No, we’re not talking about colored diamonds, but the third C in our list: color. Even though colored diamonds do exist—in yellow, pink, blue, and even rare red—when it comes to white diamonds, what we really want is absence of color. The Gemological Institute of American (GIA) grades the whitest of diamonds D (A, B,…
In our continuing series on helping you buy the best diamond for your budget, this week we talk about Cut, one of the four Cs, and an important one that will determine the appearance of the stone you purchase when you shop for jewelry in the DC area. In its simplest, non-esoteric terms, cut refers…
The four Cs of diamonds—clarity, color, cut, and carat—were introduced in the mid-1900s and provided a universal tool for evaluating the quality of diamonds, even down to minute variables that can’t be seen with the naked eye. Last week, we talked about how to work toward your budget when selecting a diamond, and said that…
You’ve got your money, you want to buy the diamond gift—a ring, a pendant, earrings—for a special someone, but you want to be sure you’re getting the best you can buy. But how? If you don’t know much about diamonds before you head off to buy jewelry in the DC area, it’s good to bring…
If you caught that photo of our president with this tie TAPED on the flip side, you know how important it is to learn about tie bars. Not only do they hold the tie in place with a little more class than tape, they’re a genuine way to demonstrate your fashion sense. A tie bar…
Whether you want to show off, subtly broach the subject of rings, or pepper your proposal with some trivia, here are some things you don’t need to know about engagement rings—at all—but which you nonetheless might not mind knowing. 1) The average cost of an engagement ring in 2017 is $5,500. This could lead to…
Nothing says vintage like a brooch, and hand-carved brooches using gems like the coral and carnelian shown here, add a classic touch to any ensemble. Hand-carved jewelry has been around for millennia and precedes the most complicated faceting technique. Mesoamericans, Sumerians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all carved jewelry, often with animals and beetles, and wore them as amulets. In…
When a person opts to “put a ring on it,” the overwhelming popular choice for that ring is still a diamond. The ring custom itself is said to descend from a Roman custom that had wives wearing rings attached to keys, a symbol of their husband’s “ownership.” The diamond idea took off among European upper…
Everything old is new again, which means that flora and fauna jewelry is back in demand for 2017. This is amazing news for jewelry lovers who love to browse their favorite pawn shops in Northern Virginia, because if anything is a mainstay of estate jewelry inventory, it’s those quirky animal and flowers designs that perennially…
Beautiful amethyst, a quartz variety with color that can range from deep violet to light lilac or pinkish purple, has long been the birthstone associated with the second month. And February birthdays have been lucky, because not only are amethysts gorgeous, but they’re also said to protect wearers from drunkenness and keep them clearheaded and…