
		Home

	Jewelry for Men
	What Is Hot Now - for Weddings - for the Groomsman
	Jewelry Buyer's guide
	How to Tie Your Tie
	Everything About Man's Bracelets
	Necklace, Chain, Ring, Earring- How to Wear These
	Determining Your Ring Size
	Sapphire Ring
	Jewelry and watch links

Jewelry Buyer's guide

Pearls

The Makings of a Pearl

Pearls begin when a grain of sand or another piece of pearl contained in the oyster’s shell. The oyster- to protect itself secretes multiple layers of a calcium carbonate substance that is called nacre around the foreign object to isolate it from the rest of the oyster. After a couple of years, the original irritant is covered in a silky coat and that is a pearl.

The natural and cultured pearls are born and grow inside live oysters. The difference between them is that natural pearls are formed by nature, or by chance, and cultured pearls are made by man’s assistance by injecting an irritant into the oyster.

How to Buy Pearls

There are six key factors that one must consider:

LUSTER – Luster is pearl's brightness, sheen or glow. What constitutes a bright luster is the combination of surface quality and the inner glow of the pearl. With high quality pearls a glow will seem to emanate from within the pearl, especially when light reflects from its surface. Dull, too white, or chalky are not high quality pearls.

SIZE – The larger the pearl the greater its value is.

SURFACE- A clean and a smooth surface is a sign of a high quality pearl. The more flawless a pearl is the greater value it will have. A pearl should be clean of cracks and blemishes.

SHAPE – A pearl can be round shaped, oval shaped, pear shaped, half round shaped, button-type, circled, or baroque. The chances of an oyster producing a perfectly round pearl is very very low and the value of a pearl is adjusted accordingly. Although, asymmetrical “baroque” pearls have appeal of their own and are generally less expensive.

COLOR- purchasing a pearl take a look for a brilliant color. The color range of a cultured pearl is black to pink. When deciding on what color you want your pearl to be it is best to choose according to your own skin tone. Overtones of green, blue, and pink can complement the right skin tone color, but also may look unattractive on the wrong skin tone. Cream and gold pearls complement darker skin tones, while pink and silver white pearls complement fair skin tones.

UNIFORMITY – When you selec more than one pearl, uniformity matters. Since every pearl produced is one of a kind the more uniformed a strand or pair of pearls the greater its value.

Care of Pearls

Pearls are soft and need special care and attention. Never store your pearls in a jewelry box next to other jewelry, both the box and other pieces of jewelry can damage pearls by scratching and nicking, so keep them in a fabric lined box or fabric pouch.

Skin produces fats that can harm your pearls, so regularly worn pearls should be wiped down with a soft cloth after every wear. A pearl necklace will gradually absorb acid from the skin that will eat into the pearl causing it to lose its luster.If you desire you can even use a drop of olive oil on your cleansing cloth to help maintain your pearl’s luster.

Along with being soft and easily scratched, pearls can be damaged by chemicals and heat. Only use jewelry cleaner is clearly marked safe for pearls. Never use a ultrasonic cleanser. Never use dish or wash detergents, baking soda or ammonia based cleansers. Never use toothbrushes, or other abrasive materials to clean your pearls. Always take away your pearls before you use any cosmetics, hair spray, and perfume. Avoid heat and dry air because both can cause pearls to turn brown, dry out, and crack.

Silver

Silver is one of the first metals to be used and can be traced back to the ancient Egyptian and Byzantine empires. The work of silver was also popular in colonial America where it developed along other craft traditions. Silver is now the metal that is mostly used throughout the world.

How to Buy Silver

In its purest state, silver is as soft as gold and therefore it is generally alloyed with another metal, usually copper, to add strength. The silver finish can be polished to a high sheen that not even platinum can match. It can also take on different textures when made into jewelry like polishing, matte and brushed, sandblasted, oxidized, or antiqued. Silver will take on a worn looking finish because of a response that happens the wearer’s skin so before purchasing a piece of silver jewelry make sure that you are not allergic to silver, often. All sterling silver must be marked as such.

Rhodium Plated – a tarnish free finish

Care of Silver

Silver requires more maintenance then any other metal. Tarnishing occurs because silver reacts to pollutants in the air, which is then exacerbated by moisture and heat. Tarnishing can be removed by chemical removing solution.

Diamonds

Diamonds are the hardest of all substances on the earth. They are incredibly resistant scratching and can only be polished and scratched by another diamond, but an extremely hard blow to the girdle can cause a chip. By having your diamond placed in a protective setting your diamond can stay intact for a lifetime. Their sparkle, if cared for well, will remain undiminished for hundreds and hundreds of years.

How to Buy a Diamond

CARAT – The size and weight of a diamond is always classified by carats and points. One hundred points make up one carat. A diamond that weighs less then one hundred points is sometimes identified in point size, for example a 0.55 carat diamond can also be titled as a 55 point diamond. Larger stones are found a lot less frequently then smaller stones making larger diamonds more valuable. Usually, the pricing of diamonds goes up with the carat size.

