Barbara Garwood breezes through airport security in Dallas Texas wearing lots of Barbara Garwood Jewelry. Why didn't the security scanner buzz? Barbara explains why.

You'll love Pam, one of the most likable people on the planet.  Lanae Downs of www.HandmadeArtJewelry.com was introduced to Pam at the opera in Atlanta by Barbara Garwood.  Turns out that Pam is one of the original Barbara Garwood jewelry collectors. Click the video to see striking examples of the jewelry and hear Pam describe how she discovered the jewelry 17 years ago.

Jewelry Designer Barbara Garwood describes why her intricate filigree jewelry designs are made of a base material of 92.5% pure sterling silver rather than gold.

It turns out that sterling silver is stronger, lighter, and more economical than gold.

For those who prefer the look of gold, the silver jewelry can be electroplated with gold over the sterling silver for rich 24 carat gold beauty.

Click to play the short video below.

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Live, on the scene from Northern China, Barbara Garwood revels her love of Chinese food, and her plans for 12 brand new jewelry designs.

Barbara Garwood Live From China – Part 1

Barbara Garwood Live From China – Part 2

Transcript:

Phil Downs: Hello Barbara. How are you this morning?

Barbara Garwood: Okay. Well, it’s nighttime here. It’s 10:00 at night. I’m in China!

Phil Downs: Here on the east coast it’s 9:00 in the morning, so we’re 13 hours different. Wow.

Barbara Garwood: Yeah.

Phil Downs: So how is the food there?

Barbara Garwood: Well, it’s; I’m getting to have my favorite food. I had wonderful Peking duck last night.

Phil Downs: Excellent.

Barbara Garwood: Yep, and I had; it’s really neat, I ate at this restaurant, it’s one of my favorite restaurants here, its 600 years old.

Phil Downs: Wow.

Barbara Garwood: So you know it’s survived quite a few recessions and depressions, right?

Phil Downs: Yes.

Barbara Garwood: And one of the other foods I got to try for the first time, this is probably going to freak a few people out, but I had fried duck tongue.

Phil Downs: Fried duck?

Barbara Garwood: Fried duck tongues.

Phil Downs: Fried duck tongues. So how big is a duck tongue anyway?

Barbara Garwood: Maybe about two inches long.

Phil Downs: Really?

Barbara Garwood: Yeah, it actually has a little; I guess because they take it all the way from back down in the throat, but its got a little bone attached to it that you kind of crunch on, so I know I’m probably sickening a few people out who are listening to this. And yesterday for lunch I had fried fish, which were kind of like the size of a smelt and head and all, head and all.

Phil Downs: Of course.

Barbara Garwood: Yeah. And then the other day I had hot pot which is one of my favorite, favorite foods here, which is a special pot of water that’s boiling and it has some vegetables in it and then they bring up really thinly sliced rolled goat and you drop it in there and it boils it and then you get it out with your chopsticks and dip it into a bean dip that they have that’s absolutely delicious.

I think if they had a hot pot restaurant in the United States, it’d be very popular. So that’s one of my favorite foods too.

Tomorrow, I’m going out to the village and another one of my favorite foods out there is fried goat.

Phil Downs: Fried goat?

Barbara Garwood: Yes. Come on Phil, you know everybody calls me Indiana Joan, that’s why, right?

Phil Downs: Well, I enjoy goat every once in a while at an Indian place, but I’ve never had fried goat before.

Barbara Garwood: It’s really delicious. Think of a fried turkey, right?

Phil Downs: Okay.

Barbara Garwood: Yeah, very tasty, and you get to eat a lot of wild vegetables out there.

Phil Downs: Excellent. Well, it sounds like a lot of fun. Now, this is your annual trip to China and Mongolia and in addition to eating some great food, you’re working on the jewelry correct?

Barbara Garwood: Yeah, working on a lot of new designs. I’m having a great time. I’m working with Fong. She’s my manager here. She takes all my designs and translates everything, all my drawings, and then she’ll take it out to the village. We’ll take a bunch of stuff out there tomorrow and we go over a lot of things and try to improve the quality while we’re out there; talk about things that have occurred during the year that maybe we need to improve, and also send them some new ideas.

I’m taking some vintage ceramic pieces and vintage designs from the 1930s and 40s, and I’m doing some new designs around that. Just like last year, I had the vintage copper.

Phil Downs: Right.

Barbara Garwood: So I’m taking more of that out there and more copper to do more things. On top of that, one of the styles that’s in fashion now, the long sleeve earrings you’ll see the movie stars using. We’re not doing them that long, but I’m doing some new themes and shapes and styles of these long, dangly theme earrings. So, that’s going to be fun. And some new bracelets and working on some different kinds of stones I haven’t done in a while of iolite and some more teal topaz and doing earrings and things with more than one stone; like two or three different colored stones and adding some pearls into some themes also to coordinate with our pearls.

