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The opinions expressed herein are secretdiamond.com's opinions and do not represent anyone else's or any other company's views in any way.
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Diamonds & Engagement Rings Require Maintenance
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Although I am sure you have heard that a diamond can last forever and that they are the hardest known substance on earth, you might be surprised to learn that they are not indestructible. Diamonds & engagement rings require maintenance in order to preserve their beauty and prevent damage from occurring. Surprisingly the person you may trust the most to handle your diamonds properly, may also be the person that is most likely to chip or crack your diamond.
An interesting fact: A diamond can be the most vulnerable to chipping or cracking while it is being set by the jeweler. This happens to be particularly true with Princess Cut Diamonds. The thinnest and most vulnerable part of a Princess Cut Diamond is at the girdle & corners of the diamond.
If the jeweler presses too hard on the prongs while setting the diamond, he or she can chip off a corner of the diamond. You may also be surprised to learn that there is probably more diamonds damaged this way, than by their owners wearing them. If you bring your engagement ring to a jeweler to be worked on, you should always insist on inspecting the diamond and engagement ring under magnification before you accept the repair. Be sure to inspect the diamond at it’s corners and edges, and look at the prongs for possible stress fractures. You may also want to examine micropave diamonds to see if they are loose or crooked.
HELPFUL DIAMOND ENGAGEMENT RING TIP: This method can be used to see if you have a loose diamond. Place your diamond engagement ring up to your ear. Keep your fingers on the metal portion of your engagement ring and off the diamond/diamonds that you are checking. Then tap the engagement ring with your index finger and listen closely for any rattling. It may help to use a fingernail if you can. If you hear any rattling, then you may have a loose diamond.
As unfortunate as it may be, some jewelers have been known to hide minor chips under the prongs, only to be noticed by the diamond’s owner weeks or months later.
If you own a laser inscribed GIA or EGL certified diamond, also make sure to look under magnification for the inscription on the diamond before you accept your diamond to make sure it’s yours. Many people can tell you a horror story or two about how a dishonest jeweler switched their high quality diamond with a diamond of lower quality and less value. Of course there is also the possibility that a jeweler makes an honest mistake and places the wrong diamond back in your engagement ring.
Proper Diamond Jewelry & Engagement Rings Storage
Although I am sure your engagement ring is beautiful and very special to you, there may come a time when you need to take it off. As much as you probably don’t want to take it off, if you are about to do something that could be harmful to your engagement ring, you will need to take it off your finger and place it somewhere for safekeeping. If you just place it on a counter, you probably won’t need to do much except place it on a soft material and make sure you can’t knock it off the counter very easily. (watch out for toilets and sink drains. I am sure you have heard a story or two about someone knocking their ring in to one of them) However if you have a jewelry box that you like to store your ring in along with other jewelry, you will need to wrap it in a soft cloth to prevent damage to your ring and other jewelry. The diamond in your engagement ring can scratch your other jewelry, and if you are also storing other diamond jewelry in the same place, the diamonds can actually damage each other. Just the metal in the jewelry can scratch each other too.
A couple of things to consider: You may want to consider keeping valuable jewelry or jewelry that has sentimental value (especially if you seldom wear it) in a secure place such as a safe deposit box. Burglars or thieves will often look in obvious places like jewelry boxes or drawers first in search of valuable items like jewelry. Jewelry is a very desirable target for theft because it is easy to grab or stuff in a pocket and can be extremely valuable.
Did you know that you should have your diamond engagement ring inspected twice a year? A diamond engagement ring should be examined by a professional jeweler every 6 months, or sooner if necessary. If you purchased your engagement ring online and have to send it back to where you purchased it from, you may not want to do it every 6 months. Just make sure you keep a close eye on it and send it back at least every 9 months, or sooner if needed. Diamond engagement rings should never go longer than 12 months without being examined by a professional jeweler.
Unfortunately like I tell my customers. Your engagement ring will look it’s very best the day you buy it. Engagement rings are worn on the hand and can take a lot of abuse. All of the activities of every day life can have an impact on your engagement rings beauty. Just think about how much stuff you put your hands. Lotion, soap, sweat and dirt are just a few of the mild things your engagement ring will encounter. Then there are the every day activities like carrying in the groceries, handling your car keys, digging through your purse, and a million of other things that can affect your engagement rings appearance and performance. YOUR DIAMOND ENGAGEMENT RING WILL NEED MAINTENANCE, that is a fact and it is absolutely normal. With that said, it doesn’t mean that you should keep your engagement ring on your finger while doing things like gardening, rock climbing, bull riding or ultimate prize fighting. Just using common sense will help protect your diamond engagement ring.
