How to choose wise >

How to choose wise

♦ Type of Metal - depending on type of jewelry, stones, setting etc.

♦ Diamond - optimizing your value for money factor.

♦ Jeweler

How to choose Metal
Different metals are good for different purposes. As a general rule (and if you can afford it) buy alloys with higher precious metal content. That applies mainly for gold, since platinum and palladium are used in almost pure form. 18kt gold or higher have distinctive gold color and real precious metal properties. My opinion is that alloys with less than 50% gold content (under 14kt) should not be called gold, but gold brass or something else defining the inferior gold content. If you are looking for big bold and heavy pieces and you don,t want to spend a fortune the best is to go for tarnish resistant sterling silver with gold accents or the very new precium (25%palladium and silver alloy developed by Handy & Hartman).For your fine jewelry pieces, choose 18 kt gold , platinum or palladium.18kt Palladium can be used for heavier thicker pieces while platinum is the best for delicate settings with a lot of detail.
When we come to earrings, especially large ones, choosing lighter alloys is essential. Palladium is the first choice followed by 14 kt white. For yellow, stick to 18kt. You can never get the right color in lower karats. Then, your goldsmith's ability to work light will come handy. Try to find the right craftsman. It is really making all the difference.

How to choose a Diamond

(The 4C's revisited)
The name alone brings associations with wealth, abundance and decadence. Diamond is the most popular and, with very few exceptions the most expensive precious stone Diamonds are in category of their own due to their unique properties and extremely well handled marketing by De Beers. They have made name as a primary investment gemstone with steady increase in price trough the years. Information about diamond classification (the 4 C's) is available on almost every jewelry associated web site, but they share a common shortcoming. The information is rather technical than practical. I will focus on some aspects of the 4C's that are not usually mentioned and try to give you information that will help you choose right and buy wise.

Carat
This is the weight, and not the size of the diamond. The two are very much connected but often customers do not realize that they are paying for the weight but are wearing the size and appearance. A diamond's weight is measured in what is known as a 'carat', which is a small unit of measurement equal to 0.2 grams. Carat is not a measure of a diamond's size, since cutting a diamond to different proportions can affect its weight. Below is a diagram that shows the relative size of various carat weights in a diamond that is cut to the same proportions:

My advice: Unproportionaly cut stones can add a lot of weight and damage the appearance of a diamond. The usual reason for unproportional cut is to retain as much weight as possible (remember-you are paying for weight) Diamond like this must be sold with considerable discount. My personal opinion is to avoid such stones.How do we know if the stone is cut for weight? Look at the cut report that must come with the diamond certificate. If the cut is rated ideal, excellent or very good then there is no problem. Anything under this need proper examination. Look at the paragraph “girdle “. This is the place where most weight is usually added. Sometime up to 20%.Girdle must be described as medium to thin.The most important thing to remember when it comes to a diamond's carat weight is that it is not the only factor that determines a diamond's value. In other words, bigger does not necessarily mean better.

Color
The best color for a diamond is the lack of it. Color is an important quality but it is a bit overrated for non investment stones. Color is graded with the letters of the alphabet from D (ABC is skipped) being the whitest or more precise the most colorless to Z being rather yellowish. On the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) grading scale, D-F are considered colorless, G-I near colorless and any grade J or below shows an increasingly yellowish tinge. Beyond the preference for a whiter stone, however, the color of a diamond does not affect its brightness or sparkle. The color of a diamond is best observed when the stone is placed table down on a piece of pure white paper and viewed trough the side of the pavilion.

My advice: For diamonds you are concidering to wear go for colors F,G or H. Beautiful stones, great value for money. If you consider buying bigger diamonds for investment purposes have a look at chapter 7 in my e-book "Understanding jewelry".

Clarity
Clarity is defining the existence (or lack of it) of natural inclusions or fractures in the diamond visible to a specialist by 10X magnification. Again, important for investment stones and not so for every-day-ring stone. Clarity refers to the number, position and size of the inclusions that occur naturally inside diamonds. The fewer and less obvious the inclusions, the more valuable the diamond. The usual diamond grading information boards used widely by retailers to explain the 4C's to customers do not show the actual size and visibility of the different grade inclusions. The only way for a non specialist to see and assess the clarity is in the real diamond. Inclusions up to VS2 are not visible for non specialist under 10 x magnifications. Inclusions up to SI2 or sometime even I1 are not visible by naked eye. Inclusions up to SI2 and in most cases I1 do not affect the overall appearance of the stone.

My advice: For non investment stones go for VS1 to SI3 or even SI3. Often the inclusion is a small dot or fracture on the periphery completely concealable by the setting.

