Before you buy that diamond ring for your beloved one, it is important to get an understanding on the features and characteristics of diamond engagement rings. Let’s get an understanding of the four basic and most important features while choosing that perfect diamond for someone you love the most.
CUT
The cut of the diamond determines its radiance. A well cut diamond is brilliant and appears larger than other stones of the same carat weight. The cut is what gives the diamond its sparkle, brilliance and luster. Irrespective of color and clarity, a diamond can look dull and lifeless if it has not been cut properly. An ideal diamond has increased brilliance and a larger diameter so that the light is returned back to the viewer’s eye.
COLOR
When shopping for diamond engagement rings, it is advisable to have some amount of color. The color of the diamond is divided into 5 broad categories.
Colorless (D- F) – In this colorless range the diamonds are the most valuable and uncommon. The D and E variety have no color whereas the F colored diamonds will have traces of color that can be detected by a gemologist.
Near colorless (G – J) – Though these diamonds offer value for money, the color can be observed when the diamonds are viewed against a white background. The color however is undetectable to an untrained eye.
The color can make a significant impact on the price while you are looking for diamond engagement rings. If you are purchasing under a tight budget, then a J color diamonds are most affordable and near colorless.
CLARITY
As a purchaser of diamond engagement rings, it is advisable that you look at the best combination of color and clarity. The presence of impurities determines the clarity of the diamond. Similar to color there are five broad categories of diamond clarity.
FL/IF – These diamonds are the most expensive as they have no inclusions and even minor blemishes can be removed by polishing
VVS1/ VVS2 – Stands for very very slight inclusions and in this category it is very hard to find inclusions. These diamonds are also rare and beautiful.
VS1/VS2 – These are also excellent quality diamonds however they have very slight inclusions
SI1/SI2 – In these diamonds there are slight inclusions visible in 10x by an experienced gemologist
I1/I2/I3 – These diamonds contain significant inclusions
CARAT
The word carat is derived from ancient times when a carob seed was used to measure the weight of the diamond. Majority of diamonds available in the United States are less than one carat and an average engagement ring weighs ½ a carat. The higher the carat, the rarer is its availability and therefore it is more expensive. When rough diamonds are polished they loose almost 2/3 of their weight.
While choosing the right size for your partner it is important to ask yourself which of the four C’s will she most value? Other things to consider will be her personal style, her expectations, her finger size and budget.
Finally ensure that the diamond is certified either by the G.I.A or the A.G.S. A certificate will give you all the individual characteristics of a diamond to help you take a more informed decision.
The G.I.A and A.G S are world renowned laboratories which provide reliable and consistent grading. Some of the details which they identify are weight, cut, quality, proportion, polish and symmetry.
So now since you have found the perfect diamond for the engagement ring for your partner, you can be rest assured it will sweep her of her feet!
Check out other free articles at www.ihatesearchengines.com.
Article by Jaish Desouza
Monday, September 7, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Stay Safe When Shopping Online
We have all suddenly come to realise just how convenient it is to do shopping online, especially at the most important times of year such as Christmas. In fact it isn’t just gifts you can purchase online but a wide variety of other items including groceries, cars, and electronic equipment and of course insurance policies. But what should one do to ensure that one carries out secure shopping online?
In this article we offer several tips you may find useful when you are choosing to buy products or services online. There are many things people are concerned with when they are shopping online and the kinds of things that they worry about are as follows:-
1. That the item they receive is in fact not the same as what they actually ordered.
2. That their email details will actually be provided to other parties without requesting permission first.
3. Are scared that their financial or personal details will be stolen.
4. That they receive phishing emails from sources which disguise themselves and get the customer in to believing that it has been sent in fact by a trusted financial institute or retailer.
So it is important that just as you are careful when shopping in a regular store you need to protect your financial and personal details at all times. Hopefully the information that is given above will ensure that your next online shopping experience is safe and enjoyable.
Tip 1 – It is important that you purchase goods only from secure web sites and the best way of ensuring that they use encryption technology. This way the information you give to them will be scrambled in such a way that hackers cannot actually obtain it as it passes between you and the retailer. There are several ways of recognising the sites which are secure and below we look at what these are.
a. Look at the sites address at the top of the browser page. If at the beginning you notice it shows https:// this will immediately inform you that the site is secure. But be aware that this may not appear until you actually move to the sites order page.
b. Another sign to look for when determining if a site is secure or not is to look at the bottom of the web page. If there is a closed padlock then this will show you that the site is a secure one to use. However, there are other sites that use an unbroken key rather than a padlock.
