New Year, New You!

5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Happy New Year!

The new year is here! As the calendar flips over, we all start thinking about how we can make this new year better than last. A good question! And we've got a great answer.

It's a great time to rethink your wardrobe and your jewelry collection. It's time to reshape yourself. It's time for a new you! Try out new colors and styles of our southwestern jewelry. And just to make sure you don't get lost, we have five new friends to help you find your new style throughout the year...

Sienna has always been on the look-out for good ways to preserve the environment around her. She's the outdoorsy-type. Someone who really cares about nature. She decorates her home with pieces of Native pottery she's collected over the years and she loves the cozy rustic feel it gives her adobe house. She recycles. In fact, she recycles as much as she can. Cuisine is about organic foods and her wardrobe is a collection of natural fiber clothes. "My jewelry collection? Oh, I like earth-tones and mossy greens. They look really nice on me and it really blends into how my house looks. It's like taking a piece of home with me," she says. You might find stones like smoky quartz, tiger's eye, jade, and serpentine in her collection. See what Sienna likes to wear!

If there's a word that describes Michelle, it's "hostess." She loves having her friends over for dinner parties at her condo with great food and wine, but the important thing is that people leave with a smile. She's out-going and friendly, you know the type, the one that would strike up a conversation with you at the grocery store if the lines were long. Her jewelry choices are the same way: bold and beautiful. She likes chunky beaded jewelry and bright colored stones like turquoise, rhodonite, and carnelian. She's not a fashion fanatic, but she definitely wears her personality. "Am I the center of attention?" she asks with a laugh. "I don't know about that. I just want people to be happy, you know? Enjoy life! That's how I pick jewelry. The stuff that says, 'I love being here!'" See what Michelle likes to wear!

Carrie's a career-minded woman. She's focusing a ton of energy on putting herself in a good position for the future, but she knows how to have a good time. She's adventurous (she's been skydiving) and sharp-witted and lives on the opposite coast from her family -- she loves the rush of the work she does and the view from her high-rise apartment (it makes her feel like the world is her's for the taking). Because she's far from her family, her friends are extremely important to her and she enjoys nights out on the town with them. Fashion is part of her lifestyle, she likes having sharp looks and a knock-out wardrobe. She drinks Apple Martinis when she's out with her friends. Her jewelry needs to look every bit as fancy as she feels. "It doesn't matter where I am, the right look makes all the difference," Carrie explains. "I pick jewelry that gets just as much attention in the conference room as it does at the club. Sterling silver. Black agate. Sodalite. I know how to accessorize for success." See Carrie's collection of our jewelry.

To Sarah it's all about family. Taking the kids to soccer practice... video-taping the school play... getting in on all the schoolkid gossip with her children... getting the dog to the groomer's... Sarah's drink of choice is some hot herbal tea at the end of the day, once she finally has a chance to slow down. Her jewelry selection is less about the stones and more about the style. Smaller jewelry pieces that are easy to wear every day. She's got a mix of stones every thing from jasper to turquoise to mother-of-pearl, but the bottom line is that it has to be practical both in price and style – something that isn't going to be a hassle when she's rushing from one event to the next. "If it looks good with jeans and works with my wallet, then I'd go for it," Sarah told us. "Really, who's not going to check out a good deal? Especially, on jewelry? " Check out what Sarah's been wearing!

An empty-nester, Angelina, is enjoying a life of travel through-out the United States. She especially enjoys visiting the Southwestern United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas). She loves the warm weather, but she's happy to make the trip abroad -- especially to visit her vacation home. She knows her wine, and she knows how to find those amazing little secret cafes and restaurants. For Angelina, it's time to have grand adventures! She likes southwestern jewelry and clothes and she looks for great sterling silver jewelry with some substantial stones. She fancies milky aquamarine and spiny oyster shell, but her real focus? "Great turquoise, lapis and tiger's eye," she claims. "The really nice traditional southwestern stones. I visit the southwest every year, and I like having that jewelry as a reminder." Steal Angelina's style!

