How To Choose The Perfect Diamond Ring

A diamond ring is an investment, and like any type of investment, you need to know what you are looking for so that you do not get taken to the cleaners in the process. Like anything else, diamonds come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, as well as a wide variety of prices. For the most part, you get what you pay for, but you should do your research so that you fully understand what you are looking at when you are making a purchase decision.

From a historical standpoint, the concept of an engagement started off as a purely religious ceremony during the thirteenth century where it was pronounced that marriages were to be publicized in churches by the priests so that well-founded hindrances, if any, could be made known. The diamond engagement ring has emerged as the universal symbol of love and commitment between two people.

Men that used diamond engagement rings to ask for a woman’s hand in marriage were looked upon with respect and envy. Diamond rings are affiliated with diamond solitaire engagement rings. Engagement rings can have beautiful designs, and at the same time they are just as attractive in nature when compared to diamond rings. Typically, the engagement ring has diamonds and the wedding band does not, but that is not a hard set rule, as many women have diamonds in both the engagement ring as well as the wedding ring.

The size and quality of a diamond is measured by one criterion known as a carat. A carat is exactly 200 milligrams, but a diamond ring or piece of diamond jewelry with a full carat diamond of quality is going to be expensive. There are the Four Cs involved with defining the quality (and ultimately the price) of a particular diamond, besides carat, are clarity, color, and cut. The carat of your diamond refers to its weight – simply put, the larger the diamond, the more valuable it becomes. Choose a carat value that appeals most to you. While a large diamond may be more valuable than a smaller one, the most important factor is how valuable it is to you.

One of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry you can own, diamond earrings are also very versatile. To get an idea of the different styles and prices that are available in diamond stud earrings it is more convenient to view them online before shopping around at local jewelry stores. One of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry you can own is a pair of diamond stud earrings.

A diamond stud earring is made up of just one perfectly cut diamond, set in fine gold or silver. Only diamonds can cut other diamonds. The diamond may have the perfect clarity and color, but its beauty can still be negatively affected if the cut is not properly made.

The informed consumer has done their research and know what they are looking for, as well as having a good ballpark idea of what a particular diamond will price at. Don’t be afraid to ask the jewelry to borrow his “loop” which is the small magnifying glass that quality jewelers will invariably have ready, where you can get a close-up view of a diamond piece of jewelry to get a clearer picture of the quality of the diamond.

By: Jon Arnold

Moissanite Is A Durable Diamond For An Engagement Ring

The wedding ring goes closest to the heart. In other words, put on the wedding ring first, then the engagements ring. In ancient times, it was believed that there was a vein that went directly from your ring finger on the left hand to the heart. That's where the symbolism of wearing the wedding ring on that finger started.

The terms "synthetic" and "simulated" are confused in the minds of most folks. Synthetic means a REAL diamond material but manmade. Simulated means, a material that looks pretty much like a diamond but is made from something else. A "synthetic" diamond is actually diamond but is manmade in the deep secrets of the laboratory. The "simulated" diamond is a CZ, a Moissanite or other simuilant. So far to date, the Moissanite is the best, even if color might be a bit off.

MOISSANITE

Moissanite is a very durable stimulant for diamonds. The only drawback is the particular stone, since some may show a greenish tint. I suggest you ask to see more than one stone and compare the color for the whitest (least colored) Moissanite.

Moissanite is a diamond like clear form of a substance you are likely familiar with: Silicon Carbide. Think of wet/dry sandpaper. That is silicon carbide, a very hard and durable material. When science was able to consistently manufacture clear crystals of silicon carbide, the gemstone "Moissanite" was born, named after the original discoverer from many years ago and before marketable crystals were producible.

This material is harder than most gemstones, not bothered by the heat used in jewelry work (meaning if prongs holding the stone need work in the future, the stone may be left in place for the work to be done). The stone is bright, durable, and wonderful to the eye. The only distraction is the "sometimes" slightly off-color. That is why I suggest asking a jeweler to have more than one stone for you to select from. Do this with uncounted stones.

Remember, carat is a weight and not a dimension! Moissanite and diamond do not weight the same and a carat of one is not the same size as a carat of the other. Simply ask for a "diamond carat size" when getting the stones to view. Most jewelers will do this automatically since they understand the size the customer wants is relative to the sizes of diamonds.

Believe a good look at some loose stones and a mounting selected and they you will be on your way, happy with the stone. These stones beat CZ is all aspects except the sometimes "tint" of color. CZ must be perfectly clean to really look diamond-like but the high refraction and characteristics of Moissanite keep it looking diamond like even when soiled somewhat.

