Most Common Diamond Scams

When it comes to diamonds, there are numerous scams to avoid. Most scams are minor, but there are some major ones that come up from time to time concerning the buying and selling of diamonds. Scams occur simply because most people who buy diamonds – for whatever reasons – don’t know that much about diamonds. Therefore, they are easily fooled.

Jewelry stores like to show their diamonds in bright lights. Lights make diamonds shine. Ask to see the diamond in a different, darker type of lighting as well. Jewelry also stores often run ‘fluorescence’ scams to varying degrees. Referring to a diamond as a blue-white diamond is such a scam. A blue-white diamond sounds very unique and special, but in fact, this type of diamond is of lesser quality – even though the jeweler will try to make you think you are getting something special.

A common scam that most jewelry stores participate in is the Carat Total Weight scam. The tag on the piece of jewelry, usually a ring, only states the total carat weight of all diamonds in the piece, instead of listing the total weights separately for each diamond. This leads consumers to believe that the main diamond in the piece is actually bigger than it is. Ask what the total carat weight of the center stone is. Also beware of fractions. Jewelry stores are allowed to round off diamond weights. This means that if the jeweler tells you that it is a ¾ carat diamond, it is probably between ½ and ¾ carat – but closer to ¾.

Some truly unscrupulous jewelers target those who want appraisals on diamonds that were given to them as gifts or that were purchased elsewhere. They will try to tell you that the diamond is worthless, or worth less than it actually is worth – and offer to take it off your hands or trade it for a much better diamond, along with the cash to make up the difference. This is called low balling. Get a second, third, and even a forth opinion before taking any action.

Jewelry stores often run ‘fluorescence’ scams to varying degrees. Referring to a diamond as a blue-white diamond is such a scam. A blue-white diamond sounds very unique and special, but in fact, this type of diamond is of lesser quality – even though the jeweler will try to make you think you are getting something special. Jewelry stores also like to show their diamonds in bright lights. Lights make diamonds shine. Ask to see the diamond in a different, darker type of lighting as well.

Another common dirty trick is to switch the diamond you have chosen and paid for with one of lesser quality and value when you leave it to be set in a piece of jewelry, or leave a diamond ring to be sized. The only way to avoid this is to do business with one trustworthy jeweler. Avoid jewelers that you have not done business with in the past.

There are many more scams that jewelry stores commonly pull on unsuspecting consumers. Just use your best judgment, and purchase your diamonds with the utmost care and consideration.

Paris Hilton Fascinated by the Beckhams

The 28-year-old socialite admires the British soccer player and former Spice Girls singer so much, she wants her children to be just like them.

Paris Hilton – who is currently dating "The Hills" star Doug Reinhardt – said: "I am going to ask Victoria and David to be godparents to my children."

"Doug and I had dinner with them in Los Angeles and really hit it off. I'm going to name my kids David and Victoria because she is so hot and I want kids as beautiful as her."

When it comes to the father of her future brood, Paris Hilton – who is currently in France attending the Cannes Film Festival – is certain Doug is the only man for the job.

She said: "He'll do anything for me, he's really hot. That's my future hubby. I love Doug so much. He knows I love him. I hate not being with him. He makes my skin go tingly."

However, Paris Hilton' Hollywood Hills neighbors are not as enamored with Doug – and it seems they like the hotel heiress even less.

The socialite has revealed the residents on her street are desperate to get her evicted after police were called to Paris Hilton' rented house because of "loud parties, screaming and yelling and vandalism."

One man has even offered to pay Paris Hilton' landlord $4,800 more a month in rent to get rid of the blonde star.

Paris Hilton said: "They are being so mean. We're the nicest neighbors in the whole world. It makes me sad."

Source: Celebritywonder

How to Find the Perfect Beauty Pageant Dress for Your Child

Have you recently decided that you would like your child to enter into beauty contests? Whether your child is a toddler, a teen, or an elementary school aged child, it is likely that you will be in charge of choosing and buying a beauty pageant dress. A beauty pageant dress is an important part of a pageant; therefore, you will want to make sure that you take your time and choose the perfect beauty pageant dress for your child, not just any ole one.

One of the first things that many parents do is try to envision what type of dress they would like their child to wear. While this is more than possible to do, you never really know what you will find. Instead of wasting time discussing what you may or may not even come across, you may want to wait and save the discussions until after you start shopping. So, in that case, the first thing that you may want to do is head on down to your shopping mall or dress store.

