Ever seen a French comedy where the husband gives his beloved wife a piece of jewellery. She opens the black box in excitement. Her face drops when she looks inside: her husband has lovingly given her a black leather choker with silver studs reminiscent of a dog collar. The tragi-comic irony of the story is that when it comes to necklaces, or mens’ necklaces to be more precise, anything goes. If it’s a choice between neckties and necklaces, men’s necklaces revel in fashion glory. Take a look around you notice how men wearing men's necklaces have evolved.

Beaded necklaces for the spiritually leaning kind of man, chokers for the body builder at the gym perhaps? Chunky gold necklaces for the younger bolder man, blinging it to the nines. And then there’s the more understated silver necklace with pendant for the slightly mature, sophisticated man who wants to exude charm and confidence. Whatever shape or form the men’s necklace comes in, the male race is out wearing them with pride.

The boom in necklaces has seen fine jewellers tripping over themselves to satisfy the growth of mens' interest in jewellery. Fine jewellers like Tiffanys have expanded its usual watch and cufflink collections to include a broad range of sporty men’s jewellery including mens’ necklaces, pendants, rings and bracelets. Tiffanys have also designed a number of simple, masculine jewellery styles in titanium steel and silver.

In a recent US poll, 75 percent of men said they enjoy wearing jewellery and 80 percent of women say they find men who wear jewellery sexy. Today’s generation of men are fashion conscious, they care about street cred and will pay attention to fine detail. There seems to be more of an understanding that wearing a piece of jewellery, like a mens’ necklace is essential to completing a look.

With the World Cup in full swing, fine jewellers and big fashion houses have spotted the potential for branding with soccer players. Suddenly footballers are the new, rising media stars with a high international profile. What better way to advertise mens’ necklaces, jewellery or clothes than a footballer with rippling muscles in motion, sporting an earring that is bound to play on the mass public conscience? Zinedine Zidane of the French team is the face of Dior's Eau Savage, and Lukas Podolski of Germany sells Axe body spray. Brazil’s Ronaldinho, the world’s most talented footballer, wears his hair pulled back to reveal a pair of gaudy earrings with his number cast in diamonds. Japan’s answer to Beckham, sometimes referred to as the Asian Becks has also been known to wear the occasional piece of mens’ jewellery.

It is evident that the fashion conscious persona has swept across Europe. Hairstyled players with sunglasses and mens’ jewellery may seem contrived to some but for the most part these players pull off the fashion look because they are talented players. At least for the moment, fine jewellers of mens’ necklaces, pendants, rings and earrings are living the advertising dream.

According to a recent survey in the US, around forty percent of women thought men wearing jewellery other than a watch and a wedding band, exuded confidence. So guys, if you want to impress the ladies or you just want to impress, here’s a brief guide to what looks hip and cool in mens’ jewellery.

Mens’ earrings: You’ve seen photos of David Beckham wearing a pair of diamond earrings. England’s full-back footballer, Ashley Cole wears a diamond stud too. If you have quite a chiselled jaw line, a pair of studs or a single stud will set off the sparkle in your eyes.

Mens’ bracelets: Wearing a bracelet is probably the nearest you will get to revealing your feminine side. Let’s face it, when you’re used to wearing a watch, the ultimate masculine item of jewellery, you’re bold, know what you want in life and if you’re wearing a good functional watch, you have no excuse of not turning up to work or a hot date on time. Balance that with a chunky bracelet on your naked wrist could send confusing signals. The best option perhaps is wear a simple, silver bracelet. Johnny Depp wears a leather bracelet. Some guys wear power bracelets; like the string of dark grey beads for balance and sense of security. Girls are more likely to take note that you think beyond the realms of the practicalities in life and have the scope to enter the spiritual zone.

Mens’ necklaces: Seen Oceans Twelve, where Brad Pitt is wearing an understated silver necklace and cool cufflinks? Well a lot of men had gone in search of “Brad Pitt” pieces after seeing the film. If you have a short, wide neck it’s best to steer clear of necklaces that grasp the neckline. Better worn, is a long necklace which suits most men with different facial structures and necklines. Necklaces don’t just stop at the movies. Note that a few male tennis players competing at Wimbledon this year are sporting a little of their feminine side whilst scoring aces and running around in volleys.

Mens’ rings: Whether you want to bling it or keep it understated, wearing a ring for costume jewellery shows that you’re an urban metro sexual of the younger kind. Younger guys may prefer to wear rings on most of their fingers. The actor Ving Rhames from Pulp Fiction wears rings both on and off screen. More mature guys are more likely to be minimal and wear classically designed titanium pieces. And if you can splash out, a small diamond will set you apart from the crowd.

