Summer is a time for romance, and if you’ve been entertaining the idea of popping that big question to that special woman in your life, now’s the time to start looking for that perfect engagement ring; the one that will light her eyes with amazement and delight; the one that she won’t be able to resist; the one that she will be so proud to show off to her friends and family, and look upon fondly, each and every day, for the rest of your lives together.

Maevona Diamond Engagement Ring

Before you venture out in search of that magical, life-altering piece of jewelry, however, there are some basic things you should know about diamond engagement rings; things that will assure that you’ve not only chosen the perfect ring for her to wear forever, but also that you’ve chosen wisely from an investment perspective.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime event, after all, and an investment worth researching prior to making the big decision.

First, it’s important to realize that engagement rings options span far beyond the premade selections you’ll find online and in the jewelry cases of your local jewelers.  Though you will definitely find plenty of rings to choose from in this category, most jewelers these days also offer the option to design your own ring and, while that thought might be intimidating right at first, the process is actually very simple, and you’ll have a jewelry expert to guide you throughout the entire experience.

Design your own ring options are great for a variety of reasons.  First of all, you can customize your engagement ring from the diamond solitaire to the accents to the wedding band, itself.  But also important is the fact that by designing your own ring, you can often get more ring for your money by choosing the center stone carefully and pairing it with a setting that maximizes its natural beauty and brilliance.  To maximize this benefit, be sure to study up on what’s commonly known in the jewelry industry as “the four C’s.”  These include cut, color, clarity and carat weight, and each category has an effect on a diamond’s overall value.  Your jeweler can help you to pair just the right stone with just the right setting to create a breathtaking engagement ring that also fits the bill of wise investment.

The perfect engagement ring is closer to your grasp than you might think, and so is that one little word you’re just dying to hear pass through her lips; “Yes!”

With the technological advances of today, the popularity of custom design jewelry is higher than ever. What, at one time, took months to accomplish can now be done in a matter of weeks. To custom design jewelry of nearly any style gives today’s fine jewelry consumer the opportunity to express their own personality and taste without costing an arm and a leg. There are a few simple things to be remembered when working with a jeweler to create a unique, one of a kind custom piece, especially if the intention is to use diamonds and precious gemstones.

Custom design your engagement ring

While gemstones come with a similar certification, diamonds set the standard for valuation of all precious stones through the use of the four C’s of diamonds. Some may have heard about these C’s but if custom design jewelry is a coming project, knowing at least the basics of diamond certification is wise. The jeweler creating the custom design jewelry should produce the certification of the stone’s worth and its origin. If either of these certifications cannot be produced, move on to a different jeweler. Without the proper certifications, you may end up with custom design jewelry worth far less than you paid.

The four C’s of diamonds are Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat. Diamonds vary from clear or white to every color imaginable, the most valuable being the traditional clear diamond. Clarity rates the flaws and inclusions within the stone. While most of these inclusions and flaws are not seen by the naked eye, the value of the diamond is directly affected.  Cut is the diamond’s facets and is what produces the prism like sparkle when light passes through the stone.  A diamond can appear cloudy or dull, even have a dark center, if the cut is incorrect or poorly done. The final C is the most commonly known of the C’s, Carat. Simply put, Carat is the weight of the diamond. Keep in mind, that a larger stone my look pretty but due to the inclusions or cut, the value may be less than a smaller more quality diamond. Make sure to go over each of the C’s with a professional jeweler to determine the perfect diamond for the custom design jewelry being created. As stated, gemstones are rated in a similar fashion.

Custom design jewelry can be the perfect way to express one’s personality and style and in today’s highly technological era, custom design jewelry is more affordable than ever.

Each and every day, beautiful, loving couples all around the globe become engaged. It is a joyous time in the lives of the young lovers and begins a new phase of life together. Beginning that life as one is the biggest step most people take and it is wise to go into it with your eyes wide open. Often young men will make the mistake of thinking the diamond engagement ring has to put him deeply in debt to be good enough for the woman he loves. That is generally not necessary. If you can follow a few simple suggestions, buying the perfect diamond engagement ring can be easy and virtually painless.

Gabriel and Co Diamond Engagement Rings

It’s likely that most lovestruck young men have a very limited knowledge of jewelry. It’s important to learn just a few basics about diamonds and diamond engagement rings to insure the purchase is of the value paid.