Phil Downs: Now, I heard there’s a fantastic pearl market in that area. Is that true?

Barbara Garwood: Yeah. The famous pearl market and we’ve been there twice already. I have designed four new pearl combinations with some gemstones in to compliment some of the stones that we have and particularly Rhodocrosite, which I hadn’t done any pearl combinations for that, so I have a new combination with that and it’s really beautiful.

I have already eight different pearl combinations I’ve designed and now I’m adding four to bring that to a dozen.

Phil Downs: Fantastic. Well, that’s really exciting to hear about all those new plans. How long are we going to have to wait before we actually see them out of production?

Barbara Garwood: Well you know, I don’t know, if you can hear in the background, can you hear the fireworks? It’s Chinese New Year here, so the windows are open. Even though it’s winter, my room’s a little warm.

Phil Downs: Okay.

Barbara Garwood: But the fireworks are going off continually all day long and all night and tomorrow is the last day for Chinese New Year and we’re going to have major, major, major, major firework celebration all over the city, so no one is really working too much now because they’re still on holiday.

Phil Downs: Right.

Barbara Garwood: So, to answer your question, it’s going to be probably another 4-6 weeks before we get some samples and then once we get approval, we’ll go into production at that point in time. So another four weeks after that. So probably 2 ½ months.

Phil Downs: Before the first pieces start coming through.

Barbara Garwood: Yeah.

Phil Downs: And it’s the very end of February, so that will take us through March, April, and well into May, so we’ll be waiting with bated breath to see all the new designs.

Barbara Garwood: Yeah, exactly. So this is the usual process and it’s great. I get to tell everybody straight from China what I’m working on this time, so it’s great.

Phil Downs: Absolutely. Well, you get some sleep tonight, despite the fireworks okay?

Barbara Garwood: I will. I’ll be home next week, so we’ll be following up with you then.

Phil Downs: Excellent. Hey, e-mail us some photos when you get a chance.

Barbara Garwood: Okay, yeah. I’ve been taking some photos of me eating, of course.

Phil Downs: Of course. Of course. Well, thanks so much for spending a few minutes with us Barbara and continue to have a safe and productive trip.

Barbara Garwood: Okay, thanks.

Phil Downs: Okay, bye now.

Barbara Garwood: Okay, bye bye.

Ever struggle to find jewelry that works perfectly with Trumpeteer Purple? Deb McKinney, Independent Marketer for the Trump Network has a recommendation for you. Click the short video below.

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The jewelry collection is available HERE.

Click the video below to hear and see Barbara Garwood describe her new earrings and pendant.

Very limited quantities are available because this design is based on embossed copper medallions that have been in storage since the 1940s. When they are gone they are gone. Click below to see these beautiful pieces.

The vintage copper pendant is available at http://www.handmadeartjewelry.com/products/cop-468s

The vintage copper earrings are available at http://www.handmadeartjewelry.com/products/cop-520s

If you are interested in the set, be sure to add both the pendant and the earrings to your cart.

Barbara Garwood Answers 5 Common Questions About Her Jewelry

Transcript:

Phil Downs:	How does a HandmadeArtJewelry.com customer know that they are getting authentic Barbara Garwood jewelry?
Barbara Garwood:	On every piece, there’s my mark.  You can find my mark by looking near the clasp or on the center back of the pendant or in the earrings at the bottom.  There’s a flattened little disk, and on it, it has a B with the G is coming out of the B.  Right next to it, it says 925.  So, you know you’re getting sterling.  And that’s the official mark on my jewelry.
Phil Downs:	Is the jewelry heavy?
Barbara Garwood:	Sometimes we get asked that question because some of my pieces are so big.  But actually, no it is not heavy at all.  The filigree is done in like lace and is all sterling silver, so it’s a very lightweight type of manufacture.  And we can get big pieces without getting too much weight in there, because it’s not gold.  Gold’s a lot heavier than sterling silver.  So, it’s great to have some bigger-looking pieces with not too much weight.
Phil Downs:	How do you recommend taking care of your jewelry so that it stays looking fantastic over time?
Barbara Garwood:	Traditionally, we have always given away a plastic bag when we sell them at the shows.  We ask to keep it in the plastic bag, like a Ziploc bag, and push the air out of it, because the air is what causes the sterling silver to oxidize.  Just keep it in the bag when you’re not wearing it.  Also, if you have lotions and perfumes on your body, I recommend that you rinse the jewelry off, air dry it, and put it back in the plastic bag, and it should stay bright indefinitely.
Phil Downs:	Many of your pieces are gold-plated.  Do you recommend any different care with the gold-plated pieces?
Barbara Garwood:	No, it would be the same way, and actually the gold-plating really retards the changing of the sterling silver, so they last a lot longer just naturally, even if you left them out sitting in the air.
Phil Downs:	You have a wonderful variety of colors and styles in gemstones and beads with your jewelry.  Can you tell us about them?
Barbara Garwood:	Sure.  Many of my beads I’ve had made by hand in Nepal and they are Czechoslovakian glass or they’re hand-blown glass beads also.  I have some of those made in Indonesia, and recently I have sourced some in Guatemala, which actually have a peyote stitch on the end and that connects to the magnet, and the magnets are real convenient for easy on and off.  Some of my gemstones come from Peru, particularly the chrysocolla and the serpentine.  I have a lot of jaspers, like Sumatra jasper and Indian jasper, they come from Asia also.  And then the garnets are from Mozambique, Africa.  My amethysts are from South Africa, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil and the peridot comes from China.  My lapis is from Afghanistan and my rhodocrosite is from Argentina.  So, that just gives you a sampling of some of the areas of the world these pieces come from.
Phil Downs:	Thank you so much, Barbara.
Barbara Garwood:	You’re welcome.

