Fashion Jewelry

Easy ways to shop for your snake ring

Easy ways to shop for your snake ring

Your collection of finger rings can never be complete without the presence of a snake ring. Irrespective of which era you talk about, snake ring has found its presence. Be it due to traditions or due to fashion, these rings have always attracted the crowd in every age.

Those who go by tradition have specific designs in snake rings that they want to purchase. One such traditional design shows the snake eating its own tail. Be it the Greeks, the Victorians or even Romans, all of them have liked snake rings for one reason or the other.

Easy ways to shop for your snake ring

The best part about shopping for snake rings today is that you can find a wide range of designs. While on one hand you have traditional designs to blend with your culture, you also have designs that simply go by imaginations and beauty. The rings today are made by a combination of various stones to give you exactly the right design and beauty you are looking for.

Shopping for snake rings is easy since with the number of stores they are available in. What is more? You even have many shops that have gone online, so you can browse through their catalogue of designs before placing your order. Comparison of prices can also be done online so you can be assured you get the best deals for yourself.

If you have something specific in mind and cannot find it anywhere in the catalogues, you can consider getting it done as per your imagination. There are many vendors who will do a good job at custom made designs too. All you have to do from your end is a little homework in trying to find out the best vendor in your neighborhood who will not just do the job for you but will also do it on time. Photos courtesy of www.anzorjewelrycorp.com and ringoblog.com

Best Diamond Shape For An Engagement Ring

best diamond shape

While purchasing an engagement ring the biggest dilemma is choosing the best diamond shape and cut. The shape of the diamond is the most important aspects that you should consider while choosing a diamond. There are many decisions that you will have to take before choosing the particular ring.
The best diamond shape is essentially one that suits the hand that it accents. There are various cuts and styles but the final product and its shape will be decided by the lapidary who does the cutting. The shape of the diamond will also depend on the initial shape of the raw stone. If there are any flaws in the diamond they must be removed.
There are some basic shapes and the beauty of the stone can be greatly enhanced with proper trimming and rounding off the corners. There are additional facets that are added to increase the beauty and the sparkle of the stone. However, there are many jewelers who deal in specialized stones with special cuts to get the best diamond shape. These cuts are licensed and come under the specific brand names. The classic example is the Hearts on Fire Diamond.

best diamond shape

It is easier to choose the diamond if you know the basic characteristics of each one of the shapes. It depends on the personality, individual preferences, as well as the budget you have. All these factors will play a critical role in making the choice.
The diamonds that are Emerald shaped are rectangular and the corners are trimmed. The pear shape is also known as the teardrop shaped diamond. Heart-shaped diamonds are a popular choice for earrings and pendants. The heart-shaped engagement rings are very romantic. The round ones are the more traditional and classy ones. Marquise is basically an oval shape with tapered edges. There are the Princess, Asscher, oval, and Trilliant cuts as well. Photos courtesy of www.herzogjewelers.com and robbinsbros.files.wordpress.com

Celebrity Diamond Ring – A Matter Of Commitment

The celebrity diamond ring is the topic of conversation most often with the news reports and magazines carrying articles on the ‘big rock’ which means a certain commitment on the part of the man.  While keeping up a commitment for a lunch date can be difficult for most people, making a commitment for life and sealing it with a diamond ring is quite something.
The cliché “diamonds are a girl’s best friend” holds good at all times across various countries, be it a common man or a celebrity. The mention of a diamond ring means wedding bells for most young girls.  Celebrity weddings don’t just stop at the celebrity diamond ring but involves a whole lot of other aspects of the wedding preparation such as designer clothes, over-the-top wedding receptions, pre-nuptial agreements, wedding planners etc.
For the media, it is one of those important events to spot the celebrity diamond ring while it is being waved at the world’s face.  It makes for an interesting piece of news and the appeal of the diamond ring doesn’t seem to wane as more and more celebrities get engaged and make a commitment every other day.  Girls flaunt the diamond ring to announce to the world that they have managed to get their man to commit.  Celebrity couples seal their love for each other with a huge rock and announce to the world that they are in a committed relationship.

Most recently, Kate Middleton got her Prince charming to finally propose and make a commitment.  It isn’t as if diamonds are that rare, but the distribution of these precious gems is highly regulated every year.  The diamond has been the most interesting stone since ages and its sheen never seems to fade with the passage of time.  Celebrity couple or not the diamond is here to stay.

