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Posts Tagged ‘Diamond Jewellery’

True Love Beats The Recession

Friday, June 11th, 2010

You don’t need telling that times have been tough over the last couple of years due to the economic situation. But the recession can’t be allowed to stand in the way of true love, so how do you choose from the many diamond engagement rings available one which your fiance will wear with joy, love and pride every day, and breaking the bank? After all, you are probably saving for a deposit for your home together, so you will want to be able to look at diamond engagement rings that won’t put your finances under pressure. On this note, etiquette experts suggest that two month’s salary is a reasonable amount to spend on diamond engagement rings. Of course, if you can afford to spend more, most women won’t argue with you about that.

Some couples regard jewellery as an investment, which is why they go for top-quality diamond jewellery which will appreciate in value over the years. Others are less concerned with the value and choose diamond engagement rings which will simply prove that they are in love. This is one of the reasons why eternity rings are so popular, as they are the perfect symbol of a relationship.

If you are looking for diamond jewellery of any kind, then ROX will be able to help you find the perfect gift. They can supply everything from diamond rings to gents watches, so whether you are buying online, or from their stores, make sure you look at the great range of jewellery available there.

Tags: diamond engagement rings, Diamond Jewellery, Diamond Rings, eternity rings
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The Origins Of The Wristwatch

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

Wearing a wristwatch is something we men take for granted, but it hasn’t always been the case. Less than 100 years ago, men carried pocket watches, whilewristlets, as they were called at the time, were regarded as Ladies Watches. Watches of this kind were considered nothing more than a passing fad than a serious timepiece, and it is thought that watchmakers dismissed them as well, believing that, because of their size, they could not be accurate, nor withstand the everyday knocks and bumps they would receive. Because of this, very few companies produced watches in quantity, but this started to change in the nineteenth century, and it was down to the military for this reassessment of Mens Watches.

Pocket watches were clumsy to carry and thus difficult to operate while in combat situations, so soldiers fitted them into primitive leather straps so they could be worn on the wrist, thereby freeing up their hands during battle. It is believed that the German Imperial Naval used wristwatches as early as the 1880s, which they wore on their wrists while synchronising naval attacks and firing artillery.

Mens watches have come along way since those days, and there is a fantastic range of gents watches available today, from the ordinary functional watches through to Designer watches. If you are thinking of buying Mens watches online, take a look at the great selection here at ROX. You will also find a superb range of Diamond Jewellery, from Diamond Rings to Trilogy Rings and much, much more.

Tags: buy watches online, Diamond Jewellery, Ladies Watches, mens watches, Watches
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Buying Jewellery Online Is Incredibly Easy

Monday, June 7th, 2010

If you want to buy jewellery or watches online, you will need to have 100 per cent peace of mind about the company you are buying from. This is why more and more people are choosing ROX when they want to buy their jewellery online. ROX have built an enviable reputation for supplying the very best in jewellery, from eternity rings to ladies watches and just about everything in between.

If you are in the area, you can also visit their boutique stores in Glasgow’s famous jewellery treasure trove, the Argyll Arcade. They also have stores in the leading shopping destinations of Braehead, Silverburn and Aberdeen’s Union Square. There you will see for yourself contemporary classics, fashions straight from the catwalk, and individual pieces with an elegance and character all of their own.

The ROX reputation for diamond engagement rings is certainly impressive. Every ROX diamond in their Signature Collection is handpicked for its superior cut, presence and beauty, which means that when you wear it, you know it will stand out.

Choosing diamond jewellery is a subjective thing, but whether you buy online or at one of the retail outlets, you can ask the staff to help you when choosing jewellery. This can come in handy if you are buying, for example, diamond earrings for your wife or girlfriend as a surprise. The helpful staff at ROX will point you in the right direction if you’re not sure exactly what you want. So whatever you are looking for in diamond jewellery, have a look at the fantastic range on the ROX website.

Tags: buy jewellery online, diamond earrings, diamond engagement rings, Diamond Jewellery, eternity rings, Ladies Watches
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What Are Blood Diamonds?

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

For most of us, the first time we heard the term Blood Diamonds was when the Leonardo Di Caprio film of the same name appeared in cinemas. So what are blood diamonds, and should you take steps to avoid inadvertently buying Jewellery which contains them?

Essentially, they are the stones which appear in Diamond Jewellery which have been sold in Africa in order to fund illegal operations of rebels and other terrorist groups. Countries that have been most affected by this are Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where many people have died in conflicts which have been funded by the sale of these stones which later turn up in everything from Diamond Bracelets to Eternity Rings.