Once you arrive at the store or stores that you would like to visit, you can start eliminating beauty pageant dress styles or colors almost right away (poundmed.com). It is also advised that you bring your daughter along with you. If your daughter is unable to attend, for one reason or another, you can look, but you may want to hold off on buying. A beauty pageant dress is one that should be a joint decision between everyone involved, even your child, especially if she is a teenager. Once you and your daughter have a handful of beauty pageant dresses that they would like to at least try on, you will want to get started with doing so.

When it comes to trying on a beauty pageant dress, you will want to encourage your daughter to do more than just try on a dress. She will want to walk around in it, stretch a little, and so forth. Although a beauty pageant dress may be beautiful, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be comfortable to wear. Yes, in a beauty pageant beauty is more information than comfort, but if you daughter is uncomfortable in her dress then it may negatively impact her beauty pageant appearance.

Cost is another factor that you should also take into consideration. Yes, it is important that your daughter gets a beautiful beauty pageant dress, but you also need to make sure that you choose a dress that you can afford. There are too many horror stories associated with parents who lost their homes or their vehicles because they ended up investing too much money into their child’s quest to become a beauty pageant queen or princess. This is a mistake that you will want to try and avoid making yourself. In fact, you may even want to think about trying to find secondhand beauty pageant dresses.

Although secondhand beauty pageant dresses have this awful ring to them, at least to some parents, you may not have any other options if you are on a budget. You also need to remember that many beauty pageant dresses are only worn once or twice and many are well cared for. What does this mean for you and your child? It means that you may be able to walk away with a relatively new beauty pageant dress without having to go broke doing so. You may be able to find like-new beauty pageant dresses that cost half as much as the brand new dresses do.

It is also important to mention online shopping. You may be able to buy a beauty pageant dress online, in either new or used condition. The only downside to doing so is that it important to make sure that all measurements are correct. One simple mistake on a measurement and hundreds of dollars could be wasted on a beauty pageant dress that your child can’t even wear.

Common and uncommon gemstones

Gemstones quite literally can take our breath away when we see them. Who hasn’t seen a beautiful diamond or sapphire ring and exclaimed over it? Is it only their beauty that makes them so valuable? Why else are they valuable to us?

Most gemstones are minerals that occur naturally in the earth. The most common is quartz, which is made of silicon and oxygen, two of the most common chemicals or substances on the planet. Even though most people don’t find such crystals unless specifically looking for it, it’s still relatively common in the gem world.

One quality that determines the value of a gem is how rare it is. A diamond, believe it or not, is actually a more common gemstone. However, the sales and distribution of diamonds are tightly controlled, which keeps the demand for diamonds of any characteristic in high value. Certainly perfect, flawless diamonds are truly rare, but diamonds themselves aren’t particularly rare.

Other gemstones are much rarer, such as sapphires and rubies, which are part of the beryl family of minerals. Rubies are rarer than sapphires and top quality colors in both are extremely rare.

A mineral called benitoite is found only in the San Benito valley in California, where only a few hundred carats of it are found each year. It is the state gem of California and is a hexagonal-shaped crystal. It can be cut and polished to produce sapphire-colored gemstone jewelry.

Some gems are even rarer than bentitoite. They’re so rare, that only three or four of them exist in the world. And the location where the gemstone was found can make a big difference as well. While peridot is a fairly common gem, there were actually several carats of peridot discovered in a meteorite, making that one of the rarest gems ever.

Baby Jewelry

What does jewelry signifies? Love, pride, fashion sense and affection. If you love someone dearly gift a beautiful jewel that enhances her or his eternal light well. Baby jewelry is a nice way to express your admirable and love for your child. It is a cute way to showcase your deep feelings for your newborn that he or she cherishes for their entire life.

Generally, baby jewelry means baby bracelets, which carries their name initials or the full name itself. They are put in a chain to support the initials that looks like their miniature IDs. Bracelets in beads, pearls, crystals, gold, silver and ceramics are also available in the market that creates some wonderful jewels for infants and children. Bangle bracelets in gold and silver are also a very popular form of baby jewelry that parents usually gift their child. Increasing the preciousness of the bracelets, sometimes diamonds are also studded in it to give it a rich and abundant look. Further, you can enrich the look of your baby bracelets with different colorful charms and crystals that gives a stunning effect to the jewelry.

Pretty neck wears are also a much desired form of baby jewelry these days. You can also add a touch of pearls especially for girl child to increase her confidence and understanding. Beautiful crosses in silver and gold looks simply gorgeous in enhancing their distinctive personality whereas pendants in heart shapes for girls are an added value in their jewelry collection. For creating the magic further, you can also gift her beautiful single pearl pendant that is simply awesome.