In just 3 minutes, this video interview with Barbara Garwood reveals the inside story of her handmade filigree, silver and gold jewelry. You'll discover Barbara's bold action that brought this ancient craft to the western world, the fascinating tale of how the jewelry is made, and see several examples of what you get by blending Barbara Garwood designs with truly rare craftsmanship.

Transcript:

Phil Downs:	This is Phil Downs with HandmadeArtJewelry.com here with designer extraordinaire, Barbara Garwood.
Barbara Garwood:	Hi.
Phil:	We’re so excited to feature your line at HandmadeArtJewelry.com.
Barbara Garwood:	I’m so glad you’re doing this.  It gives me an opportunity to tell everybody about the jewelry.
Phil Downs:	Thanks for squeezing us in.  I know you just got back last night from a jewelry show in Boston.  Later this week you’re on a live TV program, and we really appreciate your time.
Barbara Garwood:	Sure.  Thank you.  Thanks for having me.
Phil Downs:	Now, what is the Barbara Garwood story?  How did your jewelry line get started?
Barbara Garwood:	Well, the quick and easy version is, I was working as a textile designer, discovered it in Hong Kong, came back, people loved it, always wanted to know where I got it.  Went back and got some more.  And then I wanted to trace where the artisans were and - I do a lot of volunteer work through my church and I went to teach textile design in China as a volunteer for six weeks, took the bracelet over there and showed it to my interpreter.  And we ended up meeting people and I found out that it was available in Shanghai, and then I asked him to trace it back to the native village for me.  It took about four months to do that, and one day I got pictures and prices in the mail, and I ordered it, and that was the beginning.
Phil Downs:	Now, when I look at the pieces, there’s a WOW factor.  My first reaction is, how do they make this?  What is the craftsmanship behind the art?
Barbara Garwood:	Oh, it’s all done with tweezers and each piece is hand done and they take all the shapes – they’re fused together in the kiln.  That’s the filigree part, and then the enamellers fill in all the different forms that are outlined already with powders.  This goes in the kiln again, and it’s fired at 1500 degrees.  Then they set the stones, which I bring over there or they’re found and bought over in that area.  And then the last stage is 24 karat gold plating onto the jewelry.
Phil Downs:	I see.  Now, is this art form thriving, is it dying?  What do you see the future of the art?
Barbara Garwood:	Actually it is a dying art.  I’m probably – I am the last designer to work with them.  No one goes over there, it’s in the middle of nowhere, up near Mongolia, off the Gobi Dessert, so there’s not a lot of people who want to do that.  I’m trying to preserve it, keep it going, keep them working.  I have about 35 women who are working for me.  So –
Phil Downs:	That must be a really good feeling, to support that.
Barbara Garwood:	Yes, it is.
Phil Downs:	The purchasers of your jewelry are directly supporting that as well.
Barbara Garwood:	Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
Phil Downs:	Now, your tagline is, “Experience The Art, Compliments Included.”  Why did you choose that tagline?
Barbara Garwood:	Well, as you know, the art has a great OMG factor.  Oh my God, the colors, the design.  When people understand how it’s made they go, “Wow.  It’s such a beautiful craft, it’s a beautiful art.”  I sell to a lot of museums also.  So, there’s that part, experience the art, and when women wear it, they get lots of compliments.  They tell me, “Everybody stops me all day long either at the drug store, or the bank, where did you get that?  Where did you get that?”  So, I figure something that gives you continual compliments, the compliments are included.  So, that’s how I came up with that.
Phil Downs:	Well, that’s fantastic.  Thank you, again, for squeezing us into your schedule and joining us.  This is Phil Downs with HandmadeArtJewelry.com here with Barbara Garwood, the one and only, Barbara Garwood.  Thank you so much, Barbara.
Barbara Garwood:	Okay.
Phil Downs:	It’s been wonderful to speak with you.
Barbara Garwood:	Okay.  Thank you.