AN EASY GUIDE TO EAR AND BODY JEWELLERY-CARE

Up until recent times there was little or no restriction on the content of fashion jewellery. In short, manufacturers were free to use almost any base metal for the ear post and clips of your jewellery. The most popular addition to any piece of costume jewellery came within the plating process, and whether the article in question was to be silver or gold plated made little difference; the one common element in all plating of jewellery was - the use of ‘Nickel’.

Nickel was added to enhance the shine of the earrings or necklet. Unfortunately it was a well documented fact that in certain cases the addition of nickel could cause an allergic skin reaction. Exact figures were never collated as to how many people this process actually affected, but that didn’t stop the Eurocrats from acting with vigour. Soon the ‘Boys in Brussels’ declared that all earrings, necklets, rings and brooches, in fact - any fashion jewellery or accessory that came in contact with the surface of the skin must be ‘Nickel free’.

So to sum up - now, when you buy your fashion earrings or that pretty necklet, by and large they should be nickel free. This however doesn’t mean that all ear-care stops there – Oh No ! There is still a basic hygiene code you should adhere to if you want to avoid future problems. This is where BACKS is on hand to help. Our Product range of replacement earring backs, clip pads, sterile studs and anti-allergenic solution has over the past fifteen years helped people manage their jewellery wearing problems. Available widely throughout retail outlets in the U.K. The Backs Earcare Products range is now available direct for your convenience.

PRODUCT GUIDE.

Gold Plate Backs: Suitable for all pierced earrings they are safe comfortable and inexpensive, for best results both the earring post and the backs should be regularly cleansed with Backs Ear Clear Solution.

Silver Plate Backs: Exactly as above only silver plate.

Supabacks: Certainly our best selling item and probably the most versatile of all the replacement backs. The large disc and secure bullet back gives great support to even the largest earring. This earring back is also ideal if in past years you have enlarged the piercings in your lobes.

Polymer Supabacks: As above, only where Supabacks have a gold plated bullet section - these are completely clear.

Bullet Backs: A gold plated bullet shaped earring clutch / butterfly, very secure and discreet – ideal for all earring types. Hypo Backs: As above – but once again made from high grade polymer making them non- reactive and ultra discreet.

Clip Pads: Designed to ease the pinch caused by certain clip earrings. If the clip on your earring has a little hole, then these clever little comfort pads will simply push through.

Slip On Pads: A universal comfort pad to ease the ear-pinch felt with some jewellery. Simply slip the polymer sleeve over the arm of the earring clip and you jewellery is ready to wear.

Since diamonds were first mined in ancient India over 2800 years ago, they have been associated with power, love, wealth and prestige. Ancient Egyptians believed in the power of the diamond and how it could connect love with eternity. Their belief was founded upon Vena Amoris (the vein of love) finger leading back to the heart. By wearing a diamond ring on the Vena Amoris, the ancient Egyptians passionately believed that eternal love could be achieved.

Even today, throughout much of the world, a diamond ring worn on the third finger is viewed as a symbol of the commitment of love. So having found the ‘love of your life’ how do you find the special diamond that is going to symbolise everlasting love?

To start with there is an amazing range of prices to consider from modest sums to telephone number figures that most of us can only dream of. What is more, diamond selling price is not the same as diamond value – the difference is the profits and overheads added of the seller! It is therefore advisable before making any purchase to find out a little more about diamonds and their intrinsic value so that you can have that diamond of your dreams without breaking the bank.

Whilst many people may have heard that a diamond’s value depends critically in terms of the 4Cs: the Cut, Clarity, Carat, and Colour, few really understand how this works in practice. The carat is the weight of a diamond. One carat is 0.2 gram or 200 milligrams and hence is easy to measure objectively with the help of an accurate weighing scale. This is not the case with the other attributes. It is unfortunate that people are often misled into paying too much for an inferior diamond because they do not understand the other more subjective attributes.

The most important and often least understood “C” is “Cut”. To get from the raw diamond to the finished cut sparkling gemstone requires the skilled hand of a master cutter. A rough or uncut diamond is rather unimpressive compared to the sparkling gems resulting from cutting and polishing!

The better the CUT proportions, the better the diamond handles light to create sparkle. Therefore CUT is the single most important factor affecting a diamond's brilliance and visual fire. However, “Cut” is often confused with diamond Shape.