Even though your diamond engagement ring will go through everyday wear and tear, you can keep it looking good for decades to come with proper maintenance. Whenever the customers at Engagement Rings By Secret Diamond send their engagement rings back for any reason, we always put it through a rigorous inspection. We perform all necessary maintenance issues. We also thoroughly clean, polish, tighten prongs, replace micropave diamonds if needed and re-rhodium white gold engagement rings.
Did you know that you can insure your engagement ring even if you don’t own a home? And you don’t have to buy your engagement ring from a jewelry store to get an engagement ring insurance policy either. The traditional method of insuring an engagement ring against accidental loss or theft was to put it on a homeowners insurance policy. However many new couples just starting out may not own a home yet, or they are not aware of any other methods of insuring their engagement ring. Or they may think it’s just too expensive to insure an engagement ring.
The fact is: Engagement Ring Insurance Is Easy & Engagement Ring Insurance Is Affordable. There is a company online that insures engagement rings for a very reasonable fee. Last time we checked, the cost to insure an engagement ring was approximately 1% of the purchase price. So if you purchase an engagement ring for $3,500 from us, you can insure it for just $35 dollars a year! That’s affordable. The company is called Jewelers Mutual and you can find them at www.jewelersmutual.com. Just call them and ask them how much it is to insure your engagement ring. Their prices may vary a little bit, but whatever the cost is, your engagement ring is worth it.
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SecretDiamond is having our annual Labor Day Engagement Rings Sale. All Engagement Rings, Engagement Ring Sets, and Diamond Stud Earrings are 10% off. Even custom designs. If you don’t see what you want on our site, just tell us what you want, and not only will we beat the other online prices, we will take 10% off our quoted price to you. We can make ANY design big or small! SecretDiamond deals with engagement rings online exclusively, so we know what it takes to make our customers happy with an accomplished amount of testimonials and happy customers backing our success rate for the past several years. We are also noted loose diamond sellers. It doesn’t matter what your desires may be, we can find the perfect diamond for you, and again, beat most of the brick and mortar stores and online prices, and passing the savings onto you. All of our engagement rings can be sold as a stand alone setting as well. Whatever your needs, SecretDiamond will get it for you and save you 100’s even 1000’s off your purchase. |
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This article is about diamond secrets revealed. Learn these little secrets about diamonds online, and buying diamonds will make more sense. The first little secret I would like to cover is that the vast majority of websites selling diamonds online do not actually own the diamonds, or even have them in their possession for that matter. There are 2 major diamond databases that exist for online diamond sellers to use. These diamond databases are where all of the major diamond cutters of the world upload their inventory to. Once they have uploaded their inventory to these databases, the online diamond retailers just pay a programmer to integrate a diamond search engine in to their website. These 2 diamond databases are managed by a company that works with the retailers and charges them a fee according to how many diamonds they want to list for sale on their website. The more diamonds that you list on your website, the larger the fee you will pay per month. If you pay close attention to the diamonds you are looking at, you will probably even see the same diamond listed on more than 1 website. You might even see it on for sale on several websites.
Note: I just looked at one of these diamond databases to see how many diamonds are available for uploading to a retailers website. There are currently 302,217 certified diamonds and 29,224 non-certified diamonds available. That is 331,441 diamonds total. No company I am aware of actually pays to list every diamond available. Many of them are very small or low quality and not worth paying to list. Retailers can limit the sizes that they list and may choose to only list diamonds that are larger than 1/2 carat for instance.
Have you ever gone shopping for diamonds and noticed that some websites tout how they have 25,000 diamonds available? Then you go to the next website and they have 50,000 diamonds for sale. And then you will even find some websites that have 100,000 diamonds for sale. Have you ever wondered how many diamonds 100,000 is? It’s a lot of diamonds. As I write this I am wondering myself how much space 100,000 diamonds would actually take up. I don’t know. I have never had even close to that many. 100,000 is probably a lot of diamonds to even the diamond mining companies.
