Unique Jewelry Ideas For Mothers

One never needs a holiday to say thank you and I love you with a special piece of jewelry to the mother in their life. Luckily, there are a plethora of beautiful and unique jewelry ideas ranging from personalized charms to birthstone necklaces. Each piece will certainly make the woman who loves and supports her children around the clock, feel beautiful and pampered. No matter how much baby food she finds on her pants. Here are some cunning pieces to add to your mother's jewelry collection.

Personalized Charm Necklace - This delicate necklace is charming and unique. You may inscribe the name of your baby on the front and back of each individual charm and the birth date of your baby. The necklace also comes adorned with the birthstone of your child, making this jewelry distinct and wonderfully personal.

Tiny Triple Charm Necklace - This incredibly dainty and sweet necklace can be an extraordinary addition to a mother's wardrobe. Three miniature pendants, stamped with an engraving of your choice, hang sweetly from a sterling silver chain. This necklace is wonderful for mothers of three, adorning her neck with all of her children's names. Another engraving idea would be to add the first, middle and last name of her special little one.

Classic Vintage Heart Locket - Now mom can wear her love where everyone can clearly see it. With this Vintage Heart Locket, a message can be inscribed on the outside (baby's name, a loving message to mom or baby, baby's birth date) while a picture of baby and family can rest sweetly on the inside.

Personalized Mommy Tag Necklace - This very attractive version of a classic military necklace is also great for the environmental mom. The necklace is made from recycled materials and comes with two separate silver tags. The larger tag reads Bebe (meaning baby in French) Love, while the second tag can be inscribed with baby's name and birth date. This necklace can be ordered with multiple name tags for all the kids in your life. Celebrity moms such as Jennifer Garner, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kate Hudson love this particular style.

Personalized Bracelet Set - This particular gift can be given to mom and baby. The silver bracelet set can be personalized with baby's name on the outside of the bracelet with the baby's birth information (date/length/weight) on the inside. The bracelets are sleek and adjustable to fit comfortably on mom and baby's wrist.

Cora Lee is the owner of BlissLiving, widely known for a huge selection of exclusive handmade personalized mother's jewelry including personalized mother's necklaces and bracelets, designer diaper bags, and unique baby gifts. For additional mother's day gift ideas and tips and all the products above, visit http://www.BlissLiving.com BlissLiving.com has been featured in US Weekly, People Magazine's Celebrity Babies, and Pregnancy Magazine, and has been listed as one of the highest rated sites by the Better Business Bureau, with double AA ratings, for five years in a row

What is a Colored Diamond?

Are They Still Diamonds?

In a word, yes. While the common color grading scale used for diamonds runs from D (completely clear) to Z (obviously yellow) there is an entire subset which fall beyond the Z rating into the umbrella grade of "Fancy." Fancy diamonds still hold all of the other characteristics of traditional white diamonds - the hardness, the technical measure of clarity, the cut, and carat are all the same.

A Scale All Their Own

Diamonds that fall outside of the white grading scale, still have to have a subjective color grade assigned to them. However, the grading scale is considerably easier for the layman to understand. Colored diamonds with the faintest hints of color are given a grade of Faint. Lightly colored gems are either Very Light, or Light. The bolder colors, your truly fancy gems, are graded along a scale ranging from Fancy Light to Fancy Dark, with Intense, Vivid, and Deep breaking up the middle.

A Stone of Many Colors

As you might have guessed, pink isn't the only color. The infamous, and rumored to be cursed, Hope Diamond is a 45.52 carat dark grayish blue diamond. Canary diamonds are a brilliant yellow. Both brown and black diamonds are both real and growing in popularity lately. Other colors include orange, red, green, and purple. According to the Gemological Institute of America and the International Gemological Institute, there are 27 official hues which span the color spectrum, and there are diamonds to fill each of those hues.

Not to Get Too Technical

How they gain those hues is a bit of a technical process. Essentially, when the diamonds are forming from pure carbon, the molecules arrange themselves into a cage called a crystal matrix. As the they are crushed under the earth's pressure, that matrix closes in on itself. Occasionally, during that process, atoms from other elements such as boron, nitrogen, or hydrogen, will be trapped inside as their respective matrices close. The end result is the colored diamond. As one would rightly assume, when multiple gases are trapped in the diamond, you get blended colors, like pink champagne.

Still Really Rare

While color is certainly one reason why people prize fancy diamonds, it's certainly not the only one. They are exceptionally rare. Colored diamonds, with a Fancy or deeper color grade, account for a mere 1.8% of the entire world's diamonds. When that percentage is broken down by color, those percentages get even smaller. Canary diamonds, which are known for their brilliantly yellow hue, account for less than 0.1% of the world's diamonds. Factor in the other common factors - the size of the stone, the inherent shape, and the sense of clarity, and colored diamonds of significant size and quality get even rarer still.

Why Choose a Colored Diamond?

