Namas te Jewels

Archive for the ‘Jewelry’ Category

Imagine walking into a restaurant and having all eyes on you. Like most women, I love attention, but recently I got more attention and compliments than I knew how to handle.

During a casual dinner with friends, my sparkling white gold two-carat Moissanite earrings stole the show.

One dinner companion whispered, “Those are the most beautiful diamond earrings I’ve ever seen.” I explained they weren’t diamonds but a new jewel: Moissanite.

Before I knew it, I was the talk of the table. People had questions and comments like “What is Moissanite?” “They’re so brilliant, they must have cost a fortune!” “Are they rare?” and “I have to have them.”

Well ladies, if you want to know my secret, read on.

Moissanite is giving women the opportunity to own quality, eye-catching jewelry at affordable prices.

What is the story behind this jewel? In 1893, Dr. Henri Moissan, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist began studying fragments of a 50,000-year-old meteorite. In these fragments, Moissan believed he discovered diamonds from space possessing superior fire and brilliance. After extensive research, it was concluded that Moissan discovered a new mineral. In 1905, it was named Moissanite in his honor.

During the late 1980s, inspired by Moissan’s discovery and by the fact that natural Moissanite is incredibly rare, Charles & Colvard (Nasdaq: CTHR) developed a proprietary process for producing large crystals of Moissanite.

By 1995, Charles & Colvard were the sole source for Moissanite jewels, possessing two worldwide patents.

“Moissanite’s superior diamond-like appearance is incredible,” said Nat Hyman, president of Landau, the nation’s largest accessory boutique with more than 70 stores. “The customer is getting so much more for the money.”

“But once they leave the store, are they going to tell even their best friends?” asked Nick Baxevane, also of Landau. “Moissanite looks like what a beautiful diamond should look like, so what they tell their friends is their decision. They can have the million dollar look without the million dollar price tag.”

Moissanite is available at Landau nationwide in upscale malls, hotels, casinos and airports.

Over the centuries clocks have been used as a status symbol by those who wear them. Their precision, elegance and convenience are just some of the attributes that clocks and watches represent. Often they are bought purely for their aesthetic looks. and at other times they are bought because of their technical attributes like being precise to the last second or even millisecond. This is what makes clocks and watches so collectible and in some cases they can command high sums of money.

Whether you collect the new high precision watches or ones that come from a past era, the fact is that over the years this hobby has become a high turnover business. And collecting watches is in a lot of circles regarded as a wise form of investing.

At the start of the last century the clocks that were available for men or women were firstly pocket clocks, and then clocks that held by a pendant attached to the lining of jackets or corsets. The advent of war, industrialization, and the development of the sport activities, brought over new trends which extended to not only the way we dressed, but also how we carried our clocks.

It is said that it was a nanny who invented wrist watches at around the end of the 19th century, who fixed a clock around her wrist by using a silk band. The first watches to be made were in fact smaller models of pocket clocks that were fitted with a leather strap. Once this product hit the market newer designs started to be produced based around this same concept.

It was Louis Cartier who first made the kind of watches we see today when he created a watch for a flying pioneer hero by the name Santos Dumont. By 1911 this same type of watch was on general sale. That same type of watch became the blueprint of what wrist watches look like to this day.

Soon after the design of wrist “clocks” began to diversify away from the classical round shape that had been in vogue up until that time. From the Cartier classical wrist watch other makes of watch started to emerge which were characterized by their shape. Movado is the perfect example of these new designs when it came out with the “Polyplan” shaped watch. Then came the famously and cryptically called “clock reference n. 1593″ by Patek Philippe which was a rectangular shaped watch.

From 1913 onwards more and more watches started to be developed in all shapes and styles. From the “gondola” watch of Patek Phillipe to Louis Cartiers’ “Tank”; named thus because it was inspired by the shape of English armored cars of the time. These are watches which are very much sought after. There were other numerous watch makers like Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin who along with Patek Philippe and Cartier came out with many other designs which added other features to the watches like lunar phases, month and day most of which are found in modern watches now.