First, and most importantly, knowing the fashion style of the bride-to-be will help define the style of diamond engagement ring that will best suit her personal flair. There are hundreds of styles to choose from and to the uneducated consumer, it can be overwhelming. While jewelers are trained to help ease the tension of buying diamond engagement rings, they are void of the ability to match the bride’s personal style. Once a groom has determined the style of engagement ring that will best complement his lover’s fashion, then it’s always a good idea to know something about diamonds themselves.

There are four C’s that define the value of a diamond. The first is Color. Diamonds vary from the most valuable white or clear to every color of the rainbow.  Tradition in wedding jewelry is white or clear diamonds but if the betrothed woman has colorful tastes, colored diamonds might do nicely. The next C of diamonds is Clarity. This refers to the flaws and inclusions within the diamond. Most of the time these flaws are not visible to the human eye but directly affect the value of the stone. Cut is the most commonly misunderstood C. It is NOT the shape of the diamond but the cut of the facets or angles of the stone. This is what gives the diamond its sparkle. The fourth C is the most commonly understood. It is the weight of the stone. All of the C’s directly affect the value of the stone and should be documented by the jeweler. If there is no certification on the diamond engagement ring, move on.

Valentine’s Day, the celebration of love, is quickly approaching. Make this year something special for the special someone in your life by choosing custom designed jewelry to show your love. It’s far easier than you would think. Just do a few simple things and you’ll be creating the perfect gift for her!

Custom Mountings from Amidon Jewelers

First, you need to decide what type of fine jewelry you would like to create for her. The options are as many as there are stars in the sky. Once you’ve decided on the jewelry, a gemstone ring or a meaningful pendant, for example, you can begin to look for a jeweler.

While you might be tempted to go to the mall, don’t. The chain stores often don’t offer custom design jewelry. Find a local jeweler, who quite likely is or employs an experienced artisan, highly trained to create custom designed jewelry of all kinds. Make sure the jeweler is reputable and can produce any documentation or certification of the stone and precious metal values to insure your investment is worthy.

Once your jeweler is found, before you go visit the store, do a little research on some basics of fine jewelry and custom design. If you are choosing a diamond creation, be sure to learn the 4 C’s of diamonds; Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat. These are all very important to the value of loose diamonds and the end custom design. Also, precious metals have different applications and density. For instance, you would set a diamond in silver, a very soft compound. Research the assortment of metals available and right for your custom design.

Next, visit the jeweler. Discuss your design in detail and if possible, a sketch is very helpful to the artisan. One thing to keep in mind is that the jeweler is a trained professional and knows what will and will not work in a custom design. If he or she makes a suggestion for structural integrity, it’s likely a good idea to take it. You don’t want to lose a stone or have your custom design jewelry piece break.

Now you can sit back and wait. Yep, custom design can take time. Be sure to allow the time for its completion well prior to Valentine’s Day, in case of any changes or flaws. Custom design jewelry is more than the perfect Valentine’s Day gift idea, it’s the perfect statement of your love.

It’s not always easy to figure out the perfect Valentine’s gift, especially when you’ve been with your love for a long time. Early on, it was easy. Diamond earrings, charm bracelets, or a dazzling gemstone brooch was guaranteed to please with little effort. Well, now she’s become a bit more difficult to please when it comes to gift giving. Let’s think outside the box – the jewelry box.

Diamond Earrings

You’ve spent years buying her beautiful jewelry and chances are good that some of the older pieces could use some attention. Most fine jewelers offer professional cleaning and jewelry repair services that can bring new life to old, tired and broken jewelry. While it may not be your normal practice, have a peek into her jewelry box or drawer and see if you can’t revive some of her older pieces that she can no longer wear due to a broken clasp, a missing stone or a kink in a chain. You may just find a hidden treasure that will bring a smile to her face and a memory to her mind.

An alternative Valentine’s Day gift idea also involving her older, broken jewelry is to use the pieces to create an entirely new piece. Custom designed jewelry is more popular today than ever due to the increased use of the internet and design programs at your local jeweler. But, before you decide to take her broken serpentine necklace to be melted down, make sure that she doesn’t already have plans for her old fine jewelry. You need to be slick about it to keep the new piece a secret but if you can’t, it’s better to ruin a surprise than to melt down a piece she intended to fix or that meant the world to her, even broken.

We all know how hard it is to come up with really good Valentine’s Day gift ideas for someone who has everything. Fixing an heirloom watch that hasn’t kept time for decades, or reviving a right hand gemstone ring with a broken prong in the setting might be your answer. One thing to consider when deciding on jewelry repair or custom designed jewelry as a Valentine’s Day gift is that these services take time. Make sure to allow enough time to complete the job so that the gift is ready to be the greatest Valentine’s Day gift idea to date.