They aren't for everyone or even for every type of jewelry. However, they do have some very strong selling points. The rarity of colored diamonds makes them special. The variety of colors means that they can be used to convey not only the emotions associated with a traditional diamond, but also to cater to the specific tastes of the recipient. It's those strengths that allow colored diamonds to fill jewelry niches that traditional white diamonds could not. In the end, a colored diamond provides a new and unique spin on a familiar and classic idea.

Jill Renee, President of DanforthDiamond.com has years of experience and expertise in the jewelry market, and has helped many satisfied customers in finding the right piece of jewelry from loose diamonds, wedding rings and engagement rings. Let Jill and her experienced staff help you, please visit DanforthDiamond.com

Celebrities and Their Diamond Engagement Rings

What better way to show the world that you are in love than by the act of giving and receiving a diamond engagement ring? With many actresses and other famous women sporting bigger and sparklier diamond rings, celebrity engagements have become a delight for the jewelry lover. The size of the diamond is not necessarily the key as to what makes some of these rings so famous and recognizable, rather it seems to be a combination of the engagement ring itself and the famous lady it is associated with.

The history of diamond engagement rings

Maximillan I of Austria gave the first diamond engagement ring on record to Mary of Burgundy in 1477. He had the ring commissioned to unite their two houses and make their marriage a unifying symbol to the country.

The smallest diamond engagement ring ever made was given to Princess Mary who was married by proxy to the Dauphin of France in the year 1518. Princess Mary was two years old at the time.

Throughout history diamond engagement rings have become larger, more elaborate, and have included a wide variety of other jewels and metals. Diamond engagement rings settings can be made of silver, platinum, white or yellow gold or a mixture of these elements.

Famous ladies and their engagement rings

Celebrities and other famous people influence the look and style of many aspects in fashion and also set trends. Diamond engagement rings are no exception to this rule. The following is a partial list of the famous ladies and their equally famous engagement rings:

Royalty:

• Queen Elizabeth II received an engagement ring from Prince Phillip that was made from diamonds from his mother's tiara.

• Grace Kelly was given a 12 carat emerald-cut diamond engagement ring from Prince Rainier.

• Lady Diana was engaged with a ring made of an 18 carat blue oval sapphire that was circled by fourteen diamonds.

Actresses:

• Elizabeth Taylor was engaged to her third husband, Michael Todd, with an emerald cut diamond that weighed almost 30 carats. However, she is more known for her other pieces of jewelry, one more striking than the other: the 39 carat Krupp diamond, the 69.42 carat pear-shaped Taylor-Burton diamond and the 17th century heart-shaped Taj Mahal diamond.

• Priscilla was engaged to Elvis with a 3.5 carat diamond engagement ring that was circled by another 21 smaller diamonds and diamond chips.

• Sharon Stone was given a three diamond, 3 1/2 carat emerald-cut diamond engagement ring by Phil Bronstien.

• Catherine Zeta-Jones' promise to Michael Douglas was finalized with a 10 carat antique marquise diamond estimated at amost $2 million.

• Joan Collins got a heart-shaped diamond ring in a nineteenth-century setting from husband Percy Gibson.

Pop stars:

• Madonna received from Guy Ritchie an antique Edwardian three-stone diamond ring with a decorative platinum band. The Neil Lane ring was supposed to represent their family: mother, father and son Rocco.

• In the case of Toni Braxton, drummer Keri Lewis designed a stunning 4.5 three-stone diamond ring with an oval-shaped center stone and 2 heart-shaped diamonds on the sides.

• Paris Hilton, even though not a pop star but a diva anyway, received 2 diamond engagement rings from billionaire Paris Latsis, a $5 million 24 carat canary diamond ring and a $2.1 million 15 carat white diamond ring.

• Britney Spears has two engagement rings also: one that she bought for herself before the wedding, a $40,000 4 carat cushion-cut diamond ring with a platinum pave setting, and one that she received 9 month after the marriage from husband Kevin Federline.

• Christina Aguilera became engaged to Jordan Bratman after he presented a $54,000 20-carat diamond engagement ring designed by jeweler Stephen Webster.

• Whitney Houston sports a stunning 4 carat oval-shaped center stone with trillions on the sides which she received from Bobby Brown.

Replica diamond engagement rings

Of course there is the very famous pink diamond ring that Ben Affleck gave to Jennifer Lopez. This 6 carat radiant shaped pink diamond quickly caught the attention of the public and has become a highly sought after replica. It is completed with a platinum band as well as three baguette white diamonds on each side. The pink diamond engagement ring is reported to have been purchased for $1.2 million in 2002. The ring, while easily identified is also very feminine and modern looking.

Replicas of the famous pink diamond ring are now available for a moderate price. The cost of the replicas depends on the quality of the stones and the materials used in reproducing the pink diamond engagement ring.

Some replicas are styled as more antique diamond engagement rings. These rings have an everlasting quality and symbolize tradition and heritage. The recent engagement of Camilla Parker Bowles in February of 2005 featured such an antique engagement ring. The platinum ring has an emerald-cut center diamond with three diamond baguettes on each side. This ring originally belonged to the Queen Mother and is believed to be valued at over $1 million.

