The Toll Men

Caring for any type of jewelry made from silver is important. It should be made part of your regular jewelry wearing routine. Sterling silver necklaces, beaded necklaces made of silver or just a simple sterling silver necklace falls into this “caring” category. It is important to keep your silver jewelry in a dry, cool place, as this will avoid oxidation. Since silver reacts to hydrogen sulfide and sulfur in the air, it turns dull after a while and needs to be buffed and taken care of. These airborne particles can tarnish silver jewelry and rob them of their natural sheen. It is best to keep your silver jewelry locked tightly in your jewel box when not wearing it, as exposure to artificial light or sunlight for long periods of time will accelerate the tarnishing process.

If you have a sterling silver necklace, storing it in a cloth to help resist tarnishing is a great first step. Don’t throw silver jewelry items into drawers along with beaded necklaces and other forms of jewelry. They rub against each other and create scratches.

Buy a good quality, liquid polish and use a polishing cloth for your precious silver jewelry. One great tip for protecting sterling silver necklaces is to glaze them with a fine coat of Egyptian lacquer. If you use sterling silver dips, remember to clean them off well, as they may rub off the color if you’re not careful. One of the best and most economical methods for cleaning your sterling silver necklace is to make a solution of mild dishwashing liquid and water. Remember to keep all traces of moisture from your jewelry pieces by drying them thoroughly. Definitely keep your silver jewelry away from bleach or chlorinated swimming pools.

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A Diamond is a crystalline form of carbon. A diamonds hardness and high dispersion of light makes it particular useful for industrial applications and in jewelery. Diamonds are specifically renowned as a mineral with superlative physical qualities. Thus making them great abrasives because they can only be scratched by other diamonds. This feature also means they hold a polish extremely well and retain luster. Approximately 120 million carats, 25 000 kilograms of diamond are mined annually. These diamonds have a with a total value of nearly nine billion united states dollars.

“diamond”, the name, comes from an ancient Greek word that means “impossible to tame”. Treasured as a gem ever since their use as religious icons in India almost 2,500 years ago. “Diamond’s are a girl’s best friend”. They have been widely used in drill bits and engraving tools dating back to early human history for their physical properties. Due to improved cutting and polishing techniques the popularity of diamonds has gone up since the early 19th century. Almost 4 times the amount of natural diamonds are produced syntheticly each year. These synthetic diamonds are typically classified with poor-quality specimens and as a result are suitable only for industrial-grade use.

The majority of natural diamonds come from central and southern Africa. On the other wise of that though, significant sources of the mineral have been discovered in Russia, Canada, Brazil, and Australia. Generally, diamonds are mined from volcanic pipes. Volcanic pipes are deep in the Earth where the high pressure and temperature enables the formation of the crystals. Subject to frequent controversy, the mining and distribution of natural diamonds, has raised large concerns over the sale by African paramilitary groups.

As previosuly mentioned, humans have been able to adapt diamonds for many uses because of their extraordinary physical characteristics. The most recognized of all these properties, is a diamond’s extreme hardness.

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Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of The Diamond Index - www.thediamondindex.com, which is the best site on the internet for all diamond related information.

Jewelry insurance comes in many forms and varieties and only an insurance agent can provide accurate and specific advice. However, it helps to know enough about jewelry insurance to ask your agent the right questions and to be aware of how the process works. The time to ask your insurance agent the questions is before you insure an item, not when you need to file a claim. Read the fine print in your insurance contract to be sure it provides the coverage you expect.

Understanding jewelry insurance begins with recognizing the difference between scheduled and unscheduled property.

Unscheduled property (jewelry not specifically listed) is typically included in basic homeowner or renter’s policies under blanket coverage. There is a usually a deductible (typically $500) and a maximum amount of coverage (typically $1500) although these amounts can vary with the specific policy. This type of coverage does not require an appraisal but sales receipts, written descriptions or photos are beneficial in proving the items existed and estimating their replacement value.

Scheduled property (jewelry specifically listed) is included in a floater, rider or endorsement to homeowner or renter’s policies. Jewelry insurance is also available with a separate policy, from a company specializing in jewelry insurance. For scheduled property, the insurance appraisal is vital because it describes the jewelry item and provides the “insured value” that is used in determining the premium you will pay to insure the item each year. Most scheduled property policies do not have an automatic appreciation adjustment as is common for the house and other unscheduled property. Therefore, even if it might cost 50% more to replace an item in five years, the “insured value” is still only that stated in the appraisal.

If you file an insurance claim, the settlement process and amount paid will depend on the policy and in particular, if the policy allows replacement or agreed value settlement. For agreed value policies, the settlement amount is stated in the policy whereas replacement value allows the insurance company to replace your jewelry or make a cash settlement based on the insurance company’s cost to replace your item. The insurance company’s liability ceiling is set at the “insured value” on the appraisal.

