The Cost of a Cute Look

Watching TV, you may have caught sight of some commercials asking you to trade in your gold jewelry, hubcaps, toothbrush, what-have-you for cash. If it's made of gold, send it in! If you caught the Superbowl, you probably saw the commercial with Ed McMahon and MC Hammer hocking gold albums, gold microphones and the like. Pop the gold items into an envelope, mail them in, and once it's been appraised you'll get a check in the mail. Remember?

*This is not an endorsement of Cash4Gold.com

Thought so.

These ads started popping up more frequently when the news broke that the economy wasn't doing well. But there's another reason why you're seeing these ads-- commodities trading. Gold is like crude oil and pork bellies. It gets sold between traders and the complex forces related to supply and demand and speculation -- and perhaps a touch of voodoo-- determine the going price for an ounce of gold.

What happens when you send in your gold is they pay some amount of money to you, and then hold on to the gold waiting for the price to go up. Once the price has gone up they sell the gold and make a profit.

"Ok, but really what does this mean for me?" you query.

It makes the jewelry you buy more expensive. As the price of gold goes up, it costs more for the jewelry manufacturers and they don't have much choice, a wild fluctuation in the price can easily wipe out profit margin and more, so this means they have to increase their prices to keep their companies going.

"Bummer!" you say.

We agree.

"But what does all of this have to do with Relios?" you ask. "Relios doesn't work with gold very often."

That's true, but other metals, like copper, platinum and silver undergo this same frustrating process. When Sincerely Southwest® started on QVC, which is celebrating it's 6th anniversary this March, the average annual price for an ounce of silver was close to $5. Just two or three years ago, this average went way up. During March 2008, the price of silver was nearly $20/oz, and the annual average for 2008 was close to $15/oz. This has had quite an impact on our pricing.

How crazy can it get?
In the 1970's, Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt tried the corner the global market on silver. Purchasing silver at $11/oz, their speculation drove the price of silver to an all-time high of $48/oz in early 1980. Then in an event known as Silver Thursday (March 27, 1980), the silver market collapsed. The price of silver dropped to below their original $11/oz purchase price. They lost a fortune.

P.S. -- Football fans might recognize the family name, their brother Lamar Hunt founded the American Football League and Kansas City Chiefs football team.

"Well, what can you do about this?" you ponder.

Here's what Relios is doing. While we consider the fact that our jewelry is made here in Albuquerque, NM USA to be part of the value of our jewelry, we want you to continue to enjoy our sterling silver jewelry. What good is it to just look at new jewelry you want, when you could be looking great in it?

Vista Colorful Gemstones Southwestern Ring		Flamenco Silver Fans & Coral Earring

In March 2009, we are pulling back the curtain on eight (8) new jewelry collections! These are going to feature some items at a lower price point, making it easier for you to get into the new collections. If that's not enough to entice you, we have a great offer for you! When you buy two pieces in a collection, you get a third piece in the collection for free (starts March 1st)! We have one more thing for you too! When you shop QVC.com, look for Sincere Complements. These items complement other pieces in the Sincerely Southwest® catalog at a price that is better for your budget.

So when March rolls around, be sure to keep your eyes open for these new jewelry collections and great deals from Relios Jewelry.

Desperately Seeking Sincerely Southwest(R)

Here at Relios, we make southwestern jewelry because we love the unique culture and flavor of the American Southwest. The beautiful desert surroundings and the mixture of Native and Spanish cultures inspire us to make jewelry that reflects what we see. But what we love most is sharing all that style with you! Facebook, Myspace, our website, this blog -- we have a lot of ways to bring our passion for southwestern jewelry to you.

One big way we share with you is through QVC. By now, you know that Relios and our lead designer and Vice President, Carolyn Pollack, are regularly featured on the Q. They've been a big part of our success and have given us the chance to get to know our fans of southwestern jewelry.

We wanted to take this chance to help you get more familiar with with our shows and jewelry on QVC. As popular as Carolyn is on the Q, did you know that Relios is involved in three different shows on the Q?

Sincerely Southwest by Carolyn Pollack
The first show is a designer show focused on Carolyn and our Sincerely Southwest jewelry. It's an intimate shopping affair where Carolyn can focus on talking to both seasoned Sincerely Southwest collectors and newcomers about the jewelry.

The Sincerely Southwest jewelry collections feature expressive silhouettes and distinctive gem stone color combinations that embody Carolyn’s own lifestyle and fashion sense.A fresh, eclectic collection of statement pieces celebrating the natural beauty and spirit of the American woman.

