Diamond Dilemma — to Buy or is There an Alternative?

Valentine's day is just around the corner with heart-shaped postcards and sweets in every shop window. But for those who plan to engage this day (this is the most popular day for such an event), there can be some worries about – an engagement ring. Traditionally, it is a diamond ring and if you are still thinking of making a proposal, it can hit your pocket greatly. But are there alternative options that would cost less? Continue reading to find that!

1. A ring with a heirloom diamond. Diamonds are everlasting and they are known as handed-down things in many families. So if you have such a diamond you can have it set into a vintage ring. It won't cost as much but this gift will indeed be priceless. It's like having a ring with its own history. There's a website “Turtle Love” offering vintage rings, so you can hunt for one if you want.

Raphaele Canot Diamond Jewelry Debut in the U.S.

Diamond gems are normally associated with solidity and sophistication. But as it turned out, much depends on jewelry design. Raphaele Canot opted for playful whimsical designs for her diamonds gems, unexpected color solutions and unusual combinations to show that diamond jewelery can be a fun!

Have you ever seen diamonds alongside enamel decoration of eye-popping colors? This is the mixture you won't find every day, but it looks flattering. It seems Ms. Canot could turn a classic diamond stone into a casual fling. 

Rahpaele Canot wanted to make a fresh approach and created an alternative to classic jewelry. You can see whether she succeeded on not from her Art-Deco-inspired bracelets and ring collection. There's a funny 'OMG' ring, that is actually a tribute to one of the most popular American exclamations 'Oh My God!'. It is made in a shape of lips, where a wearer has to insert a finger through an opened mouth to put it on. The upper lip is decorated with diamonds, while the whole idea of a lip motif is caught when one moves the finger. A smiling ring, a funny jewelry!

Gold and Diamond Sharing Event in Dubai. Take Part in a Raffle!

Do you know what is the largest gold and jewelry promotional campaign ever? The Gold and Jewelry Mega Raffle in Dubai. The event is in full swing now starting from January 1, 2015 and it will last till February 1, 2015.

Every visitor will get a chance to win the price. Speaking about the last, the amount offered for prize winnings is $4.1 million, including 40 carats of diamonds and 100 kilos of gold! What every willing visitor should do is to buy any of participating outlets and spend AED 500 ($135) for that. In turn a raffle coupon will be given to the buyer. With the help of it a person gets a chance to win 1 kilo of gold or 1 carat of diamond in an everyday draw; 5 kilos of gold in a weekly draw and 40 kilos worth prize and 8 carats of diamonds (the largest is 5 carats in size) at the final draw. If a person wants to double his/her chance for winning, he or she has to buy one more raffle ticket.

Another unexpected thing of this event is a 5 kilometer-length chain called 'Dubai Celebration Chain'. It's made of 160 kilograms of 22 carat gold. This chain set a record as the world's longest hand-made gold chain. This long item weighs 256 kilograms and has more than 4 million links! It is said that more than 100 craftsmen worked on this unusual jewelry for a period of 45 days.

As you see, the Gold and Jewelry Mega Raffle is going to be a great experience for any guest and a 'one of a kind' sort of event to attend.

Dispelling the Myths of the Crater of Diamonds State Park

We've presented the stories of people who have found diamonds in the world-known park Crater of Diamonds (here and here). Annually a great number of tourists come to the part of try their luck in digging an everlasting stone. In 2014 the number of such adventurers was 559! And this number doesn't decrease over the years. Instead the myths about this park and diamonds are growing larger. Margi Jenks, a park interpreter, who can boast 6 years of experience of working in this park, agreed to dispel four most common wrong beliefs about the diamonds of the Crater of Diamonds State Park:

1 – Diamonds found in the park are oily. They are not, but this can be the effect of little static electric charge of diamonds (actually any diamond, not exactly one found in this field). The last makes them feel slick, which people treat as greasiness.

Apple Watch Shining in Diamonds

Do you want the hottest smartwatch to start this new 2015 year with? It's definitely Apple Watch, what these are diamonds that make it really an iconic piece of jewelry.

The basic version of Apple Watch costs $349 and its gold alternative cost as much as $5,000. If that is still a small price tag you are fond of diamond jewelry than you can order diamond encrusted Apple Watch from Mervis, but be ready to pay around $30,000 per item. The device is not yet available for purchase. A customer can pre-order the device now but still it will be ready not sooner than in summer 2015.

Naomi Campbell in Fur and Diamonds!

A super model Naomi Campbell is wearing nothing but fur and incredible jewelry for Madame Figaro Magazine's latest issue. In her 44 years she looks gorgeous with her short-hair style and seems to be born for wearing this beauty!

All jewelry is massive and impressive, like meant to compensate lack of clothing. There are diamonds, sapphires, garnets, emeralds and more. Diamonds are set in white gold. All in all the pictures below are worth a thousand words (pictures below):

Memorial Diamonds Are Getting Popular in China

In some religions there's a belief that the death is just the beginning. We aren't going to discuss ideological ideas here but to show that once a close person passes away there are some options of how to bury him/her. One of the options that is getting very popular in China is turning ashes of a dead person into memorial diamonds. Here are some reasons whey more and more people decide on this alternative method instead of traditional burial on the mainland:

1 It helps to keep memory longer and closer – memorial diamonds are like real diamonds. They are solid, long-lasting and fadeless. Due to the growing process human ash undergoes high pressure high temperature processing and tightens to a diamond (from 500 grams of ashes come out 1-2 carat diamond stone). A person then can make a diamond jewelry and always keep it close.

Making Diamonds Out of Peanut Butter

It may sound weird but still it looks like even peanut butter may shine one day. Currently scientists from the Bayerisches Geoinstitute in Germany are taking pains in finding what Earth's mantle is actually made of. Want they or not but it is closely connected with diamond formation. Though the composition of the last is known but it's still unbelievable how carbon can be transferred into the most solid stone in the world with the change of conditions.

The team of researchers lead by David Robson are studying possible constituents of lower mantle, because it's still unknown what it consists of. There exists much information on upper layers but lower layers are buried too deep under the ground to be studied. However, there are chambers in the laboratories where the conditions are very close to real. So they take certain materials and expose them to high pressure and high temperature to make them denser. Among the most odd materials peanut butter was taken. This is not a random choice. In fact this is a carbonaceous material which under heat and pressure turned into small diamonds.