Be sure to be on the lookout for advice and picks from these five fabulous and fashionable ladies. Visit Relios online and start planning out your new look for the new year.

Introducing Relios at Uptown!

If you know Relios then you know that we have a wide variety of ways for you to buy our jewelry and connect with us. We have our retail website (http://www.reliosjewelry.com) and a store in Texas. We also have jewelry available on Amazon. And we have profiles on Facebook and Myspace and this blog. But the hope of every business is to grow, and Relios is preparing to add a new member to the family.

On November 14, 2008 Relios is adding a new retail location at ABQ Uptown. This new store is going to be at the heart of Albuquerque's newest and hottest shopping destination. The ABQ Uptown area is chock full of great upscale retail and dining spots where you can find everything from culinary gear to clothes to jewelry and sandwiches to steaks.

Located next to Marcello's Chophouse on Q Street, our new store is going to offer a wide variety of our products from our discounted Corazon line of jewelry up to our new Collection pieces. Coming right before the holidays, our new store is going to be a great place for you to find the perfect holiday gifts.

We're not just excited because this is a new store. It's our first Relios branded location, and our first location in our hometown. The new store is just a short drive away from the factory, and it's going to make it possible for us to get a better handle on the jewelry styles and colors you like.

If you live in the Duke City or you're just passing through, drop by and look around the new store when it opens. Need the details?

Relios Jewelry at ABQ Uptown
2201 Q Street NE Suite A
Albuquerque, NM 87110
(505) 888-9603
Store hours:
10am to 9pm Mon. -Th.,
10am to 10pm Fri.-Sat.
12pm to 6pm Sun.

ABQ Uptown is at the intersection of Louisiana and Indian School, just a block North from the Louisiana exit of I-40.

Following the wave -- What's hot in jewelry?

You might have caught the spread in Elle Magazine or our posting on fall fashion, but the big colors for this fall are jewel tones. Especially purples and blues. It's not limited to the stunning shoes, elegant holiday dress, or the new scarf you've got for this year's big holiday family outing. You're seeing a big a splash of color in this fall's jewelry collections as well! In particular you're seeing two stones really capture the imagination of designers: lapis lazuli and malachite.

Lapis If turquoise is number one in the world of southwestern jewelry, then lapis is easily the second most popular stone. Lapis has been a valued stone since well before Predynastic Egypt, and if you recall from our earlier post about fall fashion, purple was alleged to have been Pharaoh Cleopatra's favorite color. Well, would you believe that her famous blue eyeshadow was made from crushed lapis? Lapis was first mined in Afghanistan, but today many sources around the world supply us with this vibrant blue stone. Along with turquoise, lapis is one our favorite stones here at Relios. We love the potent blue hues. You'll find a great selection of lapis jewelry on our website. But if you don't find something there, and you still want those blue tones for this fall, try our Tempting Teals Collection which is new for 2008.

Compare our lapis jewelry (earrings and necklace) and our Tempting Teals 8 inch 3-strand bracelet to the jewelry mentioned in Elle Magazine.

Malachite Green with envy? Your friends will be when they see you decked out in our malachite jewelry or if you're looking for other green jewelry browse our selection in our new Gorgeous Greens Collection. Malachite gets it's rich green color from the weathering of deposits of copper. Archaeologists have found that malachite has been mined in Timna, Israel (King Solomon's Mines) for well over 3,000 years. Domestically, there are sites throughout the United States where malachite is found, but it's especially prominent in Arkansas and Arizona. One of the largest known pieces of malachite in the US is "The Tazza," a large cup-like sculpture presented to August Heckscher by Czar Nicholas II.

We have an assortment of malachite jewelry, such as these necklaces and earrings. You might also like our Gorgeous Greens Collection.

Once you've finished finding the lapis and malachite jewelry that fits your mood, take some time to see what else we've got for you in our Fall Collections or our Outlet jewelry!

Remember, the holidays are coming fast! Find great gifts at Relios Jewelry.