Diamonds can be cut into many different shapes: 80-85% of all diamonds are cut into the round brilliant diamond shape as this is the most popular. About 5-10% of all diamonds are cut into the princess shape (a square shape) and the remaining 5-10% are spread between all the other shapes e.g. emerald cut, pear shape, oval, cushion, asscher, radiant, marquise, heart, baguette…etc. The sad fact is that 75-80% of diamonds sold anywhere are poorly proportioned to retain carat weight rather to maximise sparkle as the average person and the average vendor sells them by the carat! Poorly cut diamonds are actually worth up to 50% less than many vendors sell them at but unless you buy with expert advise you often end up paying more for these inferior diamonds. Hence a diamond in the hand bought with expertise at a direct from trade low price may literally have a net value that is more than the value of higher price diamonds being sold elsewhere! With fancy shapes like hearts, pears, marquise, there are visual clues that even a novice can use to spot diamonds that are too fat, too thin or too irregular. However, more expertise is required to judge the most popular shape, the round brilliant. All round diamonds have the same visually round shape but will differ in their angles, proportions and depths that are not visually apparent especially when the diamond is already set in a piece of jewellery rather than being loose. For the round shape, the solution is to buy diamonds with the highest grades for Cut proportions on independent certificates from the three most reputable independent laboratories i.e. GIA, HRD and IGI. Many other certificates are not worth the paper they are written on as they are either not strict enough in their grading (e.g. EGL) or not fully independent. Another critical factor affecting diamond value is “Colour”. Most diamonds are referred to as “colourless” which in diamond terminology ranges from actually colourless to yellowish shades. The difference between various colour grades makes a critical difference to value though the differences in shade are very subtle requiring expertise to judge when the diamond is loose. Few people realise that it is impossible to accurately asses a diamond’s colour when the diamond is already set in jewellery. A very tiny percentage of diamonds have other distinct colours e.g. blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, or red. Such fancy coloured diamonds command telephone figure prices in line with their rarity. Diamond Clarity is the remaining C and refers to the presence of inclusions or imperfections in a diamond. Almost all diamonds have some imperfections as individual as the person who wears the diamond. For the purposes of jewellery, diamonds are graded by the amount of imperfections that can be seen at x10 magnification with a jeweller’s magnifying glass. This is the easiest factor for most people to understand and appreciate especially when viewing a diamond close up under magnification.

Serious, even dangerous threats can eventuate by improperly maintaining your golf cart’s batteries.

A lack of knowledge about basic golf cart battery maintenance can lead to all kinds of problems. Some users assume that the batteries that operate their golf carts are maintenance-free. However, the key to achieving optimum performance and long life is a solid golf cart battery maintenance program.

It is recommended that you obtain following equipment for use in golf cart battery care and maintenance:

A wrench; distilled water; a voltmeter (an instrument used for measuring the voltage between two points in an electric circuit); a hydrometer (a tool used to measure the specific gravity of the electrolyte solution); a post cleaner; some baking soda; petroleum jelly and possibly the most of all – goggles and gloves. Always wear protective clothing, acid proof gloves and goggles when handling lead acid batteries and remove all jewellery. It’s important to have lots of water and baking soda nearby as this will neutralise any acid spills from battery refilling and prevent further corrosive damage. Remember, the electrolyte is a solution of acid and water, so skin contact should be avoided and, do not smoke near batteries and never add acid to a battery. Golf carts are typically powered by six lead-acid batteries mounted beneath the front seat. First of all, examine the outside appearance of the batteries. You should look for cracks in the container and the top of the battery. Posts and connections should be free of dirt, fluids and corrosion. You should replace any damaged batteries.

Check that all vent caps are tight. Then clean the battery top with a cloth or brush and a solution of baking soda and water ensuring that any cleaning solution or any other foreign matter does not get inside the battery. Then rinse with clean water and dry with a clean cloth. Solvents or spray cleaners should not be used. Then clean the battery terminals and the inside of the cable clamps with a post and clamp cleaner. Reconnect the clamps to the terminals and thinly coat them with petroleum jelly. Always keep the area around the batteries clean and dry.

Water should only be added after fully charging the battery. Prior to charging, there should be enough water to cover the plates. If the battery has been discharged (partially or fully), the water level should be above the plates.

Some important things to remember are: Do not allow plates to be exposed to air and do not fill the water all the way up to the cap. Do not use water with a high mineral content. You should use only distilled or deionised water. Check water levels in each cell of each battery weekly to ensure that the leaded plates in the battery are submerged in liquid. Don't fill the cell all the way up -- add just enough water to cover the plates.

A knowledge of the commercial uses of gold enables a savvy investor to make a judgement on the future demand for the metal and in conjunction with other criteria such as the erosion of the purchasing power of a currency, political factors, gold hoarding or selling off by governments, the technical picture, etc.etc., can make the decision to be long, short or stay out of the market until a more favorable opportunity occurs.

Basic Information

Chemical Symbol: Au Atomic Number: 79 Melting Point: 1947.97 Degrees Fahrenheit, 1064.43 Degrees Centigrade

Medicine

Gold is non toxic and biologically benign, an excellent conductor of electricity, virtually indestructible, easy to shape and flatten and can be drawn out into microscopically thin strands known as bonding wire.

The most well known use of gold in medicine is in dentistry. The metal is combined with other metals such as platinum, silver, copper zinc or palladium to produce non-toxic, chemically inert alloys that are easy for dentists to work with and are strong and lasting.

The current demand for gold in dentistry is about 60 tonnes annually having recovered from a decline to circa 48 tonnes in 1987.

