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Why Buy A Diamond on the Internet? March 29, 2006

Posted by Jill Renee in : Buying Engagement Rings, Buying Jewelry, Jewelry , add a comment

Buying a diamond on the internet.

Jewelry stores do provide a personal buying experience on a one-on-one basis, however, do you really need to pay 30-40% more for this service?

Conversely, is the risk of being unhappy with your diamond purchase greater, without seeing it first?

Danforth Diamond responds to both of these questions noting that the average length of time spent on our website is 2 hours, longer than you would generally spend on a jewelry store visit. Also, most busy jewelers would be unable to devote that much individual time to only you.

We draw upon our over 50 years in the diamond and jewelry business to provide a complete and thorough education to assist you with your diamond and diamond jewelry purchases.

And remember that our site is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for you to explore when it is convenient for you.

Our lower overhead on the Internet will enable you to buy a 30-40% better valued diamond. Your extra purchasing power will allow you to upgrade your clarity, color, cut, or carat weight, lowering your chances of being unsatisfied. Our inventory of stones and styles are far mhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifore extensive than most stores, and our diamonds are certified by world-known independent laboratories.

And furthermore, we offer a no risk 30-day unconditional money back guarantee.

We understand the concern that the Internet has anonymous and short-lived businesses, but so do traditional brick and mortar establishments. However we are long established jewelers that can now offer you exceptional product at great prices through the Internet.

Our goal, at Danforth Diamond, is to become your local “internet” jeweler. We want to provide great product and service with your first purchase, hoping you will feel comfortable to visit with us again for all your future anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, and special celebrations.

DeBeers and Beyond: The History of the International Diamond Cartel March 28, 2006

Posted by in : Diamond Jewelry, Diamonds, Jewelry , add a comment

Diamonds are forever
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A gemstone is the ultimate luxury product. It has no material use. Men and women desire to have diamonds not for what they [diamonds] can do but for what they desire.1

To hear these words from a person who attributes his entire wealth and power to the trade of diamonds illustrates the peculiar nature of the diamond market: Jewelry diamonds are unjustifiably expensive, given they are not actually scarce and would fetch a price of $2 to $30 if put to industrial use. Still, by appealing to the customers’ sentiment, diamonds are one of the most precious luxury items and enjoy almost global acceptance. This fact is often attributed to the history of one company. DeBeers, founded by Cecil Rhodes in 1870. Debeers has been a highly successful and effective controller of the diamond market, having developed a unique purchasing and marketing cartel that has influenced prices in the market virtually undisturbed for almost a century. Lately, however, there are signs that more and more players seem ready to challenge DeBeers’ dominance, and ever since, DeBeers has struggled to keep the cartel intact.

Diamonds and the Cartel

For centuries, the only two countries producing diamonds were India and Brazil. Up to the middle of the 19th century, the world supply of diamonds was so scarce that even monarchs and noblemen found it hard to get hold of them. The idea of making diamonds available to the general public seemed unthinkable. When diamonds were first found in South Africa in 1867, however, supply increased rapidly, although the notion of diamonds as a precious and rare commodity remain to the present day.

Similar to the gold miners in California, diamond miners in South Africa tended to rush to the latest findings.2 As a matter of principle, diamond miners preferred to work by themselves. However, the scarcity of resourceful land and the need for a minimum of common infrastructure forced them to live together in limited areas. In order to fight off latecomers and to settle disputes, Diggers Committees were formed and gave out claims in a region. Each digger would be allocated one claim, or, at most, two.

Since digging diamonds on a larger scale was virtually impossible for individuals, small claimholders soon merged into larger ones. Moreover, equipment for digging, hauling the dirt up and pumping water out of the mines was purchased or rented by groups of miners, thereby forced to cooperate even more intensively.3 Cecil Rhodes was one of the first businessmen to rent out pumping equipment and soon realized that he had tapped a vast market potential. He reinvested the initial proceeds from equipment rental in acquiring claims. By 1880, he held a large enough share of diamond claims to justify a separate company purely concerned with managing the mines: thus DeBeers Mining Company was created. By 1887, the company was the sole owner of South African diamond mines.

Concurrently, Cecil Rhodes took control of the distribution channels through “The Diamond Syndicate,” an alliance of merchants in Kimberley who abided to Rhodes’ terms of business, recognizing that their own interests and DeBeers were compatible in that both aimed for high prices and a notion of scarcity.

