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Buying the Best That Money Can Afford

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:51:29 GMT

How do you make sure that the engagement you are buying for the one you love is genuine and authentic? How much money are you going to spend on it and why? What should you primarily look forward to that speck of diamond on the ring?

When you are buying diamond engagement rings then make sure that you definitely buy something that is certified with AGS or a GIA. This is extremely important as you will not run into the risk of buying illegally traded or faux diamond for all your money. So make sure that whatever you pay for is worth your money as otherwise you might just as well end up paying for something that you would regret later. When you get a certified piece you also pave the way for future investment of your jewel, if ever the need be!

While some dealers value caret over any other aspect of a diamond, a diamond is as valuable as its physical flawlessness. It is obvious that bigger pieces will weigh and charge more but of course it is the flawless variety that gets the highest amount of attention. A massive hue and cry is made from all across the globe for diamonds that are genuine and not illegally traded, which is a good thing. You need to watch the reality based movie “Blood Diamonds” starring Leonardo Di Caprio, to understand the actual story that goes behind the gory path of unauthorized diamond dealing. So be aware! Is there blood of the masses on the stone glittering your beloved’s ring finger?

Check out your budget and the market and with the wonderful variation available in the engagement ring scenario, you are surely going to be spoilt for choice. But you will just have to go for an authentic place and then only can you expect to be fully satisfied with the results you get, no matter what size and dimension, make sure you have “the one” that looks best on your love.

Also learn that many jewelers would wish to push sell you a diamond engagement rings with the idea that it would make for a great piece of investment for the future. But its no use getting bought into the idea as you are going to have plenty of instances where the value of the diamond you had just bought would not increase. Some kinds of diamond engagement rings may or may not have a hike in their values but make sure always that you have a certified diamond. Its obvious that you are not going to buy diamond engagement rings with the purpose of looking forward for a later investment, but you surely would like to know that it is worth all the money you spend on it. For this purpose nothing better than an authentic certificate is going to help you. So before you make the purchase make sure you tell the retailer that your stone is verified to be on the trail of being conflict-free. This is more important than any piece of investment as this definitely tests the true symbol of your love rather than any materialistic purpose, it is a greater moral concern that ought to be present within all of us.

Insuring Your Engagement Rings

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:33:10 GMT

There are many ways that you can use to guarantee your diamond rings. Even if not lifetime warranty, you can extend your warranty period by all means that you might choose to! You only need to be hooked to an authentic and good diamond dealer.

Many dealers these days offer you a lifetime warranty. You might want to have a warranty for limited period as well. But later of course you have the option to extend it! There are many aspects that a warranty covers and does not cover. An engagement ring in fact, should always be bought with a warranty. If you wish to have it going further, extend the warranty. There can be no worse situation or no saddening one either, to have your engagement ring lost. Or even if any minor damage occurs to it, your dealer should be able to work upon it without asking for a huge sum of money. But then you will have to see that your warranty covers what you are looking for, in case of injuries and accidents.

Most companies would give lifetimes warranty to your products against manufacturing defects. Some stones may even have the problem of becoming loose due to inappropriate setting or mishandling. So these defects can be easily rectified with the settings redone properly. Loose stones can be tightened by your dealers sans any charges. However, they might not come under the direct policy to get worked upon under the supervision of the dealers. Nevertheless these charges are generally not asked when you have an insurance done. Some dealers find that clients tend to have changes of mind, especially regarding engagement rings. These changes can be done only when there is a certain period of warranty going on. But this they insist is essential to be done, as otherwise they would not be able to change it. A simple warranty with few extra cash can save a lot of hassles for the couple. So it is a great piece of advice from most dealers that couples get their engagement rings insured, not only it gives you deals with last minute call off of the engagement but lets face it, it also provides room for change if anyone of the couple does not like the other one’s choice. This often happens when the guys go shopping for the ring solo and the girl does not like the ring at all. So these minor changes can get adjusted with just a little and usually easy insurance done! Also many homeowners later remove the stones over their rings intentionally to pay mortgages or loans and redeem the money later with the ring dealer when in dire straits. This malpractice has made many jewelry companies to stop material insurance all together. But most homeowners’ policies will be able to give you payment against loss, theft or damage of your ring! So make sure you have one of those policies made other than claiming for a stone off your dealer!

