Showing posts with label Jewelry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jewelry. Show all posts
Wedding Rings is the most important element of the wedding accessories
Wedding Rings is the most important element of the wedding accessories - don’t tend to get the public airing that they deserve, in your average wedding celebration. However, wedding rings are likely to be worn for the rest of the bride and grooms’ living days, so they are, arguably, the most important element of the wedding accessories.
Wedding Rings – The Basics
Wedding rings are exchanged as part of the ceremony, normally as vows are said by both parties. The guests do not normally see the wedding rings until after the ceremony is well and truly over, so it can be tempting to skimp on this element and save money.
Bear in mind that the bride will almost certainly wear her wedding ring alongside her engagement ring. It is essential, therefore, that they both rings work together well. This is particularly important if the engagement ring is of an atypical shape or with a particularly large stone.
Always consider your everyday jewelry. Although it is possible to accessorize on your wedding day to complement you choice of wedding rings, this ring will be worn every day, for many years, so it must fit in well with your general style. This is equally important for the groom, as he too will have to wear the ring for some time, so he should also consider what would go well with his usual attire.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not essential to choose golden rings. If you prefer silver colored rings but want to retain the quality, why not consider white gold? It is also possible for the bride and groom to have different styles of ring, so do not feel pressured into selecting matching styled rings.
Wedding Rings – Ideas for Slashing the Budget
Whilst you want the best wedding rings possible, you do not need to spend a small fortune! Often, wedding rings are passed through the generations, particularly on the male side, so find out whether this is the case so that you can avoid the time and energy of searching for the perfect wedding rings!
When you are selecting an engagement ring, it may be possible to negotiate a discount on wedding rings, if they are purchased at the same time. Another possible option is to consider using cheaper wedding rings for the ceremony itself and to purchase the more permanent wedding rings, at a later day. The real point of this is to spread the major expenses – weddings do not come cheaply!
A great way to make cheaper wedding rings look unique is to have them engraved with your wedding date and your initials.
With a little imagination, wedding rings can truly look magical, without costing the earth!
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Here are descriptions of the most sneaky and pervasive mined diamond scams
Here are descriptions of the most sneaky and pervasive mined diamond scams - High quality man made diamonds are a bargain at about $80 per carat, and they do not increase in price exponentially as carat weight increases. For example, a one-carat synthetic diamond costs about $80; a three-carat man made diamond would then sell for $240. A one-carat mined diamond that sells for $3000 would go for $45,000 in a three-carat size, all things being equal, which with mined diamonds is never the case. Perplexing comparative evaluations, exponential price growth, consumer confusion, and the reality of diamond industry antics is why the mined diamond business is awash in dirty tricks. Here are descriptions of the most sneaky and pervasive mined diamond scams:
THE BLUE-WHITE SCAM:
A jeweler tells you, "This is a blue-white diamond." This is a very old term. The dealer will probably tell you that it is a better diamond, but actually it is just the opposite. Blue-white refers to the fluorescence that results in natural light, which contains ultraviolet wavelengths. This blue fluorescence actually makes a colorless diamond look a little oily or milky in sunlight and decreases its value.
THE LIGHT MAKES WHITE SCAM:
Bright lights make every mined diamond look better. Of course, every jeweler wants to show his or her diamonds in the best light, but there are some lighting tricks you should avoid. Some bulbs have a strong blue component, which makes yellow stones look whiter. Special bulbs are often used with strong ultraviolet wavelengths, which make most diamonds fluoresce blue. This also has a whitening effect for stones in the lower color ranges.
THE GRADE BUMPING SCAM:
A jeweler exaggerates the grade. The FTC says that a jeweler must be accurate within one grade of color and one grade of clarity on a diamond. So many jewelers bump the color and clarity just one grade. Unfortunately, this can mean a great deal of money if you are talking about a fine-quality, 1-carat diamond. For instance, you might find a stone that the jeweler quotes as a 1.00 carat F color / VS1 clarity for $6,500. However, if you sent it to a reputable gem lab like GIA, it would come back as a G color / VS2 clarity, which is only worth about $5,500. This means you lose (and they profit) about $1,000.
THE FRACTION SCAM:
The tag says 3/4 carat, and the FTC allows jewelers to round off diamond weights. So a diamond labeled as 3/4 carat in weight might actually weigh anywhere between .69 and .81 carat. This could mean a significant amount of money, since diamond prices leap at certain popular sizes. In this example, you might be buying a .69 carat round G/VS2 worth about $2,100... but paying for what you thought was a 0.75 carat worth $3,000. You lose $900.
THE LASER DRILLING SCAM:
Dealers drill holes to burn out black carbon spots. About 1 in 3 diamonds in the United States is laser drilled. Dealers use lasers to drill a tiny hole into the depths of a diamond to burn and evaporate large black inclusions to make them disappear. The trouble with this little trick is that laser drilling can make the diamond a little more fragile to breaking with a good knock. Most dealers trade laser-drilled stones for much less.