Rapid and ongoing developments in the use of lasers incorporating gold coatings are making dramatic progress in the treatment of cancers, sealing battlefield wounds in the field, emergency injury treatments in hospitals and previously inoperable heart conditions and tumors.

Lasers reliant on gold are used in delicate eye and brain surgery where absolute accuracy is essential.

Another recent development is the use of gold-coated lasers in the rejuvenation of burnt or damaged skin tissue leaving adjacent healthy tissue unaffected.

Gold helps in the treatment of prostate cancer and some other cancers and is used in surgical instruments to clear clogged arteries.

It is used in an eye surgery procedure to correct a condition, known as Lagophthalmos, where eyelids cannot be fully closed. By surgically implanting gold into the upper lids the gravity effect of its weight allows the lids to close when the muscles relax.

Computerized wheelchairs enable the handicapped to have more control over their movements.

The controls and the computer are linked by gold wire (bonding wire) and gold-coated pads that are both resistant to corrosion and have high electrical conductivity.

As these power wheelchairs are used outdoors and often exposed to extremes of temperature and weather, the use of gold in essential components is necessary to minimize breakdowns and the possible life threatening consequences.

Hi-Tech Electronics

Gold plays an essential part in every one of the millions of computers and peripherals that are produced worldwide every year. Gold is refined to 99.999 % pure and is drawn out to a wire only one hundredth of a millimetre in diameter.

This bonding wire is used to connect the semi-conductors and circuits. It is used on circuit boards and to make the contacts when using the keyboard.

Photographing jewellery can be tricky, but with a few concepts and budget below US$500 it is possible to achieve near-professional look of the photographs. This guide is intended for absolute beginners. Terminology is simplified, and camera adjustments are discussed with only jewellery in mind.

1. Equipment

1.1 Digital SLR

Biggest spend for near-professional look of jewellery photography is for the digital SLR. This is an absolute must. Second-hand camera will be as good. Camera without many features and without high Mega-Pixel rate will work just as fine. 3 Mega Pixel is more than enough.

Note that what makes the difference is the quality of the optical system, not the number of actual pixels.

Digital SLR will allow you to manually adjust every aspect of the camera. Automatic modes are not appropriate for jewellery.

1.2 Lighting

Avoid using any flashes. Don't use camera's built in flash. Don't buy stand-alone flashes. In fact, don't buy any lighting equipment. Desk lamps 60W-100W will do just fine.

Photo tent will help a lot, but is not mandatory. You get find them for as little as US$20. Terminology varies, so "Photo Tent" will also be called "Light Cube", or "Soft Light Box". Do your searching and find one approx 20" (50cm) in size.

You will need 3 lights. Two matted lights -- soft lights, and one reflector light. Place one matted light left of the area for jewellery, and one to the right. Place reflector light near where the camera is.

Whatever you do, avoid mixing light types. Use only non-fluorescent lights, and isolate your photo 'lab' away from natural light.

1.3 Tripod

To have freedom with many settings that will be a must, we will have to use longer exposures. For longer exposures to achieve maximum sharpness, we'll need a tripod. Our hand shakes too much, when camera runs at exposition 1/2s or 1/5s. Buy a 'tripod' for US$10-$20. You don't need a heavy duty tripod. If your setup will be on a desk, you can chose mini tripod - approx 10" (25cm), and stand tripod on the desk as well, or longer tripod, approx 50" (125cm) and stand it on the floor.

2. Setup

Position the lights as described above. Two desk lamps with soft light (irrelevant if you are using photo tent -- the tent is there to soften the light), and reflector light at the front. I keep the cube open at the front, for easier adjustments and photographs, unless jewellery is highly reflective of the image of me taking photograph.

Uniform background colour is recommended. White background works great. Black background is a little harder to work with. I use one of the white wooden shelves that was sitting in the garrage. Hardware stores will sell these for a few dollars.

Jewellery neck stands look effective only on some pieces, but for most laying on the white surface is the best.

3. Jewelry Arrangement

Spend time arranging jewellery. Clean the jewellery if needed. Polish and remove finger prints. Lay it nicely. For chains, spend time to even out all links and to lay it in a perfect circle. For fashion jewellery this may be a little tricky simply because it's made of various materials and it just doesn't like to sit perfectly on its own. Use blue-tac to fix it where you want it.

4. Taking Photographs

Set your camera to manual. This is where you can adjust all settings yourself. You can leave auto-focus on if you wish, that is about the only setting you can have automatic. Disable camera flash. With static lighting and without using flashes, you can spend time moving the lights until you get perfect setup, before taking shots.

Learn the following 5 camera adjustments: Aperature (f-number), Sensitivity (ISO number), Shutter Speed (Exposure), White Balance, and Focus. These 5 are your bread and butter.

4.1 Aperature

Also known as f-number. This setting widens or narrows the lens, limiting the amount of light that comes into the camera. This directly affects shutter speed, and film sensitivity (since we're using digital camera, film sensitivity is adjustable like anything else).

