Antique Engagement Rings

Black Titanium. Hmm. Sounded rather Goth when originally encountered, although I was pleasantly surprised. It referred to the authentic metal and color of a line of wedding and pre-bridal (read: engagement) musts, all produced in it: black titanium wedding bands or black titanium engagement rings-they all displayed an original shine and were amazingly light in weight. However, amazingly hard and robust.

To walk back for a minute, I was in the market for an engagement ring. By convention I considered a diamond engagement ring. My Google hunt led me to comprehend that there were black Titanium diamond engagement rings. This indeed peaked my curiosity. What I revealed was sheer elegance, in the shape of what I learned was termed “Black Titanium Tension Diamond Ring”, a setting approach which sets the diamond in a space of the shank under the pressure of the metal’s force alone. Virtually the full diamond is open to the eye.

It looks like that there are almost no authentic sources to this enchanting metal and look, and most web sites are resellers who promote the similar assortment again and over again. A few makers, it seems, use approximations consisting of titanium that is plated by black substance, be it black diamond or a different technique. The authentic black titanium ring, as I discovered, radiates its genuineness and splendor.

Nothing like a different newcomer on the scene, the black tungsten ring, which is massively heavy, those beauties, the black titanium wedding bands (black titanium wedding rings to some…) are ,by surprise, very light. Despite of its weight, I was invited to try to pry-open the black titanium tension set diamond ring-alas, to no avail. This one was tough to shift an iota…

The sales person was eager to display his other little trick: he picked a small lump of fine steel-wool and rubbed the black titanium ring pretty hard. Nope. None has revealed any mark of graze or fray! By now I was virtually sold on the idea and looks of black titanium. “A ring that truly lasts forever… That’s out of the ordinary” – was my initial notion, when I saw that.

What I was looking for now was design. As, as I said, I came to recognize that manufacturers in real black titanium are few and have developed, it appears, proprietary processes etc., I also developed a knack for a specific black titanium rings design studio, as it was evident to me that their orientation in direction of refined style and obvious leaning in this direction appealed to me. Being manufacturers in black titanium they also offer custom design services in the metal. Actually, I learnt, all their manufacture is “made to order”: they have no stock, so every item is custom designed and normally hand crafted. When you lock on one of their fashions and order it-your ring will be manufactured by them for you, tailored to your specs. While they manufacture in North America and do not mass produce, there is still a time of roughly 2 weeks from placing the order to shipment, (mainly, as it is custom finished) but they are very amiable in consultation and in providing this information before, so I wasn’t very startled.

Another thing that I found extremely positive about this design house is that they use Canadian diamonds for their setting, the brand name of their choice allocates a percentage for each precious stone sale towards clearing landmines in Angola (!). With ethical diamond and an ethical metal (meaning that it is not mined beneath questionable conditions), how unethical can you go in doing the right thing?

Obviously, my choice was a superb black titanium tension setting ring topped with an awesome “conflict free” 1.10 carat lab grown bright yellow authentic diamond, my preference, due to its color, over the Canadian diamond assortment.. Writing this more than two years after my engagement now, I’m still pleased with its color, feel, weight… well, to be honest, I adore virtually everything about it. So does my spouse. Yep, that’s right, she said “Yes” that day

Access useful tips about wedding favours to make – make sure to go through the web page. The time has come when concise information is truly within your reach, use this chance.

If your website was one of your sales staff would you be happy with his results? A good website design should deliver you quality leads and generate a return on your investment – not just than just sit there and look good.

Remember that website design is a marketing activity not a technology decision. So many people seek out a web developer as their first port of call when they need a website. But that’s putting the cart before the horse.

Your first activity when contemplating a website should be to think about your marketing objectives and what job you need your website to do for you.

To do that let us revisit the sales person analogy. If your website was a sales person what should its sales process be? How will it get customers to engage with them and your company. Thinking about this analogy forces you consider what information and functions your website needs to get you real sales results.

For a start, You need to arm your online salesperson with information to they can appear knowledgeable about the benefits of your products and services. He needs to be able to succinctly articulate what your unique selling proposition is.

You need your salesperson to acknowledge that customers are different stages of their buying process and therefore have different informational needs. For example, provide product comparisons for people who haven’t yet decided on the right product, but also provide in depth product information for those who are further advanced in their decision process.

You need people to trust your online salesperson too, so consider what do you need to do or say on your website to engender trust. Even the aesthetics of your website can contribute to trust. A shabby looking website from 1992 isn’t going to help your image.

Not everyone will buy or engage on their first visit. Your online salesperson needs to provide a reason for the customer to come back. Constantly updated content gives people reason to return. Make sure your website is a worthy destination. A website that never changes is like a retail store that doesn’t change their window display. It makes people think they’ve already seen everything you have to offer and they won’t bother to come in.

At some stage in the process, your online salesperson needs to ask the customer’s name and contact details. To do this, you usually need to give them the promise of something in return (eg. early notification of specials, a free assessment). This is a critical point in your sales process. Now your visitor isn’t anonymous, he has a name and you know how to contact him and have permission to do so. At this point, you can call them an actual “lead”. Yippee.

Once your online sales person has promised something they have to deliver. They need to follow up on their promise. If you promised email notifications of sales, make sure you do it. Take every opportunity to re-engage with them. That means more opportunities to communicate with your customers and ultimately make sales.

If you actually want to sell your products online, at some point you need to facilitate the sale. Online shopping cart facilities make this easy. Design your sales process so that it provides a good shopping experience. No-one likes waiting in a checkout queue and similarly online shoppers don’t like clunky purchase processes.

So when you’re ready for a new website – remember, the brief to your web designer should read more like a job description than a shopping list.

Jane Davies is founder and Director of Cat and Moose Marketing Solutions and specialises in online marketing in Brisbane. Cat and Moose Marketing Solutions also advises clients that online marketing be used as part of a broader marketing plan.