Navel Rings

Jerry Cave · Post by **Jerry Cave** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 4:14 pm

Because I live in at least two worlds, glass and metal, I'm always thinking of new items to try. For several months I've had the idea to try navel rings. A good friend has given me all the information I need to proceed. Being and old fart, I knew nothing about these new fangle objects. My idea is to incorporate a dichro element mounted to 14k gold.

Have any of you tried these? What are your thoughts on this? Always looking for feedback.

thanks

jerry

Ron Coleman · Post by **Ron Coleman** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 4:19 pm

Refresh my memory. Just where on a ship do you find Navel Rings? Are those the things that hold the sails on the mast? :badgrin:

Ron

Nikki ONeill · Post by **Nikki ONeill** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 4:22 pm

As in something for your tummy??

Nikki

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 4:22 pm

Ron,

They are located about mid-ship.

Cheers,

Bob

Jerry Cave · Post by **Jerry Cave** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 4:28 pm

You people are cracking me up big time. It is for the tummy so yes, I guess that's about mid-ship.

Nikki ONeill · Post by **Nikki ONeill** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 4:45 pm

My daughter comes home from college every once in awhile and makes borosilicate ear plugs and comma-shaped ear loops. I guess the ear loop style or open rings could be made a bit smaller and used as naval ornaments. Could be the start of a whole new enterprise

the price mark-up and profit are tremendous, if you don't count the overhead.

Nikki

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 4:47 pm

well, they come two ways. you can have the style that is for a pierced setting, or the type that has a gap in the ring, and sort of gently fastens onto the edge of the navel. with the dichro element, i'd opt for the second version. when people pierce their navel, they generally leave the navel ring on most of the time, and if it had a piece of glass on it, it might be too big and be annoying to wear.

if you did the gap ring, the glass part would need to be pretty small.

tattoo parlors sell all kinds of studs and body piercing jewelry, and you might get an idea from that little field trip, which i'm sure would be illuminating.

a dichro setting on an ear cuff could be kinda nice, possibly. ear cuffs sit on the upper part of the ear, and are not a pierced item. generally they're pretty butch, but i think there is an opportunity there for something pretty. i might wear something like that, if it were classy and not industrial. kitty, girl without tats or unusual piercings.

Nikki ONeill · Post by **Nikki ONeill** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 4:58 pm

Kitty:
I like your non-pierced ear-cuff idea! It even sounds elegant, especially with a little dichro splash (even for a beginning second-half of the century person). My daughter and son would flip! Think I'll try making a couple with a strips of the squares - patterned dichro noodles.
Nikki

Jerry Cave · Post by **Jerry Cave** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:01 pm

This is good stuff, keep em coming.

I cold work just about every piece I build. Grinding, reshaping, and polishing. I can remove the big industrial look this way. Thinking of screw type, threaded gold ball. The glass would be bezel set and fixed, or dangle. The problem I foresee, these little tiny pieces are hard on my finger tips during the cold working process. Tried the traditional lapidary method of dop wax and sticks. Cabs always fall off. A lapidary buddy has just shared some of his secrets with me, maybe I'll revisit this method.

jerry

Jackie Beckman · Post by **Jackie Beckman** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:20 pm

Jerry Cave wrote:This is good stuff, keep em coming.

I cold work just about every piece I build. Grinding, reshaping, and polishing. I can remove the big industrial look this way. Thinking of screw type, threaded gold ball. The glass would be bezel set and fixed, or dangle. The problem I foresee, these little tiny pieces are hard on my finger tips during the cold working process. Tried the traditional lapidary method of dop wax and sticks. Cabs always fall off. A lapidary buddy has just shared some of his secrets with me, maybe I'll revisit this method.

jerry

The problem Jerry, (from my understanding) is that once pierced with the screw on type of jewelry, it is best to not change the piece for atleast 6 months, and even then, it should only be done by a "professional." This would limit your sales to shops that do this sort of thing on the premises. (Well, I suppose one could purchase a piece and bring it in to a shop to have it changed) Also, the piece must be dropped in a sterilizing solution for 15 minutes prior to the procedure. Given the delicate nature of uncapped dicro, I'm not sure what this solution would do to the surface. If you try it, cap in clear. And lastly, you actually need two little jewels, one smaller which actually sits about a half inch above ones belly-button, and the second larger one which is right inside. As mentioned, there are also the dangling ones, and rings - (I've heard) You may also need to consider surgical steel, especially if you plan on marketing to shops directly. The ones they use must be of a certain material so as not to pose infection problems. If you work it out, however, post a picture - I'm sure someone would be interested.

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:32 pm

the intent of a lot of body jewelry is industrial because it announces tough-ness. for a lot of people who like that view of themselves, the trend has been base metal, sometimes silver, plain. sometimes you see gold navel rings on people like madonna and other celebrities, but i've not seen nice jewelry. maybe you could make a navel ring with the ability to attach an "enhancer," like is done with necklaces, so you could wear the dichro part when you wanted to, and take it off later. the screw-ball end would work pretty well for this -- i mean on a non-piercing piece, where one ball-end screws onto the threaded ring.

btw, there are bathing suit/bikini shops in resorts that specialize in expensive beach attire, meaning bathing suits that cost $150 and up. that might be a possible venue for marketing high-end navel rings, especially the kind that dont require piercing.

an ear cuff with a dichro dot could be nice, perhaps set like some diamonds are set, with the metal pushed up to grip the edges of the cab. i make dichro dots as small as about 1/8" as little stud earrings. for your purposes, you could make the mini dot, then grind the bottom to reduce the thickness, and you could set it like a small opal.

a dichroic ear cuff made exactly like a glass bracelet might look pretty nice, too. no metal. make strip of glass 3/8" wide, however long it needs to be, and form around a mandrel, with gap big enough to allow upper ear to fit. i bet you could sell a lot of those, too. not sure about fragility.