When you’re shopping for the holidays, you might not think about fine jewelry as an option for more than your special someone. Well, that isn’t necessarily true. Everyone loves jewelry, diamonds, pretty gemstones and the dazzling sparkle that fine jewelry brings to the holidays. You will be surprised by just how affordable fine jewelry can be for the whole family!

LeVian Jewelry

For the young males in your family, there are many choices of affordable fine jewelry that are sure to bring a smile to the face of the most pubescent crazy kid in your family. Identification bracelets have been popular for decades and can be engraved to express more than just a name. Dog tag necklaces have also gained great popularity over the past few decades, brought forth by our military efforts overseas and made fashionable by our pop stars. There are few teens that wouldn’t appreciate a gold dog tag or ID bracelet as a holiday gift this year.

There is a plethora of affordable fine jewelry to thrill the young women in your family. Everything from children’s rings to diamond earrings can be found with an affordable price tag and the simple beauty to adorn a young lady with class and elegance. Pandora bracelets are a very popular gift choice for women in general but for a young woman in her teens, the gift of a Pandora beaded bracelet can lead to a traditional and highly anticipated gift of additional and meaningful beads given for every gift giving occasion.

Another fine jewelry gift idea for young people in your family that is certain to please is birthstone jewelry. Many fine jewelers carry a large variety of right hand rings inclusive of a range of birthstone styles in addition to bracelets, necklaces, earrings and pins featuring the stones representative of birth months. Be SURE to have the right month for the right person! There is nothing more embarrassing than giving birthstone jewelry to a loved one only to find out you’ve picked the wrong stone. Your jeweler can help you find the right stone, but it’s up to you to know the correct birth date!

Fine jewelry is a wonderful way to add sparkle to the holidays and surprisingly affordable. If you’re diligent in your shopping, you can make the whole family think you must have won the lottery, while only you know the truth.

How are diamonds graded? What exactly makes up the final price you pay at the fine jewelry store? Well, it all comes down to a simple and easy to remember formula – the 4 “C”s of Diamonds. These carry over in some ways to the grading of other gemstones – even pearls – but when we talk about diamonds in relationship to the 4 “C”s, we are talking about a very specific way of exploring production and perfection quality.

4 C’s of Diamonds

Color refers to the hue of the diamond. Chemically perfect diamonds are without hue and translucent, creating the stunning and glamorous shimmer we associate with these stunning natural miracles. However, colored diamonds – while many are synthetically heat treated to produce outlandish and brilliantly unnatural shades of reds and blues – can be even more valuable than diamonds without hue, depending on the type. Pale pink diamonds are extremely rare and highly valued, for example, because their natural impurities are so rare.

Cut refers to the facets of the diamond itself and the shape that it takes, which is all determined by the way in which it is cut and how many planes are carved into the stone. When diamonds are set into specific band settings, they have to be cut in a way that allows them to stay still and safe. Loose diamonds can be inspected more adequately in relationship to cut because all angles are easily visible.

Carat weight refers to the mass of the diamond, or, to put it simply, the amount of diamond you are dealing with. The more diamond, the better, although size and weight is not a hard and fast rule when it comes to value. A very impure diamond with visible surface scratching with certainly be worth less than a smaller and chemically perfect piece.

Lastly, we need to talk about clarity. When we are talking about clarity in reference to diamonds, what we are referring to is the surface scratching, cloudiness, and overall impurities found on the diamond itself. The more visible these impurities are, the more that those impurities will have an effect on the overall value on the diamond. Some impurities can only be seen under extreme magnification, and won’t weigh as heavily. Some are highly visible and detract from the value significantly. It all depends on the diamond.

The 4 “C”s of diamonds is important to understand for anyone who loves precious gemstones and wants to know more about them.

The concept of designing a piece of jewelry may seem like something that can only be done by people who have an excess of both time and money. However changes in technology as well as a renaissance of people dedicated to hand crafted arts has helped custom jewelry design become something that everyone can afford.

Amidon Jewelers Custom Settings

The use and wearing of jewelry may be as old as civilization itself, but it is something that is very modern which has helped revolutionize the industry. Much like they have done for almost every other element of our lives, computers are making custom jewelry design stupendously easier. Using design programs that allow the jewelers to create three dimensional models on the computer means that time and materials do not have to be wasted creating a mock up. In just a few minutes’ time, the jeweler and the client can see exactly what the piece of jewelry will look like. They can determine if it will work structurally and it gives them the opportunity to immediately make any changes on the spot so they can see exactly what they are getting.

