Beauty Tips Guides

Everyone knows that if you want to impress the woman of your dreams, the best thing you can do is buy her a diamond. A diamond ring is the most popular form of engagement ring in the world and every girl loves to show off a good quality solitaire on her finger. But how can you be sure the diamond you’re getting is a good quality one?

Any diamond worth its weight will come with certification. GIA certified diamonds will have had their cut, carat, clarity and colour graded. Their dimensions will be measured exactly and every possible snippet of information that can be gleaned from the stone will be entered on the certificate.

All this grading is carried out by the Gemological Institute of America who have developed the world recognised method of grading diamonds. Their motive for carrying out this process is to preserve integrity in the world diamond markets. It reduces the possibility of fake diamonds flooding the market although there is still some room for this to happen. The Institute employs well over one thousand people in research centres throughout the world who are trained to give GIA certified diamonds the grades they come with.
If you are in any doubt as to what this means, then know that Governments have used the GIA as a trusted information source and even the British crown jewels have GIA certified diamonds in them.

Owning a GIA certified diamond does not necessarily mean it is worth any more than an uncertified diamond but it simply means that you can be sure of its quality. However, appraisers are the people responsible for deciding how much a diamond is worth and they often use the GIA certification as a guide to the quality and thus a way to gauge the price.

It is also easier for a diamond owner to insure his precious gem with a GIA certificate. It removes the element of doubt as to its quality and therefore the amount it is insured for is unlikely to be questioned. It also means that you can rest assured you are not purchasing an imitation stone or one of poor quality.

Of course, with all things, there is the risk of forgery on paperwork. This element is all but done away with after GIA introduced holograms, microprint lines and security screens. Eventually, forgers will find a way round these barriers but the GIA will continue to work towards staying on top of the issue to ensure the stones bearing the GIA certificate are always seen as genuine.

Of all the diamonds on the planet, the most costly are coloured diamonds. Diamonds develop colour because of some impurities but it is the fact that they are so rare that means they are worth more than clear diamonds. Diamonds come in shades of purple, orange, green, blue, pink, yellow, brown, black and the rarest red. They are much more expensive per carat than the average diamond and the most expensive ever sold was a purplish red diamond that sold at auction for $926, 317 per carat. That was its price at auction over twenty years ago so no doubt some lucky person is sitting on an absolute money pot.

Coloured diamonds are also subject to GIA certification and although the colour is actually a flaw, this imperfection brings a uniqueness to the stone that many people like and these flaws are measured as to their consistency. If colour is even distributed throughout the diamond then it will look better and be worth more to the highest bidder.

Expert jeweller Catherine Harvey takes a look at GIA certified diamonds and what this certification means.

Diamonds used to be the symbol of the rich and famous. Having always been the most precious stone on earth has always meant that they have come at a high price. Because of this, it always makes a girl feel special to have a diamond ring bought for her. That said, the standard of living for those in the Western world has risen at an unprecedented rate over the last one hundred years and more and more people are now able to afford diamonds.

When you think of a diamond, you mind is immediately drawn to the single solitaire diamond rings that you see in the jewellers windows for engagements but there are so many more uses for them. Smaller diamonds are often used in men’s rings or to decorate the cheaper rings. However, diamond necklaces and earrings are also popular.

It is also a domain of the rich and famous to decorate watches and mobile phones with diamonds. In fact, if you look hard enough on the internet you will find pretty much anything you want can be encrusted with diamonds if you have the money to pay for it.

Speaking personally, and I hope my boyfriend is reading this, if I was to ever wear an engagement ring, it would have to be a diamond ring. To me, the solitaire diamond ring with a brilliantly cut stone that sparkles in any light is one that would show me how much I mean to him.

If you have an unlimited amount of money you can even buy a coloured diamond. These are more expensive that the average clear or white diamond because they are rarer to come by but the colour is brought about by impurities. While a red diamond may well be pretty and unbelievably expensive, I wouldn’t know the difference between that and a much cheaper ruby so, again for the boyfriends benefit, a clear diamond ring is just fine, thank you very much.

There are plenty of imitation diamond rings about but it doesn’t take much of an eye to be able to spot the cheaper versions. There are also some very poor quality diamonds on the market and the best way to ensure you are getting what you are paying for is to buy a diamond ring where the ring comes with a GIA certified diamond. This will tell you the quality of the diamond in its carat, colour and clarity as well as many other details.