You can read the rest of the story of DeBeers Diamond Cartel

How to Care for Your Jewelry March 13, 2006

Posted by Jill Renee in : Jewelry, Jewelry Care , 2comments

Jewelry is a substantial investment and therefore great care should be taken to keep your fine metals and gems looking bright and sparkling.

· Remove your jewelry when cooking, deep cleaning or gardening. Chlorine can damage and discolor the mounting on your jewelry.

· Remove jewelry before showering. Soap can cause a film to form on karat gold jewelry making it appear dull and dingy. By preventing the formation of this film you reduce the occasions your jewelry will need to be cleaned.

· For protection of your jewelry and for safety reasons jewelry should be removed when working around machinery with movable parts.

· Have your fine jewelry inspected annually by a professional. Inspection will insure that deep crevices are cleaned and settings are solid and secure preventing loss of valuable stones.

· Clean your jewelry as needed using jewelry cleaner made especially for this purpose or with a non abrasive soap or mixture of ammonia and water mixture. Use caution when cleaning jewelry to avoid damage to your precious metal. A soft chamois cloth is an effective way to keep your pieces shining and your jeweler can give you specific advice as to which commercial cleaners are available and suitable for your needs.

· A soft, discarded toothbrush is ideal for cleaning jewelry as the bristles will get into tiny spaces where dirt likes to hide and the brush accustomed to cleaning delicate surfaces is designed to clean without scratching.

· Sterling silver will oxidize and tarnish unless covered with a protective layer of rhodium to help prevent tarnishing. Over time this covering may breakdown. Commercial polish will restore the original color and luster. However, you may also clean sterling silver by mixing mild soap, water and a drop of ammonia and wipe with a clean soft cloth. Never use vinegar on sterling silver.

· To clean stainless steel simply moisten a cloth with undiluted white or cider vinegar and wipe clean.

· Take special care of silver jewelry making sure it does not come into contact with swimming pools, hot tubs or the ocean. Silver will react with chlorine causing discoloration and then there is also the issue of loss at a public pool or in your own filter system.

· Pearls should be kept away from chemicals including hairspray, perfume and detergents. Use fragrance and hair products prior to donning pearls. Pearls when cleaned should be done so with a mild soapy water solution and rinsed well, never put in an ultrasonic cleaner. Before storing you pearls, wipe them with a soft, damp cloth to ensure that they remain free from any harmful buildup. Pearls are easily scratched and should be stored in a soft cloth pouch or in a separate lined jewelry box to avoid being bumped by other jewelry. If you wear your pearl strand several times a week, consider having your jeweler restring it once a year to prevent strand breakage. Pearls aren’t just for formal occasions they look just as fashionable when you’re having a dress down day

Buying Jewelry Online: How To Choose The Right Company March 8, 2006

Posted by Jill Renee in : Buying Engagement Rings, Buying Jewelry, Jewelry , add a comment

By Jill Renee

For anyone looking to purchase fine jewelry, online shopping can be a great way to find the right piece at the right price. There can be many advantages to buying fine jewelry online – with savings being one of the major factors. Reputable online jewelers usually have much lower overhead costs, and can pass those savings on to the consumer. Another advantage of buying fine jewelry online is convenience – you need travel no further than your computer to choose your jewelry and make your purchase. This being said, there are things you need to consider in order to make your fine jewelry purchase a positive experience.

Choose a Jeweler You Trust
The first thing you need to do is find an online jewelry store that you can trust. You will have to do a little bit of detective work in order to eliminate the less desirable companies and end up with a list of jewelers that you feel confident doing business with.

Find out if the website is secure. The jeweler’s website should have 128bit SSL security. This is an absolute must when you are purchasing online, since you will most likely be using a credit card or supplying your bank account information. Somewhere along the line you will be supplying information about yourself, and the 128bit SSL security will ensure that no unauthorized party can get access to your information.

Also, any diamond you buy, whether it is online or from a store, should come with a diamond certificate. The Gemological Institute of America independently certifies diamonds providing information on a diamond’s characteristics such as color, clarity and size. This is your best way of knowing the quality of the diamond you are buying.

The Online Jewelry Store Should Provide Excellent Customer Service
This cannot be stressed strongly enough. Before you make a fine jewelry purchase from a website consider contacting the jeweler’s customer service department by email and by phone. When talking to a customer service representative, ask questions and pay close attention to the responses you receive. If the rep seems irritated with your questions or is spending the entire phone call trying to rush you into buying a product, consider that a “red flag”.