Cut

This is not the shape but rather the proportions symmetry and the quality of finish of the diamond. May be because it is not mentioned on the main body of the certificate the cut is often overlooked. It is though, the most important C. It defines the quality of human intervention on shaping the rough stone to a spectacular brilliant jewel. It can make, on the other hand a piece of fantastic rough material look dull and lifeless. It is not necessary to learn the ideal proportions. You have two definite guidelines. First is the proportion report I mentioned earlier, that must accompany every diamond certificate .It is usually printed on a sticker label and pocketed inside the cover. The report must say the proportions are very good, excellent or ideal. The second is your eye. While color and clarity are big factors in the cost of a diamond, it is the Cut that breathes life, beauty and dazzling brilliance into a diamond.

Popular diamond and gemstone shapes

My advise: Do not compromise on cut (make). As it is a less featuring C aspect on the main body of the report, cut is often overlooked. However it is vital for the brilliant look of the stone and the wise thing to do is to go for stones graded as ideal, excellent or very good. You can find diamonds with cut graded as good or fair, looking quiet well and bargain for considerable discounts on them. I find this rather risky for beginners and I will not recommend it.

You can get plenty of not sale orientated professional advise on Diamonds in my articles Diamonds and Budgets and How important is the diamond certificate.

How to choose a jeweller
1.
Jeweler is an occupation that covers broad spectrum of activities in the industry. In the most of the cases, it is an entrepreneur, managing business of buying and selling jewelry with or without manufacturing facilities. In cases they target high end customers, they employ full time designer to cater for custom made pieces, and a gemologist. It is not difficult to locate this type of jeweler and you might be lucky to find the right one. Some of these stores have been around for many years and can afford to employ people with vast knowledge in their field.

What to look for:

Look at the stock on display. The display windows can tell you a lot about the shop and the jeweler in charge. Does it make you feel that they are proud of what they sell? Is the jewelry clean and polished or mottled and full of fingerprints? Are the displays clean and crispy? Are there burned lights? Are the display windows arranged with taste or clattered with pieces of different style. Good jeweler respects his trade and his stock. If his displays and jewelry look dirty, It is likely his work is not clean too.

2.
Another arrangement is when the designer is also the entrepreneur and the gemologist, promoting his own designs. Of course they also make custom pieces by customer’s specification. In this arrangement the business either have their own workshop or work with free lance goldsmith /workshop. This type of jeweler is also common and usually has the name of the designer involved in the name of the business. They carry less stock and are more focused on the styles they promote. Here you will probably communicate with designer. Avoid designers without their own workshops. Working with free lance workshops usually ends up with higher cost before profit, a difference you have to cater for, and in addition, the responsibility for unsatisfactory quality is getting blurred, being distributed over too many individuals.

What to look for:

In general the same things as in the first arrangement plus:
Designer’s record. Did he/she participate in design competitions? Was he/she nominated or win award? You don’t even have to ask this question but just look around. The evidence of success will be most probably clearly displayed on the wall. Does he/she have portfolio with important pieces made on the premises?

3.

What to look for:

“Designer’s record” part from above, must be evident and available. While studio jewelers do not carry much stock, they are proud of their jewelry and should have good record of images, at least of the important pieces. Designer’s degree and/or competition certificates show widespread recognition of the designer’s abilities and talent, from specialists in the field. The existence of one or more of those is pretty reassuring. Have a look in the workshop. For me, as a master bench jeweler, this is the easiest way to assess a colleague, and even to an untrained eye one’s workshop has a lot to say. Fine jewelry is made with specific tools. They are made from high quality steel and with high degree of precision. Having the right tools and knowledge is the recipe for success. You can't make fine jewelry on your kitchen table or in the corner of your garage. Besides a lot of proper tools, precise manipulation of precious metal requires right amount of quality light, comfortable space cleanness and order. Ask the designer to draw a sketch of the piece you are requiring and have a good look at it. Does it looks precise and shows the dimensions and proportions of the piece right. Sketches must be done with fine pencil showing at least two elevations and properly shaded to show 3 dimensionality. Important pieces require technical sketches and rendering with designer’s gouache.

4.
On line jewelers
It will be unethical to place my definition and recommendation for online jeweler here, considering that you will be reading this article from my jewelry web site and it makes sense to view it as not objective. I have implemented my knowledge and experience to choose the online jewelers, featuring in the shopping section of this site, which means that I consider them the best in the category they participate. If you want to make your own assessment I will advise you to look for the same clues as in jewelry store or designer’s studio. The more positive clues you find, the better your chances of being happy with your choice in a long term. Try to get a site where you can chat to a real person or even better, designer if you need information and advice. Consider the return policy as well as a safe shopping facility. Look if the site is shopper friendly. A complicated site suggests complicated management and all the complications that come with it.

Important Note: Jeweler is not a person, who works in a jewelry shop or, in most of the cases, person who sells jewelry. Jeweler is a person in possession of knowledge in every aspect of the trade. Make sure you are addressing the right person.