There have been moves to ensure that our Diamond Jewellery is free from these blood diamonds. Ten years ago, South African countries with a legitimate diamond trade began a campaign to track the origins of all rough diamonds, attempting to put a stop to blood diamond sales from known conflict areas. Their efforts eventually resulted in The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), an international effort to rid the world of conflict diamonds, and so far appears to be seeing success.

When you are buying diamond jewellery, don’t be afraid to questions when you are choosing diamond rings or diamond earrings. Ask the dealer where the diamonds you are looking at came from, what the company’s policy on blood diamonds is, and if the company can verify the origins of the stones.

Tags: diamond bracelets, diamond earrings, Diamond Jewellery, Diamond Rings
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Look After Your Diamond Jewellery

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

You could be forgiven for thinking that you don’t have to worry about diamond rings becoming worn, but this is not entirely the case. Despite diamond jewellery being made from one of the hardest substances on earth, it can become worn, so make sure you follow a few guidelines and you will avoid this. For example, if you wear any other rings next to a diamond ring some abrasion may occur, as a diamond in direct contact with other diamond jewellery will rub away at the other stone. Eventually, your diamond may also be slightly worn down if they have been placed together for too long. Wearing two rings close together can cause the abrasion of metal as well, so it’s probably best if you never take your rings off to wear them on opposite hands or a few fingers apart.

You can also take care of diamond rings by cleaning them occasionally. There are a number of materials that can be used to clean diamonds and their mount, including soapy water, some detergents and alcohol, but don’t use abrasive substances which may damage your diamond jewellery. diamond rings can also attract grease, and after a while if not cleaned they will lose their sparkly and can become dull. This applies to all diamond jewellery, whether it is eternity rings, cluster rings or diamond bracelets, so a little bit of maintenance will ensure that your diamond jewellery will never lose its sparkle.

Tags: cluster rings, diamond bracelets, Diamond Jewellery, diamond maintenance, Diamond Rings, eternity rings
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Ethically Sourced Diamonds

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Because diamonds are small enough to be extremely easy to transport but very valuable indeed, the diamond market is an ideal target for illegal smuggling operations. Coupled with the fact that most of the stones of sufficient quality to be used in fine diamond jewellery and watches are found in some of the poorest and most troubled places on Earth, there is a recipe for trouble.

In these days of heightened consumer responsibility, the way diamonds can be used by violent and vicious regimes to gain power and the money to buy arms has been brought out into the light. In the past these ‘conflict diamonds’ found their way into designer watches and diamond earrings all over the world. Even some unlucky people’s wedding rings, bought in complete ignorance of the deadly serious issue of conflict diamonds, have been tainted by it.

However, times change, and in this matter they’ve changed for the better. All diamonds coming into the EU now have to be certified to come from conflict-free, legitimate sources. No conflict diamond may now be knowingly sold here, either as part of any diamond jewellery or as a cut stone.

You can buy diamonds from ROX with the full assurance that they are conflict-free. We’re proud to be a part of the new, more socially responsible trade in precious stones. So much so that we even scrutinise all our gold suppliers to make sure their practices are safe for workers and environmentally sound. We make sure that our jewellery is ethical jewellery.

Tags: diamond earrings, Diamond Jewellery, Diamond Rings, ethically sourced diamonds
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What Is A Carat?

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

The weight (and therefore the size) of stones used in diamond jewellery is measured in carats. They are a very old measure, and these days carat weights are the standard for precious stones. For precious metals like gold, carat is a purity measure rather than an outright weight, so that is slightly different. In diamond rings, the carat value stated may be the weight of the centrepiece stone or the combined weight of all stones including small chips- fell free to ask if in any doubt about any of our diamond jewellery.

Back in the early days of diamond trading for jewellery, the stones were measured against the weight of carob seeds, which are remarkably uniform in size and weight. One carob seed came to be one carat. There is a finer measurement called ‘point’. One point is one hundredth of a carat, so a half carat diamond is a fifty point diamond.

While size certainly does matter, diamond quality is also important. Clarity and colour will also affect the price and desirability of a given stone. So will the type of cut.

One carat is 0.2g. That doesn’t sound like much, but one carat diamond engagement rings are actually quite good and the central stone in question will probably look quite impressive. Most of the stones used in diamond jewellery are smaller than that. A 2 carat diamond is on the decidedly large side, and a 3 carat diamond is truly outstanding in size. Good quality loose stones of that weight are usually sold for tens of thousands of pounds when cut, or more.