Good for your Corazon, Great for your Wallet

You always feel good when you catch a great deal. You brag to your friends about how you found this skirt, those shoes, this blouse all at a crazy good price. Face the facts, when you find high quality fashion at a great price, you come out both looking great and looking like a genius!

People are shopping for bargains more than ever now. Gas prices are high, the stock market is rough, and this is pushing the price of your favorite products through the roof. You need some respite from all the craziness. What better way than to stock your wardrobe with great looking jewelry priced to be light on the pocketbook?

That's the spirit of the Corazon Collection by Relios Jewelry. We're striving to put you back in the driver's seat, by offering you our top-quality, designer jewelry at clearance prices. We've taken discontinued collection jewelry and reduced the price to help you regain control of your jewelry collection. Our goal has always been the same: make people shine with our jewelry, and we feel that by giving you an opportunity to capture some great looks for a fraction of what you would have paid anywhere else is a great way to do that.

But this also means that these great pieces of jewelry are limited in their supply! So, if you want that unique look, you need to act fast!



You'll find turquoise, lapis, sterling silver... You'll find earrings, bracelets, and necklaces... You'll find fun and fanciful jewelry for a small, small, small price! So run over to the outlet jewelry section of the Relios homepage today and grab your bit of budget flash and flair today.

The Sun Sets on the Santa Fe Indian Market

We're sad to see it go, but we know that if the SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market didn't come to an end, we'd have nothing to get excited about next year -- and we get pretty hyped up about it!

But while we've still got Indian Market 2008 on the noggin, we wanted to share some of what Bill, Carolyn and Susan found!

Award winners

As in years past, Bill and Carolyn Pollack, our company President/Founder and Vice President/Lead Designer respectively, sponsored an award at this year's Indian Market. It's part of a philosophy about dedicating Relios to giving back to those we benefit from. We use recycled silver to take care of the environment, and by sponsoring an award at the Indian Market we honor the people immersed in the southwestern culture that inspires our jewelry.

This year, Bill and Carolyn sponsored the Best of Jewelry Classification award. The winner was Rebecca Begay for her seed pot, a fresh and fun piece of silver decorated with a light-hearted floral design. Along with her husband, Darryl, Rebecca creates her floral design castings using tufa stone.

Rebecca Begay with Carolyn and Bill Pollack

Other award winners include Sheldon Harvey, who picked up two awards, and Fritz Casuse, who won a first place award for his flat spider ring set. Andrew Rodriguez also went home with two awards!

New Friends in the Relios Family

Just as we did with Roderick Tenorio some time ago, we made some new friends at Indian Market this year. We're going to be working with three new native designers we met at the Indian Market and we think you're going love their designs.

First is Cody Sanderson. Cody caught some looks with his naja pendant and a venus flytrap inspired sculpture (a collaboration with Pat Pruitt). His embossed graphics style really turned some heads.

Cody Sanderson

Next we've partnered with Fritz Casuse. Fritz's jewelry pieces display an air of dimensionality that really bring something new to the table. We really liked his "tube" drop earrings and the bracelet with dangling amber stones.

Fritz Casuse

Rounding out the trio of great designers we've partnered is Veronica Benally. Bill and Carolyn spent some time with Veronica talking about her daughters, Hope and Venus and their budding talents. Both of her daughters are planning pieces for a show in May. Good luck, Hope and Venus!

Veronica Benally with Carolyn Pollack

Reaction to the Indian Market

It seems that this year's style in jewelry has moved away from traditional Native American/southwestern design. Bill, Carolyn and Susan came across a varying gradient of styles, but it seems that the move towards more contemporary design has found a home with the designers at the Indian Market this year. When you look at the scuplture by Cody Sanderson and Pat Pruitt, the teardrop cluster piece by Colin Coonsis, Sheldon Harvey's painting, and Rebecca Begay's seed pod, you can see that contemporary design is taking root in Native American art.

It will be fascinating to see which direction the art and jewelry at the Santa Fe Indian Market will take in 2009. We can't wait!