This setting is responsible for the 'focal lenght'. With high f-number eg f/22 or f/11, when taking jewellery photographs, parts that are close to camera will be focused as well as parts that are further away. With low f-number, eg f/2, only the focused part will be in-focus, and parts of jewellery that are further apart or closer to the camera will become fuzzy. Use this setting as it suits you. You may want to create certain effect, but if you don't, keep this setting to f/11. Overdoing this setting will limit the light coming into the camera, and you'll have to make sacrifices elsewhere to compensate.

4.2 Sensitivity

Also known as ISO number. This used to be film property, and expressed in numbers like ISO200, ISO400, ISO800 etc. The higher the number, more sensitive the film, less light it needs, and thus more expensive. In Digital SLR's this is merely just a setting, but the higher the number, more noise camera will capture. The more light you have, you can go lower with this number. For our limited lighting, ISO800 or ISO1600 will be fine, but try not to use ISO3200 -- it adds visible noise.

4.3 Shutter Speed

Also known as exposure, it is a measure of time camera will be taking the light. When photographing moving objects, you would want this fairly short: 1/200 or or 1/400. However, we're taking static objects, and with the tripod camera is static as well. This gives us flexibility in going as low as 1/30 or 1/10, or even 1/2. Value 1/2 means that camera takes light from the object for half a second. If anything moves during that half a second, photograph will be blurred.

Adjust shutter speed freely until you get desirable effect. In fact, when taking photographs of jewellery against white background, you will want photos over-exposed. Over-exposure should affect only the white background, where small imperfections of white surface will vanish into pure white. If your camera has light meter, it will display a warning that you have too much light, number 2 or 2.5 could be flashing in your viewfinder. This is good :-).

If your background is black, you'll want it under-exposed. This will keep the black background black, remove some imperfections, but leave the jewellery just fine.

4.4 White Balance

With different colours present in every light source, our eyes naturally adjust to what white is. Cameras try to do the same and for general photography are quite good at it. However, for jewellery, you'll want to try all manual pre-sets yourself and chose best result. If everything fails, manually adjust white balance, until it's good. You won't need to keep changing this setting from one jewellery piece to another.

4.5 Focus

Jewellery is static. It's easy to use manual focus, but auto-focus seems to work just as fine. If camera keeps focusing on the incorrect part, just switch to manual, and away you go. For most applications, auto-focus will be fine though.

4.6 Taking photographs

Take enough photographs for each peace. Use camera built-in display as a guide only. Colors and brightness will look slightly different on the computer screen. You can adjust some of it afterwards, but try to take a perfect shot in the first place.

5. Post-Processing

Restrain youself from using too many features of the photo editing software. All you need to do is manually adjust Brightness and Contrast, and perhaps use 'Sharpen' feature. Don't apply any automatic adjustments, as these will get confused with too much white in the photo, or too much black.

Crop to the area you want to keep, save in internet-friendly format (eg 400x300) and you've got a near-professional photograph. Reuse the same photograph for 'zoom-in' crops. You won't be making images larger, instead you'll be cropping from your original, adjusting and saving.

Need help finding a perfect engagement ring? These style-savvy tips will help you find the perfect engagement ring and perhaps give you the inspiration you seek in finding a diamond engagement ring that fully expresses your feelings.

No other jewellery item says ‘love’ more powerfully than a diamond engagement ring. Rare, precious, and indestructible, these qualities earned the diamond its status as a symbol of enduring love, romance, and commitment. It was said that Cupid's arrows were tipped with diamonds.

The Greeks believed that the fire in a diamond reflected the constant flame of love. The Romans suggested that diamonds were tears of the gods. For the Indians, they were good luck charms warding off illness, thieves, and forces of evil. To others, they were stones that would heal and bestow knowledge - talismans of power and purity.

Once reserved for royalty or the very rich, diamond rings are now an accessible luxury. Happy, pretty and loved are how diamond engagement rings make any women feel. And diamond engagement rings are proudly worn as potent symbols of commitment, devotion, celebration, wealth, and love. Nothing beats the look of a diamond engagement ring on your hand.

It is vitally important when choosing an engagement ring that it reflects the wearer’s taste, personality and also meets any practical requirements. Think about the wear and tear the ring will have and chose accordingly.

So, what are today’s styles for engagement rings? Truth is, sometimes women want to sport a brilliant, beautiful diamond engagement ring on their hand that doesn't look like a wedding band, or anniversary ring. Sometimes, women want to wear this ring on their right hand - or even the middle finger of their left to avoid tan lines or to perform some professional duties. These demands are what inspire jewellers to create so many unique engagement ring designs.

The only hard and fast design rule is that there are no hard and fast rules! Engagement rings come in all shapes, sizes and styles. There is plenty of opportunity to have a ring that is as unique as you are.

