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About Diamonds
- For centuries, men and women have found that the sparkle and brilliance of a quality diamond expresses their deepest emotions and symbolizes their enduring love. Yet with many beautiful diamonds to choose from -- and no two alike -- how do you pick the right diamond while spending wisely? The Diamond Quality Pyramid and the 4Cs, along with the guidance of a trusted jeweler, will lead you to the answer.
- Diamonds categorized as internally flawless reveal no such inclusions. Flawless stones are at the peak of the Diamond Quality Pyramid and are treasured for their rarity and beauty. Diamonds with very, very small inclusions are graded as VVS1 or VVS2. The larger the inclusion, the lower the grade and the less rare the diamond. Inclusions that can be seen with the naked eye are graded I1 or I3.
- To establish a diamond's quality, jewelers examine each of the 4Cs -- cut, clarity, carat weight and color. The combination of the 4Cs determines the value of a particular diamond. For example, a colorless diamond is at the top of the Diamond Quality Pyramid in color ... but if it lacks clarity, is small, or not well cut, it will be of a lower value. The finest stones possess the rarest quality in each of the 4Cs, and are the most valuable.
- Virtually all natural diamonds contain identifying characteristics, yet many are invisible to the naked eye. Under the scrutiny of a jeweler's 10x-magnifying loupe or microscope, natural phenomena -- called inclusions -- may be seen. These are nature's birthmarks, and they may look like tiny crystals, clouds, or feathers.
- A diamond's size is measured in carat weight, and each carat is equal to 100 points. A .75 carat diamond is the same as a 75-point diamond or a 3/4 carat stone.
- While nature determines a diamond's clarity, carat weight and color, the hand of a master craftsman is necessary to release its fire, sparkle and beauty. When a diamond is cut to good proportions, light will reflect from one mirror-like facet to another and disperse through the top of the stone, resulting in a display of brilliance and fire.
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About Gold
- Gold purity is measured by karats. Karat, sometimes represented as; "K" or "Kt." should not be confused with "Carat" which is the unit of measure for diamond and gemstone weight.
- When buying gold jewelry, always look for a Karat mark such as 14k, 18k stamped somewhere on each piece to ensure yours is real gold. Europeans sometimes stamp their gold pieces with 500 representing 14k or 750 representing 18k.
- 18 karat gold is still very soft and not ideal for everyday wear, 14 karat gold is ideal for bridal jewelry as it is durable yet soft enough to allow the jeweler to create fancy settings such as channel and invisible settings.
- Ease of Workability - Gold has the best working qualities of any metal, thereby making it the ideal precious metal for fine jewelry whose designs are meant to reflect and appeal to so many different personalities.
- Solid gold as it is found in nature is 24 karat gold. Unfortunately, solid gold is far too soft for use in most jewelry and requires additional metals, called alloys to be mixed in to make it suitable for jewelry manufacturing. 18 karat gold has 18 parts pure gold and 6 parts alloy, 14 karat has 14 parts pure gold and 10 parts alloy and 10 karat gold has 10 parts pure gold and 14 parts alloy.
- Gold's natural beauty is further enhanced by the soft and exquisite shades of color achieved by combining it with small amounts of other special metals.
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About Gemstones
- Peridot should be a lively lime green, without a brownish or olive cast.
- The majority of gemstones are crystallized minerals. (Important exceptions: pearl and coral are animal origin; jet and amber are vegetable.)
- Amethyst is a variety of quartz, and comes in pale lilac to rich, deep purple shades.
- Ruby is known as the "Lord of the Gems" because of its rarity and beauty. Derived from the Latin word "ruber", it simply means red. Ruby, like sapphire, is a variety of corundum and only exists as a true red in color.
- White opal has a white or light body color with flashes of many colors. Black opal has black, dark blue, dark green or gray body color with vivid flashes of color such as red, pin, and bright green.
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