In the meantime, be sure to visit the Relios homepage often as we roll out new jewelry collections and introduce our new design partners in the coming weeks! And don't forget our ever growing outlet section where you'll find real deals on genuine, natural gemstone jewelry and discount sterling silver jewelry.

Looking for Gold in the Silver Lining

We like things that sparkle and shine -- brilliant things that catch the sunlight and use it to make life more beautiful. We make jewelry with this in mind. We like trying to capture the beauty of the world around us and reflect it in our own small way. We mimic this amazing world through our use of natural gemstones and metals. Much of the value, if not the aesthetics, of a piece of jewelry come from the metal. By now everyone knows we’re big on sterling silver jewelry, but did you know it’s environmentally friendly sterling silver?

Caring About Nature because She Cares About Us

Recent films, like Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio, have focused attention on where and how jewelry manufacturers get their metals and gemstones. Because we use genuine natural gemstones and .925 sterling silver at Relios Jewelry, we owe a lot to Mother Nature. We especially owe it to her to take good care of her. We do our part by using recycled silver.

You’ll find that we use recycled silver in every one of our sterling silver jewelry pieces, because we know that the mining of silver and other metals can be harsh on the environment. Metals like gold and silver are sometimes mined with a process called chemical leaching. Chemical leaching is where tons of earth are dug up, placed on a slab and then a chemical solution that binds to heavy metals like silver, is poured through it. The solution binds to the gold or silver and pulls the particles of metal out of the earth for separation later. Digging up so much land is damaging enough to the environment, but some of the chemicals needed to make the process work can be quite hazardous as well.

Since the environment of the Southwest United States has long been an inspiration to the designers of our jewelry collections, we want to do what we can to preserve the beauty of our surroundings. But it’s not enough to just take care of our own little corner. With a heart and mind towards doing good, along with making beautiful sterling silver jewelry , we purchase casting grain that is 100% made from recycled sources.

But that begs the question: where exactly does our silver come from? Our supplier of silver specializes in recovering silver from sources like other jewelers and photo-imaging companies. The silver is collected in the form of scrap bearings from jewelers using mined silver and the waste materials from photo development, then the silver is refined, analyzed for quality and then reformed for use by organizations like us.

Did you know? There is more gold in one ton of landfill than there is in 17 tons of ore.
(Deutschman, Alan. There's Gold In Them Thar Smelly Hills. Fast Company; Jul/Aug2006 Issue 107, p96-98.)

Looking Great In Gold Vermeil

Because it never rusts and never corrodes, gold is the absolute standard for precious metals. It remains a tried-and-true favorite of jewelry lovers the world over. But we also know that gold is amazingly expensive right now. The price of gold today is hovering around a whopping $930 per ounce! So the question is, how can a jewelry aficionado get her gold, and make an investment in her jewelry, without draining her pocketbook?

The answer to that is gold vermeil (ver-MAY).

While the gilding of gold onto other materials is an ancient practice (early examples date back to ancient Egypt circa 2300 BCE), the art of vermeil was first developed in 18th century France.

Gold vermeil is the process of taking sterling silver and combining it with gold either through fire gilding or electrolysis. Sounds interesting, right? But as a sharp-minded jewelry buyer, you want to know more about what you’re buying. Well, to claim that a piece of jewelry is gold vermeil, a jewelry manufacturer has to follow some strict rules. The gold must be at least 10 karats in fineness, it must be plated on a base of sterling silver, and it must be at least 2.5 microns thick.

Golden Nuggets Because the heavy use of mercury in fire gilding would cause blindness, the country of France banned the fire gilding method of producing vermeil.

The Vermeil Room in the White House where the vermeil tableware set is kept was originally designed as a “social room” for Theodore Roosevelt.

The advantage to vermeil is that you get the glory of gold for a fraction of the price. Aside from the value of combining sterling silver and gold, the gold layer on vermeil jewelry also won’t rub off like typical gold plating. Relios offers a number of gold vermeil jewelry pieces to take advantage of this stunning cost-conscious combination of sterling silver and gold.