Tags: diamond carats, diamond engagement rings, Diamond Jewellery, Jewellery
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Measuring Diamond Clarity

Friday, May 21st, 2010

Clarity is one of the four Cs of diamond quality testing. The other three are carat (or size), colour, and cut. For the moment, let’s concentrate on clarity. For most people high clarity is a given when talking about diamond jewellery – not for nothing do we say ‘as clear as diamond’ but it does vary from stone to stone.

Tiny bubbles, cracks, and imperfections inside the diamond (or any other precious brilliant stone for that matter) can lower the clarity. Those that don’t have what it takes to warrant inclusion in jewellery are used for industrial purposes or are broken up so that the high clarity pieces can be used as smaller secondary stones. Fancy cuts can sometimes be used to remove areas of lesser clarity too.

Clarity is measured on a number of different scales, but most of them have the first few categories in common. F stands for flawless, and is the best possible class. It means there are absolutely no flaws that a trained eye can find under a microscope at 10x magnification. Next is IF or internally flawless. Stones of this class are still considered outstanding and ideal for inclusion in fine jewellery like wedding, eternity and diamond engagement rings.

After that come the VVS (very very small flaws) and VS (very small flaws) classes. These are still very good diamonds, clarity-wise. They can be found in all kinds of jewellery. While they have flaws that are visible under magnification, any stone in either of these classes will look perfectly clear to the naked eye.

Tags: diamond clarity, Diamond Jewellery, Diamond Rings, Jewellery
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Diamond Cut

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

In diamonds and other precious gems, the ‘cut’ refers to the shape of the finished stone. There are a huge variety of cuts available from the classic to the fancy, and there are different pros and cons to each. It’s not just the shape that counts for aesthetic purposes or to suit a particular kind of jewellery fitting. It is the cut of a diamond set in diamond jewellery that draws light into the centre of the stone and makes it sparkle. The number of facets (the individual flat planes) and their angle to one another impacts the way light is reflected and refracted around inside the stone.

For diamonds, where that internal fire is the main drawcard, cut is obviously of paramount importance. Since the advent of laser cutting equipment, cuts have grown more and more sophisticated. The understanding of the optical physics involved has also grown. New cuts can now be designed and analysed with computer programs. All these factors combined mean that the diamonds used in jewellery are now more spectacular than ever. The jewellers of a hundred years ago would be amazed by today’s diamond engagement rings.

Cuts are divided into families. The most common is the round brilliant style, which is designed to make efficient use of a perfect, flawless diamond crystal. The symmetry and carefully calculated angles of a classic round brilliant do perhaps the best job of bringing out a diamond’s sparkle. It’s the most popular choice for the large, high quality centrepiece diamonds found in jewellery, although there are many more.

Tags: diamond engagement rings, Diamond Jewellery, Diamond Rings, Jewellery
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A Note On The Colours Of Diamonds

Monday, May 17th, 2010

The most common diamond found in watches and jewellery is the perfectly colourless or ‘white’ diamond, but that is certainly not the only colour available. More than 20 officially approved colours are known to experts. Pink, blue, and champagne are three of the most popular in jewellery.

Colour is distinct from clarity. While clarity scrutinises a diamond for flaws and interruptions, colour refers to the tint. Any colour of diamond can have a high or a low clarity and a correspondingly high or a low quality. Some of the largest and most valuable diamonds found either loose or in diamond jewellery settings in the world are coloured.

Of the ten greatest diamonds ever valued, most are either blue or white. The exception is the Golden Jubilee Diamond, which is the largest cut diamond in the world at more than 540 carat. That’s more than 100g, or the weight of a generous chocolate bar. The clear golden colour is called ‘fancy yellow brown’. It is worth millions of pounds.

For those considering a jewellery piece or a watch with diamonds, choosing coloured stones may or may not drive the price up. Because they are rarer, large diamonds with high clarity and a particular tint are usually more expensive than their white equivalents, but there is no denying that they can also be truly beautiful stones.

Selecting a diamond colour to suit your loved one not only shows that you care enough to buy diamonds, but also that you’ve put extra thought in to the choice. For example, nothing beats pink diamond engagement rings for a woman who loves that colour.

Tags: diamond bracelets, diamond engagement rings, Diamond Jewellery, diamond necklaces, Diamond Watches
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