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.

Why the Price for Natural Diamonds is So High?

This is the question that nearly every second customer asks when he decides to make a purchase. To make it clear it's better to know some basic factors that add to diamond's final price prior you enter a jewelry shop.

1. The amount of diamond-saturated formations under the ground is giving out. Diamonds are formed deep under the ground and are hard to be mined. Moreover, the resources of kimberlite formations containing diamonds are decreasing from year to year. There are some figures to prove that: since 2000 De Beers put up more than $7 billion in mining. With that the amount of carats has dropped from 33.6 million mined in 2007 to 22.7 million mined last year. As you see, more funds are spent for mining though less gems are found.

Some Ways to Get Your Memories Saved

Life is short but still there's enough time to make so many mistakes to people we love. Sometimes it seems nothing can help to redeem it, especially if a person passed away. No one can bring him/her back but there's one way that can help you have him/her closer with you for a bit longer — turning ashes to memorable thing.

The tradition of keeping an urn of ashes on your mantleplace is giving way to a new trend, when you can have personalized memorials of your close person, or even pass them to next generation. The co-operative named Memorials Walshall offers a range of options how to make the memories of a dead person unforgettable: either to turn them into painting, or body tattoo, or blast them in space or even make a diamond jewelry. Let's focus on the last option.

A Unique Blue Moon Diamond Now on Display at Natural History Museum

Petra Diamond Mine is a birthplace of exceptional world-know diamonds that cause a jaw-dropping effect at any auction they appear: first off, by their unique properties and, second, by their extremely high price tags. Since it would take much time to name all those notable diamonds found in Petra mine, let's focus on two latest blue diamonds that were discovered in South African's mine this year.

Early this year a 29.6-carat fancy vivid blue diamond was found and later sold at a record $25.6 million price to Cora International, the leading supplier and manufacturer of white and colored diamonds in the world. Little time passed after that when another blue diamond made headlines due to its unbelievable huge size — 122.5 carats. Petra again proved its status of the mine that produces giant gems. To give you a vivid illustration of what size that is, it's as big as a wall-nut. Taking into account its blue, it looks like it's priceless. So far the fate of the last is still unknown, while there's a follow-up story of a smaller fancy vivid blue.

Julien Macdonald Unveiled a Multi-Million-Dollar Diamond-Encrusted Wedding Dress

How many Welsh fashion designer do you know? Laura Ashley, Kate Lambert, Timothy Everest are among them but Julien Macdonald is the one that is most talked about now. The reason is his diamond-encrusted wedding dress which he unveiled during Fashion Week 2014 in London.

This was the highlight of Macdonald's show, the podium was a match to a gown's beauty – the Royal Opera House. The dress was presented by Abbey Clancy while the Welsh designer got a status of the king of sparkle. The price was also announced - $6.5 million!

The One Hundred Bracelet Dazzles With A Hundred of Diamonds

Rahaminov Diamonds, a diamond jewelry company that won a JCK Jewelers' Choice Award two years in a row, seems to challenge for another prize this year. They have created a unique bracelet which has no equals in the world. It is called “The One Hundred” where 'hundred' stands for a number of diamonds.

Rahaminov Diamonds are know for their bold experiment with color and design. They often use fancy colored diamonds in their collection. The latter are always a win-win option. When there are one hundred of them they are certainly magnetic. The One Hundred bracelet name is self-explanatory. The jewel is made of 18-karat pink gold. The variety of colors and shapers are impressive! You can see fancy green, fancy dark green, fancy yellow, fancy brown pink, fancy intense green, fancy intense yellow, fancy orange brown just to name a few. The shapes include square, brilliant, heart, oval, cushion, pear and on and on! Each diamond in carefully mounted into a bezel setting, the bracelet is 100% hand-made with no analogy in the world. Most of the diamonds used are certified by the Gemological Institute of America.

Diamonds for Charity

Diamonds are expensive and there's hardly a person to doubt that. But it's one thing when a huge some of money they are sold for drop in the pocket of a jewelry collector, and quite another when they raise funds for charity. Hopefully, a lady's diamond watch sponsored by anonymous donor will be sold for a pretty some of money during the charity night in Bury St Edmunds on September 23.

Agatha Christie's Jewelry Found

Agatha Christie, a world known novelist of murder and mystery stories, had been entangled in a mystery herself even many ago after her death. It happened when a fan of her, who bought an old suitcase as a thing to remind about Agatha, discovered a box of jewelry inside.