Some of the latest design trends for engagement rings are bold, yet feminine - many with an art deco influence. Hallmarks of the hottest engagement ring looks include:

• Geometric, art deco shapes such as diamond circles or squares; • Wide "band" style engagement rings that are chunky, yet feminine; • Asymmetrical designs that feature an unusually cut diamond, such as princess cut; • Coloured diamonds (fancy yellow, cognac, or chocolate brown) • Mixing round brilliant diamonds with fancy shapes; • The use of open-air space within the ring design (showing diamonds against skin) to give a substantial ring a light, airy, modern look.

Diamond engagement rings are a great choice as they are timeless and compliment any outfit or other jewellery. Remember that an engagement ring will be a ring you’ll wear for a lifetime so it is worth choosing carefully. Make sure you try on all the styles that appeal to you so that you make an informed choice. Also you’ll need to think about how it will sit with your wedding ring and most likely an eternity ring down the line.

There are quite a few cuts of diamonds to select from. The cut basically relates to the shape that the diamond is cut into, except if you are in the diamond or jewelry field, simply this shape has a great affect on much the diamond glitters.

The most favorite cuts are pear, heart, marquise, oval, princess, round, trillion, and emerald cuts. The shape has an affect on the extent the diamond sparkles, but the true cutting itself, when the diamond cutter really cuts the diamond into a specific shape, also counts a great deal. If the diamond is badly cut, it will suffer
its sparkle.

In the diamond business the cut of a diamond does not relate to its shape at all. On the contrary, this is a reference point to the stone’s brilliance, depth, width, durability, clarity, and other facets of the diamond. General cutting difficulties are a missing or off center culet, not properly aligned, a diamond that is too thick or too thin, crackings, or broken culets.

If looking for a diamond, you should choose the shape that you care for the best, but then consider several assorted diamonds of that shape to locate the one with the best cut, the diamond that sparkles best, in all kinds of lighting.

Diamonds Are Cut How

In their most natural configuration, diamonds are, well, quite unattractive. They have no splendor or radiance,and in fact, they look like nothing but broken glass. A diamond has to be cut, and then made shiny and smooth before it really becomes a thing of beauty.

Diamonds are cut with saws, into round forms. From the rounded shape, other shapes perhaps will be cut, such as heart shapes, but the shape is less significant than the caliber of the cutting that is being performed. When the diamond is badly cut, it will lose light, and it will not glitter and shine very well. Every surface of the diamond must be cautiously cut into the geometrical shapes that permit the diamond to sparkle and glow, then the whole diamond is cut into a particular shape, like an emerald cut or a princess cut diamond.

As soon as the cut is finished, the diamond is put into a dop, which looks like a cup with another diamond, only a diamond is strong enough to polish the edges of another diamond. As soon as the diamond has been cut and shaped, and had the edges polished in the dop, it is smoothed on a scaif or a diamond polishing wheel.

For someone who is into arts and crafts, beads are a great means of fun and an engrossing hobby. It can very soon turn into passion and in turn become a big business avenue. Jewelry, attire designing, shoes decoration are some areas where bead jewelry can be employed.

Beads, small and big, colored, beach theme beads all can be utilized to make jewelry designs.
Imagination is the key when using beads to make jewelry. You can use a plethora of items like seashells, buttons and even beads available at the local craft store.

The first thing to start with for your project should always be size and color selection. You might find this online craft site useful http://www.thecraftyfinger.com. Remember that, initially there might appear a range of options to choose from, but a craft store is not equipped to make bead jewelry designs. Hence, you might not be interest in the selection offered to you once you have made a good number of jewelry pieces.

Having said that, there exist a great number of websites offering material for bead jewelry designs, some of them even are specializing in it. One of them might possibly become your only source to buy supplies. Hence it is vital to ensure that the company is the best for you and advisable to build a relationship that in the long run would benefit you.

A number of people buy beads on the Internet. Reviews by these consumers are worth reading to protect your own interests. Abundant information can be gathered from the consumer reviews. This might make you aware of companies you didn’t know. Also, you can also learn from mistakes that others have committed when transacting with websites that disappear overnight. It can be very disheartening not to receive the jewelry designs that you ordered and yet loose money.

After making the designs from the material ordered online you can sell them back on the Internet, if you intend to earn a profit from your passion. If you are not concerned with profit, your bead jewelry designs are a great item to gift to your friends and loved ones on their birthdays and other special occasions.

When you’re decided to buy a birthstone bracelet, you must remember that not all the birthstone bracelets are equals. There are a few important factors to remember when you want to get the best birthstone you need. You must make the appropriate choice for you money.

Generally, the birthstone bracelets have some of the same value criteria. Birthstones for January, February, May, July, August, September, November, and December re garnet, amethyst, emerald, ruby, peridot, sapphire, topaz, and zircon. Those stone should be translucent; there are also opaque ones.