Sophisticated and stylist earrings in different varieties and designs are also a wanted piece of jewelry in the market of baby jewelry these days. Ranging from a diamond, gold, pearl and silver earrings to designed teddy bears, flowers and heart shapes earrings, you can choose what suits your baby the best and what compliments her personality ultimately.

So, till now if you haven’t got the chance to gift beautiful baby jewelry then honor yourself by giving such a beautiful and adorable jewel that go well with your little ones style and taste. Make sure the jewel must be anti-allergic and soft on the skin to protect the child from unnecessary irritations and allergies. Select a sporty and funny jewel that your child treasures for rest of her or his life. Above all, choose a jewel that shows your ever lasting love and care for your baby.

The Difference Between Diamond Necklaces and Diamond Pendants

It may be easy to get confused as to what diamond necklaces are and how they differ from diamond pendants. But actually the difference is quite simple – a jewelry necklace is just any chain that was manufactured out of precious metals; or a chain of precious gems that have been attached to one another to form a chain. A pendant, on the other hand, is a small piece of jewelry that hangs from a chain. Strictly speaking, a pendant is one type of necklace so necklaces may come in other forms of jewelry that do not have pendants.

Diamond pendants, being made up of a small piece of jewelry hanging from a metal chain, will generally have less diamonds embedded into each pendant compared to diamond necklaces that may have diamonds linked to each other all throughout the length of the chain. Some people may prefer to wear diamond pendants because the beauty of the few diamonds or one diamond set into the pendant may be prettier or more appealing to see, than a host of diamonds linked to each other in a diamond necklace. But other people may like their jewelry to be flashier so they choose diamond pendants because these can show off more diamonds to whoever is watching.

Diamond necklaces may be of three types of length – you can buy the choker length, the princess length, or the opera length. Choker length diamond necklaces are those that surround the neck slightly above your collarbones. Princess length diamond necklaces are those that will hang lower than your collarbones or maybe drape just over the collarbones. (Princess length diamond necklaces are usually the most popular type of diamond necklaces bought by consumers.) The last type, the opera length diamond necklaces, are definitely more dramatic than the first two types because opera length diamond necklaces may hang over your dress front or blouse front – and so are more obvious to see. The jeweler that sells diamond necklaces to you may also have diamond necklaces that are variations of these three main types.

Who usually buys diamond necklaces? It is more accepted nowadays for women to use diamond necklaces, but that is not a hard and fast rule actually. There are really men too who like to wear diamond necklaces, especially diamond pendants, to accentuate their personal style of dressing up. You may find men who wear a diamond stud in one ear and a diamond pendant on a chain around his neck. When used the right way, men can really wear diamond necklaces and look good in the process. However, in more traditional and conservative work environments, men may not be comfortable wearing diamond necklaces or any type of diamond jewelry (aside from maybe a designer watch or diamond bracelet) because they may be mistaken for effeminate men. But in more laid-back work environments, wearing jewelry such as diamond necklaces may have become quite acceptable for men as well as for women in these modern times. In such a case, your diamond necklaces can be safely worn without fear of negative consequences happening to you in the end.

Buying Certified Diamonds

Nothing beats seeing a diamond in person to determine the true quality visibly. Diamond appreciation is a very personal thing and different people will prefer different things about different diamonds. At the end of the day all the numbers, certificates and photos in the world mean nothing if you do not like the look of the diamond and it does not sparkle displaying excellent Brilliance, Fire and Scintillation.

Many jewellers and diamond dealers will use terms like Hearts and Arrows, Ideal, Excellent, Russian Cut, Belgium Cut, Fine Make and others to describe their diamonds, with the intention of portraying them as 'better' than others. Be wary of accepting these terms as is. They are especially dangerous when assigned to diamonds by the jeweler or diamond dealer themselves without third-party independent support such as a diamond certificate or diamond grading report.

It is important to remain aware of the facts and differences with certification and the process, as well as the different grading standards each diamond grading laboratory offers. While it might be possible to find certified diamonds with the same grade stated on a certificate that appears notably cheaper. As a potential diamond buyer you must be aware that there is no single set of parameters diamond laboratories grade to and every laboratory has a different set of standards. There are no huge bargains within the diamond industry so remember, if a certified diamond sounds too good to be true, it probably is and there usually is a reason.

