Thursday, September 16, 2010

A Quick Guide to Wholesale Cubic Zirconia

Jewelry lovers are buying cubic zirconia today more than ever thanks to the improvement in quality and the many fashionable styles available. As a jeweler or jewelry manufacturer, this gives you a tremendous opportunity to sell quality jewelry for less and cater to your customers.

What is Cubic Zirconia?

Cubic zirconia is a man-made composition created to simulate, or take on the likeness of, a real diamond. Due to its hardness and beautiful shine, cubic zirconia has become the most popular substitute for diamonds on the market today. It is available in many fashionable styles, shapes and colors to fit any occasion. Cubic zirconia stones can be used in all types of jewelry, including rings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and earrings.

Synthetic Gemstones

Synthetic gemstones are made in a laboratory but still carry the same properties as natural stones. These "lab gems" have become popular and actually are in greater demand today for their own beauty, not merely as a substitute for natural stones. Almost every popular gemstone has a synthetic counterpart. Customers are flocking to get the latest style of cubic zirconia or synthetic gemstone jewelry like never before.

What's the Difference?

Though both have lovely characteristics, there is a great difference between cubic zirconia and synthetic gemstones. Both are created in a lab, but synthetic gemstones are made using the same optical, physical, and chemical properties as natural stones. Lab gems also have the same mineral content as natural gems. On the other hand, cubic zirconia is created to look similar to natural stones but with different optical, physical, and chemical properties.

Types of Synthetic Gemstones

Synthetic gemstones come in many shapes and forms. They are available in coral, diamond, alexandrite, emerald, lapis lazuli, ruby, sapphire, turquoise, spinel, garnet, and quartz. There are many shapes and colors available. For example, lab blue sapphire gems and lab ruby gems come in the following shapes: heart, marquise, octagon, oval, round, trillion, square, pear, and baguette.

Cubic Zirconia Styles

Cubic zirconia resembles a diamond and is available in various shapes and colors. For instance, there are heart-shaped lavender stones, oval-shaped pink stones, pear-shaped champagne stones, and many other dazzling combinations.

Quality Checklist

When shopping for wholesale cubic zirconia or synthetic gemstones, be sure to only buy top quality stones. Ask for samples to check for quality in the following areas: cut, smoothness, hardness (cubic zirconia ranking 8.5 on Moh's Scale of Hardness), and weight. Find a reputable gemologist to help if you're not sure how to check for quality.

Don't settle for second-hand stones. Look for great wholesale prices when ordering loose cubic zirconia, or loose cz, without sacrificing quality. Your customers will know the difference. Look for the grades when buying white cubic zirconia - Grade A, Grade AAA, and Grade AAAAA. Grade AAAAA has become the most valued cubic zirconia stone because it offers long-lasting fire and sparkle.

When buying loose cubic zirconia from a wholesale supplier, remember to put quality first so your customers can enjoy long-lasting beauty.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

So what are Promise Rings, and what do they mean

Promise Rings are common, but not so many understand what they are. They are particularly popular with the youth and it is important that any persons considering exchanging Promise Rings have some understanding of what they symbolize.

So what are Promise Rings, and what do they mean?

Promise Rings are a symbol of a promise made between 2 people. It is usually not appropriate to exchange rings to seal any promise, or that Promise Rings may well not be the correct rings to use to seal that promise.

There are other types of rings which symbolize a promise made between 2 people. An Engagement Ring symbolizes a promise made between 2 people? An engagement has no legal force like a marriage does. It is just an agreement between the parties that they will, at some time in the future, get married.

And so an Engagement Ring is, in effect, a Promise Ring, except that it symbolizes a very specific type of promise. It is also possible to exchange pre engagement rings. These are also a type of Promise Ring, promising that the 2 people will become engaged at some time in the future. These rings are often exchanged where, due to the age of one or both of the parties, an engagement may be premature at this stage.

A Promise Ring can symbolize any promise, there are no formal rules. However it is important to understand that for Promise Rings to have real meaning they must be used only to seal a promise of a particularly serious nature between 2 people.

It is important that they both understand the nature of the promise made between them. There is no point in exchanging rings where there is no clear understanding of exactly what it is that is being promised, so before any promise is made and rings are exchanged both people should spend some time together discussing exactly what commitment is to be made between them.

Make sure both are totally in agreement with the terms of the promise made, that both understand what is to happen in the future in pursuance of that promise, and when. It is usually better that both write the agreement down and keep a copy. That way there can be no disagreement in the future.

It is possible to exchange rings for any reason at all, and this is often done. However a Promise Ring holds a more serious commitment than this. A friendship ring may often be a more appropriate exchange for many young couples. This signifies a closeness between the couple but doesn't necessarily seal a specific agreement about the relationship for the future.

A common type of Promise Ring is one which signifies a promise between 2 young people to abstain from sexual activity until they are married. This is a serious commitment and properly the subject of a Promise Ring, or Purity Ring, as long as both understand what it is that is being promised. For example, what constitutes "sexual activity?"

A Promise Ring is not just for a promise made between 2 people. It can also be made by one person with "themselves" or "God" depending on their beliefs. For example many promise purity to God without extending that promise to any other person in particular.

So, before you consider wearing a Promise Ring, make sure that it signifies something that is of extreme seriousness to you, or to both of you. Make sure you understand the nature of the commitment, the exact details, and any time scales envisioned.

Only then can you confidently go ahead and display that promise to the world.