Beauty pageants and diamond tiaras

There's nothing quite like a good old fashioned beauty pageant to exhibit some of the world's best jewelery items. Apart from the obvious beauty of the contestants participating in some of the most renowned beauty pageants, theres also the stunning diamond tiaras that are presented to the winners in contests such as the infamous Miss universe contest. Every year stunning beauties gather from all around the world in a contest that is not just about beauty. Other factors come into play, such as personal achievements, what that person represents and how well they act as an ambassador for their country.

The 2009 Miss Universe contest was won by Stefanía Fernández of Venezuela, who charmed the judges with her outgoing personality and natural beauty. Amongst the huge range of perks that come with winning the Miss Universe Contest she was also able to keep the Diamond Nexus Labs Tiara, featured below with carefully crafted rubies decorated around the crown:

Picutred winner: Stefana Fernadez who gets a Manhattan apartment for a year, jewelery, clothes, an undisclosed monetary sum, and lots more. It's enough to make a guy consider a sex-change operation with all the perks offered!

Conflict diamonds

Conflict diamonds are also sometimes referred to as blood diamonds, and are typically mined from conflict areas such as Sierra Leone, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Angola. The money from the trade of diamonds is used to fund local arms, thereby contributing and worsening the situation of the conflict. In recent years the West has become exposed to where their diamonds might actually come from, and various campaigns have ensued to eliminate buying diamonds from conflict areas. In the UK, media coverage on the subject of conflict diamonds was heightened by music celebrities - who often glamourise extravagent jewellery, actors and actresses and other celebrities to stop 'blood diamonds' being used in the UK's jewellery industry. And of course who can forget the motion picture staring Leonardo DiCaprio as the greedy diamond merchant looking for that ultimate stone. This movie helped to bring the issue really into the mainstream, and help combat the issue.

What this means today, for the average consumer is that they should be aware of the policies that jewelery companies have in relation to blood diamonds or conflict diamonds. People, should study websites, or any literature provided by their prospective companies and question where they are sourcing their diamonds. Has the companies' website got a statement relating to ethical buying/sourcing of their diamonds? Are they a reputable company. It's always worth doing some research before committing to buying a diamond engagement ring.

 

How much should i be prepared to spend?

A lot of the time, people will be stumped on how much they should spend on engagement rings for their beau.
Often the saying that people base their expenditure on is that the ring purchase value should be the equivalent of 2-3 months salary. But this to me seems quite nonsensical, as one man's wages is certainly not equal to another man's monthly salary. It's all very much dependent on your financial circumstances at the time of purchases.
There are people who can happily spend $3,000-$5,000 on a palladium or platinum engagement ring and not batter an eyelid. Then, again this large sum of money can seem out of the reach of many people, who are struggling just to pay the rent and electricity bills. If the latter is the case for you, then there's always the chance that you can get your ring on credit, just be careful to read the contract careful whichever company you choose to go with, and understand the risks and what you're entering into.

However, you may find that the ring you're looking at is somewhat less conventional, and thus has a lower price tag with it. Say an engaement ring under $1500. If this is the case, you need to think carefully about what your loved one will say to such a ring, if they are not materialistic then it's fine. But if he or she has always dreamed about something that sparkles then it may not be the best propositional ring for that person.

Whatever, kind of ring you decide upon, you should first determine your budget and if you're going down the route of financing the purchase make sure you get the best deal out there on the market. After you've found something suitable and at a good price, all you need to plan is where you're going to pop the question.

Are diamonds a girl's best friend?

It's always thought that diamonds are simply what ever girl hopes and dreams for when it comes to engagement rings. For years now diamonds have had great appeal, and are highly coveted for their sparkling nature and large size when cut and set in the right fashion. Generally, the rule goes: 'The bigger the rock, the more expensive the ring'. And we've all at one point found ourselves flicking through those celebrity gossip magazines marvelling at the sheer exuberance and extravagances of the latest celeb couple to tie the knot and what he presented her with.

But, there has been a growing movement in recent years away from diamonds, perhaps due to the controversy of 'blood diamonds' and people scrutinizing in closer details where the diamonds they are about to buy actually came from. This has given rise to the growing popularity of other gemstones such as topaz, emerald, tanzanite and birthstones. Who says the ring you present to your loved one has to be a diamond anyway? My mom for example, wears a birthstone ring. I think, sometimes a birthstone ring has a deeper sentiment resonating and really show a couple's true love for each other. Okay, I'm starting to get a bit sickened myself and what I'm writing. So back to diamonds. Aren't they just lovely?

Certification and the four C's

As we looked at last week, the cut has a lot to do with how the aesthetics of the ring. The way the gemstone is cut can affect how big that diamond, emerald, or tanzanite appears. But this is not the only factor that one needs to be aware. The four C's are commonly referred to as being determining factors in the quality of the jewelery and usually when a gemologist examines your ring these are some of the factors that they will take into consideration: These are: colour, the cut of the diamond, the carat weight and finally the clarity of the diamond. The colour refers to how well the diamond or other gemstone retains and reflects the light and also of course about its natural colour properties. Often pink diamonds are sought after because of their rarity. In terms of cuts, usually the most popular tend to be the round brilliant cuts and the princess diamond cut. But of course there are so many to choose from. The carat weight is often one that people focus on and perhaps overlook the others slightly. However carat weight is not a factor that denotes the quality of a diamond, so going for rings with a large number of carats doesn't necessarily mean the ring is of considerable higher quality than one with a lesser number of carats. The clarity is also important as a mark of quality. It refers to the existence and visual appearance of internal characteristics termed inclusions.  If you are in doubt about the authenitcity and quality of either your palladium engagement or diamond engagement ring, then always get a second opinion from a qualified source.