Now let’s figure out in a pretty raw and quick form, how much those diamonds could be worth. Remember, some of those diamonds will be 1 carat, some will be 2 carats, and some will be 3 carats and even larger than that. So 100,000 diamonds is probably more than 200,000 carats. Now if you calculate that a 1 carat diamond of pretty decent quality can easily cost $4,000-$5,000 and 2 carat diamonds can easily cost $15,000-$25,000 and 3 carat diamonds can go as high as $70,000 (or higher for top quality) the total dollar value of those diamonds is staggering. Even though my formula may be inaccurate, I think if you were to know the actual dollar value of these 100,000 diamonds listed for sale on these websites, I believe that you would see for yourself that it is ridiculous to think they own them all. (Or even any of them)
Note: I just looked up the most expensive diamonds currently for sale on a well known website and listed them below. I have included all of the more popular diamond shapes and their specifications. The Most expensive diamond ever sold at auction was called "The Wittelsbach". It’s a 35.56-carat blue diamond that was mined in India and sold for $24,300,000 in December of 2008.
Price: $1,338,291
Carat weight: 11.52
Cut: Ideal
Color: D
Clarity: Internally Flawless
Can you imagine how expensive the round diamond listed above would be if it were a better color grade or better clarity grade, or both? WOW!
Price: $245,555
Carat weight: 5.00
Cut: Very Good
Color: F
Clarity: VVS2
* The Emerald Cut Diamond
Price: $920,104
Carat weight: 10.02
Cut: Very Good
Color: E
Clarity: VVS2
* The Asscher Cut Diamond
Price: $383,946
Carat weight: 8.22
Cut: Good
Color: H
Clarity: VVS2
* The Marquise Cut Diamond
Price: $662,594
Carat weight: 6.48
Cut: Very Good
Color: D
Clarity: IF
* The Oval Cut Diamond
Price: $538,996
Carat weight: 5.27
Cut: Very Good
Color: D
Clarity: IF
* The Radiant Cut Diamond
Price: $635,136
Carat weight: 11.16
Cut: Very Good
Color: D
Clarity: VS2
* The Pear Cut Diamond
Price: $1,112,115
Carat weight: 13.01
Cut: Very Good
Color: E
Clarity: VVS2
* The Heart Cut Diamond
Price: $617,935
Carat weight: 5.78
Cut: Very Good
Color: D
Clarity: Internally Flawless
* The Cushion Cut Diamond
Price: $539,721
Carat weight: 5.12
Cut: Very Good
Color: D
Clarity: Internally Flawless
Now if you add up the cost of these 10 diamonds, you will see that they total just under $7,000,000. Again remember this is just 10 diamonds listed on this website. Now imagine if you have 100,000 diamonds listed on a website. I would like to add that up for you, but unfortunately I don’t have a week to do it, but I am sure the total amount would be staggering.
My point is that if you sit down and really think about it, you will see that it is almost impossible for any ONE online retailer to actually own all of these diamonds. (Unless you are De Beers) You will certainly have a larger selection to choose from if you visit a diamond search engine with 100,000 diamonds listed, but don’t let them fool you in to thinking that they have them in their possession. Just call them for yourself and ask them to pull one out of their safe and examine it for you. They will more than likely tell you that they can’t. They will have to call the diamond wholesaler first and have them do it. They may try to tell you that it is out on "memo". This means that they "allegedly" loaned the diamond to another retailer to try and sell. This is probably the most widely used fabrication in the industry. It is simply used as a stalling technique to allow them more time to get the diamond in to their possession from the diamond wholesaler.
Now you are prepared with the truth about how diamonds are sold online. As you go shopping for your diamond engagement ring, call and speak with some of these companies. Listen for yourself to their answers and see if they are being honest with you about the diamonds they sell and their company. Don’t be afraid to ask them about their company and how they can assure you that you will be protected in your purchase. If you really want to be safe from unscrupulous "Diamond Companies", due your homework and be your own investigator. There actually are many good and honest engagement ring sellers out there today to buy from, just make sure you pick one of THEM!
A little bit about our engagement rings company. It’s called Engagement Rings By Secret Diamond and it is located at www.SecretDiamond.com. We are a custom manufacturer of designer diamond engagement rings. All of our engagement rings are handcrafted in the USA using only the finest materials. We make all of our engagement rings to order, per your specifications. You can have your choice of precious metal that include all of the following: 14k white gold, 14k yellow gold, 18k white gold, 18k yellow gold, Palladium and Platinum. We will make your engagement ring exactly to your ring size and we will even manufacture in 1/4 sizes. If you get the ring size wrong, we will resize it for free. All of our engagement rings are shipped fully insured and signature required. You are not responsible for a lost or stolen engagement ring unless you sign for it. Although our engagement rings website is built to cater to the clarity enhanced diamonds market, we also have access to all of the diamonds you see listed on other websites. We will make your engagement ring with the center diamond of your choice, whether it’s an EGL certified diamond, GIA certified diamond or certified clarity enhanced diamond. You may also purchase only the engagement ring setting if you would like and we use only non-enhanced diamonds in all of our settings. The diamonds in our engagement ring settings are all high quality diamonds with an average clarity grade of VS2-SI1, and average color grade of G. They are all very well cut diamonds that will sparkle nicely. Please feel free to call us on our toll free number at 1-877-999-9920 with any questions you may have. We enjoy speaking with our customers very much and we will take as much time as you need, to make you feel comfortable with buying a diamond online. We know it can be a little bit scary making such a large purchase, but we can assure you that we have done everything we can to make our company as transparent to you as we can. We have an excellent reputation and our standing with the BBB is top rated. We have never had even a single complaint registered against us in thousands of online diamond engagement ring transactions. We stand proudly by our record and we hope to hear from you soon.