Over the course of time as normal wear and tear takes place loose stones may get dislocated. This does not suggest manufacture defect and many companies might not be able to take charge for that insurance. Again, if you wish to resize your ring one size up or down, completely, then this might not be possible again as well! You will have to pay nearly the whole amount of making charges and especially as resizing up is considered then there might be inclusion of fresh amount of metal into the ring. Sometimes there comes rings as those eternity size rings and if you have chosen one such for your engagement then you can forget that you will be able to resize it ever. So certainly, you cannot destroy the very design on these precious rings and get rid of its value by trying to resize it.

Engagement Rings Galore

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:15:31 GMT

Recently I accompanied my niece to a trip to the jewelers. She was all rosy and happily blushing in her positive vibrancy and excitement to choose the perfect circular band to tie her self with the love of her life. Since it had been quite some years that I last visited the jewelers, not being too fond of them really, I could not apprehend what would lay beyond me. I thought choosing a band for a guy would be easy-peasy and that we would be done in a jiffy. I had the hunch that my niece being the very gawdy and flashy kind herself, would make good use of the couple of months savings that she had reserved to buy her man the ring that she would choose. I was more there as the guardian angel who would be there to control her frenzied state of mind and show her the right thing to choose.

But all failed my sense when I myself entered the engagement rings department at the famous jewelers at Harrods. What lay ahead of me in the unisex as well as men’s section was not the sparse picture I would have imagined in all my life. All I know that seeing the ocean of choices I was suddenly even more blushed and thrilled along with being confused than my niece. I even wished that I would have roped in a fresh marriage all over again just to be blessed with a brand new ring as a gift. Oh! Only if somebody would have!! What joy and rapture was it to witness the array of the most exquisite and stylish looking rings made exclusively crisp and smart for everyday use. There were rather elaborate ones too, including ones coming with three stones or triple layered bands. There were those with tiny dots of very beautifully encrusted stones of all kinds. Some kind were the more fanciful kinds but you could never really afford to call any effeminized. I f you couldn’t agree with any that demanded too much attention, you still had very formal and plain looking options with oodles of charm. Taking a serious and thorough pick one had to be confused. But hats off to the massive jewelry designing works and experimentations going on currently that you have every kind you could imagine as well as not imagine, right at your fingertips. I have witnessed some of the most beautiful kings of etchings over different strata’s of platinum and cold. Masculine looking triple metal layered bands with or without stone embellishments on them were a delight and a thrill to watch. You had to keep glaring at the widest range of textures that can be polished or roughened and conditioned out of white gold and silver. From intricate and very boastful looking mythical figures standing out of a combination of yellow gold and blackish cat’s eye to the even more shockingly larger than-life Edwardian designs, these tiny bands not only reflected the most varied forms of charms and standards for themselves, but also entire ranges of myths speaking out of their own creation! Being totally bedazzled by the range of availability we finally shortlisted ourselves to the section that fit our budget. I don’t know whether I helped in any way to get my niece stick to the convention but she finally chose a gold band with a dot of topaz and a diamond, tastefully placed across it. Feeling victorious to have finally made a good choice by somehow managing to keep our heads screwed to the right place, we managed to escape the voodoo charm of that fireball. But must say that a lot of my days later remained filled up, throbbing with remembrance of those fascinating gems.

Wholesale Diamonds - Discovering Wholesale Diamonds

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:59:18 GMT

Wholesale diamonds have an economic impact on societies. From the day of discovery to the point where they are purchased by a individual, investor group or collector, someone discovers a benefit from their presence. The countries where diamonds are located receive compensation through tariffs, other taxes, and even the salaries that miners receive.

These revenue sources cause a trickle down effect that enriches the local and world economies and inspire growth and improvements to mining technologies. More than 10 million people in the world benefit in some way by the diamond trade. Many mining methods are used to recover wholesale diamonds.

The World Diamond Council monitors the environmental impact of diamond mining throughout the world and there are certain guidelines that must be followed when a diamond mining operation is planned. All wholesale diamonds must go through the Kimberly Process Certification System to ensure that they are registered. This process eliminates the possibility that counterfeit diamonds or conflict diamonds are not introduced into the diamond industry under false pretenses.