The stones in birthstone bracelets must be clear and free of streaks if the price is high. Each stone must have a high quality; its color must be rich, rather than a light or multicolored appearance.

A birthstone bracelet for the month of March must be realized of bloodstone, a multicolored and opaque stone. The stones must be smooth, without scratches on them.

For the month of April, the indicated stone is the diamond. Anyone can realize that a birth stone made of diamonds is probably one of the more expensive bracelets in the world. Diamonds are used in many pieces or jewelry, but the birthstones bracelets’ diamonds should not be sub-par.

Diamonds must be clear, colorless, and pristine; this is the most valuable form of the stone. You can find other jewelry related material at http://www.thejewelrydelivery.com. There are other colors too. A yellowish color and some imperfections will make the price be lower than a clear and colorless diamond’s. There is a special beauty in the colored diamond too, there are colors occurring naturally in the diamond and these can be a beautiful and unforgettable gift.

Pearls are h stones of June. They values is based on their color, sheen, size, and shape. The pearl is more valuable if the color is pure, the shape is round and there are no impurities. The birthstone bracelets contain multiple pearls. The pearls should perfectly match with the bracelet shape and design.

A birthstone bracelet for October should be either opal or pink tourmaline, opal is often used in bracelets, but pink tourmaline is more difficult to find. A valuable opal must have many colors playing on its surface. Her are two different kinds of opal, the white kind and the black kind. The white opal is the most often seen in a birthstone bracelet, but the black on is very attractive too.

If you feel like you will never find the birthstone bracelet you want in a jewelry store, you can have the attendants’ assistance. They can help you to find what you are looking for and you’ll have the possibility to make an attractive gift to your relatives or friends.

xClarity is an important feature of a diamond, and it is noteworthy to know how to grade the
clarity of a diamond prior to purchasing one. It is really quite simple to learn how to grade the
clarity of a diamond. There are fundamentally two things that you must understand. Diamonds
with visual inclusions and flaws, and those that are eye clean implying that there are no inclusions or flaws that can be seen with the naked eye. And then the clarity of a diamond is further analyzed
into subclasses.

Some people erroneously believe that diamond clarity pertains to how clear it is. This is not so.
Clarity really pertains to the internal and external defects of the diamond. The best diamonds, as might be expected, get a grade of FL or IF, Flawless or Internally Flawless, this means that it is perfect. A grade of I-1, I-2 or I-3 signifies that the diamond is imperfect, with a grade of I-3 being the most defective.

Other grades are VVS1 and VVS2, which means that the diamond is very, very slightly defective. VS1 and VS2, meaning the diamond is very slightly imperfect; SI-1 and SI-2, which means that the diamond is slightly imperfect.

About Diamond Weights

Diamonds are graded in Carat Weight. One carat weighs 200 milligrams. If a diamond is mentioned to as four grains, this in addition means that it is a one carat diamond. The word carob is the basis for the word Carat. A carob that grows on a tree in the Mediterranean is a bean . Years ago, if a diamond
weighed as much as a carob bean, it was one carob, or one carat.

Yet, in the far east, where Carob trees don't grow, rice was utilized to measure the weight of a diamond. If a diamond weighed the same as four grains of rice, it was four grains or one carat as we recognize it to be today. The bulk of diamond buys are for diamonds that are one third of a carat.

Be alert when browsing for diamonds that have been set or mounted. If many diamonds are used in the piece, the label on the jewelry will give the CTW or Carat Total Weight. It doesn't tell you the carat weight of each stone in the piece. You need to ask the jeweler for the whole carat weight of the
biggest diamond in the piece to really understand what you are purchasing.

For many centuries silver has captivated men and women and it still does. From the beginning of times silver has been an important metal in manufacturing different objects like: weapons, silver jewelry and coins. It was used for hunting and processing food or for obtaining ornaments and decorative objects. Ancient beliefs said that silver was the metal which symbolized fertility and the female. It was associated with the Moon which was considered women's protector. Silver jewelry was mostly worn in the past by pregnant women to keep away evil spirits. Silver objects and silver jewelry were also used for religious ceremonies. Weddings were and still are perfect occasions for silver gifts like silver jewelry. The usefulness of this precious metal is undisputable and the admiration for it hasn’t stopped in our time either.

In our days, silver is still a very popular metal, being used for different purposes: practical, ornamental and even medical ones. Gold is very often replaced by silver jewelry which has gained an amazing popularity among teenagers. So fashionable today, silver jewelry is associated with style and class because it is easy to wear and match with most of the outfits one could chose to wear, no matter the season, weather or occasion. Silver jewelry, same as each of the articles of your choice, shows a small part of your personality and silver jewelry usually shows simplicity and good taste.

Whether people chose to buy silver jewelry because it is less expensive than gold jewelry, or just because they prefer silver to other metals, the objects they own have to be well protected. You, as the owner of a piece of silver jewelry, have to be able to preserve it the best you can.