Diamonds account for half of all precious stones sold throughout the world and the grading of the stones is an important aspect of how much they will be worth when it comes to valuing them. The better the quality, understandably, the more expensive they will be.

There is a whole industry set up throughout the world training people to grade diamonds. They will look for impurities that alter colour and clarity, they will measure them very precisely and they will also judge them on the cut. A well cut diamond will reflect light off every surface and this gives the diamond its brilliance. This is why you can look at two diamond rings of the same size and one will sparkle more than the other. Once again, for the boyfriends benefit, I’m not so concerned with lots of sparkle from lots of cuts. I much prefer the flatter surfaced one that means you can see depth to the diamond, but that’s just my opinion and the only one that should count as far as him indoors is concerned.

Jewellery expert Catherine Harvey looks at what makes a diamond ring the goal of all women looking to settle down.

Time keeping means a great deal more now than it did years ago. Times have moved on apace and there is a real sense of urgency to cram as much in as possible to our lives. Of those people that up sticks and move abroad to take on an entirely different lifestyle it’s mostly to escape the rat race that sees them being held as slaves to the clock. Yet, you don’t have to look that far back in history to see that lives were governed by the simplest clocks of all - the sun and the moon.

Simple time-keeping was determined by the amount of daylight hours were available and this also led to the changing of things from one season to another. Now that we have the luxury of keeping track of time via mechanical methods day and night have become blurred to the point that the world functions twenty four hours a day.

So, what brought about the keeping of time in such a strict fashion? Well, we have the Swiss to thank for this. Crude time keeping pieces were already in existence but the reforms of 1790 restricting the wearing of jewels meant that the jewellers and craftsmen had to turn their hands to something else that would earn them their living.

So, this is where the making of watches came in. The Swiss have been famous for their watch-making skills ever since and there has been many a top designer originating from this area of the world to bring luxury watches to the masses.

It seems the Swiss have a natural penchant for the delicate handling and immense patience that it takes to build watches and the majority of them are built by hand even still. This is why a luxury watch is just that - because time is a true luxury and to know that you are wearing an item on your wrist that has taken at least one man hours and hours of time to put together is pretty special.

The Watchmakers Guild of Geneva was established in 1601 ushering in a standard that all watchmakers should set their time pieces by. Today, Hong Kong and Japan produce more watches than the Swiss do but there is a major difference. The Far East produce more ‘disposable’ watches whereas the Swiss produce much finer luxury watches that take up over fifty five per cent of the world watch market. By 1790, the Swiss were responsible for exporting 60,000 luxury watches per annum. Given that the population around this time was around one billion, that’s quite some proportion. The standardisation of watch components helped a great deal as did some machinery that was constructed by dedicated watch builders that meant that the Swiss were producing the most accurate watches by a big margin.

The Swiss have been responsible for so many firsts in the making of luxury watches that this by far puts them at the undisputed forefront of watch making. They have produced the world’s first wrist watch, the first water resistant watch, the first quartz watch as well as the thinnest, smallest, most expensive luxury watch on the market. They undoubtedly have always produced the most accurate of timepieces and have proved their dedication to continuing with perfection with patience and skill.

Horological expert Catherine Harvey looks at how the Swiss have established themsleves as luxury watch makers of excellence.

There are two groups of people in life. There are those that mature at the age of ten into forty year olds, the ones that revel in turning up at school in a tie with their shirts tucked in. Then there are those that make it to twelve or thirteen with all the hang ups that this age bracket bring and before you know it have actually turned forty with little more maturity than in their teenage years.

It has to be said that as much as people like to think they have become mature and grown up, the majority of us manage to maintain a childish streak well into our early thirties. It is precisely that childish streak that, when we are at school tells us to rebel against our uniforms and try to express our individuality by tying our ties around our heads and break all the rules by hanging our shirts outside of our trousers.

This is precisely why schools implement a strict uniform code. It means that, in theory, we are all going to look the same. There will be no way of telling who is poor and who isn’t, who can keep up with current trends and who can’t. But that is only theory. See a child in nylon hand me downs and while they may be the same colour as everyone else’s, you can still see it. However, the intention is there to make everyone feel the same, to avoid one rubbish excuse for bullying and to give us all a sense of belonging.

