Posts Tagged ‘diamonds’

Luxury jeweler House of Borgezie is selling $160,000 diamond-studded stilleto heels that comes with a 1,000-year guarantee. Designed by Christopher Michael Shellis and crafted in Birmingham, England, the shoes have 2,200 diamonds soldered onto them, reports Shoeblog. They take 100 hours to make, and a replaceable red heart-shaped sole makes the shoes easy to maintain.

“I like archeology and love the idea of them being found somewhere 1000 years from now and recognised as an ancient treasure and still as good as the day they were made,” Shellis told the Australian Courier Mail.

Five pairs have been sold. One of the new owners is rumored to be Victoria Beckham.

» 10 fabulous diamond rings under $999

Unless you use the banned Nickel or the expensive Palladium alloys. “White gold” is actually yellowish Alloy that was dipped in the chrome-look Rhodium bath to cover it (see photos). This is a thin cover
Called “Flash cover” and it is only about 0.002 mm.
These jewels need maintenance once or twice a year depending on the wearing conditions.
It is a common procedure and takes 15 minutes and can be applied on any other metals that require the removal of starches and dirt!

18k “White” Gold, rough metal, not covered.

18k Gold ring after finish and Rhodium dipping.

Pure gold is too soft to hold valuables like Diamonds with claws (prongs) therefore the Gold Alloys were invented. 58.5% pure gold in any alloy will be called 14k Gold, 75% of pure Gold is 18k Gold, 24k is pure gold, %100.
Since Gold is a yellow metal “18k White gold” is an alloy of Gold (75%) and Nickel (8%) or Gold (75%) and Palladium (15%).

10 to 15% of women are allergic to Nickel released to their skin while wearing a jewel. This will result in different skin rash levels.

Metal prices as of 13th April 2010

Pure Platinum      US$ 55      per Gram.
Pure Gold           US$ 37      per Gram.
Pure Palladium    US$ 16.4    per Gram.
Nickel                  US$ 0.025  per Gram !!!

It is clearly seen that using Palladium to make the alloy white will significantly increase the price and put it close to Platinum price.
The use of Nickel is banned by countries like Switzerland and controlled by regulations in the EU community; there is yet any Nickel use regulation in the USA.
European regulations limit the amount of nickel that could be released from any item which is intended to come into prolonged and direct contact with the skin.The regulations entitled “The Dangerous Substances and Preparations (Nickel) (Safety) Regulations 2005″ clearly require that any finding component that pierces the skin may not release more than .2 micrograms of nickel per cubic centimeter per week, and that no other jewelry component release no more than .5 micrograms of nickel per cubic centimeter per week.
Nickel exposure is tested under BS EN12472 and BS EN 1811:1999. The first of these separate tests replicates two years of wear under normal use, and the second tests for subsequent exposure to nickel.
We at Diamonds-USA.com use only “Nickel free” metal alloys as required by the EU regulations.

Spring is approaching ahead in firm steps towards us and that means that we must prepare not only our bodies and minds for the warm seasons but also our wardrobe.
In recent posts we have already concluded that jewelry is an important part of every girl’s wardrobe so for the blooming season we should be prepared for all the right jewelry trends:

The romantic trend- ‘Alice in wonderland’ brought to our world not only a massive amount of merchandise but also the trend of romantic pieces.
Bows, bunnies, hearts, miniature kitchen supplies- everything goes and you can wear just about anything as a necklace or as a ring.
How to wear this trend? Well, since these pieces are so cute and trendy you can wear them with just about anything- you can go for the classic sweet look if you’re looking for an Alice total look or you can mix it up with casual pieces of clothing like a tank top and a nice pair of jeans.

(From Etsy)

The floral trend- The entire world went crazy for h&m’s garden collection and that might have launched the floral trend. What can be more appropriate for spring that patterns and shapes of roses, daises and butterflies?
We were happy to find out that our beloved floral prints are appearing not only on clothes and fabrics but also in pedants, cameos and earrings.

(From Etsy)

The Eco trend- Since spring is all about getting in touch with nature and with our environment it’s no wonder that the Eco trend is catching speed as well. Recycled pieces are all the rage not only in clothing but also in the jewelry department. Eco friendly jewelry are just as trendy and good looking asother fashion jewelry with the unique perk of being environment friendly .

(From Etsy)
Colors- when we thing of spring, pastel and almost angelic colors pop into our minds.  When spring times arrive we enjoy feeling like a butterfly ourselves and we wear lots of nude colors as well as pinks and purples. Since we enjoy wearing color so much, why shouldn’t we integrate it in our jewelry selection as well? Colorful gemstones are all the rage in the jewelry world therefore you should definitely consider adding a pink cocktail ring or a emerald pedant to your collection.

(From Marie Claire)

When it comes to applying hot trends always make sure to find your personal taste and tendencies in order to become a fashion dictator instead of a fashion victim.
Happy spring time!