Do you have enough jewelry insurance? The answer depends on what kind of policy you have, the “insured value” is on the appraisal, the settlement procedure is for your particular policy, and the accuracy of the information on your appraisal. If you have a jewelry item valued at more than the $1500, you should definitely consider scheduled as opposed to unscheduled coverage.

The critical issue for scheduled property coverage is the how accurate is the information on the appraisal.

1) If the information on the appraisal is vague and general, the insurance company can replace the item with an item that satisfies the description but perhaps is not the quality and true value of the lost item. Be sure your jewelry appraisal has a detailed and accurate description of the jewelry item.

2) If the appraisal value is artificially high, the insurance company can replace the item at their cost even though the client paid premiums for years on a value twice as much. This is often the case for purchases from a jewelry store with prices double other retailers and the store provides an insurance appraisal even higher than the purchase price. You do not need an appraised value more than 150% of the price you would pay at low priced online retailer.

3) If the appraisal value is too low, the insurance company can make cash settlement that might not cover the current replacement cost of the item. This could be the case for items purchased three or four years ago from a low price online retailer and the appraised value was at or below the purchase price. With diamond prices increasing about 10% a year recently, it does not take long for appraisal values to be out of date if too close to online retail purchase prices. Be sure to have your jewelry insurance appraisal updated every four or five years so you do not end up underinsured.

Denny Reinke is the Vice-President of Diamond Source of Virginia, an online diamond retailer specializing in loose diamonds, diamond rings and diamond jewelry located in Richmond, Virginia and on the web at http://www.diamondsourceva.com You can also visit Denny’s blog at http://www.diamonds.blogs.com

The Citizen Blue Angels titanium watch is a technologically advanced pilot timepiece designed in honor of the Blue Angels legendary precision flying team of the U.S. Navy. The Blue Angels, first commissioned to perform in 1946, are now stationed at Forrest Sherman Field at Naval Air Station Pensacola Florida. To date they have performed for more than 400 million military and civilians.

Part of the Citizen Skyhawk eco-drive watch line, this watch is an angel in its own right. It sports the blue and yellow Blue Angels colors, and their banner including the logo of the Blue Angel squadron on the back of the watchcase.

The hour markers and the hands are illuminated on the deep blue face of the dial. It has three subdials and a beautiful blue bi-functional slide rule bezel. This Citizen Blue Angels watch is made of titanium - lighter and stronger than stainless steel.

This memorable pilot watch has a four year power reserve, a 30 city, 22 time zone calendar and time, three alarms, a countdown timer up to 99 minute duration, and accuracy of 1/100th of a second each 24 hours. With this Citizen Blue Angels titanium watch you can choose analog or digital time, changing it at the easy touch of one button. Your pilot watch will advise you when it’s time to reset time, and when your battery charge is low. Water resistant to 330 feet, it also has a safety clasp feature with an easy push button release.

The Citizen Skyhawk titanium has a great five-year warranty, for a watch Citizen watches are famous. These pilot watches retail for a little over $500.

Susan Bradford makes it quick and easy to find the best ladies Citizen watches. Read expert information here.

Pricing structure within the diamond industry is very secretive. For consumers this can be confusing as there are often big differences in the prices of Diamond jewellery.

If however you know the exact details of the jewellery that you are hoping to buy then comparing the prices can be a whole lot easier and the differences in the prices being asked becomes a lot more transparent.

Below are some “easy to understand” reasons as to why you will find variations in prices:

1.Branding Jewellery Is Difficult - Although products are usually more expensive buying into a brand makes price comparisons easier. The prices go up or down according to which brand you are buying from.

2.Diamond Jewellery Is Very Expensive To Stock - Unfortunately a high street jeweller not only has the normal day to day running costs of a shop they also have to stock expensive jewellery that they may not sell in large numbers. They also have to contend with higher than average insurance and security costs. It is therefore necessary for high street jewelers to have high profit margins in order to cover their higher than average costs.

3.The Quality Of Diamonds Used - The price of jewellery is greatly affected by the quality of the diamonds that are set within it. What might seem like small variations in quality on paper can end up hugely affecting the price.

4.Grading Diamonds Is Not A Science - Most people are unaware that the grading of a diamond is only an opinion and not an exact science. Of course the more trusted the source is who gives the opinion is of benefit but this is the key area where you could loose money when buying jewellery.

5.Retailers With No Scruples- Many diamond jewellery retailers will try and over grade their diamonds in order to push the prices up. You should only buy jewellery from a trusted source.

