Diamond Engagement Rings

With the economy growing, one finds that it isn’t just the very rich who are buying diamonds and suddenly, this dazzling gem which has till now been seen as expensive, is now being viewed as being affordable by the Czechs. This is probably a result of growing consumer confidence as well and more and more of them are buying jewellery and expensive watches.

One Czech company that used to sell around 1000 diamond rings at the beginning of the century now sells that number in a month. What is being noticed is also the fact that young adults in their twenties are now walking in to buy a diamond engagement ring.

There was a time when the Czech Republic was known for its jewellery and its diamonds. With communism taking over the country, people moved into a more austere way of life and it isn’t till recently that attitudes began to change – and change fast. Not only are people buying more diamond engagement rings, they are buying jewellery as investment and there are so many media campaigns by leading jewellery houses to entice them along that path. Looks like the Czechs are on a diamond rediscovery road!

A few days ago, an article in one of the UK newspapers set one thinking. Do guys really notice things like diamond engagement rings and wedding rings? Well, the writer of this article felt most men don’t. They don’t look at rings on the fingers of their wives, on celebrities, on mums, on strange women.

Now we wonder if that’s true. Is it only women who are so concerned about engagement rings and wedding rings? We don’t think so. Many men might be totally oblivious to the rings on women’s fingers, yes. But there are quite a few, the romantic ones who do notice – who take the trouble to choose the best ring going, to even design the special rings they give to the women in their lives. As for the rest, as long as women notice what other women are wearing, as long as they go, ‘oooh’ and ‘aaah’ over a fabulous diamond engagement ring, diamonds and rings will really be forever!

Chen Shui-bian, the former President of Taiwan is being held captive in the country he headed till very recently. For eight years, he enjoyed being at the helm of a fast developing and advancing country. However, allegations of money laundering have been made against him and his family and it looks like the investigation will be on for a long time.

Chen’s son and daughter-in-law are supposed to have transferred nearly £15 million to Swiss bank accounts last year. The couple is away studying in the US. Chen’s wife too, is reported to have wired nearly £10 abroad and these were taken from his campaign fund. Chen however denies all knowledge of these allegations and states that he did no wrong. This is in spite of the fact that most people believe that he embezzled money in special expenses during his term as President.

Prosecutors have unearthed the expense of one and a half million Taiwan dollars on luxuries for his wife – and a lot of that money was spent on diamond rings. The lure of the sparkle of diamonds was a bit too much to resist, we believe. Little wonder the party lost the last election.

The announcement was made a few days ago on the 28th of July. De Beers has opened its Forevermark grading labs in Belgium, Antwerp and in the UK in Maidenhead. These are going to be centres of excellence as far as diamonds go. Though this will function as a separate entity, it is very much a part of the De Beers group and will no doubt benefit from all that diamond experience that the group has enjoyed for so many years. What does it take to be a Forevermark diamond? The diamonds have to be 0.18 carats at the very least, they have to be J colour, have a cut that has been rated as ‘good’ and have S12 clarity. The diamonds are then graded in these labs, after which they have a unique identification number as well as a Forevermark icon that are inscribed in them.

What does this grading mean for retailers as well as consumers? For retailers, it will mean that now they have a very precise report about the four Cs of the diamond, besides its being certified by such a reputable grading lab. For consumers, it just gets rid of the worry and the stress of wondering if their diamond is all it’s said to be or not. With a Forevermark inscription and a report, they can go ahead and buy that diamond engagement ring without being concerned about the genuineness of the diamond. What’s more, the company’s web site at forevermark.com/diamantaires means that you can track a diamond right through the whole grading and inscribing process.

What are these grading labs like? The labs use the very latest when it comes to technology and the highest standards are maintained in quality and integrity. A diamond has to be of the highest quality standards before it can pass through those doors. All the more reason to insist on that mark of quality if you are out shopping for a diamond ring!

It was the usual exclusive Tiffany’s opening – Breakfast at Tiffany’s with caviar laid out and champagne flowing and everyone who was everyone was there on the morning of July the 24th. It was a red letter day for Perth which didn’t have a Tiffany store till now and it looks like it’s going to be the start of an affair to remember. The early morning event didn’t stop the designer dresses and the bling being paraded.

There was one little difference. Way before all those socialites could arrive, a couple in Perth were let into the store. They took a tour and at the end of it, were given a gift bag. It was only when Shane Lehmann went down on his knees that his girlfriend, Caroline realised that the bag contained a diamond engagement ring. Could she really say anything else but ‘Yes!’? What a truly romantic way to open a store that has for so many years been the destination for couples in love to pick out diamond engagement rings and wedding bands.

The jewellery that was displayed was positively stunning and the store was a welcome addition to King Street in Perth which is a strip of every international luxury retail store imaginable. In this booming mining town, a Tiffany’s just had to have a presence. This is a city that oozes sophistication and positively reeks of the fragrance of wealth. Just the right setting for Tiffany’s, wouldn’t you say, with its dazzling diamond rings and its exclusive jewellery? The Mayor of the city said she was proud that Tiffany’s had opened in Perth finally – after all, the city with its multi-faceted nature and its shining performance, could well and truly be compared to the rarest of stones, the diamond!

