff Jordan

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from Arondelle :

]All of the above are consdered semi-precious.

REALLY? well, that certainly makes it easier! i get to going in circles every time i try to figure it out! i'm going to print all this out and KEEP it this time. thank you!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

(Jewelry) newest creations: ----------- The measure of the menace of a man is not what hardware he carries, but what ideas he believes.-- Jeff Jordan

I dunno what categories you have, but I'd use "organic" for:

And any pearls, or even fossils (eg limestone with fossils in it, opalised shells, etc)

Well, they're all minerals. Most could be described as "semi-precious" - that's such a subjective term IMHO.

Again, I don't know how much flexibility your cataloguing system has, but what about cataloguing these *loosely* (!) in terms of crystal structure (or otherwise)?

eg

Crystalline: amethyst, fluorite, garnet, qtz (clear), ?unicite Banded: tigereye, lapis, malachite Non-crystalline: hematite, onyx, qtz (rose), turquoise, bloodstone

Even that system I pulled out of my posterior is somewhat subjective. Like, I don't even know what form you have your "loot" in. I'd be going on most common mode of occurrence for each item.

I'd definitely have "organic" as a category, however!

I kept them all in the "semi-precious" category, along with goldstone and "cherry quartz". Catseye, I put under "glass beads".

Shell beads (paua, abaone, green shell, etc) are in the "natural materials" section. Kaytee "Simplexities" on

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from mªdcªt :

]Even that system I pulled out of my posterior is somewhat subjective. ]Like, I don't even know what form you have your "loot" in. I'd be ]going on most common mode of occurrence for each item.

i'm trying to input the information into the "parts" section of the Jewelry Design software. once i get it all in, it will do most of my record keeping and pricing for me. theoretically.

]I'd definitely have "organic" as a category, however!

about to add it - thanks!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

(Jewelry) newest creations: ----------- The measure of the menace of a man is not what hardware he carries, but what ideas he believes.-- Jeff Jordan

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from snipped-for-privacy@aol.comnospam (Kaytee) :

]I kept them all in the "semi-precious" category, along with goldstone and ]"cherry quartz". Catseye, I put under "glass beads". ] ]Shell beads (paua, abaone, green shell, etc) are in the "natural materials" ]section.

thanks, dear! i hate to keep bugging you, but you've been a huge help with this!!!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

(Jewelry) newest creations: ----------- The measure of the menace of a man is not what hardware he carries, but what ideas he believes.-- Jeff Jordan

Remember when pricing to think in terms of replacement value.

Tina

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Christina Peterson" :

]Remember when pricing to think in terms of replacement value.

[groan] i know! and it drives me NUTZ! the price on the few Kandice beads i have should be MUCH higher. and with all the lampworkers, honestly. because as their prices go up, i do worry about replacing them. and because styles change, i might not be able to get more. h*ll, every one of them is virtually a "one-of-a-kind-never-again-available" type thing.

which is what i keep telling my customers . . . over . . . and over . . . and over.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

(Jewelry) newest creations: ----------- The measure of the menace of a man is not what hardware he carries, but what ideas he believes.-- Jeff Jordan

In the organization of my beads I have ORGANIC vegetable -- wood, nuts, seeds animal -- bone, antler, quill marine -- shell, ivory, pearl stone --opaque, lower grade clear, amost all chips gemstone -- clear store, faceted, clay GLASS with the usual varied catagories

Tina

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Christina Peterson" :

]In the organization of my beads I have ]ORGANIC ]vegetable -- wood, nuts, seeds ]animal -- bone, antler, quill ]marine -- shell, ivory, pearl ]stone --opaque, lower grade clear, amost all chips ]gemstone -- clear store, faceted, ]clay ]GLASS ]with the usual varied catagories

thanks, Tina!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

(Jewelry) newest creations: ----------- The measure of the menace of a man is not what hardware he carries, but what ideas he believes.-- Jeff Jordan