Tip 2 – It is important that before you place any orders at any online stores you do some research into them beforehand. It is a good idea to place a small order with them firstly to check out how trustworthy they really are. Some things you could look for to help further ensure that the site you are considering using is reputable are as follows:-
a. That they provide both not an email address but also a physical one as well.
b. That they give details of either a number for a customer service line or order line that you can contact directly. Ring the number provided and ask a few questions to establish the legitimacy of the business further.
There are plenty of ways for you to be able to do research quickly and easily online today in to online businesses. Certainly in the US one of the best ways is by contacting the Better Business Bureau in the area where you live. Plus of course don’t be afraid to use online Yellow Pages as well.
Tip 3 – After carrying out your research you need to read through the web sites privacy and security policies as this will explain how all orders for a company are processed. Normally this will be on a separate page headed “Privacy Policy” and it is here where you will discover if the retailer is intending to offer your details to other companies.
Tip 4 – Look for merchants who sell items online that are members of say a seal of approval programme. These often set guidelines for the merchants to follow with regard to privacy related practices.
Although both of these are there to help protect your privacy you may find sometimes that they don’t guarantee that any merchant will not allow this information to be given to others at a later date. Sometimes their privacy policies can change and should a business become bankrupt then the buyer of the business will also be given the information held on the businesses customer data base.
Tip 5 – When you are purchasing any items online then use one specific credit card for these purchases only. This way you are in a better position to detect any unlawful credit charges being made against it. Also use a credit card rather than a debit card as you are more open to theft from your bank account if you use a debit one. Also unlike credit cards there is no protection on your debit card if funds are taken without your consent.
Above we have offered you several tips that you may find useful when it comes to ensuring that shopping online is safe. Certainly the more you learn about secure shopping online the less likely you are going to end up being one of the thousands whose money or identity has been stolen.
In this article we offer several tips you may find useful when you are choosing to buy products or services online. There are many things people are concerned with when they are shopping online and the kinds of things that they worry about are as follows:-
1. That the item they receive is in fact not the same as what they actually ordered.
2. That their email details will actually be provided to other parties without requesting permission first.
3. Are scared that their financial or personal details will be stolen.
4. That they receive phishing emails from sources which disguise themselves and get the customer in to believing that it has been sent in fact by a trusted financial institute or retailer.
So it is important that just as you are careful when shopping in a regular store you need to protect your financial and personal details at all times. Hopefully the information that is given above will ensure that your next online shopping experience is safe and enjoyable.
Tip 1 – It is important that you purchase goods only from secure web sites and the best way of ensuring that they use encryption technology. This way the information you give to them will be scrambled in such a way that hackers cannot actually obtain it as it passes between you and the retailer. There are several ways of recognising the sites which are secure and below we look at what these are.
a. Look at the sites address at the top of the browser page. If at the beginning you notice it shows https:// this will immediately inform you that the site is secure. But be aware that this may not appear until you actually move to the sites order page.
b. Another sign to look for when determining if a site is secure or not is to look at the bottom of the web page. If there is a closed padlock then this will show you that the site is a secure one to use. However, there are other sites that use an unbroken key rather than a padlock.
Tip 2 – It is important that before you place any orders at any online stores you do some research into them beforehand. It is a good idea to place a small order with them firstly to check out how trustworthy they really are. Some things you could look for to help further ensure that the site you are considering using is reputable are as follows:-
a. That they provide both not an email address but also a physical one as well.
b. That they give details of either a number for a customer service line or order line that you can contact directly. Ring the number provided and ask a few questions to establish the legitimacy of the business further.
There are plenty of ways for you to be able to do research quickly and easily online today in to online businesses. Certainly in the US one of the best ways is by contacting the Better Business Bureau in the area where you live. Plus of course don’t be afraid to use online Yellow Pages as well.
Tip 3 – After carrying out your research you need to read through the web sites privacy and security policies as this will explain how all orders for a company are processed. Normally this will be on a separate page headed “Privacy Policy” and it is here where you will discover if the retailer is intending to offer your details to other companies.
Tip 4 – Look for merchants who sell items online that are members of say a seal of approval programme. These often set guidelines for the merchants to follow with regard to privacy related practices.
Although both of these are there to help protect your privacy you may find sometimes that they don’t guarantee that any merchant will not allow this information to be given to others at a later date. Sometimes their privacy policies can change and should a business become bankrupt then the buyer of the business will also be given the information held on the businesses customer data base.
Tip 5 – When you are purchasing any items online then use one specific credit card for these purchases only. This way you are in a better position to detect any unlawful credit charges being made against it. Also use a credit card rather than a debit card as you are more open to theft from your bank account if you use a debit one. Also unlike credit cards there is no protection on your debit card if funds are taken without your consent.
Above we have offered you several tips that you may find useful when it comes to ensuring that shopping online is safe. Certainly the more you learn about secure shopping online the less likely you are going to end up being one of the thousands whose money or identity has been stolen.
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