Once the technology is done, it is then time for the artisan to take over. Like any other business, the jewelry industry sees itself go through cycles. For many years throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s people associated jewelry stores with the sterile palaces of national chains located inside of malls. At the time it made sense: malls were replacing traditional downtown shopping areas as the place to go for everything, including fine jewelry, and a population that was more on the move than ever before wanted to know they could find the same objects no matter where they were in the country.

Today the pendulum has shifted back and people, instead of looking for conformity are now more interested in self-expression. Combining this with a “return to roots” as people extol the virtues of shopping locally and supporting the businesses of the community have created a demand for professionally trained craftspeople who can help people create custom design jewelry.

The next time there is a need for a piece of fine jewelry, anything from diamond engagement rings to birthday presents, take the time to talk with the jeweler about their custom design possibilities. There is no piece of jewelry more beautiful than the one that is unlike anything else in the world.

Every year designers release new diamond engagement rings, wedding bands and other bridal jewelry. Although they tend to be more conservative when it comes to wedding jewelry than they may be with other lines of fine jewelry in regards to creating work that is trendy instead of timeless, it can still be a difficult choice for someone who is shopping for a ring and hoping that they are not buying a style that will look dated before too long. That is just one of the reasons that diamond solitaire engagement rings continue to be popular to this day.

Amidon Jewelers Solitaire Engagement Rings

Although many people might think the design came about as a practical nature – by eliminating everything but the basics of a gold or silver band with a single diamond set on top of it – the look was actually inspired by the symbolism of the ring. The diamond ring has been a universally accepted symbol of engagement and marriage for centuries and as such, the ring was created to have a sense of purity about it. Instead of being splashy and flashy, the beauty of the ring is formed in the sublime design. It is beautiful not only because of the diamond and the precious metal, but also because of the love it represents.

That in no way is to say that diamond solitaire engagement rings are simple plain designs. They feature a variety of different shaped diamonds as well as different sizes, and today, the gold and silver bands that have been ubiquitous with these rings for decades are now complemented by such metals as platinum, palladium and titanium. There are styles that come with the traditional setting above the ring as well as new looks that feature channel cuts, where the diamond is set within the band itself, a practical choice for people afraid of damaging the ring through active jobs or lifestyles.

There is no such thing as the one perfect diamond engagement ring for everybody, but the diamond solitaire engagement ring comes about as close as possible. There is a reason these rings continue to be the timeless standard bearer for young brides and grooms around the world to this day. Just as they have for generations, today they are the first choice for many people. As a pure symbol of undying love, it may just be the greatest diamond ring style ever created.

There are many factors that go into a jeweler deciding how much each of their diamond engagement rings are going to cost. Some of those are easy for customers to see, such as engagement rings that are completely alike except for the overall size of the diamond, but several others are almost impossible to notice and cannot be seen with the naked eye. One of these determining factors is the clarity of the diamonds being used in the diamond engagement rings.

Amidon Jewelers – Put us to the test

The clarity of diamonds is divided into two categories, blemishes and inclusions. Blemishes are any imperfections that are visible on the surface of the diamond and can be naturally occurring grain boundaries and dark spots as well as cuts and nicks from the cutting process. Inclusions are imperfections that happen inside of the diamond – some jewelers prefer the term “internal characteristics” when grading diamonds – and almost always are naturally occurring imperfections.

Depending on where a diamond falls on the scale of clarity affects the value of the diamond engagement rings they are part of. All of the grading is done in a controlled environment of 10 times magnification and dark field illumination. There are six categories ranging from flawless to included, with several sub-categories in between. By using differently graded diamonds while designing engagement rings, this allows jewelers to offer the same style ring at varying prices, thereby helping everyone get the diamond engagement rings of their dreams while staying within their budget.

It is important to remember that all of the clarity grades are determined by looking at the diamonds through 10 times magnification. Any diamonds that have inclusions visible to the naked eye are not used for diamond engagement rings but rather relegated to industrial use. Only one out of every five diamonds is considered to be of a high enough quality to be used in engagement rings and other fine jewelry.

Clarity is one of the four C’s jewelers use as part of the way to determine the value of diamond engagement rings, the other three being cut, color and carat. Understanding the difference in the clarity of the engagement rings can help you make an informed purchase by spending the appropriate amount of money while still having an engagement ring that looks perfectly flawless to the naked eye. Only you and the jeweler will know the difference.