Photo By www.best-diamond-ring.cn and www.rarecoloreddiamonds.com

Some facts about Tanzanite

Tanzanite is the blue/purple variety of the mineral zoisite. It was discovered in the Meralani Hills of Northern Tanzania in 1967, near the city of Arusha. Tanzania is a country in East Africa. Tanzanite is most commonly used as a gemstone and is noted for its remarkably strong trichroism (the ability to display three colors), appearing sapphire blue, violet, and burgundy depending on the viewing angle. Tanzanite in its rough state is usually a reddish brown color and is a rare gem.

Manuel D’Souza, a gold prospector living in Arusha, found transparent fragments of vivid blue and blue-purple gem crystals on a ridge near Mererani, some 40 km southeast of Arusha. He decided that the mineral was olivine but quickly realized that it was not, so he caled it ‘dumortierite’, a blue non-gem mineral. Finally, the Gemological Institute of America correctly identified the new gem as a variety of the mineral zoisite. Correct identification was also made by mineralogists at Harvard University, the British Museum, and Heidelberg University, but the very first person to get the identification right was Ian McCloud, a Tanzanian government geologist based in Dodoma.

Originally called “blue zoisite” it was renamed as part of a campaign by Tiffany & Co., who wanted to capitalize on the rarity of the gem, then only found in Tanzania, but who thought that “blue zoisite” (which might be pronounced like “blue suicide”) wouldn’t sell well. From 1967 to 1972, an estimated two million carats of tanzanite were mined in Tanzania. The mines were later nationalized by the Tanzanian government.

The world’s largest faceted tanzanite is 737.81 carats. Another one of the most famous large tanzanites weighing in at 242 carats is the ‘Queen of Kilimanjaro’. It is set in a tiara and accompanied by with 803 brilliant cut tsavorite garnets and 913 brilliant cut diamonds. Because tanzanite is relatively soft, it is not usually set in necklaces and earrings, so the tiara is truly a rarity. The tiara is currently on display in the Gallery of Gold and Gems at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The exhibition is from the private collection of Michael Scott who was the first CEO of Apple Computers.

The normal primary and secondary hues in tanzanite are blue and purple, not violet. Tanzanite is a trichroic gemstone, meaning that light that enters the stone is divided into three sections, each containing a portion of the visible spectrum. After heating, tanzanite becomes dichroic. The dichroic colors are red and blue.

Except for a few stones that were found close to the surface in the early days of the discovery, Tanzanite is universally heat-treated to produce a range of hues between bluish-purple to purplish-blue. Since heat treatment is universal, it has no effect on price, and finished gems are assumed to be heat-treated. Rarely, tanzanite is found in other colors, green being the rarest, although technically it would be called ‘green zoisite’ rather than tanzanite. These would, of course, be even more expensive than precious Tanzanite.

Black Diamond Rings

There are three types of black diamonds: natural, irradiation treated and heat-treated under high temperature.  In the late 1990’s, one designer started using natural black diamond (carbonado), which had been used for industrial purpose till then, in combination with clear diamonds. This original idea was immediately copied by other designers and it became quite popular. To keep up with a growing demand for black diamond, it required securing sufficient material. As a necessity, artificial irradiation appeared on the scene. This takes otherwise uninteresting diamonds and makes them very dark green so they appear black. The third type of ‘black’ diamond is a new development. The stones were originally natural diamonds of very poor quality single crystals or white to grey polycrystalline crystals, which are turned black by being heated with very high temperatures.

Black Diamonds, as available in most jewelry, are the radiation treated type. Black diamonds are genuine diamonds treated with radiation to make their color appear black. Under normal light, they look black. They are, however, very dark green. To test this, a bright light source should be placed near an edge of the diamond. This allows the light to illuminate some of the interior of the stone. The very dark green color that becomes visible is commonly seen in enhanced black diamonds. The very dark green color that is seen is never seen in natural diamonds. It is a result of the radiation treatment.

What about carbonado as found in Brazil? These black diamonds are untreated and are made of the same material as diamonds, but are quite porous. They also have many holes and gaps in their surface and some grey is often found as well. Because of this, natural carbonado is much more rare than treated diamonds and the cost is much higher when used in jewelry. These are the natural version of the black diamond.

When shopping for Black Diamond Rings, there are many types to pick from. Many styles are  available for men because of the stylish appearance of the black stones. Black Diamond Wedding sets are becoming very popular with certain crowds. Black Diamond pave is also very popular with some ring styles and looks striking. Black Diamond Solitaire Rings are also in vogue with many people snatching up Black Diamond Solitaires whenever they see one that catches their eye.

Black Diamonds are also often mixed with White Diamonds – the standard clear diamond – to create a stunning contrast. Whichever  Black Diamond ring style you choose, you can guarantee it will be a real attention-getter.