24 hour $US Dollar price per ounce.

1 Year Silver Price.

2/17/2010:  Argentium Update

Argentium has announced that mill product will now be produced in the United States by several different alloy mills. In an extremely unusual move, Argentium is apparently granting exclusive production rights to one mill for casting grain, another mill for sheet goods and possibly a third mill for wire. This division of raw material production raises many questions as to the logistical and financial feasibility of sourcing the three types of raw material necessary for findings manufacturing. Traditionally, manufacturers could source all types of mill product from a single producer. Having to use 2-3 raw material suppliers will increase the cost and time involved in manufacturing.

Furthermore, to date, Argentium has only announced the mill for casting grain. It will announce suppliers for sheet and wire in March after the previous major Argentium mill in the US ceases production. It is not clear how long the gap will be in material supply as a result. While mill products will be available in the market, findings manufacturers cannot plan past March for production because Argentium is not announcing the mills involved or disclosing their pricing structure, terms of sale, volume requirements, etc.

At Halstead Bead, we will make every attempt to continue sourcing findings in Argentium from factories here in the USA and in Europe. However, these factories are all still saying they cannot plan a production line until March when all information is available. It is unlikely that we will source Argentium wire and sheet unless the mills granted exclusive rights are mills we already work with. Otherwise, the relatively small volumes involved in Argentium wire products would make the pricing on the line prohibitive.

We are frustrated by the lack of information and clarity of Argentium communications to date. We currently have stock available for 22 out of the 28 Argentium findings we carry. We are stocking up on the line to try to bridge any gap in supply to the extent possible. Please continue to check Facebook or the News page on our website for further announcements as more information becomes available. Thank you for your patience.

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1/25/2010:  Argentium Notice

The primary manufacturer of Argentium findings, beads and mill products in the USA has announced that they will stop producing the alloy and all associated goods in March of this year. Most secondary manufacturers of Argentium products in North America source the alloy from this mill so we expect significant supply disruptions late this spring. We are researching alternative overseas suppliers of Argentium products but it is unlikely that we will have replacement supply in place on such short notice. We are not certain that we will ever be able to replicate our current selection. We will post updates on our website, Facebook and Twitter as more information becomes available. In the meantime, we recommend that those requiring Argentium components stock heavily prior to early March when production will stop. We share your frustration with this situation and offer our sincere apologies for the bad news.

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1/25/2010:  CRYSTALLIZED Swarovski Elements 6202 Heart Change

Swarovski has announced that it will be upgrading the facet configuration on the 6202 Heart Pendant series. This design change will phase over just like the recent bicone series switch. The new product code will be 6228. The website will show the currently available style.

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1/21/2010:  New Halstead Bead Website!

Welcome to Halstead Bead's new corporate website! This updated software includes many aesthetic and navigational improvements. Shoppers are able to sort product groups by price, stock number or description. More improvements to the system will roll out over the course of 2010.

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