Since few people can afford the original item, there will always be a market for replicas of these one of a kind diamond engagement rings. The quality of the replicas varies, as does the price. It is important to note that the styles of diamond engagement rings that are popular with celebrities will soon become the styles that are sought after by the not quite so rich and famous.

Jewellery Boxes - How to Make Your Own Personalized Jewellery Box

Making a beautiful and personalized jewellery box at home is not very difficult. There are many materials available out there which can be used to design a lovely box for storing all types of jewellery articles like necklaces, rings, bracelets, chains, hoop earrings, studs and dangling earrings. Some people prefer simple boxes with only one compartment, while others like to have dividers inside their boxes to store different jewellery articles in separate cubicles.

Those who are in the jewellery making business also need to design creative and attractive boxes and jewellery cases for their customers. In this article we will discuss different styles of jewellery containers and the materials that can be used for making an elegant and easy-to-make jewelry holder.

The simplest kind of a jewellery case is the one made from cardboard. Everybody has had the experience of working with cardboard at some point in their life. I remember learning to make small boxes of cardboard in the handwork class at school. These cute boxes in funky colors can be decorated with stamps, ribbons, laces and embellishments. If you want to make a box from wood, you will need to learn the basic woodworking techniques. Another option is to create fabric pouches made from velvet or other similar fabrics. These cases can also be adorned with different materials like stones, sequins, beads and crystals.

A personalized jewellery box can be made by using charms or engraving your name on a wooden box. Some people also use artwork prints or stamps to customize jewellery cases. You may need to buy a simple wooden or leather box and then paint it with different colors and patterns. Rubber stamping is a technique which is easy to use and very effective. There is a lot of information available online on wood engraving as well as rubber stamping that can be used to create lovely jewellery organizers at home.

In addition to sturdy jewellery organizers, people also try making fun jars at home to store jewellery articles. Such a jewellery box can be used as a decorative item and looks beautiful. All you need is an empty jar, acrylic paints, wrapping or pattern paper, ribbons or laces, and other embellishments that you like, such as handmade paper flowers, stickers, buttons, beads and brads, etc. These jars can be personalized in any way you like and can also make excellent gifts for all occasions. Other than jewellery, these jars can also be used to store stationary items and other belongings.

People also make treasure holders to use as jewellery cases. Such a jewellery box can be given any shape you like. Alternatively, you can use a pattern paper to give a theme to your beautiful box. Personalizing a jewellery case is easy and fun. You can start from scratch by working with raw materials or you can also have a pre-made jewellery case and then decorate it according to your taste and style. Working with laces, ribbons and other types of embellishments is easy and it can give a whole new look to an otherwise simple jewellery holder.

Please visit our site for full information like history, designs, types, buying tips, caring tips, cleaning tips, importance and all other important aspects of all Jewellery items and its different types and designs. You will find tons of articles on all popular jewellery designs and types like Jewellery Box

Diamond Hunting

Diamond hunting can be quite traumatic for the uninitiated. It is a big purchase and often one that has high emotional content. Simply knowing the facts before you start can ease the pressure. It also helps for the vendors to know you have some idea of what you are looking at.

There are a few things to know. Lets start with some diamond shapes to consider when you are doing your shopping: oval, pear-shaped, round, emerald, heart-shaped and marquise. Thew most important thing, however, is the quality and to determine quality you need to understand the 4 C's, which are as follows:

Carat weight: The weight or size of a diamond is measured in carats. A single carat is made up of one hundred segments called "points." One hundred and fifty points equals one and one half carats.

Clarity: This expresses how perfect the diamond is by identifying the flaws or inclusions. Where the inclusions are, how big they are, and their type determines the value of the stone. Inclusions are shown as follows:

FL = Flawless, IF = Internally Flawless - minor surface blemishes,

VVS1-VVS2 = Very, Very Small inclusions,

VS1-VS2 = Very Small Inclusions,

I1-SI2 = Small Inclusions,

I1-I2-I3 = Imperfect - inclusions visible to the eye.

Slight inclusions; do not reduce the beauty of the stone although they do reduce the value.

Color: Colorless diamonds are extremely rare in nature. Color definitely helps determine the value of a stone. An unpracticed eye does not easily see different gradations from high white to the start of the yellows. Bright-colored diamonds are a bit different. Some examples are blue, amber, red, etc. Bright colored diamonds in larger sizes can command very high prices indeed. Collectors worldwide are eager to acquire them.

Cut: Precise formulas are to determine the appropriate cut for a diamond. A typical diamonds is cut with 58 facets. The stone's light-reflecting properties and its light dispersion are critical measurements in determining the stones quality and value.

These are just some of the things to look out for. Every diamond also has a identifying serial number which can be seen under a microscope and it never hurts to have a look for yourself. In the end the purchase of a diamond is a very personal thing so remember to pick one you actually like.

Ron Hughes is CEO of Adapt Information Technology, one of the longest standing Internet businesses in the world. He is also a public and seminar speaker and frequent contributor of articles on business subjects. In addition, Ron is a founder and director of Ozecover (http://www.ozecover.com.au), a free public service that allows the Australian public to compare every health insurance company and product to assure the best health cover for themselves and their families