Wood restocks:

Afzelia burl tri tone (same as the massive teardrops from a few years ago) black blonde and orange burl action.  Big enough for any project at the moment

Bloodwood, medium red, all sizes

Black and white ebony, tiger striped restock in small sizes to 32 mm and over 51 mm, dot ebony variation in the mid size range 25-44 mm

Chechen, lightly colored with pink stipes, up to 32 mm, out of stock in large sizes

Ebony, available in most sizes

Katalox/2 toned katalox, up to 32 mm, out of stock in large sizes

Olive burl, great striping and some with burl eyes, great for teardrops, all sorts of odd shapes and sizes

Pistachio, This is a different variety that I am used to, blonde wood with a pinkish hue, smaller pieces are more gray in color, up to 32 mm

Pink ivory, light and vivid pink in small sizes, maroon in 51 mm and over

Zebrawood, basic straight grain, heavy darks in the smaller stuff, all sizes

Stone for plugs or labrets (38 mm max) :

Petrified wood

Aurora Borealis rainbow sheen obsidian

Velvet obsidian (up to about 25 mm tear shape)

Guatemalan jadeite in pale green and off white, very high quality material

BC green jade

Wyoming mottled green jade

Royal blue sodalite

Blue lace agate (up to maybe 25 mm round)

Crazy lace agate

Porcelain jasper, tan and maroon coloring

Dinosaur bone(!) under 25 mm

Rainbow fluorite, A+ material withe purple, aqua, and clear coloring, less desirable areas of the stone will be sold at less than the premium

I’m sure there is more excluded, but these are all available.  Please contact me with a size and shape (round, tear, oval) for any quotes or availability.  Keep in mind that not all of the materials are priced the same.  Prices are based on size, shape, as well as scarcity of the materials.  Scarcity goes more for the stone than wood, but still may apply.

Any other questions will also be welcomed.

The big one first and foremost is that I will be graduating college in May!  Very excited about this.  I will have a BFA in metalsmithing and jewelry design.  What does this mean to HOS?  Expansion of product lines, outside of just plugs.

Along with new products, the website will be getting a much needed face-lift to accommodate the changes.  My brother mikethone.com, will be reworking the existing site and updating features.  These will include new ways to shop for made to order items as well as the addition of pre-made products as well.  The idea will be adding new items in real time as they are made, while adding new material listings for made to order items as they come in.

We are shooting for a launch of the new site (hopefully) Mid June.  Also happening in June is the annual APP conference is Vegas.  This year I will be attending with all the goodies I can make in the meantime.  This is huge for me and will be enormous exposure for HOS.

This year has been extremely busy, and I am thankful for everyone that has made purchases recently.  It has been so busy I decided to take on an apprentice to help with wood production.  So far he has been very good and precise with sizing.  I will continue to train him on my techniques so I can focus on other tasks.

Lots of new stone in as well for plugs an other projects. (but I’ll save that for another post). So that’s it for now.

I’ll send you off with my most recent work.

25 mm olive burl, with checkerboard blue topaz, set in brass, set in the wood.  Fully open back and floral motif.

Enjoy!

olive burl, brass, blue topaz

Sizing:

My plugs generally seem to run small to true size.  Keep in mind that most plugs aren’t exact, especially anything hand made.  Lobes in particular can be fairly flexible and adapt to what you wear.

As we all know both wood and stone jewelry is made by processes of removal.  Once material is removed, it can’t be added back.  Sometimes too much can be removed, so here’s how it will be handled.

Round wood plugs- will be sized within +/- .5 mm or the ordered size. Anything larger will be removed and taken down to size.  Anything that is off by more than .5 mm, you will be notified and have the choice to get the smaller set or have another made.  This is valid for any size under 2 inch/51 mm.

Anything over 2 inch may be +/- to within 1 mm.  If you definitely need the size to be EXACT, I can do it, but it may lead to extra fees.  Please be specific when ordering.

Teardrops/raindrops both wood and stone-  Since these aren’t exactly round, the sizing can be more difficult to get precisely correct.  The accepted size is within 1 mm of the ordered size.  Anything more than 1 mm off will be remade entirely.  The way that teardrops fit, if they are slightly undersized, the ear has a little more slack to fit the longer shape. That can put less pressure on the top for anyone that has that issue.