Jerry Cave · Post by **Jerry Cave** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:36 pm

Jackie - I've stayed away due to many of the issues you mention. Most of my dichro is clear capped which is why I can cold work them into any shape I can dream up. Also, 14k is acceptable otherwise surgical steel or titanium would be required. I can work with gold, not ready for surgical steel or titanium just yet. Your sterilization info is greatly appreciated, have to do this the right way, only good stuff ya know.

Some of the info collected so far has been from shops selling this type product. Some are better than others sharing info. Several seem very interested in my ideas. Just got to get my act together here.

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:48 pm

jerry, i'm not a fan of surgical stainless steel. lots of people are allergic to it, including me. i never use it with my line of jewelry. i'd go for the silver or 14K ... i like the idea of a classy piece of body jewelry, and if you do it unpierced, lots of people with the money to buy 14K jewelry would be interested. i'm in the over-50 crowd myself, and i'm way past entertaining any ideas of poking unnecessary holes in my body, but i might wear stuff in unusual places if i could do it unpierced.

also, that info about having to visit a tatto/body piercing parlor to have pierced studs removed or changed is true. my studio assistant saw fit to have her nipples pierced with gold barbells, god knows why, and she does indeed have to get any change done in a tat parlor. personally i cannot think of anything more distasteful than somebody i don't know performing that task on me, but hey, different strokes ...

good luck with this ... it's a nifty idea you've got. kitty.

Jerry Cave · Post by **Jerry Cave** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:56 pm

Thanks Kitty. I'm also of the over fifty crowd and very prowd of having no "air holes." Everybody wants these things so who am I to argue?

More info collected on the way. Silver is not acceptable due to infection potential. Gold works, even 14k which surprises me to an extent. Surgical steel isn't my idea of precious jewelry so I'd rather to go there, just yet anyway. Titanium is cool, really nice colors however I'm not up to speed on how to work it.

Good quality belly rings go from $75 - $250. For 1/2 inch of gold?????

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 6:00 pm

niobium, titanium both possibilities. i get along with good quality sterling, even tho other non-precious metals are poison to me. you can't please every single person unless you go to gold, and that influences the price a lot.

Cynthia · Post by **Cynthia** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 6:16 pm

Do people with Outies wear belly button rings?

Hey Jerry, don't limit yourself to the navel academy, there are other pierced body parts that could be enhanced visually with a little dicro dazzle. If you're gonna put a stud through it, it might as well be classy eh?

Jerry Cave · Post by **Jerry Cave** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 6:16 pm

I just might have a source for niobium. Yet another metal I need to learn.

Fine silver might do however all the shops insist on gold, surgical, or titanium. If it clips on, no problems with any of them. All my work is fine jewelry incorporating glass elements. Color, lots of color.

The creative juices are sure flowing. Just love exploring new ideas. Sure alot more discussions to be had.

Amy Schleif-Mohr · Post by **Amy Schleif-Mohr** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 6:23 pm

Hi Jerry,

Ok, I'll be the one to admit that yes I do have a belly ring... I also have a glass charm that hangs from it.

Jackie is correct in that someone with a freshly pierced bellybutton should not take it out for several months. I have taken mine out several times because I was having surgery, but this was atleast a year after my piercing. My ring that I bought when I had it pierced had a black ball to close the circle. Eventually that got chipped and wouldn't stay in so I replaced it with a silver one.

I think someone mentioned that the glass addition would get caught or something in the hole, well it shouldn't. The rings move back and forth through the hole so the glass addition will act as a stopper, much like my silver ball.

I would be very interested to see what you come up with.

As for the gold vs. surgical steel vs. silver issue, my sister in law was alergic to either the silver or surgical steel and had to get a gold one. So really it's not as big a deal. Mine is surgical steel.

Amy

Brad Walker · Post by **Brad Walker** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 6:46 pm

Ok, I figured it was time for some input from the younger set, so asked my daughter (pierced navel, pierced eyebrow, and more holes in her ear than I can count, thank god her tongue's still intact). She thinks dichroic navel or eyebrow rings would be a great option.

By the way, she has more than a dozen different variations of each type, and changes based on her mood, where she's going, and even the clothing she's wearing. Everything from simple gold or silver balls to dice to abstract shapes to glow-in-the-dark and more. There's an incredible amount of detail and variation here -- both eyebrow and navel rings come in different gauges, lengths, and curvature types. These vary depending on who did the piercing, where you live (east coast different from west coast, for one), etc.

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 6:57 pm

i think the surgical steel issue is highly misunderstood by many people. they think it is non-reactive, which is false. it's non-reactive on people who don't react to it, unlike the inert metals such as gold, plat, niobium, titanium. my understanding is that nickle is a component of stainless, and that it is the culprit in this metal allergy problem. the EU has banned nickle jewelry for this reason.

it sounds like you are already in contact with jewelry stores who might be interested. even though they disdain silver, these days that is a highly popular metal, especially among younger women.

btw, my studio assistant was shopping for some new studs to replace her barbells, and she told me the price for a pair ... in stainless ... i forget the price, but it was about $100, and i was shocked at how expensive the price was, and not even silver or goldfill.