The demand is growing for diamonds that are coloured and that’s a huge sweeping change. Time was when the whiter the diamond, the better it was thought to be. The times they are a-changing however as more and more coloured diamonds are entering the diamond fashion scene. Look around and you’re sure to notice some diva wearing a diamond that’s pink or even brown – oh, yes – brown is very ‘in’ when it comes to diamond rings.

Well, there’s this jeweller in Austin, Texas in America who is enamoured by coloured diamonds. Not that he doesn’t like the white ones, he just finds it a lot more exciting to design using the coloured ones. Dean Fredrick’s passion is designing jewellery and it started way back when he was in school. After training at the Gemmological Institute of America in Los Angeles, he worked for a bit and then started his own line of jewellery – and he just can’t get enough of those coloured bits of dazzle!

Not for him the typical coloured diamonds like yellow or pink. He is much more daring when it comes to diamonds, especially diamond rings. So you’ll see him experimenting with brown and black diamonds, even green ones. And it’s not just for diamond engagement rings, but for wedding bands as well. The coloured diamonds are set in 18 carat gold and he likes to use yellow, white or rose and he also loves to work with platinum. He has a special line of stackable coloured diamond rings which have become very popular. What he loves designing most of all though, are custom-made diamond engagement rings. Here’s to a lot more colour in the world of diamonds!

You might wonder why women feel the need to take their rings off when they apply lotion on their hands – but so many of them do. Well, that’s what happened to Mina Shim in Connecticut. The ring was off, she was applying some lotion when her phone rang and she was so busy talking, she got out of the car, emptied some trash, got back in and the family drove off. It was miles later that she realized that her diamond ring was missing and they turned around.

Now this ring was rather special. Her in-laws had given it to her when her daughter was born and it was the ring that her husband’s grandfather had given to his wife seven decades ago in Egypt. The couple had travelled a lot through Egypt ad Europe so the ring was well travelled too. The family scoured the parking lot where they had stopped but found nothing. Days passed and in desperation, Mina wondered whether she should contact Oprah Winfrey.

Meanwhile, her ring had been found – by someone who thought it was too large to be real. A friend remembered seeing an ad on craigslist.com and that was how the person who found it contacted Mina. Mina and her husband drove back, wondering at the miracle that had made getting back this ring which had so much sentimental value possible and thanking their lucky stars that it had been found by an honest man who found and restored a huge diamond ring to them. Not often do you find such honesty.

There’s a $200 billion spending power group out there and they are between 15 and 30. The children of the baby boomers are all grown up and wield an awesome power when it comes to spending the green stuff. What better target for the diamond trade than this group that’s ripe for the picking?

The older ones in this demographic group would be the ones who would be looking at diamond engagement rings but don’t be too quick to write off the younger ones in this group when it comes to diamonds. Generation Y could surprise you with the things they buy. Now, a girl does not look upon her engagement ring as her first diamond. More and more younger women are buying diamonds that have nothing to do with weddings or engagements. They’re buying diamonds because they love them. They’ve got the money, they’ve got the savoir faire and now they can buy themselves their own dazzle – in diamonds. There are statistics to show how these women in their twenties earn salaries that are very often much more than their male counterparts so why shouldn’t they indulge themselves in diamond jewellery that doesn’t need a reason to be bought for? These could be fashion pieces to go with their fashionable outfits and no, very often, they are not diamond rings.

Even when it comes to diamond engagement rings, this age group seems to have a lot more to spend on the diamonds. They shop for the stones that are bigger, better and they seem to know what they want and will not settle for second best. Well, the diamonds of today seem to have found their right setting indeed!

It was first spotted at Nobu, the upmarket eating place in Los Angeles. We’re talking about Cameron Diaz and her diamond engagement ring which is the subject right now of much, well, talk. Her publicist says she isn’t engaged and the public want to know why then, is she wearing the diamond ring on her engagement finger?

According to sources, the ring was designed by Lenore Marusak, a friend of Cameron’s for La Paix and there is a vehement denial from her people to state that it is her own ring and not an engagement ring given to her by anyone.

Cameron Diaz hasn’t been romantically linked with any man for any great length of time since she split with Justin Timberlake over a year ago, except for a short while with Jared Leto. Well, we all know that Justin and Jessica are supposed to be engaged so could it just be that this engagement thing is infectious and Cameron and her current model boyfriend are thinking of making it official? Paul Sculfor and Cameron have been spotted all over Hollywood cuddling up to each other and reports say that at the restaurant, Cameron was proudly showing off the ring. It’s been just a month since they have started dating so if that is a diamond engagement ring, that’s pretty fast work!

Well, her publicist stands by the official story that it is her own ring and the person who designed it is a producer who works on Newlyweds, the MTV reality show. Then why did Cameron wear the ring on her engagement ring finger is what everyone would like to know.