Smart Gems

The appeal of diamonds and other precious gems has endured for eons. They confer on the wearer a feeling of beauty, value, status. We are drawn to them and we all have our personal favorites. Sometimes it’s our birthstone. For others, a particular stone reflects a favorite color. There is almost a magical feeling when you are near them, the energy they create it is palpable.

While the clear diamond has been the traditional stone of choice for engagement and wedding bands, other stones are actually more valued and prized because of their rarity. The sapphire has often been the stone of choice for royal betrothal rings. When Princess Diana selected her 18-carat sapphire-and-diamond engagement ring, she selected one of the rarest stones on the earth. When Jennifer Lopez was engaged to Ben Affleck, she sported a 6-carat pink diamond ring. Camilla Parker-Bowles chose an emerald ring when she became engaged to Prince Charles.

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Amethyst is a violet or purple variety of quartz often used as an ornament or jewelry. The name comes from the Greek A (not) and methuskein (“to intoxicate”), a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness; the ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication.

Amethyst was used as a gemstone by the ancient Egyptians and was largely employed in antiquity for intaglios. Beads of amethyst are found in Anglo-Saxon graves in England.
Amethyst has been in use for thousands of years in magic, healing and psychic empowerment. Its violet color makes this one of the most sought after variety of quartz. It has a large number of qualities and uses that have been given it over the years and it is said to be a stone that radiates energy which has often been referred to as the purple ray.

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It’s hard to imagine that a mineral with a name as mundane as corundum yields gems as exquisite as the ruby and sapphire, or even that these two stones, so different in color and mystique, are actually the same mineral family.

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I noticed the other day that my boss actually has a sapphire ring for her engagement ring, and another friend has an emerald ring. Both rings are beautiful and such a difference from the tried and true diamond engagement ring. In fact there are many different kinds of rings that work well as engagement rings and wedding rings, not just diamond rings.

A variety of gemstone rings can be used, such as pearl rings, sapphire rings, emerald rings, ruby rings, aquamarine rings, amethyst rings, topaz rings, pink sapphire rings, and even garnet rings! So why limit yourself to a plain old engagement ring when you can have a bit of variety?

Head on over to mysolitare.com to check out their great variety of rings available.

There were a few benefits to marrying the Emperor Napoleon, if you loved jewelry, that is! The Marie-Louise diadem, now part of the Smithsonian Collection, was a wedding gift from Napoleon I to his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise in 1810. The diadem was originally part of a set that also included a necklace, comb, belt buckle, and earrings, all made of emeralds and diamonds set in silver and gold. They were all made by French Jeweler Etienne Nitot et Fils of Paris.

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As a species, we love to adorn ourselves with jewelry, makeup, hair accessories. We do it now to enhance our looks, to attract a mate and because it just makes us feel good about ourselves. Some forms of adornment are symbolic – like wedding rings. Or they’re used to make a statement about our lifestyle, like multiple piercings and earrings.

Have you ever wondered what the origins are of such self-decoration? Was there a meaning behind it? Or did we just start wearing beads, necklaces and earrings as our awareness of self increased and as we evolved?

We know that the earliest jewelry of bits of bones, shells and other personal adornments appeared in graves about 40,000 years ago. The idea that there was an afterlife, and the belief in spirits both good and bad, gave rise to the means to attract the good spirits and ward off the bad ones.

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Find the best pearl jewelries for any occasion. Go to www.sunshinepearls.com where you’ll discover the amazing collection of pearl jewelries such as akoya pearl necklaces, tahitan pearl necklaces and a huge variety of pearl necklaces.

Sunshine pearls doesn’t just offer pearl necklaces, they also have pearl earrings and pendants. The pearl jewelries are exceptional and can be compared to those that are found in the high end jewelry stores but for a fraction of its price. Imagine getting an 85% lesser price than those that are found in expensive stores. They are far cheaper because these jewelries are bought directly from the source. Akoya pearl necklaces are obtained from japan, Tahitian pear necklaces are from French Polynesia, and south see pearls are from Australia.

Another great thing about the company is that they provide a certification for the pearl necklaces and to each of their pearl jewelries. This certificate of guarantee describes each piece of its quality, and retail value. They only offer the finest and the highest grade pearls for their customers.

Their website provides the best information about pearls. There are even a collection of articles that talk about pearls. It is pretty easy to navigate, features are simple but precise and images are provided for each product.

The term fire is commonly used to describe a diamond, but what does it refer to? The ancient Greeks thought that fire in a diamond symbolized the eternal flame of love. Fire in a diamond is the dispersed light that appears as rainbow-like flashes of color. You can usually observe a diamond’s fire in places like restaurants or clubs where the light is lower. The amount of fire depends on how the stone is cut and faceted. Older cut diamonds appear as if they have more fire because they’re cut with steep crown angles and flatter tables of the facets.

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About Diamonds

One doesn’t normally associate beautiful Fine Jewelry with the time of the Spanish Inquisition. But in the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of gems, there is an exquisite necklace of diamonds and emeralds.

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Many people equate the term carat with the size of a diamond, and as carat size increases, so will the carat weight. But the operative word there is weight. Carat refers to the weight of a diamond and is equal to roughly 200 milligrams which is less than a ¼ of an ounce. A carat can also be broken up into 100 points. So ¾ of a carat is also 75 points.

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About Diamonds