Of course we could not mention wrist watches without mentioning the most famous of them all: the Rolex watch. In the 1920s Rolex debuted in the world of wrist watches with the elegant Rolex Prince and its revolutionary “dual time” feature made famous for having the “seconds sector” larger than that of the minutes. At the same time Jaeger Le Coultre produced an even more advanced piece called the “Reverse”, also very revolutionary in that it could be turn 180 degrees within its case, thus protecting the crystal and dial. It became incredibly popular and was only prevented from achieving even greater success by the recession of the 1930s and the advent of world war 2.

These early watches of the 1910s to 1930s are what define all the makes of watches that we see and wear today. This short article has only scratched the surface of what is a very vast subject which has many more watch makers with diverse and revolutionary designs. However it is makers like Rolex, Cartier, Jaeger Le Coultre and the others mentioned that are amongst the most valuable and collectible, and should you ever be so lucky to get one then make sure you hang on to it – preferably to your wrist.

Jewelry lovers are buying cubic zirconia today more than ever thanks to the improvement in quality and the many fashionable styles available. As a jeweler or jewelry manufacturer, this gives you a tremendous opportunity to sell quality jewelry for less and cater to your customers.

What is Cubic Zirconia?

Cubic zirconia is a man-made composition created to simulate, or take on the likeness of, a real diamond. Due to its hardness and beautiful shine, cubic zirconia has become the most popular substitute for diamonds on the market today. It is available in many fashionable styles, shapes and colors to fit any occasion. Cubic zirconia stones can be used in all types of jewelry, including rings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and earrings.

Synthetic Gemstones

Synthetic gemstones are made in a laboratory but still carry the same properties as natural stones. These “lab gems” have become popular and actually are in greater demand today for their own beauty, not merely as a substitute for natural stones. Almost every popular gemstone has a synthetic counterpart. Customers are flocking to get the latest style of cubic zirconia or synthetic gemstone jewelry like never before.

What’s the Difference?

Though both have lovely characteristics, there is a great difference between cubic zirconia and synthetic gemstones. Both are created in a lab, but synthetic gemstones are made using the same optical, physical, and chemical properties as natural stones. Lab gems also have the same mineral content as natural gems. On the other hand, cubic zirconia is created to look similar to natural stones but with different optical, physical, and chemical properties.

Types of Synthetic Gemstones

Synthetic gemstones come in many shapes and forms. They are available in coral, diamond, alexandrite, emerald, lapis lazuli, ruby, sapphire, turquoise, spinel, garnet, and quartz. There are many shapes and colors available. For example, lab blue sapphire gems and lab ruby gems come in the following shapes: heart, marquise, octagon, oval, round, trillion, square, pear, and baguette.

Cubic Zirconia Styles

Cubic zirconia resembles a diamond and is available in various shapes and colors. For instance, there are heart-shaped lavender stones, oval-shaped pink stones, pear-shaped champagne stones, and many other dazzling combinations.

Quality Checklist

When shopping for wholesale cubic zirconia or synthetic gemstones, be sure to only buy top quality stones. Ask for samples to check for quality in the following areas: cut, smoothness, hardness (cubic zirconia ranking 8.5 on Moh’s Scale of Hardness), and weight. Find a reputable gemologist to help if you’re not sure how to check for quality.

Don’t settle for second-hand stones. Look for great wholesale prices when ordering loose cubic zirconia, or loose cz, without sacrificing quality. Your customers will know the difference. Look for the grades when buying white cubic zirconia – Grade A, Grade AAA, and Grade AAAAA. Grade AAAAA has become the most valued cubic zirconia stone because it offers long-lasting fire and sparkle.

When buying loose cubic zirconia from a wholesale supplier, remember to put quality first so your customers can enjoy long-lasting beauty.