Then, when we grow up, we get the anoraks that matured at the age of ten in charge of us at work who wish to use the same rubbish excuses to introduce work uniforms. The work uniform will undoubtedly be nylon. It will be fashioned in a non-fashionable way to ensure we equally look like idiots and to avoid any differences between the male and female work force, it will be bland and shapeless.

Work uniforms are, I believe, a form of oppression. Grown adults residing in a country that prides itself on its freedom of expression are now being told what we are allowed to wear every day? It is argued that a work uniform is a way of protecting our own clothes but those of us that are still at the immature stage don’t want to wear uniforms - we want to express our individuality still and wear what we want.

This is where I am lucky. Where I work, the work uniform is limited to those who are meeting and greeting clients. The rest of us turn up in our jeans and trainers and in the summer, our surfing shorts and flip flops. The women simply love the competition that means they don’t have to wear work uniforms. Some days they turn up dressed to the nines in killer heels and skirts and there is certainly an amount of rivalry going on but if it makes them feel better, what does it matter.

And I, for one, do not see a problem with that. Surely, at the end of the day, the objective is to get the work done quickly and efficiently. Speaking from personal experience, this is easier to do if we are comfortable.

But then, maybe that shows that we are more mature than the anoraks would have us believe. If we can turn up to work in any old clobber, do the job to the best of our ability and then go home why would we need a work uniform to push us into this?

Fasion expert Catherine Harvey looks at what makes employees want to enforce work uniforms instead of allowing freedom of expression.

A woman who favors unique jewelry is a woman who prefers to be unique. Unlike others, beaded bracelet jewelry allows women to create signature variations. Each bracelet is as individualized as the woman who wears it - from elegant chic to simplistic minimalist.

Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, a popular jewelry maker has its own in-house studio where dedicated designers work hard to ensure consistent innovative integrity and originality in their products. The factory employs 250 highly trained silversmiths and goldsmiths who perfect every design into a finished jewelry product.

Each piece of jewelry is handcrafted from 14K gold and sterling silver. In 2003, the jewelry line made its debut in North America to rave reviews from women who love creating their own look and style with bracelets.
Each bracelet is divided into three sections by small threads. A woman chooses the beads for her bracelet, which are each equipped with interior threads, allowing them to be spun individually to a bracelet segment in any order desired. The beads move freely and rotate slightly with the wrist’s movement, creating an undeniable eye-catching and stunning effect.

In addition to its dramatic appearance, the bracelets tell personal stories with the use of charms along with Murano glass beads and semi-precious gems. One glance at her bracelet, the wearer is reminded of special moments which have been commemorated with fun charms and birthstones set in a design totally unlike another. The designs become a snapshot of a woman’s life. Earrings, rings, necklaces, and brooches are also available to complement the signature bracelet.
Women find they are unable to just buy one bead. And some women have gone on to create other bracelets to add to their collections. Upon the recent opening of local retail jewelry stores, one bracelet-clad woman came to the new store to purchase another bracelet - the 11th in her collection.

Adding to their own collections, women honored at GLAMOUR Magazine’s 18th Annual Women of the Year Awards in October 2007 were presented with a customized bracelet that reflects their personal style and achievements. Every year GLAMOUR Magazine honors women from a variety of fields including entertainment, business, sports, music, education, and politics. Among the honorees, A-list actress Jennifer Garner was recognized for her work with the American Lung Association and the Children’s Defense Fund. Her reputation for being one of the most grounded women in Hollywood was reflected in a jewelry design punctuated with gold and “key to my heart” charm.

Designer/activist Donna Karen has been dressing the modern American woman with her own label since 1985. Karen has started her own initiative called Urban Zen which blends Eastern and Western medicines and yoga practices to support integrative healing at hospitals. Her special bracelet was inspired by this woman’s reputation as a “style force.”

“Hit maker” Shonda Rhimes is credited as the first African-American woman producer of a top television show, Grey’s Anatomy. Through the show Rhimes aims to “celebrate the imperfections that make life so interesting.” Her bracelet designed with the glitz of gold also sparkles with a signature “R” charm and safety chain.