Although round diamonds have been the most popular diamond shape in years past, the Princess Cut is quickly gaining ground. What is it about this particular diamond shape that is making it more popular by the day? Is it the name; Princess Cut? Is it the brilliance of the diamond? Or Is it the price? Yes, if all things are equal, Princess Shape Diamonds are generally less expensive than round shape diamonds. This is because there is less waste created when cutting a princess diamond than a round diamond. (A princess cut will typically yield approximately 60% to 62% of it’s original rough diamond weight) However based upon my experience speaking with thousands of our customers, the cheaper price does not seem to be the primary factor when purchasing their engagement rings or diamond stud earrings. The number one reason for considering this beautiful shaped diamond is for it’s unique qualities.
I think it’s important to note that a very desirable quality of a princess cut diamond is to have it’s measurements as square as possible. Princess diamonds that are more rectangular rather than perfectly square, are generally less expensive and less desirable. Always look for as close to perfectly square as possible in your princess engagement ring or stud earrings. A length to width ratio of 1.05 or less is recommended.
The Princess Cut was invented in 1980 and is known as a brilliant cut diamond, rather than a step cut, like an emerald shape. It’s 4 corners are sharp and uncut, unlike that of a radiant. Depending upon how the diamond is cut, it will typically result in a diamond that has either 50 facets ( 21 on the crown, 4 on the girdle, & 25 facets on the pavilion)
It can also be cut in a manner that produces 58 facets. This type of cut will yield 21 facets on the crown, 4 on the girdle, and 33 facets on the pavilion.
Stay Tuned For Additional Facts About The “Princess Cut”
Princess Cut Diamonds and Round Brilliant Cut Diamonds are the 2 most popular diamond shapes purchased for diamond engagement rings, by far. They are also the most popular diamond shapes used for diamond stud earrings. Traditionally Round Diamonds have been the most popular, however the Princess Cut Diamond has been surging in popularity for the past several years. I personally know many people in the diamond business and they all confirm that Princess cut diamonds are their best sellers. Even though Round Brilliant Cut Diamonds probably account for more diamond sales throughout the country, we actually sell more Princess cut diamonds at our online Engagement Ring Store. Below are pictures of a Princess diamond and a round diamond, as well as how they are faceted.
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The 3rd most popular diamond shape is Radiant. Radiant diamonds are probably not as well known to new couples, as Princess and Rounds. If they were better well known, I am sure there would be more sales of them Nationally. Quite often I speak with a customer that did their preliminary shopping at a Jewelry Store and saw a Radiant cut diamond. They probably went in to the jewelry store thinking that they wanted a Princess cut diamond, but changed their mind after seeing a very well cut Radiant. Radiants are faceted differently than Princess diamonds and when they are cut well, they can be extremely sparkly! However they do not have the Glamorous name “Princess” cut diamond, and I believe that has an impact on their sales. The name is not as memorable or Romantic. What woman does not want to be treated as a Princess?
Radiant diamonds sparkle differently than Princess diamonds. They tend to sparkle all over the entire diamond more than Princess, and their sparkle tends to resemble the sparkle of a round diamond.
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Below you will see a Radiant cut diamond as well as a diagram of it’s faceting.
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A Radiant Cut Diamond placed in a Diamond Engagement Ring Setting
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All of the rest of the diamond shapes combined do not total the number of Princess cut diamonds or round cut diamonds sold in the USA. This includes shapes such as the Marquise, The Emerald, The Cushion, The Trillion, The Pear, The Heart and The Asscher Cut Diamond.
One more note. If all of the characteristics are equal in 2 diamonds such as it’s clarity grade, color grade , carat weight and it’s cut grade, a round brilliant cut diamond will cost the most. This is because there is more waste created. It takes a larger rough diamond to create the same carat weight round diamond as it does the other shapes.
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