When talking about cleaning sterling silver jewelry you first have to know what the term “sterling silver jewelry” refers to. Because pure silver is not practical for silver jewelry, different metals (usually copper) are added and mixed in order to obtain a tougher and more durable metal. So, sterling means a more durable ornament that you surely want to hold on to as much as possible. Perhaps you even want to pass on the family silver jewelry to your grandkids.

Keeping your sterling silver jewelry clean is mainly done by properly storing them. When storing sterling silver jewelry in the open air it will tarnish quickly. This is why it is recommended to keep sterling silver jewelry in air-tight protective bags made of tarnish proof cloth and to avoid wood boxes. Placing the sterling silver jewelry directly on wood surfaces is not indicated as wood, especially oak, contains acids that usually damages silver jewelry surfaces.

If your sterling silver jewelry is already full of fingerprints, make-up or other dirt, you can easily use some warm water and a soft piece of material made of cotton. All you have to do is to gently rub off the impurities on your sterling silver jewelry. The tarnish from your sterling silver jewelry isn’t as easy to clean off as other things are. It is recommended that you use a more powerful cleanser, for example, a special silver paste cleaner or a silver polish spray, which can be easily found on the market, in specialized stores. Abrasive cleansers should be avoided, especially on your sterling silver jewelry which is decorated with delicate gemstones.

Though you might be surprised not to find anything here about the cleansing of the silver jewelry with a regular tooth paste or baking soda, you should know that tooth paste contains many abrasive particle which also deteriorate and damage silver. However popular the toothpaste method might be among sterling silver jewelry fans, it will surely harm the surface of the jewels. This is why many specialists suggest that you should not use such ways to clean silver.

After you have decided on the cleanser you wish to use, you’ll have to remove any trace of the polish from the gemstones. This is easily done if you rinse the surface with clean and warm water. It is indicated that you perform a lengthwise motion and not a circular one which may cause important damages to the sterling silver jewelry surface, or scratch it. For those areas of your silver jewelry that are more difficult to clean, a good suggestion is to use a very soft brush as a rough brush can also deteriorate the quality of your sterling silver jewelry.
The last step you should always keep in mind after cleaning your silver jewelry is to be sure that the silver surface is dry. When storing the decorative objects (as mentioned above, in a special air-tight protective bag), if you leave them wet, they will lose their shine.

American Indian jewelry is one of the most popular styles of jewelry sold throughout the United States. In fact, American Indian jewelry is so popular that men and women all around the world purchase it. Despite the fact that a large number of individuals purchase American Indian jewelry, most individuals do not know how to properly care for their prized possessions.

When it comes to cleaning and caring for American Indian jewelry, it is important to remember that are a wide variety of different jewelry pieces. Jewelry can come in the form of necklaces, bracelets, pendants, earrings, rings, and more. While each piece of jewelry may be unique, they are often cleaned and cared for the same way.

The most important way to care for American Indian jewelry is to keep jewelry pieces clean. There are many individuals who do not care for their jewelry as much as they should. This is often because many feel that it is easy to clean their jewelry if needed. It is true that you can clean all pieces of American Indian jewelry, in one way or another, but constant cleaning may cause damage to a unique item.

To prevent normal wear caused by excess amounts of cleaning, American Indian jewelry owners are encouraged to take precautions to ensure the appearance and value of their jewelry stays the same. The easiest way to do this is to not wear jewelry pieces when doing a number of tasks or activities. These tasks and activities include, but are not limited to, doing dishes, taking a bath, swimming, or housework. Water combined with multiple chemicals could severely damage a fine piece of American Indian jewelry.

Preventative care can also include keeping American Indian jewelry stored in a cool, dry location. Instead of leaving a piece of jewelry out on a dresser or a kitchen counter, jewelry owners are encouraged to at least keep it in a jewelry box. If American Indian jewelry is being stored along side other jewelry pieces, it may be a good idea to place it inside a cloth. A wide number of jewelry stores and traditional retail stores sell small cloth jewelry bags. These bags can be effective at protecting a treasured piece of jewelry.

When cleaning American Indian jewelry, it is important that certain chemicals not be used. Chlorine, salt, and other household cleaning products can severely damage American Indian jewelry. If not properly cleaned, a piece of jewelry could experience discoloration or lose settings. Most American Indian jewelry suppliers and sellers recommend cleaning their jewelry with water and a small amount of soap.

Many individuals make a large mistake when it comes to cleaning their American Indian jewelry. That mistake is using commercial jewelry cleaning products. These commercial products are sold in a wide variety of retail locations. A large number of these jewelry cleaning products contain chemicals that can be harmful to American Indian jewelry. It is important to note that not all jewelry products are harmful to American Indian jewelry, but a large number are. When in doubt, it is advised that an American Indian manufacturer or jeweler be contacted.