The fan, who decided to remain anonymous, said that she bought a suitcase in 2006 at the contents of the Greenway estate. That time she paid about $160 for that old traveling case. Inside she saw a locked box, but since the key was lost a new owner didn't bother much on opening it. Four years passed until she had that box opened. That time she had her building work done and got a chance to use some building tools to wretch it open. What she found there stunned her greatly: a purse of golden coins, a ring with three diamonds and a diamond brooch. Most likely all these stuff belonged to Agatha Christie's mother. Now she is selling an ancient brooch ($10,000-$16,000) and a diamond ring ($6,000-$9,000).

Synthetic Diamond Sets the Record

Speaking about the record in terms of diamonds, usually the only thing matters – diamond's size. Indeed, the amount of carats in a diamond gem may skyrocket the price to unbelievable extent. The larger the gem, is the more desired it becomes. Big diamonds are mined from time to time, though they are rare, but when synthetic diamonds are concerned the size here can be a stumbling block.

Thanks to modern technologies diamonds can be grown synthetically inside special chambers under certain conditions. Engineers can make them blue or yellow depending on the wish of a client but it doesn't matter how hard they try they can't grow them large. The record size for a synthetic diamond is 3 carats and the company that can boast such a success in diamond-growing technology is Pure Grown Diamonds (formerly Gemesis).

Let It Go! Or Let the Diamond Rings Fly in the Sky

After the Weeks family had found helium balloons with two rings – wedding and engagement – tied to them as a weight, there are plenty of versions about rings mystery. But all of them have one thing in common – a sad background, a broken heart. Most likely the person/couple tried to let all the memories about the past go.
One thing comes in mind speaking about this story – the words from Rihanna's song “Diamonds” (diamonds in the sky) came true! Or better to say diamonds fall down from the sky, what is a dream for a great number of people and sounds like a happy luck. At least for Melany Weeks and her family. This is how it happened.

Amazing Collection from Kama Schachter Revealed at Indian International Jewelry Show

Jewelry shows are the places where you can't stop oohing and aahing. The brilliance of the showpieces will make your eyes shine but Kama Schachter's collection will also make your jaw drop once you see their exquisite collection revealed during the 31st edition of the show.

Since this is the Asian leading manufacturer of jewelry with a headquarter located in Mumbai, the idea was inspired by Indian culture and traditions. There are beautiful pieces revealed including amazing haath phools, lovely bajubands, impressive long earrings and pendants. The whole collection is a mixture of excellence and handicraft.

Six Filipino Artists Tried Themselves in Designing Diamond Jewelry

This idea came to DENOVO, the jewelry company found and owned by Caryll and Jose Benitez. Each of six designers had a chance to represent his/her own line in the whole unique ensemble. The idea was to not simply make a jewel for the sake of a jewel but to tell a story with the help of a breathtaking tool – diamond jewelry. Being speechless, jewelry still can say things about its owner without words. Are you an arrogant, provoking or romantic person? Sometimes you can't say that about yourself with words, so there is jewelry to do that instead of you and there are six best storytellers to do the job. So this is what they told in their collections:

A Diamond Ring Can One Day Turn Into a Cubic Zirconia Ring

It really can happen and even happened with some clients of one NJ pawn shop. So this is the story of how a Toms River pawn shop huddled a cheat.

Aaron's Gold is a pawn shop in NJ with Ann Paris, a 65-years old lady being an owner, and her nephew Walter Hodnovich Jr. being her manager. Both were arrested a couple of days ago because they were accused in buying stolen jewelry. Surely, they knew the original price for precious items and they could guess it was stolen but instead of informing the police both decided to earn on that case. Conspirators paid only $140 for a double platinum ring that was estimated at $15,000. Moreover, they changed a diamond in a ring into cubic zirconia. By that they broke the rule that the item purchased by a pawn shop should never be altered. Nobody knows whether this was the first time of such kind of a cheat or similar cases happened before. It may happen that the clients of this pawn shop who applied for their help brought back an imitation diamond jewelry instead of a real one.

In this case the owner of the jewelry was found and she had the pictures of jewelry at home, so she could prove the authenticity of each item. But as you see, diamonds have always been, still are and most likely will be an apple of discord for many.