Tag: jewelry

Perhaps it’s the first time you’re seriously looking at diamonds. You’re shopping for an engagement ring or wanting to redesign a treasured piece of jewelry handed down from you grandmother. Something’s coming and you just want to be prepared.

You’ve asked yourself, “What do I look for? Where do the best diamonds come from? How do I know I’m getting a quality diamond?” Cummings Jewelry Designs will answer those questions, so you’ll feel confident in what you’re looking for. Let’s first start with the basics.

The Basics

We know that choosing a diamond is forever. The four characteristics, aka the 4C’s, are the starting point: carat, cut, clarity, and color. Carat is the weight: the larger the diamond, the more expensive. Diamonds can appear larger based on the shape or cut.  Buyers can choose a traditional round shape or choose fancy cuts like princess or pear.  The cut will be the most important decision in choosing a diamond and refers to the style of actual cuts of the individual facets. How do the cuts make the diamond sparkle? Will it bounce the light coming in creating brilliance? Color is graded on a scale from D to Z, with D being the whitest and most valuable. Clarity refers to the absence of blemishes and inclusions. These flaws are expected – after all, a diamond’s natural setting is embedded, deep in the earth. Like color, clarity is also graded from flawless (no blemishes or inclusions) to included (inclusions may affect transparency and brilliance).

Where Do I Start?

Cut. Color. Clarity. Carat. In that order.

What Am I Looking For?

Choose the right cut for shimmering, dazzling diamonds. This is the reason you’re buying a diamond, right? As light enters the diamond, the light reflects and refracts from the cuts within. A perfectly cut diamond – not too shallow and not too deep – will refract light from every angle making the entire stone truly shine. Perfectly cut means that each individual aspect of the diamond is symmetrically even. GIA cut scale ratings are excellent, very good, good, fair, and poor.

Checking for color. Jewelers will place diamonds on a tray to compare color differences. We mentioned that D is the whitest – colorless – rarest, and therefore, most valuable; Z is a lower quality diamond with yellow tones; some jewelers find lower quality grades unacceptable to sell. Color is a preference; generally, diamonds that are graded near colorless (G-J) and those with faint colors (K) are popular.

Clarity. Remember, flaws are natural and while they are too tiny to be noticeable, will impact brilliance. Engagement rings are expected to be flawless and colorless, so think of their clarity as the highest standard. Lower clarity grades may cause the diamond to appear cloudy. (You may need to look at the diamond from 6-8 inches away.) Clarity is the category you might want to bargain a little. Would you opt for lower clarity for a larger carat?

Putting It All Together

Still not sure what all this means? Here’s the fun part. Do a little research by shopping. Walk into a jewelry store. See what catches your eye and note what you think the cut, color, and clarity grades are.  Are you thinking it’s an Excellent/Ideal Cut, F color, and VVS2 Clarity because it’s sparkling brilliantly? You might be surprised. Ask the sales attendant for the specifications and see how you did. Then, start comparing other diamonds at various price points.

Where Do The Best Diamonds Come From?

Honestly, “best” is a subjective term. Diamonds are mined from African countries, Canada, Russian, and Australia. While Africa is the major producer of diamonds, high-grade diamonds are also found in Canada and Russia; yet, if you’re looking for a pink diamond, you’ll find those in Australia. Today, diamonds are produced in a lab with the same characteristics as those mined. 

How do you know you’re getting a quality diamond? If the diamond is dazzlingly bright, the color is not noticeable, the diamond doesn’t look cloudy, plus the carat’s weight is correct and the diamond matches the GIA grading you expected, you are getting a high-quality diamond.

Rings can be so special and personal… but it can be so easy to forget to take care of them. Life just simply gets in the way. The solution that so many people fall back on is that they just keep their ring on their finger 24/7, and while that seems like a good way to make sure you don’t lose that special part of you, it is a really bad idea.

