June 4, 2008

Women’s Guide to Getting Their Dream Diamond Engagement Ring

How can women get their dream diamond engagement ring when it is the boyfriend making the purchase and wanting it to be a surprise? To find the answer you need to understand your man’s thought process. After all, he is shopping for a diamond, the symbol of his love for you.

The man shopping for an engagement diamond has three primary shopping priorities:

1) They want to make a good investment
2) They want to make you happy
3) They fear disappointing you or worse yet, rejection

On all three points, men act out of fear of making a mistake. Their pride and desire to surprise their girlfriend typically prohibit them from asking the woman’s advice. As men so often do, they try to apply logic to what is a very emotional decision.

Most men attack diamond shopping the same as any other problem they face. They research the subject, gather all the facts (often in a spreadsheet), and then make a logical decision. They assume you will have the same priorities they have so they focus on what will be a good investment. They seek a high quality diamond fearing that anything less will as somehow imply some lower level of love.

The man’s first stop is often the jewelry store in the closest shopping mall. They walk in the door and realize they just entered a world foreign to them. They look at rings in the display cases and see more zeros in the price tag than they have seen since they bought their car. Their heart starts pounding as they realize they have to spend thousands of dollars on a tiny little rock they know nothing about, then give it away to someone else or worse yet, face rejection.

Now their legs are shaking so they decide they need to do more research and do it in a friendlier environment. They head home, turn on the computer, and start searching online for clues on how to survive the diamond buying process. Their goal is to find a pretty ring their girlfriend will like and have a few dollars left in their pocket. They feel more comfortable with the discussions of the four C’s (color, clarity, carat weight and cut) where they can match up those letter grades with their budget to find some possible options. However, with a little knowledge comes the sinking feeling that there is a whole lot more for them to learn in order to protect themselves from making an expensive mistake. They become even more determined not to make a mistake so they spend the next weeks and months gathering ever fact and opinion they can find on diamond buying. It is almost like trying to get a drink from a fire hydrant. There is just too much to drink in.

It is at this stage of the shopping process men sometimes forget the reason they started on this adventure in the first place. They can lose sight of the fact that their primary goal is to make their girlfriend happy.

If you are a woman, by now you are probably getting the picture. However, you are asking yourself, what should I do to help ensure the diamond of my dreams and the proposal moment as romantic as I hope?

Here are some suggestions that can help make your dreams come true:

1) Do some shopping yourself so you can tell your boyfriend what shape of diamond you like best on your finger. Do not leave it up to him to guess wrong.

2) If you sense this is going to be mostly a surprise gift, drop some subtle hints about what kind of mounting (solitaire, side stones, etc.) you want for your diamond. If you do not know, hint you want something very simple so he does not make an expensive mistake.

3) If you have a strong preference for the type of metal in the ring (yellow gold, white gold, platinum), find a way to tell him.

4) If you have the type of relationship that supports it, get involved in the diamond buying process. There are more couples shopping together for the engagement ring now than ever before and the result is often higher levels of happiness and lower levels of stress.

Many couples now shop together so the boyfriend knows what shape of diamond the girlfriend likes, knows what style of mounting she likes and then he takes that knowledge to buy the ring on his own timetable and make the presentation a surprise.

The bottom line is your man is trying, to the best of his ability, to do all the right things to make you happy. You just need to be patient and try to appreciate the effort he is making on your behalf. If you would like to see this diamond gift giving repeated, then by all means tell him how proud you are of his research show him how much you love that sparkling diamond on your finger.

Denny Reinke is the Vice-President of Diamond Source of Virginia, an online diamond retailer specializing in loose diamonds, diamond rings and diamond jewelry located in Richmond, Virginia and on the web at http://www.diamondsourceva.com. You can also visit Denny’s blog at http://www.diamonds.blogs.com

Gold Wedding Jewelry for Men

For men’s gold jewelry - individuality is the universal message. For a growing group of men, the only way to achieve individuality is to have their gold jewelry custom designed. Men like being involved in the design process, so they will end up with something totally unique. The new trend in men’s gold jewelry - whether custom designed or carefully selected - seems to boil down to individual taste and style.

Modern men want something more innovative in their wedding bands and rings particularly. Thanks to a growing group of artisans who are rethinking the design of men’s gold jewelry, men have more choice than ever before. The new wedding rings and bands run the gamut from modern, sculptural designs to turn-of-the century antiques. And the matte finishes on many of these rings and bands have an undeniable modernity.

Gold often has a special symbolic meaning, and men who prefer a lighter colored metal will find great choices in white gold wedding bands. While buying a white gold wedding bands, men need not worry about the cost since white gold tends to cost about the same as yellow gold.

Some rings and bands are even a combination of precious metals: Jewelry designers are mixing metal colors - like yellow with white gold, or traces of once popular platinum. Platinum was the standard in the early 1960s but gradually the trend moved to white gold.

For some men, only a real heirloom jewelry will do - particularly for their wedding day. They want something steeped in history that symbolizes the long-term commitment they’re making. And here, too, the trend is toward that single gold band. The rich artistry of these pieces can easily substitute for the lack of precious gems in wedding bands.

If you are looking to buy cheap men’s wedding bands, then you should always remember that your wedding band is a piece of jewelry that you are going to wear all the time and therefore, it’s very important to choose a band that you really like. So, look for hottest styles in wedding bands and not just one that’s cheap.

It is also possible to design your own wedding band by combining multiple wedding band designs. You can select your own band shape, size and mix of colors. These can be combined together to make a unique wedding band that fits your personal style.

© 2005, Kathy Burns-Millyard. Visit GiftBoxJewelry.com for an excellent selection of jewelry including wedding bands, and jewelry for men.

June 3, 2008

Cubic Zirconias and Moissanite

Cubic Zirconias and moissanite have just one thing in common, they are both jewels. Of course they can both be used to make pretty jewellery but other then that they are just both jewels. Cubic Zirconias are good sellers when it comes to the jewellery market. They are fairly cheap to purchase and they are just as cheap to maintain. After all you do not want to buy jewellery and then watch it fade away after a few months. Cubic zirconias and moissanite are actually pretty hard to get a hold of. Many jewellers do find it hard to keep up with the demand for these jewels. Which can be strange because they are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Cubic Zirconias are as already stated cheap to purchase, whereas moissanite is very expensive to purchase. If you want to go all out and buy moissanite diamonds jewellery then you are going to be paying a lot for that pleasure.

Moissanite diamonds sets of jewellery are just as hard to get hold of as moissanite jewellery itself. However these moissanite diamonds are the greatest pieces of jewellery that you can purchase. These moissanite diamonds will have diamonds around the outside and the moissanite itself will be the centre piece. Imagine the look on that special someone’s face when they open their present to see a gorgeous moissanite diamonds ring. There is nothing else better to give to someone for their special day. You can get moissanite diamonds engagement rings, wedding rings and even anniversary rings. So for that ultimate special occasion you can be prepared and by giving your partner a stunning gift like a moissanite diamonds ring you know that this gift will be greatly appreciated by the recipient.

Cubic Zirconias also have the same effect on the recipient. They do look very nice and cubic zirconias can also be used on rings and pendants. If you do not know much about jewels then you can easily confuse a cubic zirconia jewel for a diamond jewel. But you will notice the difference when you feel the weight of each of these jewels. A cubic zirconia is 3 times more heavier then a diamond jewel and this means that almost anyone can tell the difference between a cubic zirconia and a diamond when they hold them. But when looking at them it is almost impossible to tell the difference if you do not know what to look for.

http://www.artificialdiamonds.net/