Gold seems to be the magic word in these tough times. Gold parties are a growing trend. They’re like Tupperware parties, with mostly women gathering at someone’s house for food and drinks. But instead of selling plastic, they’re pawning off their precious valuables. Women of every generation can benefit from this. A hostess invites friends and family to bring their unwanted gold to sell for extra income. The price is based on karat content, weight and the market price of gold that day. It's easy. We weigh each item … and examine them … verify the authenticity… separate the metals by karat, then weight to assess their sale value. Plain and simple.
Guests benefit by getting rid of things like faded gold lockets, outdated earrings and bangles that have been sitting in the back of the jewelry box collecting dust since the '70s. They even bring scrap gold/broken jewelry to the party to be weighed by us, and they walk away with cash or a check in hand.
In our society here we have a lot of parties, get-togethers and gatherings, and I think a lot of friends have broken jewelry and things that they want to get rid of, so this is the perfect excuse. Contact us at 631.651.6100 or visit us online at www.GoldBuyerNewYork.com.
Color Enhanced Diamonds?
Recently, our boutique had bought a 3 carat canary colored diamond. It was color enhanced, since this was my first encounter with such a stone, I began a feverish search for the pros and cons of the stone. Quick lesson, diamonds are made from carbon, diamonds are the hardest known substance to man and are both a naturally occurring and manufactured abrasive. It takes a diamond 1 to 3 billion years to form beneath the earth. Once formed, a diamond travels to the earth’s surface via streams of molten rock. Throughout this process, natural diamonds acquire inclusions and or flaws within them that give them their own unique “fingerprint”.
Diamonds can be purchased in various sizes (carats), shapes, colors, and clarities. Natural diamonds are preferred over enhanced or treated diamonds because of their rarity and individual fingerprint. No two natural diamonds in the world are identical; each one is unique whether it’s because of its color or clarity or both combined. Now, here comes the deceiving part.
The term “enhanced” may sound like a positive feature, however, any diamond that has been enhanced has been treated and altered from its natural condition to artificially improve its appearance. If you decide to purchase an “enhanced” diamond, find out what kind of treatments have been used and how they might affect the value of the diamond. You should also be concerned with the long term care and appearance these enhancement treatments may have on the diamond, as enhancements sometimes result in discoloration or cracks in the diamond.
Enhanced diamonds, unlike high quality natural diamonds are natural diamonds that have had very specific treatments done to them to improve their characteristics, or their natural “flaws”. One type of treatment is laser drilling, which is a process that removes minor inclusions in a diamond to produce a clarity enhanced diamond. This process will typically create lines that resemble tiny trails, which are visible under side-view magnification. The laser may dissipate the imperfection, or chemicals may be injected into the resulting tunnel to bleach away the color. This is a more permanent process than fracture filling. However, it is highly debated whether or not this process damages the integrity of the diamonds, thereby decreasing the value of clarity enhanced diamonds in the long term.
Fracture filling is a treatment that adds a glass-like resin material to a natural diamond to close small cracks. Since the filling has the same optical illusion and refraction index as a natural diamond, it’s nearly impossible to detect the “repair” to the flaws. Fracture filling is not a permanent treatment as heat from future repairs, cleanings, and even sunlight can erode the filler or possibly darken its color, making the diamond less valuable as time goes on.
There are different ways to detect if a diamond has had clarity enhancement treatments done to it. As mentioned above, laser drilling results in very thin, white lines or tunnels within the diamond that do not follow the pattern of the loose diamond. When fracture filling is used, the diamond may appear flawless when viewed from the top, but careful examination from the sides or other angles may reveal flashes of color that disrupt the pattern of facets in the diamond. Fracture filled diamonds may also have air bubbles trapped within them. Because these hints are only visible from the sides, it is very important to examine the diamond closely and preferable as a loose diamond rather than set into a diamond ring setting. I hope you learned as much as I did my diamond loving friends!!
Now, I'm not a twilight fan per say but one thing I do know is that Kristen Stewart broke fashion "rules" on more than one occasion. She can pull-off casual by donning her signature worn-in Vans and stunning dresses straight from the runway. She mixes and matches her tomboy and glam-inspired looks without hesitation because she’s never been afraid of showcasing her brand of style. This includes her unique accessory choices.
Kristen and I do have one thing is common. WE LOVE SPOON RINGS!! One of Kristen’s favorite pieces are her different spoon rings. I first noticed her wearing it on Conan O'Brien. Then I began to look for it everytime I saw her on something :) She went from Twilight screenings, to all over her hometown of Los Angeles. The antique feel of this ring makes it her go-to piece for both casual and formal occasions. Check it out!
Ever heard someone say what are chocolate diamonds? Diamonds have such a lot of different names. Earlier it was so much easier when it was just the white diamonds. Today, there are numerous other shades like pink, blue, black, red and even brown. Until recently diamonds which are colored and have other hues apart from the usual were considered to be low color diamonds. These were considered to be of lower grade than the white diamonds which are bright and shiny. It was only then that the market slowly began to accept colored diamonds and even started seeking them out. While they are of a lower cost than white diamonds, they are definitely a hot seller.
That was how these chocolate diamonds or brown diamonds came into the market and began to be sold in larger numbers. These occur in some low grade mines and customers who usually don’t give a second look at the colored ones began to hunt for the cognac diamonds as they are also known. It is interesting to mix these colored diamonds with white diamonds around them or at the center. It gives a very elegant look and is seen a lot in jewelry designs all over the world. If you have chocolate diamonds on cufflinks and pendants with other colored diamonds around them, you will have very interesting jewelry.
Many people find having a chocolate diamond surrounded by other white diamonds to be a very classy and fashionable choice in jewelry. These are mined from Russia, Australia and Africa. The naturally occurring varieties are most sought after followed by others that are treated to obtain an even brown color. How the diamonds get the color is simple. Due to years of being buried deep under the earth, a lot of extreme pressure is there on these diamonds which over time changes color to acquire a brownish hue. It was the Le Vian jewelry that came up with the name chocolate diamonds.
While purchasing diamonds, always opt for a reputed jeweler renowned for credibility. Chocolate diamonds are also made from low grade diamonds which have been treated to radiation. If you buy these you will not have any resale value and unscrupulous jewelers will try to sell them as naturally occurring ones at exorbitant prices. Also take a certificate of authenticity from the jeweler that you go to so that you know you are paying for something truly worth the money. Know what you are investing in, so that you do not get deceived when you buy your colored diamonds. Knowing the diamonds chocolate jewelry will help you avoid such mistakes.