Countless things you do during the day can cause undue wear and stress on your ring. It can be the sweat that builds up when going out for a nice morning run or the heat and movement that happens when you are cooking your favorite pasta recipe. That stress multiplied day after day can cause real problems. Without realizing it, a prong can crack or pull away from the stone, resulting in a loss of a precious stone. The back of a ring can get cracked and without taking it off to look you will never know it’s there until it is too late. A ring can also get worn down by all the chemicals that get stuck between your ring and your finger from all the essential hand sanitizer and hand washing we are doing. Stones can chip, and the back of the ring band can crack without you even noticing.

A lot of these problems can be avoided by following some helpful hints.

Remove The Ring At The Same Time Each Day

This will get you in the habit of taking off your ring so that it becomes easier not to forget about it. Getting into this habit is a great first step into giving your ring a longer life.

Place The Ring In The Same (safe) Place Each Day

Make sure your close family member knows where you place it. This way, you can have peace of mind that you will always know where your ring is when it is not on your finger. It’s also good to tell people you trust where it is so they know not to change its location or don’t accidentally move the box in which the ring is located.

Remove Your Ring When Wearing Gloves Or Exercising

Make sure you remove your ring when wearing cleaning gloves and definitely when exercising with weights. All that friction, sweat, and movement will make the ring break down faster. The same idea goes for when you wash your hands or deal with chemicals in any form. Keeping your ring away from such things is incredibly important.

Have The Ring Checked Twice Annually

This is usually done as a courtesy by your local independent jeweler.  Upon inspection, your jeweler will be able to detect any problem. It is also good to know that not all rings are cleaned the same way.

These are some great tips to get started on properly taking care of your ring.  That does not mean that it wouldn’t be hard, life just gets in the way sometimes and it is just easy to forget. Yet, by working at establishing a system of cleaning your ring, you will get to keep that ring so much longer so that your special gift can stay with you longer and shine brighter.

Change is constant. Culture and art are always shifting and design is never static. This is why Cummings Jewelry Design has constantly been trying new ideas and new concepts throughout our years of business. We never want to stop moving forward with programs, designs, and the process that makes great pieces great. As a result, we are constantly trying to tap into ways to bring new and unique products to our customers while still including them in the process and keeping it personal to them. The best jewelry is the one with sentimental love and value.

So, over this past year, Cummings has been trying something new. We have been providing a new service for our customers. We use outdated, overused, and broken jewelry from our clients to create brand-new, stylish, and creative products that our customers can wear in today’s world. Let’s face it; sometimes, we have the challenging dilemma of giving or receiving a ring, a bracelet, or a necklace that is either falling apart or is simply too out of date. It still has that sentimental value. It’s that particular stone or engraving that means a lot to a family. To a loved one. People will continue to pass it down until it gets lost or completely broken. However, is that the best way to keep the memory and feelings alive? We do not think so. We believe that giving that piece a new life is a better and more sustainable way to keep the memories and feelings flowing for more generations.

This is why we want to work with you, to take that diamond watch that is no longer running, with a face much too small, and make gorgeous diamond bracelets! We can take that ring with that huge gemstone and create a one-of-a-kind, eye-catching pendant. There are endless possibilities to what we can do to make your jewelry shine like it once did in the past. We want to recreate that glow that a pair of earrings that become charms on a bracelet can give.

We can create multiple pieces for different family members so that everyone has a piece of family history. This can help families from having to pick a family member over another family member for inheritance. Everyone can get a piece of familiar spirit. Using this program is also great for the environment, for it lessens the waste that can build up from jewelry and keep the longevity going longer. We are reinventing the structure of your past while keeping the essence alive.

If you are unsure of just what to get, yet still want to carry the spirit of that unique piece, then there are no worries. We are idea people, and we know how to help! This is what makes this process so great! We get to work together to create the very best creation for you. We have been working in this field for 43 years, and we have the know-how and experience you are looking for. We are excited to work with you!

For more information about Cummings Jewelry Design, visit their website at https://www.cummingsjewelrydesign.com/