If you contact them by email, check to see how quickly they reply. It should take them no longer than 48 hours during the business week – within 24 hours is the ideal. Look for professionalism and a helpful attitude in their emails.

The Website Should Be Informative
The jeweler’s website itself should have information on how to buy a quality diamond, the different types of precious metals, etc. They should have a wide variety of choices, and be able to help you find what is right for you. By providing you with information the company is helping you make an educated purchase.

Look for Quality Craftsmanship
What the Internet can offer you is the chance to shop several stores without having to drive all over town; this allows you to choose a company whose fine jewelry shows attention to detail and craftsmanship.

The Return Policy Can Be Important
What if you receive the jewelry and are dissatisfied? Review the company’s return policy before you buy so you know what rights you have if you want to return your fine jewelry purchase.

See If They Offer Extra Perks
Things like free shipping add up to big savings. If the online jeweler is located outside of the state you are buying from you pay no sales tax. Free shipping combined with no sales tax can make a big difference in your bottom line. Some companies offer a discount on your next purchase. This can also save you big money. If a company is offering these or other incentives, they will likely have this information throughout the site and in their shopping cart.

Your Jewelry Purchase Should Provide Good Value for the Money
When buying fine jewelry, you are getting a piece that will last a lifetime and become a family heirloom. Look for fine jewelry that offers the best value which is not only determined by how much the jewelry costs but by the quality of the piece and the materials used.

Online jewelry shopping offers convenience, selection and value. Consider the factors above when making your next fine jewelry purchase so you find the online jeweler that is right for you.

About the Author
Jill Renee is the president of Danforth Diamond, an online jewelry store specializing in fine jewelry and diamonds – on the Web at http://www.danforthdiamond.com/

Using Palladium in White Gold Jewelry Means No More Allergic Reactions March 8, 2006

Posted by Jill Renee in : Jewelry, Jewelry Care, Palladium Jewelry , add a comment

White gold jewelry can cause allergic reactions in some people. This is due to the fact that the majority of white gold jewelry is manufactured using alloys containing nickel as the bleaching agent and a percentage of the population is allergic to nickel. For these individuals, contact with nickel can result in dermatological problems that range from a mild skin rash to severe open sores and permanent scaring. In Europe, there are laws governing the use of nickel in jewelry. The European law is known as “The Nickel Directive” and states that no nickel can be used in a material that sits in an open wound, such as after piercing, until healing is complete.

What is a jewelry buyer to do when faced with this information? First of all relax, most people do not have severe reactions to nickel. And jewelers are starting to use alloys that contain less nickel to develop white gold jewelry.

Some nickel-free white gold alloys were originally developed in the 1920s using palladium as the primary bleaching agent. Palladium is part of the platinum group of metals. It is a steel-white metal, does not tarnish in air, and is the least dense and lowest melting of the platinum group metals. Palladium has very good corrosion and tarnish resistance, and it mixes well with gold, offering almost complete homogenization throughout the range of gold-palladium compositions. All these factors make it a good choice for white gold jewelry manufacturing. It also yields alloys with excellent mechanical properties superior in many respects to the nickel-whites which can be difficult to work with and contain pockets of gold and nickel because the two metals don’t like to be mixed. Jewelry made from a palladium/gold alloy will not result in allergic reactions.

You might be asking: “If palladium is so much better than nickel to make white gold, why don’t all jewelers use it?” The answer is cost. Palladium jewelry is a bit more expensive to use. The cost of an ounce of palladium is around $300 currently and consumers don’t like paying higher prices for what appears to be the same jewelry product. However, once people know the facts about nickel white gold and the allergic risks it presents many are willing to pay a little more.

Another white metal on the horizon is 950 Palladium. Some jewelry manufacturers are making product from new palladium alloys that can be cast into jewelry. This is a wonderful metal because it is a bright white color, very similar to platinum, but has a much lower price. It is still relatively new so jewelers are still learning how to work best with this metal. Keep your eyes open though, because you will soon be seeing more of this product, especially with the cost of platinum currently above $1,000 an ounce.

About the Author
Jill Renee is the president of Danforth Diamond, an online jewelry store offering platinum, white gold and yellow gold jewelry. With 50 years in the jewelry business, the Danforth family developed their site as a resource to help you find the best value in high-quality jewelry.