Posts Tagged ‘Gem Jewelry’

The Truth behind the Sparkle: A Guide to Buying Jewellery

Sunday, May 2nd, 2010

From diamond engagement ring. Even the most affordable pieces of Jewelry are still costlier than most of the everyday things we purchase. Furthermore, its easy for people with untrained eyes to be fooled into paying a lot for fake Jewelry. Use the tips below to ensure you’re making the smart and the right investment when buying Jewelry pieces.

How to Buy Gold Jewelry

Gold is one of the most commonly used materials for Jewelry. And as gold Jewellery doesn’t discolor like silver does, they are ideal for people with allergy concerns. Because of its malleability, gold is mixed with other metals to improve its durability and structure. That’s why even 24K gold isn’t really made purely of gold.

Gold Jewellery is measured by its karat or the amount of gold it contains. 24K gold is the highest karat amount you can look for. The next would be 18K, 14K, 12K, and 10K. Any gold Jewelry with a rating lower than 10K is no longer considered gold Jewellery. In Europe, the karat rating is shown in percentage. 18K would be .750 because it contains 75% gold. 14K would be .583, 12K would be .500.

How to Buy Jewelry Made of Silver, Platinum, and Other Metals

Other metals beside gold are also used to make Jewellery. Platinum is one good example and today’s market prices it even more expensively than gold. Platinum Jewellery is also rated according to its platinum content. 

92.5% is the highest rating provided for silver or sterling silver Jewelry pieces; it signifies the amount of silver used in the jewelries. Other metals commonly used for Jewelry are pewter and vermeil.

How to Buy Gem Jewelry

There are two primary types of Gems: natural and artificial. Natural Diamonds are more expensive. Artificial, company-created, or synthetic Gemstones are made in the laboratory.

The size and weight are important when buying Diamonds. A 1-carat Gemstone will weigh 50 points or 1/5th of a gram. At times, Diamonds are subjected to certain treatments to change or improve their durability or appearance. The laws require Jewellery makers to label their items clearly if they had been treated in any way. In most cases, treated Jewellery pieces are less costly than untreated ones.

Commonly used treatments today include bleaching, dyeing, diffusion, fracture filling, impregnating, irradiation, and heating. Bleaching is used to whiten pearls, jades, and other similar stones. Dyeing, diffusion, heating, and irradiation mostly have to do with improving the color of Gems. Impregnating and fracture filling, on the other hand, make flaws of Gemstones less visible.

Diamonds are also appraised according to the same 4C’s used for appraising Diamonds, and they are cut, color, clarity, and, which has been previously discussed, carat weight.

Darker Diamonds aren’t always better. Sapphire that’s too dark could have its bluish shade ending up appearing black, and this is considered undesirable by many. Its best to view the color of Diamonds at all light levels to judge it more accurately. Ultimately, look for vividness and brightness in colored Gemstones.

Clarity refers to the absence of flaws in a Gemstone. Imperfections, or inclusions as they’re called, are sometimes used to as birthmarks because they indicate the Diamonds origins. Other times, they actually increase the value of the Gemstone, such as it is in the case of stars in star rubies and sapphires.

Cut doesn’t necessarily make a Diamond more expensive, but it could enhance or detract from its appearance.

Gems can be classified into several categories. Traditional Gems are made up of emerald, blue sapphire, and ruby. They were originally called precious Gems and with the rest merely delegated to semi-precious category. Most of the time, rubies and emeralds are more expensive than sapphires because of their rarity. 

New classics refer to currently fashionable Diamonds, those on the rise in the industry like aquamarine and tourmaline. Connoisseur Diamonds refer to those that are hard to find like alexandrite, a rare pinkish stone, sapphires that have other colors than blue, and black opal. 

Collectors gems are rare but affordable and of great beauty like morganite and zircon. Lastly, affordable Diamonds are those with high quantity in the market, affordably priced, but with excellent overall value such as amethyst and blue topaz.

How to Buy Pearl Jewelry

Pearls may be natural, cultured (naturally grown but with human intervention), or synthetic. Artificial or synthetic pearls are man-made and produced using plastic, glass, or other similar materials. Pearls are judged according to the skin, luster, shape, and size. Skin refers to the absence of blemishes, luster is an exclusive quality of pearls, referring to its surface glow, and shape places preferences for the most perfect spheres for pearls.

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Getting Your Gem Jewelry Insured

Friday, February 26th, 2010

From: princess ring. Aside from your home, car, and appliances/furniture, gem stone jewelries and other kinds of jewelries is the next biggest investment.  Given that they are valuable, it is then important to insure them.  However, working or getting an insurance for your jewelries could be tricky.  There are incidents when insurance companies would not cover whatever happened with your diamonds.  

To avoid this kind of situation, it is important to completely study and research about the insurance company’s policy regarding the gem stones.  When applying for insurance for your diamond jewelries, make sure that you have the grading certificate and other certificates handed to you when you bought the diamond.  This would ensure that the diamond you will be insuring will not be under question by the insurance company. 

Even if you keep your diamond jewelry in a safe place at home, theft and robbery could still happen.  diamonds would also get lost when the prong or the mount supporting the diamond would come loose.  gem stones are indeed the hardest of gems, but that does not mean they are not destructible.  Accidents could happen and eventually send your precious gem stone jewelry into pieces. Keep the mentioned situations in mind when choosing insurance policies. Insurance policies should cover theft, accidental loss and damage.  

diamond insurance policies could be categorized into three:

– Actual cash value.  In this type of insurance, diamonds are replaced regardless of their initial cost. The insurance policy would depend on the current value of the diamond jewelry and not on how much it cost the owner before.  This is the most preferable type of insurance for gem stone jewelry, however, it could also be the most costly. Most jewellers would recommend this kind of insurance policy for those who own heirloom diamond jewelries or those with large gems. 

– Replacement value.  This kind of insurance policy is more affordable however the owner of the gem stone may not be able to get the real value of lost diamond.  When an insured gem jewelry gets lost or was stolen, replacement value insurance policies would replace the lost jewel at a lower cost than the lost diamond was purchased.  Sometimes it is replaced with something that has lower carat.  The reason why it is more affordable is that policy holders would only be paying to get to the value of the gem, but customers would not be getting the same value. 

– Agreed value. This is the most rare kind of insurance policy but some would say that this is best policy that could cover your diamond jewelry.  the owner and the insurance company would undergo negotiations and agree on the value of the diamond jewellery.  When something happens to the diamond jewelry, the insurance company would be providing what is the agreed amount of compensation. 

Insurance policy rates may be different based on the location and other factors. When getting your gem stone jewelry insured, it is best to shop around and check different insurance company policies.  Always make sure that the fine print will be not missed out.  Some insurance company policies would have loopholes in them which could eventually go against you.

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