Still, make an effort to keep all gemstones clean! All looks better that way and regular cleaning is the best way to check for wear and loose stones. Many jewelers will clean your item for free. Most should do that, I believe.

Moissanite is an excellent choice. But...be sure to see the stone first and pick the whitest (most color free) stone.

METALS

Platinum is an excellent choice for a ring but keep in mind that platinum will not keep a shine like white gold will. Platinum is durable, hypoallergenic, holds stones well and all that. Platinum is much more expensive than gold. Still, expect platinum do develop a dullish look after wearing a while.

The other metal might be Palladium, another metal in the platinum family. Do not get this. Palladium is a decent metal but many jewelers cannot work it properly and very, very little choice is on the market in palladium. We have NO palladium rings in our business. Palladium is mostly used to add to gold to make a form of white gold. Now, a white gold made with palladium is an excellent metal choice. You will have to go to a knowledgeable jeweler to find someone who knows the difference.

This is what I mean: White gold is made by taking pure gold which is yellow, adding other metals to make it a "karat" gold, like 14k or 18k. (Pure is 24k and too soft for jewelry.) Sometimes metals are added to change the color of the karat gold. For instance, more copper makes rose gold. More nickel makes white gold.

In recent years, more manufacturers are using palladium instead of nickel since some people are allergic to nickel or have sensitivity to the metal. Those people cannot wear white gold made white with nickel. So, we have palladium white gold which is a slightly different white than nickel white gold but looks great and has no skin sensitivity problems. Some newer nickel metal mixes of gold meet higher standards and have no "sensitivity" issues either.

I suggest asking for white gold (if platinum is out of the budget) and finding out if it is palladium white or nickel white. Ask if the nickel white meets the new "European standards" and is hypoallergenic. If the lady is used to white gold and has no problems with, regular nickel white gold should work fine. Just keep it out of anything with chlorine, like swimming pools, bleaches, hot tubs, etc. Chlorine works real danger on white gold made with nickel

By: Victor Epand

What Type Of Crystal In The Best

Sometimes passing by lighting or a home decoration store you cannot resist the desire to enter inside and look at the crystal chandelier or a wine glass that caught your attention. Maybe you can’t explain to yourself what made you do so, but the explanation is simple – you were attracted by the magic glitter of crystal.
However, we are often unaware who, how and where made that crystal, while this useful information could help us to choose between hundreds of types of this wonderful material.
Crystal (from Greek “krystallos”) is a special type of glass of a high degree of brilliance and optical purity. The brilliance of cut crystal comes from the refraction of light passing through a prism. We can spot similar effect in rainbow formation.
The most widely spread types of crystal are:
- Rock crystal – natural crystal mined from the earth, cannot be manufactured therefore is the most expensive one
- Bohemian crystal – lead-free crystal
- Lead crystal – considered the finest crystal in the world. The most famous manufacturer of this type of crystal is Swarovski AG in the Austrian Alps. Its brand crystal “STRASS” is characterized not only by its clear and brilliant structure but also by razor-sharp cutting of facets that makes it look like a real diamond. Lead content is in excess of 30%.
In Europe there exist special European standards as for the chemical composition of crystal. When buying a European made crystal item one can read different words on the package that point to the type of crystal used in it. If you see “Crystalline” that means there is a-15% of lead oxides in it, the word “Crystall” means the item is more expensive and has 16-23% of lead in it, and finally when you see label “Full Lead Crystal” this means you became the owner of the best quality crystal that has 24-30% of lead.
The next criterion in defining the quality of crystal is its perfect inner structure without bubbles, inserts, cracks etc. Crystal means clear, pure, and transparent.
You can also try to check the quality of crystal by slightly hitting it using a silver spoon or knife (or even a silver ring). When you hear a delicate special jingle you can be sure the crystal is of good quality.
In a complete silence the melody performed by crystal pendants in your chandelier creates a very romantic atmosphere, and a feeling of fairytale. Maybe that’s why ancient Chinese school of living Feng-Shui always suggests hanging a crystal chandelier or even just a crystal ball in your house – to let the good energy to concentrate around you.

By: -ddd-

Engagement Diamond Ring

Honesty is the best policy, as long as your fiance know this and she is alright with this then goes ahead. I find it really strange that a clarity enhanced diamond could be graded a VS 2 that is not possible! The diamond should still have a cert! That's my first concern. Diamonds have grading certificates for a reason, YOUR PROTECTION! Accuracy is important to the beauty and value of your gemstone. Usually to bother enhancing a stone the clarity or inclusions have to be pretty visible.

