If your thinking about plunking down a sizable wad of cash for some jewelry, then it’s worthwhile knowing exactly what your getting. For less than twenty bucks, you can get yourself simple jewelers tool called a loupe. Then you need to spend a little bit of time learning how to use it. It’s like a little magnifying glass, that you can get at most optical stores. It allows you to look at the finer detail of any piece of jewelry. At the very least, it should give you a good idea of the craftsmanship of the jeweler that created the piece your evaluating. Imperfections that you’d never see with your eyes will be revealed. The sales clerk may look at you a little funny when you whip out your loupe to examine the ring, but you can’t bet they’ll also think twice about trying to pull anything funny on you. Sorry, but I can’t help but have a basic distrust of sales clerks everywhere.
If your not to familiar with the different designers in the jewelry business these days, then maybe it’s time you learned. Certainly you can spend some time searching online, as there is plenty of useful information there. But, don’t forget about all your jewelry maven friends either. There’s nothing like getting the scoop about jewelry from a friend you can trust. Generally speaking, people love it when you ask for their opinion, as it gives them a chance to show how much they know about jewelry. When picking rings, you need to consider how often your going to wear the ring when it comes to quality. Your going to want very secure settings on everyday rings. No one likes losing a diamond or gemstone from a valuable ring. You can probably get away with lower quality settings on rings that will only be worn on special occassions. If you really want piece of mind though, you can always get your rings insured for stone loss.
Check out the finishings of the prongs and clasps on the ring. Avoid jewelry with shabby work, if you want to get good quality stuff. The better made rings will have a clearly marked manufacture mark somewhere on the ring. The cheaper ones may be obscured, or simply not there. Look for symetry in the prongs that secure the gemstones in place. They should not however obscure the view of the stone itself. That’s sure to make me wonder about what their hiding.
Jewelry can be tricky to buy, if your new to the game. It can also seem very expensive, if you don’t know what it is that determines value in the piece your considering. Doing a little research can make this all seem clearer. As well, being more informed makes it harder for you to be sold a shoddy piece at a quality price.
Great posting. Thanks for very useful information.