This measure was necessary because some wholesale diamonds can also be manufactured using clinical methods in laboratories. Diamonds, which are produced in this manner, are beautiful gems but are not considered as pure, quality diamonds. During the clinical manufacturing process, additives can be introduced that will affect the color of a diamonds. While these diamonds are considered authentic diamonds, the color changes that occur will affect how they will be valued for sale.

An influx of sub-grade wholesale diamonds would have a dramatic affect on the diamond industry. As a quality control measure, the Diamond Council voted to make some changes and The Kimberly Process Certification System was established. This certification system ensures that only diamonds with natural coloring are sold as such and that correct labeling of all other type of diamonds occurs. A numerical accounting of all wholesale diamonds takes place to some degree. Better quality diamonds are numerically numbered using a laser, which makes tracking ownership easy.

Rough diamonds are mined and must all undergo a rigid inspection process before they can be sold in wholesale lot to others. Every diamond stone will be considered on its own merit for the shape, carats, color and clarity. The cut of wholesale diamonds will affect pricing. In order of quality, the diamonds cuts are Signature Ideal, Ideal, Excellent, Very Good, Good, and Fair.

Several factors will affect the price of wholesale diamonds as they move from the mines to each selling point. The cost of testing each diamond in these lots for authenticity along the distribution route will increase the price but not the value of the stone. Any alterations to the stone will add to the value of the stone at each point and the customer will make some alteration requests at the point of sale. The most popular requests are to shape a stone with an emerald cut, marquis, heart shape, or radiant cut.

Diamond Stud Earrings - Celebrating Special Occasions

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:40:10 GMT

I’ve devised a way to build up an exquisite jewelry collection without feeling guilty. Some women might go on a shopping spree when they are depressed because a relationship did not work out. These special occasions occur all the time, and I’ve decided to start celebrating these special occasions by buying myself some diamond stud earrings, or a bracelet or even a necklace.

Since there are so many diamond earring styles to choose from, I felt that there were enough occasions in my life, where celebrations could really be worth celebrating. I even went as far as setting up an automatic deduction from my pay that goes directly to the credit card company that I use to pay for my diamond stud earrings. I start looking for special occasions to occur when my balance is large enough to buy jewelry.

Christmas is a special time of year for me because I choose to celebrate it by getting a pair of emerald cut diamond earrings. For Easter, I might choose a set of French wire hinged earrings with a matching bracelet. My spirits are always high through the holidays, and my jewelry box collection is noticeably larger by Thanksgiving. I celebrate my birthday by getting princess cut diamond stud earrings delivered at work because they refract a brilliant light that makes me feel younger with each passing year.

I prioritized my life and found that a new pair of diamond stud earrings took precedence over buying a new car. Now I have the option of celebrating every occasion where I get to work without the car breaking down. If I happen to break a fan belt on the way to work, I feel that a diamond necklace would be a suitable choice in jewelry to make me feel better about it because they are shaped in the same oval fashion.

As spring approaches, I check my credit card balance and make a decision about getting floral shapes on a pair of diamond earrings to celebrate the new season. By the time summer arrives, I am ready to find some hot deals on loose diamonds and I might have a custom set of earrings made just to celebrate the kids being out of school for a while. Celebrating special occasions has become an enjoyable habit that I enjoy doing year-round. I’ve noticed that I never get depressed anymore when I’m wearing diamond stud earrings, and I always look very fashionable at work.

Diamond Earrings - Seeing Stars

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 06:20:42 GMT

When I was a little girl, I went shopping for diamond earrings with my Mother. She wanted to get a matching pair of earrings that lit up the room when they were worn on moonlit nights, but would dazzle people with their brilliance when they were worn in the light of day. Mother said, “Not sure what I want exactly, but I’ll know it when I see them for the first time.”

When I visited a jewelry store for the first time, I thought I was seeing stars. The diamond earrings on display in the store were so plentiful and they all seemed to sparkle and shine just like the stars I saw at night when I sat on the porch swing with my Daddy. There were necklaces there too that seemed to cascade in the center and made it seem like Mother had a waterfall of diamonds on her neck.

