I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “doing well by doing good” – describing a business that is financially successful at the same time it’s working toward making the world a better place. Instead of the corporation’s generosity hurting its bottom line, the company reaps rewards.Maybe it’s retention of top people who share the values of giving back to society, or maybe it’s better morale that incentivizes people to work harder for a company they respect. Maybe it’s just good karma. 

Whatever the reason, a growing number of corporations contribute financially to charitable organizations, allow employees to volunteer for good causes on company time, and give back to their communities in many ways.I’ve gotten to know a jewelry company that goes beyond simple financial charity to make a major difference. The company, Yvel, is committed to help struggling immigrants in Israel have better lives. 

Yvel (“Levy” backwards) was founded in 1986 by Orna Levy, a member of the Mousseueff family famous for importing fine pearls and designing exquisite pearl jewelry, and her husband Isaac Levy, who emigrated with his family from Buenos Aires. Isaac’s family faced poverty and hardships before succeeding in their new country, a childhood that he never forgot. 

“My way of repairing the world is to give others what I didn’t have as a child,” he says, “and to help repair the weakest links in Israeli society – our immigrants and,Costume and fashion online wholesale jewelry Jewelry designs, in particular, Ethiopian immigrants.”About 90 percent of the 100 employees working in Yvel’s design and production facility outside Jerusalem are immigrants; they come from more than 20 very different countries and cultures, including Iraq, Syria, Russia and the United States. 

To take their corporate social responsibility mission even further, the Levys set up a company within their company: a new line of jewelry designed and produced by a group of Israeli immigrants who have faced particular challenges, Ethiopian Jews. 

In 2010, the Levys founded the Megemeria School of Jewelry to train and employ Ethiopian-Israelis whose people were expelled from their native Ethiopia in the 1970s. They now number more than 120,000 and have high rates of poverty and unemployment.Megemeria, which means “genesis” or beginnings, teaches jewelry design, goldsmithing, gem setting and pearl stringing, artisanal skills that can earn students jobs at Yvel and other jewelry manufacturers. Training is free and the students receive monthly stipends; mentors also help learn everyday skills for success. 

It sounds great. In addition, the designs from this new venture look very intriguing. Their Africa-inspired pieces in brass and gold plate are simple and creative and their sales bode well for the Megemeria business inside the Yvel business. The hope is for it to become self-sustaining. 

I am excited to see in person some of these pieces when Yvel representatives are here Sept. 12 for a trunk show during the grand opening of the new Tres Mariposas jewelry department. It’s a special boutique within a store! 

I also can’t wait to see Orna and Isaac Levy’s award-winning cultured pearl necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings. These lustrous pearls come in beautiful colors and innovative settings and are unlike anything else we’ve ever had at the store. 

Meet Cynthia Prediger, Monique Perry, Barbara Katz, and Karen Goeller, jewelry artist members of the Red Tulip Gallery cooperative. Through demonstrations and a chance to chat personally with the artists, you will learn to identify fine art jewelry, understand the basics of jewelry design, and choose elements to customize your own personal design. Demos will include chain weaving, bead weaving, precious metal clay, and glass bead making. Browse the work of these jewelers plus Adrienne Neszmelyi-Romano and experience their creative works. 

Each jewelry artist has her own unique style and appreciation of her materials, resulting in a variety of jewelry options and visions.Our tungsten rings come with a lifetime warranty. By using texture, different metals, beads, and gemstones, they create pieces that reflect their influences and their styles. Perry, with over 20 years of jewelry making experience, quickly found her “passion” after taking her first metalsmithing class. There are many influences in her fine and sterling silver pieces, but she looks to her backyard’s natural surroundings when she hits a “creative block.” Katz finds she is “captivated by color,” which greatly influences her delicate bead embroidery and beadweaving, while Romano is inspired by her “interest in the world … in nature and …travels.” Prediger uses her Upper Bucks County walks for inspiration, noting that it’s “hard to improve upon nature.” Goeller, whose unique work is cast silicone or latex combined with traditional metalsmithing and chain maille techniques, finds inspiration in the “interplay of color and texture.” She is “intrigued by the way that shape, shadow, and light make the piece look alive.We deal with various stainless steel jewelry and stainless steel rings.” 

It's a hobby and second career of sorts for the Union Carbide retiree who uses his background in chemistry and ability for coming up with his own processes to create masterpieces.He began working with glass in 1972 when he took an adult education class to learn how to repair a lamp purchased in an antique shop. 

He soon was creating stained glass lamps, windows and mirrors. In 2003, Downey became interested in working with glass in a kiln. He now owns four kilns and uses them to produce everything from bowls and wind chimes to magnificent jewelry and plates enhanced with images of photographs, wedding invitations or graduation announcements. 

Downey, who has honed his skills through trial and error, keeps careful records of the processes and details so he knows what worked on each kind of glass.He works out of a garage at his St. Albans home, where he has pieces of glass purchased from throughout the United States to use for his projects."Eight or nine years ago, I took a class in fusing glass," he said. "Jewelry and bowls are made by working in a kiln." 

Fused glass jewelry includes rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets. Dichroic glass is used for its multicolored and reflective properties that make it appear to have more than one color when viewed from different angles. Downey puts images on the jewelry such as dragonflies, snowflakes, butterflies or religious symbols. 

"I apply a vinyl stencil with the image, cover the piece with acid, let it sit 10 minutes, remove the stencil to reveal the design, rinse the piece and cap it with clear crystal glass," he said. "It's fired in a kiln at 1,400 degrees." 

Dichroic glass comes in many colors but he usually uses black for the background in order to have a nice contrast. Dichroic glass of any color he chooses is used on top of the piece for a dazzling image or shimmering colors. 

Creating his pieces takes skill, experimentation, perseverance and knowledge. He stresses the importance of documenting successful projects and keeps a notebook filled with details."Different glasses react differently at different temperatures," he said.His educational background helps with honing his skills. He holds a bachelor's in chemistry and biology from West Virginia University and a master's in business from West Virginia College of Graduate Studies. 

As the dazzling jewelry is completed, his wife and daughters get first pick, he said.He and his wife, Lois, are the parents of Lisa Bennett, of Seattle, and Lindsey Downey, a first grade teacher at Piedmont Elementary in Charleston. 

Aside from his jewelry, personalized plates have become very popular. He has developed his own methods for putting images on plates such as photographs, wedding invitations and graduation announcements. He declines to share some details about this process.

Click on their website http://agesteeljewelry.com/!