Other GLAMOUR Women of the Year winners wearing included Elizabeth Edwards, Victoria Hale, Lara Logan, Alice Water, Abigail Breslin, and Toni Morrison.
Whatever a woman’s accomplishments, unique bracelets allow her to express her own look and style. She may feel Bohemian romantic, elegant chic, charmed sophisticate, or raw grace from one day to the next. It’s her choice. Designs are described as romantic, modern, and reflections of timeless symbols of love - attributes for which any woman can relate.
Lewis Jewelers is proud to carry the full line of Pandora Jewelry. Pandora bracelets, Pandora charms and Pandora beads are only a part of the collection. For more information, contact Lewis Jewelers at 877-88-LEWIS

Lewis Jewelers is proud to carry the full line of Pandora Jewelry. Pandora bracelets, Pandora charms and Pandora beads are only a part of the collection. For more information, Lewis Jewelers, 2000 West Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48103, 877-88-LEWIS or visit the website.

When someone says ‘diamonds are forever’, they very often refer to a De Beers advertisement or product used for many years to promote this product as an exquisite gift for their loved ones. However the diamond gem has been a subject of much controversy and struggle, especially for the people in Africa. As the movie ‘Blood Diamond’ will summarise, it has been a product of mush bloodshed, conflict and a high number of death tolls.

Since diamonds are girl’s best friend, many people are unaware of its importance in the world. This is not merely just a pretty little gem nested onto an expensive metal ring. These are something that has seen much historical controversy in the war torn parts of Africa. However, on the flipside, where diamonds are mined legally, they have played a part in improving the quality of life in Africa, more specifically in funding for education for young people, health education, and livelihood for many of the African people and create developmental projects.

Where the term conflict diamonds is used is when the diamonds are traded illegally, which is believed to fund conflict and military weapons in war torn areas, such as central and Western Africa. The first known instances of conflict diamonds came about during the early 1990’s in Sierra Leone, whereby illicit mining of diamond were performed funding the conflict ridden country. Other areas of conflict were notable in Liberia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Ivory Coast.

Sierra Leone was one of the countries which had suffered a brutal civil war for over ten years, from 1991 through 2002. This had sparked the Revolution United Front (RUF) who had terrorized the population, taking control of the diamond trading and using the funds to prolong the war. Approximately half a million of Sierra Leones people were forced to flee the country, with thousands missing and numerous killed.

The UN had established one of the biggest Peacekeeping group (UNAMSIL), sending a mission to Sierra Leone in order to disarm and demobilise the illegal trading. By 2002 the mission had succeeded in their goal, abolishing the conflict diamonds trade. The mission had also enabled peace in Sierra Leone, with the country becoming a Democratic country. However, the diamond mining now plays a crucial part in developing the country, with the funding enabling a more stable future for the country. This is done through Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS).

The KPCS was set up in 2003 to prevent the illegal trading of rough diamonds, by creating a non-conflict rough diamond trading. In order for countries to participate they must ensure that the diamond gems are traded legitimately and are not used to fund any rebel group of any sort. These countries will need to become a member and must go through a strict procedure to warrant them as legal trading. This has contributed to the abolition of conflict diamond trading.

In November 2006, 71 countries had become members of this organisation making it possible to stop conflict diamond from entering into the trading process. Since this process has been in place and actions have been taken to counter conflict diamond trading, countries like Namibia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Angola have received the benefits of the diamond trade. This has enabled improvements in the healthcare system, with Sierra Leone exporting three percent of the worlds diamond in 2006.

Diamond manufacturers in the UK now trade with conflict free diamond, making sure that they provide sufficient certification to prove it is conflict free. The Kimberley Process functions on the basis of safely trading diamonds, continuing to reduce the level of illegal diamond trading to less than one percent (a dramatic decrease) and investigating into any suspicious trading that may be operating.

For people looking for that extra special diamond, it is worth researching into whether this is conflict free through ensuring they have legitimate certification, are able to answer your questions on the subject of conflict free diamond and hold a conflict free diamond policy. The certification is warranty free and must be cleared through the Kimberley Process and/or System of Warranties. Never be afraid to ask questions about this, as you want to walk away reassured that the special diamond ring is benefiting the country and not funding conflict.

Anna Stenning has studied the historical background of diamonds, the conflicts over diamond mining and the devastating affects it has had on parts of Africa.