The jewelry store had many diamond rings too that seemed to create magical pyramids or were mystical clusters that seemed to catch the lights inside the store at just the right angles. The diamond earrings Mother tried on at times, made me think of little flowers that were growing in a field behind our happy home. These flower shapes were pretty but not as pretty as the stars in the midnight sky.

My father had promised Mother a pair of diamond earrings every time she had a new child. This year, Mother did not have a new baby to hold, and she decided it was time to find some gemstone earrings that would match the sparkle that each child presented every time she looked in their eyes and any diamond she considered would have a big test to pass.

My Mother stopped cold in front of one pair of diamond earrings. This pair had many small diamonds that glittered like the sun, and a center stone of rubies shaped like a heart. My Mother knew positively that she had found the diamonds that would shine brightly at night, because each diamond had a certain twinkle to it that mimicked the dancing stars up in the sky. Now I find that I am seeing stars all the time. Mother rarely removes these earrings from her ears unless Dad is by her side at bedtime. I expect to be seeing stars again soon, because my parents told us recently that another little one was on the way.

Diamond Pendants - Mood Shapers

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 09:12:08 GMT

There have been times when I let my diamond pendants shape my moods. If I am in the mood to celebrate, I simply have to put on the diamond star pendant on my favorite gold chain and I’m rearing to go out for a night on the town and have a good time because I have my shining star with me all of the time.

Some friends might even think I’m a very moody person if they knew I let these diamond pendants shape my moods because I have a ton of them in my jewelry box and I’m not ashamed to show them off. I love to wear my snowman pendants even if it isn’t wintertime. The staggered sizes of my diamonds may me feel jolly all of the time. The cool crisp looks that the diamond puts off might have something to do with my good mood these days.

If I’m in an outdoorsy kind of mood, I simply reach into my jewelry box and fish out one of my twig diamond pendants. I think this is the pendant that I wore when I fell in love for the first time when I went on a camping trip with friends. I think the arrow shape of this particular pendant had a lot to do with the way my heart was speared one night. I get in a real melancholy mood sometimes when I look at this particular pendant for very long and if I get very down, I might switch to a heart shape that I bought myself.

My triangle diamond pendants always make me feel good because that is the one I wear to work. I’m a successful business woman who has been able to improve the life of many over the years. The triangle represents to me, my luck of the draw in life, that has been very good for me, so the triangle is one of the favorite diamond pendants I own, and I will continue to wear it for many years.

My mood revolves around how good I treat myself, and at times I need to feel like royalty. That is when I find my princess stick diamond pendants and strut around with them on to feel superior over others around me. Of course, I don’t act stuffy or exhibit a bad mood to others but the princess cut of those diamonds deserves some attention and I get real cheerful when I get the chance to give it.

Design Your Own Engagement Ring - Challenge

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:35:09 GMT

When Jessica agree to marry me I was over the moon. I had this romantic proposal all planned where I'd take her out to the ice skating rink where we went on our first date and I'd pretend there was something in my cup of hot cocoa. I was going to tell her I found some ice in my beverage and then when she was thoroughly confused, I'd show her the diamond and tell her that I wanted to give this 'ice' to her if she would agree to be my skating partner for life.

So it had been a while since I had been to the skating rink and unfortunately when we got there, it was closed so the local hockey team could practice. We sat around for a while, but that didn't seem like the most romantic place to ask her the big question. We went to a movie instead, and it was an adventure type, but I couldn't even get interested so we went to her place. We were sitting around her apartment and I got this brilliant idea about another way to propose. I told her I bet she couldn't guess my preferences very well. It was sort of a challenge to her. I led her along a little bit until she got worked up enough to accept a dare.

I told her I bet she couldn't guess what kind of ring I liked. She was sure she knew me well enough to determine exactly what I would pick. I just sort of casually picked a design your own engagement ring site and said "Okay, here's your chance to prove it. What would be my first choice for a diamond shape? She looked at the options and picked one. We went on down the diamond 4Cs. Every time, she picked a characteristic that matched the ring I already had in my pocket, I made a big deal out of grumbling that it was sheer luck. When her choice was different than mine, I gloated and made sure that the choices were coming closer and closer to the one I'd already picked. What was scary is, she was right most of the time. I then told her that we'd go for double or nothing. If she could pick the right mounting. I followed the same process, leading her along to believe she was making the choices, until she came to the final choice which just happened to be the ring I had already purchased.