CLARITY – The greater a diamond’s clarity, the greater its brilliance, sparkle, value and price. Perfect clarity diamonds are the most sought after and therefore are the most expensive. Most diamonds have inclusions, which are scratches, trace minerals, or any other tiny flaw that takes away from the natural beauty of a diamond. These so called birthmarks resemble tiny clouds, crystals or feathers. Diamonds that are classified as flawless show no inclusions, these are rare and sought after because of their beauty. Diamonds with extremely tiny inclusions follow flawless diamonds in quality, because the larger and the more visible the inclusions the lower the quality and rarity forcing the value of that diamond to go down.

The number, type, color, size and position of surface and internal inclusions affect the value of the diamond. The reason for this being that large inclusions can disrupt the path of light as it travels through the stone, taking away from its sparkle and value. Rating are marked as FL for flawless, IF for internally flawless, VVS1 and VVS2 for very very slightly included, SI1 and SI2 slightly included.

CUT – The cut of a diamond, or the roundness, depth, width, and uniformity of the facets, determine a diamond’s brilliance. The width and depth have the greatest effect on how light exits a diamond in the form of brilliance. In a diamond that has been cut very shallow light is lost through the sides causing the diamond to lose its brilliance. If the diamond that is cut too deep light will escape through the bottom causing the diamond to appear dark and dull. The proportions of a diamond, specifically the depth compared to the diameter, and the diameter of the table compared to the diameter of the diamond, determine how light will reflect and refract within a diamond. While nature establishes the color, clarity, and carat weight of a diamond a skilled artisan is necessary to unveil a diamond’s inner beauty. When a diamond is cut well, light reflects from one mirror like facet to another and radiates through the top of the diamond.

COLOR – Diamonds are graded by color. A diamond can divide light into a spectrum of colors and reflect this light as colorful flashes called "fire". A true colorless stone is very rare and sought after for their quality. The less color in a diamond, the more colorful the fire, the better the color grade. Grading goes by the letters in the alphabet, D being the greatest color quality and Z being the lowest color quality.

Diamonds Care

Even though diamonds last forever, they must be cleaned periodically to ensure their brilliance. A solution of one part ammonia and six parts water can be used to clean diamond jewelry. It is also a good idea to have your diamonds checked once a year by a professional to ensure the setting is secure.

Gemstones

Gems types:
Precious gemstones – Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, etc..
Semi-precious gemstones – Alexandrite, Amethyst, Aquamarine, Agate, Beryl, Citrine, Garnet, Spinel, Opal, Spinel, Tanzanite, Topaz, Turquoise, Zircon, Tourmaline, Zircon, Peridot

Purchasing a gemstone there are the five characteristics to consider:

COLOR – Gemstone's color is its most defining feature. When deciding upon a gemstone color it is important to look at its tone, hue and saturation. Jewelry industry as a whole recognizes the highest quality gemstones by their red, green, or blue hue, a medium to dark tone, and saturated color. The most valuable gemstones exhibit a pure color and only slight hues of other colors in addition to their primary color. Tone represents the depth of the color, which can range from colorless to black. The tone of a gemstone is described as “light”, “medium-light”, “medium”, “medium-dark”, and “dark”. Color purity, or saturation, refers to the degree in which the gem is free of brown or gray hues. The gemstones that are most sought after show little gray or brown and are often referred to as having vivid or strong color saturation.

CLARITY – Gemstones form under unique circumstances and each individual gemstone is comprised of a combination of trace minerals that create identifying marks or inclusions in the gemstone itself. Gemstones that are flawless are very rare and valuable and even the most high-end gemstones are at least slightly flawed. The best value is found in gems that are lightly to moderately included.

SIZE – Gemstones can be cut into a round, square, oval, or pear shape. The carat weight of a gemstone is not necessarily an accurate gauge for a gemstone only because all gemstones have different densities. Two gemstones that have the same carat weight may actually have a different weight.

ENHANCEMENTS – Almost all gemstones available have been enhanced. Gemstones that have not been enhanced are very recognizable because of their incredibly high cost. Some enhancements are an expected part of the polishing and finishing process and are accepted by the jewelry industry as a whole. Almost every ruby or sapphire that you would find has been heated. Heating completes a process that nature started, which is to enhance the gemstone to brilliant colors of blues and reds. Placing emeralds in oil has been going on for centuries and fills tiny fissures in emeralds to make them even more beautiful.

CUT – Color saturation determines a gemstones cut. A greater color saturation requires a shallow cut, while less color saturation requires a deeper cut. With gemstones you will not find an ideal cut that is geometrically configured for brilliance like diamonds. To determine if a gemstone is top quality or not, in terms of its cut, look at the setting and make sure that all the facets are symmetrical. An asymmetrical cut crown indicates a gemstone of low quality. A well-cut gemstone is symmetrical and reflects light evenly across the surface and the polish of the stone is smooth without any nicks. CABOCHON - a highly polished, convex-cut, unfaceted style

Care of Gemstones

Gemstones should be cleaned with warm water, an ammonia based detergent, and a small brush. Always keep gemstone jewelry in a soft pouch and never let two pieces touch because scratching can occur.