Not all diamond grading laboratories are as well respected or as stringent in their grading as each other. Diamond grading laboratories should always be independent of any diamond retailers or wholesalers, to avoid any conflict of interests or bias. Diamond Certificates are only of value when they are issued by an independent accredited diamond grading laboratory. Always make certain to identify the source of the certificate or diamond grading report. If you have not heard of the laboratory, it could very well be associated in some way with the store, jeweler or diamond wholesaler itself, and so have a vested interest in aiding the sale.

We understand that when searching for the right diamond the task can at times be daunting and very confusing. Just comparing diamonds on a diamond price match policy alone is not nearly good enough you have to visibly compare the diamonds next to each other to truly see which diamond is the better quality diamond.

Diamond Watches

Diamonds are beautiful jewels and are used in many types of jewelry from diamond necklaces to diamond rings to diamond watches. They are becoming more and more popular with both men and women due to the fact that they do not have to be too flashy. Both men and women continually look for new ways to use diamonds. Diamonds are not a rarity by any means. They are very easy to find and purchase.

The diamond watch is becoming more and more popular. They have become less expensive. It is also easier for consumers to find diamond watches. Diamond watches are something that both men and women can wear. The diamond watches are made in many sizes, shapes and styles. The prices of diamond watches vary just about as much as the styles do.

There are diamond watches that can be worn by women out on the track. These diamond watches are a way of showing that women can wear the diamond watches even when they are active. This type of diamond watch functions just like any other sport watch, but it has the diamonds and looks a bit nicer than the typical sport watch.

Women still wear the classic style of diamond watch. This type of diamond watch is typically worn for a nice evening out on the town. Some of the popular brands that make the classic style of diamond watch include Rolex, Seiko, Citizen, Omega, Bulova, and Cartier.

Men are sporting diamond watches more and more. The diamond watch for men is distinguished and beautiful at the same time. Many of the same dealers that make women’s’ diamond watches also make men’s diamond watches. So men’s diamond watches are just as readily available as women’s diamond watches. The dealers do not make men’s diamond watches to look the same as women’s diamond watches, though. The men’s diamond watch is larger and more masculine looking. They look more powerful looking than a woman’s diamond watch.

When purchasing a diamond watch it is important to know what you are getting. You want to know the quality of the diamonds in the diamond watch you are purchasing. Price and quality do not always match when it comes to diamond watches. Purchasing a more expensive diamond watch does not necessarily mean that you are purchasing high quality diamonds. Instead of looking at the price of diamond watches, be sure to purchase your diamond watch through a reputable dealer.

Whether you are a man or a woman you can find a diamond watch to fit your personality and lifestyle. A diamond watch is sure to be in style as long as man continues to exist. Diamond watches step a wardrobe up a notch from ho hum to ooh nice. It does not matter how much money you make, you can find a diamond watch from a reputable dealer that will fit into your budget. Go out and shop for your diamond watch. Watch and see for your self how a diamond watch can enhance your wardrobe step up the excitement in your life.

Blue Diamond Jewelry

What is Blue Diamond Jewelry?

Blue Diamond Jewelry is a stunning form of "fancy colored diamonds" that is recently gaining in popularity among diamond and jewelry enthusiasts.

Blue diamonds are natural, authentic white diamonds that have been heat and/or pressure treated to obtain their beautiful blue hue. So although blue diamond jewelry is treated, it is nevertheless a genuine diamond.

There are also naturally occuring blue diamonds, however, they are exceptionally rare. Blue diamond jewelry made by purely by nature, can cost as much as several hundred thousand dollars or more.

Treated blue diamonds, however, will cost significantly less and is a fashionable and unique alternative to a regular white diamond -- and they can cost less than white diamonds as well, at approximately half the price, for a quality colored diamond piece.

The reason blue diamond jewelry can cost less is because you do not need to start with a perfectly white diamond since you are going to be treating it anyway to change the color to blue. A fancy colored diamond producer, will start with a yellowish or low color grade diamond and treat it blue, therefore costing less than a high-end white diamond. Where the price differences come into play, however, are in the clarity and inclusion level of that diamond.

A popular form of colored diamonds, blue diamond rings , for example, will often be an I1 or I2 clarity diamond due to the fact that treating the diamond blue will mask most of the inclusions -- so a higher end diamond is often not needed, thereby reducing the cost of a colored fancy diamond in this way also. Some, however, will opt for an SI1-SI2 clarity blue diamond, which is more expensive, but often worth the upgrade, especially if purchasing the diamond for an engagement or wedding ring. Even so, the price will often still be less than a white diamond.