Stone plugs-  Since this is still a newer process for HOS, the accepted size is within 1 mm of the ordered size for anything over 16 mm.  Under 16 mm, the accepted size is within .5 mm.

Labrets, wood and stone-  These will be made with the tolerance of +/- .5 mm.  Anything more than that, you will be contacted with a choice to take the small piece or have a new one re-made.  With stone, there is a possibility that I may not have more of the material.  In which case we can work out the best outcome for both of us.

If you have received your piece and the size does not fit into these categories, please contact me to work out the best solution.

Shipping:

Right now everything is shipped via USPS, either first class or priority.  In order to keep shipping costs low, first class is a great option.  This is the most economical way to ship domestically.  Domestic orders will be shipped through paypal.  This is the easiest way for me to ship.  The buyer gets an email with tracking info when the item is shipped.  Please make sure that your shipping address on the Paypal account is correct before checking out.  If your paypal address is incorrect, and your mail is lost, this is why.  I will not be responsible if this is the reason why you have not received your order.  If it has been several weeks since the shipment and you still haven’t received your order, and your address is correct, please contact me.  We can work something out to make it right.  If something arrives damaged please contact me with pictures of both the piece and packaging.  More than likely I will replace the broken piece.  If it is from bad handling while shipping, only insured packages may be reimbursed (By the USPS).  Insurance is available, not buying it is denial of insurance and you may not be protected from improper handling.

International orders are also shipped via USPS first class mail.  This however does not provide tracking information.  Packages can be sent registered mail for an extra $12, which does provide tracking.  The buyer is responsible for any tariffs or fees upon the arrival of their package.  I will not send packages as a gift to alleviate your fees.

Returns:

I will only accept returns for the following reasons:

-The sizing is off, and does not fit into the policies stated above

-The piece/pieces arrive broken or damaged, DOA

-You receive the wrong style, or material than ordered, or the wrong item

If you wish to make a return, please contact me with the reason.  In most cases the item will be replaced with the one ordered.

I will not accept the return for any of these reasons:

-You ordered the wrong size.  If that is the case, please contact me right away.  Once the piece is made, that is what you will get.

-You are allergic to the material.  I cannot predict everyone’s allergies, and everyone is different.  That being said, I try and stick to the most benign materials.  For this reason I will not work with many woods that are notorious for being toxic to humans. (purple heart, cocobolo, rosewood, etc)

-The material looks different than in the picture.  Since I work mainly with natural materials there will be variation among them.  This goes for both wood and stone.  Please anticipate that your piece may not be exactly like the one in the picture before ordering.

I hope that this clears everything up.  Please read and be familiar with this if you wish to order.  As always, please don’t hesitate to ask any questions.

All times are estimated from the point of payment received to the time of my delivery (not including travel time).
The reason why I divided it this way is that not everything can be made in the same time frame. Wood plugs are generally the quickest and may be done sooner than the given window. Stone projects can take much more time. Cutting and shaping the stone being most of the work, followed by polishing, stone can break at any part of the process. The notorious labret wings snapping off are the most common problem. Hidden cracks and pitting are other problems that may not come out until after working on the piece. That means starting again from scratch, and often that can be more than once.
Metalsmithing projects are often are the most consuming and time intensive projects. These require much more thought and planning before even starting.
This isn’t meant to read as bad news, since turnaround time for a long time was quicker. It’s meant to be informative and to explain any gaps of time prior to your purchase.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions at any time about this. If you have placed an order and haven’t heard back within the given time frame, please do ask.
I hope that everyone can understand, and this doesn’t alienate any potential buyers.

Anyone that placed a wood order bewtween December 1-15, your pieces have been made and shipped out either Saturday 12/17 or Monday 12/19.
Anyone that ordered stone labrets or plugs between December 1-15, your orders will be complete sometime next week, and shipped before the new year. The stone takes a bit longer to produce, so I worked through the wood orders first. Once I get through this holiday hump, everything should be back on track.

If you have any questions regarding an order of yours, please feel free to contact me.

Big thanks!!