Collaborating with a client on one-of-a-kind custom designs has been the foundation of John Paul’s work for over 20 years. You can find more information about commissioning your own custom piece here and an online gallery of custom work from over the years here.
Most definitely! Whether we melt down the metal to use it directly in the creation of a new piece or put it towards trade, we love to find creative ways to incorporate old materials into a new design or build a fresh setting for Grandma's diamond from the family vault.
Yes, gift certificates are available for purchase. Please reach out to us at 541-318-5645 Monday - Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm (PST) for assistance, by email: sales@johnpauldesigns.com, or purchase a gift card online.
No worries, we can help. Since our pieces are hand made, we will do our best to make another match for your remaining earring. Please contact sales@johnpauldesigns.com to find out if we are able to make a mate for your earring, and what the pricing would be for a make-a-mate repair.
Platinum and Palladium are both extremely rare metals that belong to the same family of metals and are found together in the earth. They are much more rare than gold. Both have nearly the same cool, white gray color - identical to the untrained eye - and maintain their original color with no tarnishing over time. Platinum and palladium wedding bands will scratch, though palladium is about 10% more scratch resistant. The main difference is found in their density. Platinum weighs about twice as much as palladium does, which affects the feel & weight of the finished piece when being worn.
I have been making, wearing and selling copper bracelets since 1969. During this time people often asked: "Will this bracelet turn my wrist green?" My answer has been: "I don't know. We work with pure copper and its alloys, and we guarantee our craftsmanship for our lifetime, but the way a person reacts to copper doesn't depend on us. The only way we know to find out is by trying one on yourself."
Most customers like to wear copper and do not care about having an occasional green stain under their bracelets. Other people are very health conscious and, as proof that the copper is working, they expect to see a green mark where copper touches the skin, the same marks that make others feel self-conscious. Ironically, the green copper stains seem to prefer the people who worry the most about getting them. The same bracelet which remains shiny for one person, will turn another person's wrist green, or may acquire multicolored patinas on another. Could these changes be related to a person's metabolism?
The answer is Yes! The green stains are caused by deposits of chelated copper and their presence relates directly to the body chemistry of the wearer. Chelated means they are copper compounds in a soluble form assimilable by our bodies. Copper in its pure metallic form cannot be taken in by our bodies, while chelated copper compounds are easily absorbed by our skin. They become visible when the wearer's body dissolves the copper faster than it absorbs it. This happens when there is profuse perspiration (as when exercising on a hot day), or when our sweat becomes more acidic. The acidity of our sweat increases with physical, emotional or mental stress. It also increases with unhealthy diets.
Green marks are also believed to appear when the body is hungry for copper. The human body needs more minerals when growing, when pregnant, or when recovering from disease or surgery. A body starving for copper will even manage to dissolve the copper contained in gold alloys and leave marks under 14K gold rings. If you suspect having copper deficiency, please consult your holistic doctor, naturopath or dietician, who by ordering a simple blood test will know the mineral supplements you need to regain balance. As prevention, choose to eat organically grown produce whenever possible.
The green stains are normally absorbed overnight, and if needed they wash off with soapy water. If wearers strongly dislike the green marks, they have two choices. They can choose to address the causes and make healthier choices or simply ignore the warning and wear no more copper.
It took me nearly 30 years of practical research and collecting data from around the world to better understand this complex copper/green wrist phenomenon. In September 1995, the International Association for New Science invited me to present my findings at their Annual Conference in Ft. Collins, CO. Following are excerpts from my two-hour presentation.
Copper On Skin - Scientific Facts
- "Copper, when in contact with the skin, form chelates with human sweat (sometimes seen as a green deposit under the bracelet) and is thus absorbed through the skin. Think of a bracelet as a 'time-release' source of copper." Dr. Ray Walker, Univ. of Newcastle, Australia.
- "Copper compounds are more effective and less toxic than drugs being used to treat arthritis." Dr. John Sorenson, Univ. of Arkansas.
- Copper and zinc (our jeweler's brass is 85% copper + 15% zinc), are two essential minerals needed to sustain human life. The natural mineral contents of commercially grown American produce have been decreasing for the last 30 years.