It's all in the cut

There seems to be a growing expansion in the types of cuts you can now get for your engagement rings. New and imporoved cuts are increasing in popularity such as the marquise cut. Of course most people for palladium engagement rings still favour many traditional cuts such as the brilliant round cut or princess cut. It's very important you get the right cut for your ring. The marquise cut for example, creates a pointed shape which makes the gemstone appear larger. Whereas, something like a emerald cut will give the diamond or other gemstone a rectangular shape.

Also it's not just the cut to give careful consideration to, it's also the setting. A prong type setting can also give the apperance of the gemstone appearing bigger than it is. Generally high prongs, will make the stone look bigger. Also you may want to consider adding accent stones to the main center piece stone. As by themselves small accents stones are pretty worthless, but adding to the a small gemstone you will add to the carat weight therefore adding to the value of the ring.

It's been a while.............

Apologies to all those of you who have been following the blog. I've been out at various gem and jewellery exhibitions recently. Collecting some great ideas for a new collection I'm going to bring out in the fall. Meanwhile, I'd like you to keep on sending your email and feel free to post any questions or comments on here for people to read. Also if you've got any questions about engagement rings, be it palladium or other materials drop me a line!

Look forward to hearing from you,

Diamond and palladium engagement rings

-Ensure your ‘Bling-Bling’ jewellery is ethically sourced

Modern youth and rap culture have popularized diamond jewellery to such an extent the slang term ‘bling-bling’, often associated with such jewellery, has been incorporated in recent years to the Oxford English Dictionary. Western culture places added emphasis on material consumerism, as shown in the importance in selecting perfect diamond and palladium engagement rings. After all isn’t it a sign of success if you can display your financial assets in the form of diamond jewellery? Contemporary rap and hip-hop artists seem to sometimes take this to the extreme, exhibiting encrusted diamond encrusted teeth ‘Grillz’, diamond watches, rings, earrings and pendants. However, this has prompted closer inspection to the source of these diamonds. As many know some of the world’s diamonds today still come from areas of conflict such as Sierra Leone, where people die mining such diamonds hence the name ‘blood diamonds’. Diamonds from such areas are unethically sourced, and further encouragement of such sourcing can lead to further devastation in these areas.

Many people today have a growing consciousness of only purchasing ethically sourced diamonds, especially when choosing to buy diamond or palladium engagement rings. Many websites are aware of this and have made concerted efforts only to stock ethically sourced diamonds.

Diamond, tanzanite and emerald palladium engagement rings

Diamond, tanzanite and emerald palladium engagement rings

A brief look into some of the gemstones on offer and how to decide which one is right for you, as well as advice on where to look for these rings.

When the time comes for a man to show his commitment to marriage and buy a ring to signify this, most will only look at diamond rings. Whilst there is nothing inherently wrong per se with this, as after all, a lot of women will only be content with a diamond ring. There are other types of gemstones available and they can look equally scintillating. Many jewellers will offer the next best thing to pre-set and custom diamond palladium engagement rings, and these are rings which use different gemstones at the centre. My local jewellery store informs me that their best sellers are in fact non-diamond rings. Very popular at the moment are tanzanite, topaz and emerald rings for engagement jewellery. This proves that the ring doesn’t always have to be diamond based. Perhaps why so many, do still go for diamond rings is that it’s slightly easier to distinguish a good quality diamond from a poor one. A lot of people will not even rely on certification to show them this, but use their untrained eye to see if the diamond sparkles or not in the light. Any gemmologist knows that this is not the correct way to ascertain a diamond’s quality. Instead the four C’s should be examined carefully. These are: colour, the cut of the diamond, the carat weight and finally the clarity of the diamond. It’s also very advisable to enlist the help of a certified gemmologist if you are buying say a topaz ring. Getting certification is also a very good idea if you have to, at any point, get your ring polished or cleaned. It will deter anyone from trying to dupe you and with palladium engagement rings- it’s definitely something to watch out for. Someone can easily swap the gemstone with anything else of lesser quality. That said, if you are getting a custom made ring you can ask your jeweller to cut the gemstone in a fashion that will give it the appearance of being bigger than it actually is. This from a cost point is highly effective as well, as chances are it will save you money as buying a pre-set is usually more expensive. Once you’ve decided upon what type of gemstone to select and whether to go for a custom made or pre-set ring, all that remains now is where to look for the ring. It’s advisable to start off by doing some browsing at a high street jewellers and if you can get to the main jewellery quarters in London or Birmingham, then you will be bound to find something of interest. But be aware some jewellers are fastidious in the sense of booking an appointment before you arrive.

Palladium engagement rings-Choosing the right diamond cut

A brief outline into the different cuts of diamonds and what you should look for when selecting a ring.

For many the diamond ring is still the preferred choice when it comes to selecting a ring for your loved one. Although, this can hurt your wallet such purchases only come around once in a lifetime so it’s important to get it right for both yourself and your partner. Perhaps the most important categorization when it comes to selecting palladium engagement rings is the four C’s: colour, cut, clarity and carat. But, for the purposes of this article the importance of selecting the right cut will be discussed.
The actual art of cutting a diamond is a very skilled one, dating back to the skilled jewelers in Belgium over 500 years ago. It involved cutting the stones into smaller ones, with the aim of reflecting the light out as evenly as possible. If this is not done well, it will give the end result of the stone looking dull and lacking the sparkle or fire that a stone cut to unique precision has. There are various grades of cuts, and most online jewelers will ensure they offer the best cuts to their clientele. Finally whatever cut you decide to go for, be it a rose, princess or perhaps emerald cut, and make sure you buy from a reputable diamond dealer. Also, ensure the diamond ring you purchase comes complete with a certificate of authentication.