Materials and Components in CAGEY Shops

As I look through more and more shops belonging to potential team members, the more I have seen the need to clarify, for myself and other jury members and applicants, what we will and won't accept in the way of materials and components.

Here are things we shouldn't find in a CAGEY member's shop:

• Plated metals
• Plastic (unless it's handmade polymer clay components)
• Elastic and other stretchy materials prone to deterioration
• Dyed stones, unless said dye is fully disclosed in the listing
• Mislabled or misrepresented materials
• Jewelry items that cannot be exposed to water
• Mass-produced lampwork beads and other low-quality glass beads
• Earrings modeled by a person, UNLESS there is a clear and obvious statement within the listing that the customer will receive a brand new and unworn pair of earrings.
• Gemstones set in flimsy snap-in settings
• Plastic or cheap glass pearls

The following are acceptable:

• Lab grown and created gemstones, provided this is made clear in the listing
• Dyed stones and pearls are marginal - they should be fully disclosed and should not make up the bulk of a shop's listings. You won't be turned down for incorporating dyed stones here and there but their use shouldn't negatively affect the overall quality of your products and must be disclosed.
• Swarovski pearls, provided the fact that they are not genuine pearls is made clear.
• Polymer clay componenents handmade by the artist or purchased from the artist who made them.
• Furnace and cane glass
• Genuine Murano art glass
• Lampwork and fused glass handmade, not mass produced, by a skilled glass artist
• Base metals such as copper and brass, providing they are solid and not plated