She was feeling pretty smug about knowing me so well, too, until I told her she won the prize and handed her the diamond ring matching the one on the screen. Then she was nothing but surprised. She figured out that the challenge had been somewhat rigged, but not until later--after she said 'Yes'.

Buy Engagement Rings - Antique Engagement Rings

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:20:31 GMT

May 25th, 2007

By: Sarah Harding

When you buy engagement rings or any other type of jewelry, classified as antiques it's important to review with care the description provided for each item. You should insist on a detailed description of the jewelry item, including its diamond cut, clarity, carat weight, color, condition size and age. If at all possible, it is wise to obtain a certified gemologists statement about the particulars of the piece. When you buy engagement rings of this vintage, you should definitely insist on all questions about the piece being answered prior to paying out the money. It's also wise to check the return policy of the business before you buy engagement rings from them.

You can buy engagement rings that are antiques from many locations including online, pawn shops, estate sales, jewelry stores, and antique stores. If you are a new buyer, you should probably stick to jewelry stores and specialists in antique jewelry who will be able to assist you in your quest to buy engagement rings of the older vintage. It's important to be certain of the seller's reputation.

Today, diamonds are the most popular choice when you buy engagement rings, but that hasn't always been true. In the past such stones as pearls, emeralds and opals were often used, but caution should be used when you buy engagement rings with these gemstones. These stones tend to be softer and may contain cracks internally. They are more easily damaged than diamonds.

An important thing to check when you buy engagements rings from the Edwardian era, for example, is the craftsmanship. It would be difficult if not impossible to commission similar work from today's jeweler's for less than many times the price of the true antique. Don't waste your money on rings which are poor quality replicas of the older rings.

Choosing an antique engagement ring dating from the 1930s or 1940s allows you to get the look of a larger diamond because the diamonds from these decades often were mounted in elaborate and intricate settings so the diamonds appeared larger than actual size.

Another factor that may be different in the antique diamonds which you can find is the color. Although today diamonds which are colorless, or nearly so are more popular and considered of a higher quality, in the past people set out to buy engagement rings which contained slightly yellow, green or rose diamonds. The cutting methods were often different in the past, and today flaws are much more readily seen, so don't expect a flawless diamond that is D grade in color. You can expect that your ring will have personality though.

Engagement Rings - Care and Cleaning

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 21:26:33 GMT

By Julie Freedman

I've been noticing my diamond solitaire engagement ring is not as sparkling as it once was. Looking on the internet, I found that regular gentle cleaning can be easily done at home, while heavy duty polishing by a jeweler should be reserved only for special occasions. Here's how I clean by engagement rings safely and easily.

First, I remove my rings when I plan to wash dishes by hand. I have a special container that I place my rings in while I'm not wearing them. After one near miss with some inexpensive rings almost going down the drain in the kitchen sink, I don't wear my rings when I'm washing dishes or gardening. I remove the rings before having my hands in any strong chemicals. Even though gold and platinum are not strong metals, they still will resist chemical reactions. I figure, why take a chance. It it's something that might hurt my skin, I remove the rings and put them in a safe place other than by the sink where I'm working.

Once each month, on the day before my birthday date--my birthday is on the 14th of the month, so each month on the 13th I have a whole list of chores that I get through. One of the monthly chored I set for myself is cleaning my diamond rings. I place a little dish washing liquid in a cup, add a little ammonia and fill the cup with boiling water. I spend a little time brushing the ring with an old toothbrush after the mixture has set for a while. Then I rinse with fresh water with the plug in the sink. Finally, I use a tissue paper towel to dry the rings.

As I'm doing the monthly cleaning, I also check the settings on my rings. I look for loose stones, a prong that isn't right, or any sharp edges which shouldn't be there. Any problems that I find of this sort is taken to my family jeweler for repair immediately.

By the way, two things I don't do are to polish the stones frequently, My rings don't get polished except for a very special occasion. I learned from the internet that each polishing wears away approximately six months worth of the metal on the band. I never put toothpaste on the diamonds or gin either. An occasional ultra sound treatment gets rid of minor dirt in and under the setting where it can't be easily reached by the toothbrush.

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