THE HIDING THE FLAWS SCAM:
Every jeweler hides flaws under the prongs if he can. In many cases, this can make an I1 clarity appear like a VS2 if you look at it in a ring setting. Structural flaws like feathers and cleavages can be damaged by the high pressure exerted by the prong on the diamond to hold it snug in the ring.
THE FRACTURE FILLING SCAM:
New treatments to make flaws invisible. There is a new process patented a few years ago that melts a kind of crystal into surface-breaking fractures in a diamond. This technique will slide by consumers unnoticed. The treatment is considered slightly fragile because it can be damaging under the extreme heat of a torch when the diamond is set into a ring. Fracture-filled diamonds should trade for much less than diamonds without this treatment, but in reality they often sell for as much or more because they look like a higher, more expensive clarity grade.
THE CHEMICAL COLOR COATINGS SCAM:
A little paint goes a long way. This very deceptive practice involves a little point of blue or purple paint on the lowest tip of the diamond, called the culet. This is small enough that you might not detect it, but the location spreads the color throughout the stone. This counters the yellow tint in lower color grades, making a diamond look like a more expensive, colorless grade.
Man made diamonds or synthetic diamonds are manufactured in a laboratory under controlled conditions. If anything about synthetic diamonds is called into question it is that they are too perfect. And since all mined diamonds have inclusions, flaws, and birthmarks, under magnification a trained jeweler can tell the difference. Considering that man made diamonds cannot be distinguished with the naked eye, lab-created diamonds have aesthetic beauty matching—often besting—mined diamonds, and huge savings are realized, jewelry lovers must regard synthetic diamonds as an intelligent option. Plus, there is no insurance to buy after purchasing man made diamond jewelry and the thousands of dollars in savings can be banked!
READ MORE - Here are descriptions of the most sneaky and pervasive mined diamond scams
Which Metal is Better for Your Engagement Ring?
Which Metal is Better for Your Engagement Ring? - If you've even done the slightest bit of shopping for a diamond ring, you know that platinum can be significantly more expensive than a comparable ring in white gold. It used to be that there was a large discrepancy between the cost per ounce of gold and platinum with gold costing around $1,000 per ounce and platinum costing around $1,800 per ounce. Nowadays however the cost per ounce is similar with gold averaging $1,300 per ounce and platinum averaging $1,400 per ounce. Even with the cost per ounce being similar, platinum is still much more expensive. The main reason platinum is more expensive is because even at the same cost, it takes more platinum to make a platinum ring than it takes to make a similar size ring in gold. Platinum is between 90 - 99% pure whereas 14K white gold is only 58.33% pure with the rest being alloys. Platinum is also more dense and therefore more heavy than the same size ring in gold. White gold initially became popular as an inexpensive alternative for platinum with platinum being the original luxury precious metal of choice. So what are the benefits of paying the extra money for platinum? Which metal is better for you?
Benefits of Platinum
- Platinum is allergy friendly because it is a hypoallergenic and pure metal. If you have allergies to certain alloys or metals, you may need a platinum ring. Many people allergic to white gold are able to wear platinum with no issues.
- Platinum will never discolor or tarnish. Gold over time will tarnish due to the alloys in the metal, and modern day white gold can turn yellowish, requiring additional rhodium plating.
- Because platinum is more dense, it is up to four times stronger than white gold. It is less likely to bend, scratch, or dent.
- If you are hard on your rings, platinum may be the best option for you. Platinum is less likely to wear down in cleaners or with everyday wear. When it does wear, it will do so at much slower rate than white gold.
- Platinum can make off color diamonds appear more white due to the pure white color of the metal.
Benefits of White Gold
- White gold is friendlier on your budget, so if you have a specific price point you need to stick to, you can get more in the way of diamonds if you stick to white gold.
- White gold is less expensive for repair work. Say eventually you need a prong replaced, a platinum ring is going to cost significantly more to get fixed. Also if you ever need your ring resized, the cost can be nearly double on a platinum ring.
- Antique white gold predating 1940 uses more pure white alloys so it does not yellow in the same way modern white gold does. If you are seeking out an engagement ring from the 1920's or 1930's, 18K white gold makes for an inexpensive but more pure and beautiful white gold alternative, without having to pay the cost for platinum.
- If you have a white gold engagement ring, buying platinum wedding bands would be a bad idea, since the metals wear at different rates and the strength of the platinum would cause the gold to wear down faster than usual.
Ultimately the decision of which metal to buy revolves mostly around your budget. If you are buying new rings and have the budget for platinum, that is definitely the right choice. If you are shopping for an antique rings, 18K white gold is a great option being more pure than modern 14k white gold. Otherwise, with proper care, even a 14K white gold ring can always be kept in a beautiful state.
Source : about.com
READ MORE - Which Metal is Better for Your Engagement Ring?
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