Sangria Citrus Berry Inlay Pendant on Bead Necklace		Illusion Silver Hoops and Black Gemstone Earrings

Southwestern Jewelry
The second show that we are a part of at QVC is the Southwestern Jewelry show, where jewelry makers share the stage under the common theme of southwestern jewelry. As a part of this show, Relios showcases our jewelry along with several other companies. When you see Carolyn on-air, you know that they are showing a piece of our jewelry.

Our pieces, which are made in Albuquerque, NM, feature opaque gemstones reflective of the colors of the Southwestern landscape. The stones combined with textural sterling silver in designs that are symbolic of the unique cultural history -- the blending of Spanish, Native American, and Western influences -- of New Mexico and the American Southwest, take traditional southwestern style to a new level.

Turquoise Beads and Silver Pottery Bead Coil Bracelet		Denim Lapis Filigree Pendant on 18 inch Chain

Is it made by Relios?Here are some helpful tips to help you identify whether or not your jewelry was made by Relios.

Relios' Sterling Silver Stamp	This stamp signifies that the item is .925 sterling silver. It's most commonly found on rings or pendants.
Relios' CP Signature "CP" Tag	Look for the CP Signature Tag on necklaces and bracelets. This tag denotes that the jewelry piece you have is a genuine Sincerely Southwest item by Carolyn Pollack.
Relios' Sterling Silver/Copyright Tag	This third tag also denotes that the item is made with .925 sterling silver and was manufactured by Relios.
Roderick Tenorio's Stamp	Look for this marking stamping into the metal on those items Relios manufactures for Roderick Tenorio.

If you need to call our customer support, it's helpful to have your J-number from QVC. We can look up items by their J-number and verify for you that they are genuine Relios products. Once we have determined that you have a piece of our jewelry, we can set you on the right course to getting your questions answered.

We hope this helps you when you're picking out pieces of southwestern jewelry to add to your collection. Visit the Relios Jewelry website, our profile on Facebook, or our profile on Myspace and get in on the fun in sharing your passion for southwestern jewelry.

Lean Manufacturing

When you're building products for customers, whether it be southwestern jewelry, cars or books, you sometimes come to feel as though you could do a better job. Confidence as a manufacturer is rooted in how your customers perceive your product quality and how efficiently you were able to make your products at that quality level. Because we want to do a better job, because we want to waste less, Relios is beginning to implement a lean manufacturing program here in our Albuquerque factory. Our first pilot project is our "Today's Special Value" piece for QVC that is going to be featured in March 2009.

Model Carving

What is Lean Manufacturing?
Started at Toyota just after World War II, Lean Manufacturing focuses on building better customer value by addressing deficiencies or bottlenecks in the production process. So, Lean doesn't mean layoffs. It means reorganizing processes and efficiently using your staff to accomplish your goals.

Toyota focused on Muda, activities which don't add value, are unproductive, or prone to be wasteful. By reducing these kinds of activities, a manufacturer could reduce costs and increase quality in their products. Toyota's Chief Engineer, Taiichi Ohno, identified the "seven wastes": defects, overproduction, conveyance, waiting, inventory, motion, and overprocessing.[article]

Casting

By reducing wasteful activities and integrating quality assurance into the process stream, a manufacturer can improve their quality and their speed.

Lean at Relios
After taking several classes in implementing Lean Manufacturing, our team leads took a deeper interest in the flow of our manufacturing process. After studying our process in greater detail, it was decided that we would take what we've learned about Lean Manufacturing and apply it to the production of the March "Today's Special Value" item.

Production Leads in Class

The production team mapped out the entire process from creating the original model to shipping and focused on several key factors for each of the 60 steps such as cycle time, change-over time, equipment reliability, and part quality. What came from this exercise are things like more precise scheduling and more consideration for preventative maintenance.

Process Map

We were also interested in how Lean Manufacturing impacted training. We have used the Lean Manufacturing training timetable to look at our staff as skilled resources and in which areas they can be used to what degree. This will allow us to allocate staff to alleviate bottlenecks in future production.

Tumbling

We've been really pleased to see that the production leads have been interested in applying the tools and concepts of Lean Manufacturing. We expect it to lead to more efficient production and higher overall quality in our jewelry. Meanwhile, be sure to check out our current line of Sincerely Southwest® jewelry on QVC.com, find complementing jewelry collections on the Relios homepage.