Tips & Tricks
Tips to maintain your Jewellery
Always:
- Apply lotion, cosmetics, hairspray and perfume before wearing your jewellery.
- After removal of jewellery, wipe each piece with a clean soft cloth to remove oils and perspiration.
- Store in fabric-lined box, separately or individually-wrapped in tissue to prevent scratches.
Never:
- Never wear jewellery when doing physical work such as housekeeping, gardening or exercise.
- Never expose jewellery to household cleaning products, such as bleach and chlorine.
Tips for Cleaning:
- Follow the instructions appearing on the label or box.
- Clean in a secure location; not the rim of a sink, where a piece may slip down the drain.
- Use only a soft brush, never sharp or hard objects, to remove dirt or particles.
- Clean your jewellery often. Lotions, soaps and skin oils alter the optical properties of diamonds and gemstones, causing them to look dull.
- Seriously spoiled jewellery should be cleaned professionally.
- Clean diamond jewellery with a soft brush dipped in warm water and mild detergent and rinse under running water.
- Never expose pearl jewellery and coloured gemstone to chemicals, solvents or ultrasonic without knowing their specific cleaning requirements.
- Store each piece in a soft bag.
Tips for Long Life:
- Keep your laboratory reports n a safe location, separate from jewellery pieces, for security.
- Have your jewellery cleaned and checked by a professional for worn mountings, loose prongs and general condition at least once per year.
- Have white gold re-plated, platinum re-polished and prongs re-tipped as necessary to maintain original condition (generally every 24 months or so).
- Have frequently worn pearls re-strung as necessary, with a knot between each pearl to prevent loss if the string breaks.
- Some coloured gemstones should not be exposed to sudden temperature changes; know your pieces and their needs.
- Select daily wear jewellery that is in harmony with your lifestyle and schedule of activities.
- Treat each piece as if it is a family heirloom, for one day it will be!
Source: IGI
Diamond Buying Guide
Source: IGI
Cut
Cut refers to the finish and proportions, and how these factors influence the overall appearances of a diamond.
White and contrasted light called "brilliance" the colour flashes called "fire" and "scintillation" or flashes of light that occur when the stones moves, the ratio of weight vs. size, the smoothness and the symmetry of polished faces: all these determine how light enters the stones, in what it returns to the eye, and how the stone performs in terms sparkles. The cut grade is expressed on a scale from Excellent to Poor.
Heart and Arrows:
Also called H&A, these are mostly round diamonds with a superior cutting quality. They display a visual pattern of 8 hearts when looking at the same pavilion, and 8 arrows when viewing the stone in the face-up position, while using a Hearts and Arrows loupe.
Source: IGI
Color
Most gem quality used in jewellery are colourless and nearly colourless, sometimes with tints of yellow and brown. Among the rarest are the colours D, E and F on a scale that goes to Z.
Colour grades are established by comparing each diamond to a set of each master comparison diamonds. Each grade represents a range of colour. Grading colour is done in a specific and controlled lighting environment and according to strict colour grading procedures.
More colour intensity than Z is called "fancy" colour. Diamonds of colours can be found in nature; over 300 colours have so far been identified, however these came in an infinite numbers of shades and hues.
Source: IGI
Clarity
Since diamonds form under tremendous heat and pressure, internal and external characteristics are common.
These characteristics help gemologists separate natural diamonds from synthetics and simulants, and identify individual stones.
There are two types of clarity characteristics:
- inclusions
- blemishes
The difference is based on their location: inclusions are inside the diamond while blemishes are only on its surface.
Source: IGI
Carat
Carat is the standard unit of weight for diamonds and other gemstone.
One carat equals one fifth of gram. When weighing less than one carat, the diamond weight is expressed in "points" : each carat is divided into 100 points, for examples
0.75ct. = 75 points
½ ct. = 0.50ct. or 50 points
¼ ct. = 0.25ct. or 25 points
When diamonds are mined, large gems are discovered much less frequently than smaller ones. Diamonds prices increase exponentially with carat weight. So, a 2-carat diamond of a given quality is always worth more than two 1- carat diamonds of same quality.
Source: IGI
Shape
9 Famous diamond shapes
Source: IGI