Above are just some of the reasons why it is important that you trust the jeweller you are buying your diamonds off. It is vitally important that you feel comfortable with your jeweller.
Ultimately an honest diamond jeweller with his reputation to keep and nothing to hide will be keen to validate his pricing.

A large number of jewellery sales are now taking place online and I believe that these numbers are set to increase as we all get used to paying for larger items on the internet. We should however employ the same techniques for buying jewellery online as we do for buying it in the high street!

Before you part with any cash I would recommend that you call the online jeweller to ask them about their company and products, above anything this should give you a feel of the type of company that you are buying from. Good online jewelers also have clear returns and delivery procedures and should always have a strong visible contact number!

In our opinion the best way to buy jewellery is through recommendation so if you happy with your purchase don’t forget to recommend other people.

Jeremy Kanzen is the Managing Director of Slade & Kempton - one of the UKs leading diamond jewellery manufacturers and diamond jewellery wholesalers.

Chanel logo earrings have been popular for a long time, as women love to display their favorite brands as often as possible. Chanel always has beautiful clothing, accessories, and earrings available, and often times these items contain the Chanel logo quite prominently. While Chanel logo earrings may not be something that a lot of people would consider wearing by just hearing about them, when you see them it is altogether different. Chanel does a great job creating items with their logo yet not having it be silly looking. In fact, most Chanel logo earrings are beautiful despite the fact that they are a logo for a company!

The Chanel logo many not be offensive because it looks like art. The logo, for those that do not know, is two interlocking c’s. While the idea is very simple and wouldn’t seem to create a beautiful earring, Chanel has never had an issue selling their earrings in the past! Some of the biggest stars have countless pairs of Chanel earrings and will continue to collect them. Many every day people collect Chanel logo earrings because they are understated, simple, but they are still able to bring any outfit more upscale because they are Chanel. Of course, Chanel earrings can be worn with anything, but pairing them with other Chanel clothing or accessories makes them stand out even more.

Many of the most popular looks are simple interlocking c’s made from rhinestones. Rhinestones are popular because they are cheaper and more people can afford them, but the same stud style earring is also offered with crystals instead of rhinestones which makes the Chanel logo earrings a bit more expensive, but very beautiful. In the past Chanel has also offered hoops with their logo sort of set into the middle of the hoop, and these were also quite attractive and sold well in the 90s when big hoops were popular with many women. This year the Chanel logo earrings are most commonly seen in the drop or dangle style. The drop and dangle style Chanel earrings are probably one of the best yet as they are very understated and it’s possible that only other Chanel fans will even notice them, which is even better!

Consumers can find Chanel logo earrings in their major department stores or directly from Chanel. For great prices and selection, the Internet is a great place to buy any earrings, but especially Chanel logo earrings. The reason that the Internet is so great is that you can not only find wholesale prices, you can also find styles that were not offered in your part of the country or even your part of the world. If you are a collector of Chanel earrings, you’ll find that the Internet is simply the place to be. Once you have one pair of Chanel earrings you’ll find that you want more, they are almost addictive.

Chanel earrings can be found in a variety of materials from precious metals and stones to rhinestones and cheaper metals. What the logo earrings are made of will determine how expensive or inexpensive they are. Where you buy may also determine how much you have to pay for your pair of Chanel earrings, with department stores often having the highest prices and online auction sites often offering the most competitive prices that you’ll find anywhere. If you don’t mind buying used earrings, you’ll find that Ebay really is the place to be for Chanel earrings, where there is always a surplus of Chanel earrings. Keep your eye out every year, and you’ll continue to see new and exciting styles popping up everywhere.

There are some jewelry gifts like silver chokers, where even if the person giving them were blind, the sounds and noises that usually tend to come from the recipient of the gift would in fact tell all, without one having to see the sheer delight, ecstasy and joy.

Wire jewelry in general usually has that kind of effect and quite often elicits gasps of delight and shocked joy from recipients, but a silver choker in particular will bring out the extreme and even the coolest and remotest of persons will tend to react in one way or another.

This is not really surprising when one considers the appearance and sheer beauty of this wire jewelry piece. For instance imagine a choker made with a 16 or 12 gauge wire of sterling silver? Actually the gold alternative to this is bound to be a 14k gold filled wire.

The sheer beauty and elegance of the sterling silver choker is a site to behold. Little wonder that silver chokers tend to elicit such extreme and noisy reactions.

Chokers, silver or otherwise are made to a client’s specific order and this elegant and beautiful neckwear is commonly secure with a hook clasp that allows for the easy hanging of a pendant and easy closing as well.

It is important to note here that the smaller the gauge of the silver, the larger the diameter of the wire and not the other way round.

There are few pieces of jewelry that can be more attention grabbing than a silver choker.

Visit the personalized baby gift idea site for the brainwave that will help you find that unforgettable gift.