Thus they drill holes to the flaws and bleach out the dark inclusions and usually fill the holes or large inclusions that break the surface up with a compatible material. The only problem is that this makes the diamond unstable you can't work on the ring. It can't be cleaned in a real ultrasonic or steamed and it needs to be. Diamond is magnetic to oil and it needs to be heated to release the oil from the stone. There is no way to care for your diamond like a natural diamond. Find a nice GIA cert diamond SI 2 in clarity and F- G in color with a good make, or an EGL SI1 EF as they are much more leaning in there grading.

Please realize that a clarity enhanced stone is filled with a substance that fills in any fractures in the diamond, this may help to disguise any fractures or feathers in the stone, but it will also diminish the fire and brilliance of the stone and you still will have an imperfect diamond. However if price and size at a "price"are primary by all means purchase a clarity enhanced stone. But please remember an "edsel" is an "edsel" forever.

You will be better off long term, that way you can upgrade. The certificate acts like a pink slip to your car it is very important. Would you buy a car without a pink slip? You can also do a diamond halo around the center diamond to make it look bigger!!! 1 carat can look three carats. It is very fashionable.

The process used to fill surface breaking cracks in diamonds is to "impregnate" them with a lead rich glass. The original clarity of these treated diamonds was I2-I3. I would be skeptical of any gemological testing lab that would grade a Clarity enhanced diamond VS2.

That being said, I have seen some incredible looking diamonds that OVED has treated. I have usually sold them for earrings or pendants because I know they will suffer minimal wear under those conditions, but I recall an engagement ring or two that I've mounted with clarity enhanced diamond. I think they fulfill a need in the marketplace and offer customers another option. I would definitely go with one of the companies, like Ovid, that offer a lifetime warranty....just in case.

I just hope that you are very honest with your fiance about the ring that you would like to get. You don't need to show her what the ring looks like, make it so that she can just make out in her mind what she thinks that ring might look like or you can always take a picture of a ring that kind of looks like that one you want and tell her that. If she is fine with it then I hope that you make a good choice.

By : Victor Epand

A History Of Handmade Jewellery

In prehistoric times shells, animals teeth and other found objects were used to adorn the body. About 5000 years ago civilisations started to view it in a more serious light and in countries including Egypt, China and America the wearing of jewellery gradually became a sign of rank. This rank varied from social status; due to the expense of the jewellery, through to religious importance. The materials used to make jewellery had switched from free natural objects which were found in abundance to rare raw materials which were expensive to mine and required a high level of skill to be turned in to handmade jewellery. Because of this by the seventeenth century the main purpose of jewellery was once again adornment of the body but this decorative function was now only available to a small portion of the populations; the very rich. Precious metals such as platinum and gold and rare gemstones including emeralds, diamonds and rubies were considered highly important in jewellery making. In fact the more difficult and expensive an item was to obtain and work with, the more beautiful it was considered. Of course the jewellery that was crafted out of these materials was absolutely stunning but this was due as much to the incredible skills and individual touches from the craftsmen as it was to the nature of the materials themselves. Handmade jewellery has a quality which brings a status and importance of its own. The market for jewellery became so large that it5 was not long before the idea of fake peals and gems was put in to action. As early as the 1670s jewellery made up of a compound of glass with white lead oxide and potash known as paste was becoming popular. This jewellery was worn in the day and often in court and it made it fashionable to wear ‘pearl’ jewellery in abundance. Around the Victorian era and with the Industrial Revolution manufacturing processes were created to mass produce jewellery. Of course this had significant effect on the cost of producing jewellery and it became available to the majority of the population. With this the significance of jewellery as a status symbol was greatly reduced and it became much more of a fashion accessory. The beauty and quality of the jewellery also became greatly reduced as the mass production took away almost all of the character of handmade jewellery. Modern jewellery is still very much a fashion accessory and in a world where it is more and more acceptable to be ‘different’, jewellery can be very personal and also a fun and creative way of expressing yourself. Great changes in technology have meant that jewellery can be more ornate, elaborate and sophisticated at a low cost. But in a world of mass production I believe that handmade jewellery has never been more important. It can be a very precious object that has been lovingly and individually created and whether it is made from pure gold or recycled plastic it has all of the character and personality that the mass- produced objects lack.
by : James English