So, come by the Relios Jewelry website and see the result of putting the beauty of nature first with our sterling silver jewelry or find the gold vermeil piece for you!

Beaded Jewelry & Natural Gemstones

Jewelry is a personal statement. The colors you choose. The styles you wear. They say a lot about who you are as a person. Bold and outgoing. Quiet and reserved. Vibrant and creative. Introspective and subtle. While the jewelry we design and manufacture at Relios is what we would call a contemporary take on southwestern jewelry, the range of styles and colors can help you tell people who you are no matter which end of the spectrum you're on.

Beaded Jewelry

Beaded jewelry by Relios Jewelry can help you make your statement. Designed, modeled, cast, stone set, and assembled in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA (using genuine natural gemstones from around the world), we offer an amazing range of beaded jewelry to capture the essence of who you are.

Try a snap of turquoise to liven up a neutral outfit. The deep, entrancing blues of our lapis jewelry can help highlight your blue eyes. For the brunettes in the crowd, you might want a splash of red to grab some attention. The great part is that we have such a fantastic library of stones to choose from that we can offer beaded jewelry in a range of colors – earth tones, greens, blues, reds, and more.

But let's be honest, what really makes beaded jewelry fun is the symbolism and meaning in each stone. The richness of the amethyst’s nocturnal purple hues is thought to heal and calm the mind, while the boisterous orange carnelian is said to encourage a positive outlook. Need an energy boost? Try a sunshiny citrine. And when your best friend’s birthday comes around, a warm embracing amber will let her know she’s important to you.

Beads of Wisdom The traditional birthstone for the June birthday is the Pearl, but Alexandrite and Moonstone work as alternatives.

Turquoise!

When someone says the words “Southwestern style,” what comes to mind? Vibrant colors? Possibly. Native American and Spanish/Mexican influences? Probably. Turquoise jewelry. Definitely. From the iron-laden green turquoise to the copper-infused blue turquoise, turquoise jewelry is the cornerstone of Southwestern fashion.

As a gemstone, turquoise carries so much history and symbolism. Native American tradition tells us that turquoise stole its color from the sky, and when the wind blows, it is the sky searching for the “sky stone.” This December birthstone was one of the first stones used as a gemstone, and it was so highly valued as a talisman for good health, currency, and jewelry, that man would risk life and limb traveling over treacherous terrain in search of this “green gold.” What's truly astonishing, however, is that turquoise has a rich worldly history outside of the Americas. As a gemstone it was popular in Ancient Egypt, Persia, and even China. It would later make its way to India and Japan. The ceremonial burial mask of the pharaoh, Tutankhamen, is bedecked in stones of carnelian, lapis, and turquoise (all stones we use at Relios).

Turquoise, itself, is a rare geological occurrence. It forms in arid regions where the surrounding earth is rich in aluminum and copper deposits. Weathering and oxidation pull elements from other pre-existing minerals like malachite and feldspar and when those elements settle and interact with each other in cracks and fissures, the result is turquoise. The matrix, the unique pattern you find in turquoise, comes to be when other minerals are trapped in the hardening turquoise deposit. We like to think of these patterns as the fingerprint of Mother Nature, making each stone special – no two are alike.

We take great pride the turquoise jewelry we design and make at Relios Jewelry – all of which is done in our facility in Albuquerque, NM, USA. We want what you want: spectacular designer styles with only genuine, natural, un-dyed, gem-quality turquoise. We protect all of our turquoise, through a process called stabilization, which prevents the turquoise from fading, breaking and makes it impervious to body oils, lotions and other beauty products.

Nugget of Fact The Native American turquoise mines in Los Cerrillos, New Mexico are thought to be the oldest in the world. (Wikipedia)

Curious about our collection of turquoise jewelry? Thought so. Follow this link to find the sky stone piece that fits your style! If turquoise isn't on your list of favorite stones, look for others in amongst our beaded jewelry.