McHenry Fashion County

Archive for the ‘Jewelry’ Category

Diamond wedding rings are no longer just for women. Many grooms today choose to purchase a man’s diamond wedding ring to match the bride’s. Still others enjoy the social status that comes with wearing a diamond wedding band. Purchasing a diamond wedding ring means that the groom must consider not only the material and design of the ring, but also the quality of the diamonds.

Although often not considered to be as important as the diamonds in the bride’s engagement and wedding rings, the groom’s diamonds should also be purchased with care. The man should take the same “4 Cs” into consideration: carat weight, clarity, color, and cut.

A carat is exactly 200 milligrams, but very few men’s bands will sport a diamond of this size. Most bands will instead have several smaller diamonds that may of may not equal one full carat. A full carat is also equal to 100 points, so a jeweler may refer to a ring as having several 10 point diamonds (each of which would be equal to one tenth of a carat).

While the clarity of a diamond is often considered the least important of the 4 Cs, it is still a key consideration in your diamond purchase. The clarity of a diamond measures the number and extent of the flaws in the diamond. For the most part, a more valuable diamond will have fewer flaws. It is extremely rare that you will find a completely flawless diamond; only a couple hundred “FL” diamonds are produced a year. Although there are several grading systems used to determine a diamond’s clarity, the Gemological Institute of America’s (GIA) score is by far the most popular. It ranks diamonds as Flawless (FL), Internally Flawless (IF), Very Very Slightly Included (VVS), Very Slightly Included (VS), Slightly Included (SI), and Included (I). (Note: inclusions are slight specks, cracks, or other flaws in a diamond). These ranks are not subjective; the scale has extremely specific criteria that are used to differentiate between the grades.

The color of the stone, referring to how yellow the stone is, can also be graded on a GIA scale. An ideal diamond is completely colorless, being ranked as a D. The alphabetical scale ranks nearly colorless stones as I and J , increasingly yellow beginning with M/N, and a Z is a completely yellow stone. The average color for engagement diamonds in the United States is G to H.

The cut of a diamond is possibly the most confusing of the “4 Cs,” since it can refer to the cutting style, the shape of the stone (round, square, heart-shaped, etc), its proportions, or the workmanship and the diamond-cutting process. The brilliant round cut is the most common cut for diamond engagement rings and wedding bands.

Clarity is an important aspect of a diamond, and it is important to know how to grade the clarity of a diamond before you buy one. It is actually quite easy to learn how to grade the clarity of a diamond.

There are basically two things that you must understand:

Diamonds with visual inclusions and blemishes, and those that are eye clean meaning that there are no inclusions or blemishesthat can be seen with the naked eye. From there, the clarity of a diamond is further broken down into subcategories.

Many people mistakenly think that diamond clarity refers to how clear it is. This isnt so. Clarity actually refers to the internal and external imperfections of the diamond. The best diamonds, of course get a grade of FL or IF Flawless or Internally Flawless meaning that it is perfect. A grade of I-1, I-2 or I-3 means that the diamond is imperfect, with a grade of I-3 being the worst.

Other grades are VVS1 and VVS2, which means that the diamond is very, very slightly imperfect; VS1 and VS2, meaning the diamond is very slightly imperfect; SI-1 and SI-2, which means that the diamond is slightly imperfect.

When buying diamonds and diamond jewelry, visit a reputable dealer and ask the right questions. By doing your due diligence, you will be happy with the result of your eventual purchases.

Looking for options of things that can be good gifts can be confusing to some people. One of the main reasons is because there are too many options to choose from. If the occasion is an anniversary, perhaps the best option of gift is a piece of jewellery. There are many people who are somehow feeling afraid to want to go for a piece of jewellery to be given as a gift because of the fact that normally it costs expensive. Actually, the price depends on where the jewellery is bought. At an simulated diamond jewellery the prices can be cheaper. It is down to the fact that the shop owner does not need to rent any lot for the store.

There are many companies that have a website where people can look for the jewellery collection and purchase from them. Not all the jewellery is expensive. Some companies also sell cheap jewellery like simulated diamond rings, diamond rings, diamond bracelets, diamond earrings, etc. And not all the pieces are for women, but there are also mens diamond jewellery pieces to choose from. The online collection is also generally as various as what the local jewellery shops have to offer.