We are quite used to looking at gemstones as beautiful luxury rocks that we wear as a decoration on our body. If you are a person with spiritual tendencies, you must know that in traditional astrology it is common to approach gemstones as birthstones. In fact, mystics and Shamans believe that each stone has its own unique ability and character just like us humans.

Each zodiac has a gemstone that rules its sign and conducts its energies. However, the traditional astrology also mentioned that a single gemstone cannot control an entire zodiac sign which is why there are several gemstones that conduct energies with a single zodiac sign.
With all that in mind, it’s time to find out which gemstone represents your zodiac sign and the meaning of it:

Aries (March 21-April 19): The main gemstone is Ruby (although some believe it is diamonds) and it represents personal qualities like primal energy, daring, initiative and self assertiveness.

Taurus (April 20- May 20): The main gemstone is Sapphire and it represents personal qualities like pure substance, physical beauty, stewardship and passive force.

Gemini (May 21- June 21): The main gemstone is Topaz and it represents personal qualities like dualistic, facile intelligence, mimicry and instinctual mind.

Cancer (June 22- July 22): The main gemstone is Emerald and it represents personal qualities like motherliness, protective and fertility.

Leo (July 23- Aug 22): The main gemstone is diamond and it represents personal qualities like self assertive, playfulness, sexuality and love, pleasure seeking and chance taking.

Virgo (Aug 23- Sept 22): The main gemstone is Jasper and it represents personal qualities like discrimination, conservativeness, attention to detail, hygiene conscious.

Libra (Sep 23- Oct 23): The main gemstone is Aquamarine and it represents personal qualities like cooperativeness, businesslike, persuasiveness.

Scorpio (Oct 24- Nov 21): The main gemstone is Black Opal and it represents personal qualities like Metaphysical, passion, violence and destructiveness.

(From Opal33.com)

Sagittarius (Nov 22- Dec 21): The main gemstone is Garnet and it represents personal qualities like philosophical, expansive and extravagant, expended conscious and independence.

Capricorn (Dec 22- Jan 19): The main gemstone is Topaz and it represents personal qualities like organization, constructiveness, serious and materialistic.

Aquarius (Jan 20- Feb 18): The main gemstone is Turquoise and it represents personal qualities like humanitarian, socialistic, progressive and idealistic.

Pisces (Feb 19- March 20): The main gemstone is Amethyst and it represents personal qualities like self- sacrificial, sensitive, vague and emotionally receptive.

What is your zodiac sign? Did you find yourself nodding in agreement to the personal characteristics mentioned it this post? Did this information change your perspective towards gemstones?

last week we have reported that big statement jewelry are all the rage in the jewelry world and just last night, at the glamorous Oscar awards- all hot jewelry trends have been ignored as the starlets chose to look classy over stylish.

The Oscars is a fairly conservative award ceremony, and that is probably the reason why big statement jewelry weren’t anywhere in sight on the red carpet. In fact- minimalism was the bright star of the ceremony- most celebrities chose not to wear jewelry at all or just settled for a nice pair of decorative diamond earrings instead.

(Jewelry Insider)

Take Oscar winner Sandra Bullock for example- her only accessories were a hot pink lipstick and very subtle diamond earrings. Same goes for Jennifer Lopez: Lopez is usually the queen of drama but this year she decided to tone herself down a little bit by wearing a beautiful Armani dress with large stud diamond earrings.

As far as the other jewelry departments are concerned, we were able to spot some diamond tennis bracelets on celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Mariah Carrey and some gentle necklaces on starlets such as Kate winslet and the lovely Helen Mirren.

Some stars allowed their dresses to steal all the attention as they chose not to wear any jewelry at all- like the amazing Kristen Stewart: Although Stewart’s navy dress was truly a vision- we feel that the presence of chandelier earrings or a gentle necklace might have upgraded her performance to a perfect 10.

(Jewelry insider)

In terms of jewelry no big surprises were seen on the red carpet, it appears that no one wanted to make a big splash in this department (and the preference was to concentrate on the dress instead) and we can’t help but fondly remember Angelina Jolie’s beautiful emerald earrings that she paired up with an amazing black corset dress in the Oscars a few years ago. This Oscars ceremony had a no color policy and we think it’s quite disappointing.

(Etsy.com)

On a different note- you may have noticed the latest global buzz regarding Tim Burton’s recreation of “Alice in wonderland”. We might have gotten used to the fact that elements taken from the film have already sunk into the world of fashion but the latest news is that the jewelry world has also been affected by the highly anticipated film: nowadays you can find bunny necklaces, hat rings, key hole earrings, “Drink me” bottle necklaces and of course- the watch pedant necklaces in every fashion store. We can’t wait to embrace a necklace with a romantic pedant to ourselves while watching the movie.
Go Alice!