Archive for the ‘Everything Else’ Category
During medieval times, it was widely believed to be unlucky to wear pearls because they represented tears. Diamonds, on the other hands, was considered to show a sign of power and great luck, keeping all evil things like witches away. It was also believed to keep the wearer from experiencing a sudden onset of a mental illness such as going insane. So if a bride was seen wearing pearls on her wedding day instead of diamonds, the community would deem the marriage cursed and condemned to unhappiness.
Wearing silver earrings were once thought to keep the evil spirits from possessing an individuals body. Silver earrings were seen to create a protective barrier about an individual so that no evil spirits could penetrate exposed orifices. Also wearing silver earrings were thought to keep the devil away from the wearer. So sporting a simple pair of hoops could keep your body possession free while the wearer is being stylish.
The superstition of the engagement goes as is, if you have a ring on your ring finger don’t remove it, if you don’t have one there don’t put one there. It was considered bad luck if a woman removed her engagement ring for any reason before her wedding day. The reason for this was because of the fear that the wedding may never take place. It was also a big no no to let another woman try on your engagement ring. It was said that if that occurred, the woman that tried on the ring would steal the soon to be husband away. For the single ladies, it is considered bad luck to display a ring on the proposed engagement ring finger. If a woman was to wear a ring on that finger, she would be cursed to be alone forever.
Some believe that it is bad luck to wear a birth stone that isn’t yours. If that were the case, every bride in the world would be cursed unless their birthday fell in the month of April.
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Costco, the world’s 9th largest retailer based in the USA, opened it’s doors to the Australian public in August 2009 with an outlet in Docklands, Melbourne.
It offers wholesale pricing on things like whitegoods, furniture, groceries, alcohol and even luxury items like loose diamonds and jewellery. It is also one of the largest retailers of fine wine in the world!
So what does this mean for Australian consumers? well apart from more affordable pricing for wholesale items for everyday use, there are great bargains to be had in the Jewellery department, oddly enough.
With their immense buying power, Costco is able to bring down prices for diamonds and jewellery and this means competition gets fiercer, prices as a whole get better and in the end, the consumer wins.
Smaller jewellers may be squeezed out due to being unable to compete but for the end consumer, getting the best price for the diamond or diamond jewellery item they have their heart set on, is what matters the most. The jewellery department at Costco Australia is doing exceptionally well and continues to be a focal point for the business, not just in Australia but around the world.
Costco will be opening up another store in Auburn, New South Wales some time in 2011.
At a recent international diamond conference held in Mumbai, it was found that China is sharply increasing its presence on the global jewel and diamond market and flexing its muscles in sheer volume of diamond exports per annum.
Chaim Even-Zohar of an Israeli Diamond Consultancy firm mentioned that Indian manufacturers needed to up their game if they wanted to stay ahead of the Chinese onslaught which offered exceptional quality jewels at more affordable prices. China has been aggressive in its purchase of mines across Africa and with their low manufacturing costs, many multinationals were beginning to setup shop in China.
The market share of India and China is a mere 7% and 6% respectively but if current figures are anything to go by, this could exceed 10% for both by 2016.
While the heavyweights in the diamond industry fight it out for the top spots, the end result for consumers is that the quality of diamonds and diamond jewelry will only get better and as for price, well, competition is always known to bring prices to a more affordable level.
Cathy Freeman, a famous Australian athlete is auctioning a diamond ring worth $14,000 AUD along with watches from Bvlgari and Cartier, with the proceeds going towards her Catherine Freeman Foundation.
Her foundation supports indigenous Australian children living on Palm Island.
Cathy Freeman
This is a great sign of generority and committment to the people by Cathy Freeman who celebrated 10 years since her momentous 400m win at the Sydney Olympic Games where she lit the Olympic Torch in an unforgettable ceremony.
The reason for the sale of her diamond ring? She wants to focus more on her foundation and the good work that it does.
Ask any girl about some of her favourite things and invariably, she’ll say something like handbags, make up, shoes and jewellery.
They say that diamonds are a girls best friend but they also say that a girl can never have too many handbags or too many shoes. As for make up, well, all girls love make up and love to indulge in whatever will make them look and feel glamorous.
But we want to know, what do girls like the most – say, if they had to choose between handbags, shoes or diamond jewellery – what would they choose?
What would you choose?
There’s no right or wrong answer… just follow the link and click…
Results will be published on our blog and website soon…