Copper On Skin - Historical Data
- "Treat inflammation with pulverized copper." From the Eber Papyrus, one of the world's oldest medical texts.
- In medieval Europe the famous physician Paracelsus prescribed copper and brass bracelets to treat the "bad mixture of bodily humors." They continued to be widely used in Europe until early this century to promote physical and mental health and to increase male potency (coincidentally a relation between copper deficiency and sterility in cattle has been recently reported).
- In 1939, the German physician Werner Hangarter, reported that Finnish copper miners were free of arthritis in spite of rheumatism being a widespread disease in Finland. He proceeded to successfully treat rheumatoid arthritis, neck and back problems with copper compounds. But interest in copper treatments became dormant after WWII, which coincided with the introduction of corticoids, initially hailed as "wonder drugs" until their side effects became better known.
Copper On Skin - Personal Observations
I have been approached at shows by countless people who strongly believe that wearing our copper and brass bracelets have helped them to regain their health. Perfect strangers have spontaneously hugged me in gratitude while proclaiming that our bracelets have freed them from pain. Our business has been growing steadily in spite of not using public advertising. Our success depends entirely on word of mouth and on satisfied customers returning to our stores to buy more for their loved ones.
Through the years I noticed that there is a certain kind of people who are attracted to our bracelets. They are perky, friendly and fun. However, at shows I have sold bracelets to unlikely characters who did not fit this profile, customers who were stressed out, gloomy, or just drifted into our booth. To my surprise I often recognize those same people coming back days or years later, wearing now perhaps more than one bracelet and looking more energized and alive. Often they drag along a friend and say: "These are the ones I told you about. You ought to try one!"
In busy shows I work with several helpers and it is common for us to share over dinner our experiences with the new converts and the most remarkable transformations we have seen that day.
From my observations I concluded that people wearing our bracelets seem to enjoy life more fully than their peers who do not wear bracelets. This could happen because the bracelets are probably attracting the ones who are naturally more inclined to decorate themselves, the fun loving members of a group. But what explains the attitude change with the converts? Is it possible that, as Paracelsus believed, wearing copper and brass bracelets somehow improves the disposition of the wearers and their "mixture of bodily humors?"
Copper On Skin - Some new questions
- Arthritis is the number one crippling disease in America. The American Arthritis Foundation calls copper bracelets an "unproven remedy." There is overwhelming circumstantial evidence to warrant clinical trials by the Food & Drug Administration to prove or disprove the therapeutic effects of wearing copper. Having at stake the potential discovery of a new treatment for arthritis, why are those tests not being done?
- In the developing world, where people cannot afford expensive drugs, copper bracelets are sold by pharmacists as the treatment of choice for aches and pains. But doctors in the USA are legally prevented from suggesting copper and prescribe drugs instead. As a result of this practice, arthritis sufferers in America often spend more on pain pills than on nutritious food. All those pills have fueled a multi-billion dollar industry for which a copper treatment approved by the FDA would be bad news. Could it be that in their efforts to preserve market share these powerful drug companies are somehow diminishing our resolve to complete the testing of this natural and affordable alternative?
For more information about this subject please refer to my scientific paper "Copper On Skin" first published in the 1995 Proceedings of the International Conference on New Science, 1304 S. College Ave., Ft. Collins, CO 80524, USA
More Thoughts on Copper
- For an entire era of human history, a copper alloy: Bronze, was the most valuable metal known to man.
- While Iron is associated with Mars and the "Might is Right" attitude, Copper is associated with Venus and the qualities of nurturing, caring for others, and attracting with beauty instead of coercing with force.
- The main temple of Venus is in the island of Crete, in the vicinity of the largest copper mines of antiquity.
- In India copper and copper alloy bracelets have been worn since prehistoric times. Paramahansa Yogananda, the first teacher of Eastern philosophy to come to the USA, wrote in his autobiography: "Just as a house may be fitted with a copper rod to absorb the shock of lightning, so the bodily temple can be protected in certain ways." He advised wearing a bracelet containing pure copper next to the skin as a practical preventive way to "counteract the adverse effects of subtle cosmic influences."
- Anemia was incurable until it was found to be caused by iron deficiency. Is it possible that arthritis is a symptom of copper deficiency?
