Sunday, December 28, 2008

Ring it Up at Christmas

As the days get closer to the morn where gifts are exchanged, there's still many left to buy gifts for. One of the most tricky parts of the festive season is buying for the lady in your life (and I don't mean your Mum).

It's a tricky one; you can't go for anything domestic if you want to avoid a certain type of look, argument or even physical harm so hoover bags are out.

Jewelery is a pretty safe bet. They do say that "diamonds are a girls best friend" after all and I'm sure most of us have seen the parody of the De Beers adverts.

But there's such a wide choice of jewelry and diamonds out there. Where do you start? While it's true you don't have to spend too much to get a nice piece of jewelry you do get what you get pay for so avoid the really cheap stuff. Nothing says "I love you" like a nice bit of finger rust and green staining around the wrist.

Then again prices can get pretty high. How high? Well, the most expensive diamond so far went for US$7.98 million last year. The rock was 6.04 carats sparkles with a hint of blue and equates to US$1,32 million per carat. It's not the largest of diamonds as there's a monster of a 45.52 carat diamond. Presumably kept somewhere safe. Ah, and that's the point. If it costs too much it's not going to be worn too often. You don't where diamonds that cost as much as a small island out to the shops or even out for dinner. Who actually wears a diamond ring like that anyway?

So the safest bet is to aim for something that's not cheap enough to be tacky yet priced enough to assure that you're going to be getting some quality for you money while not being so expensive it gets kept locked away and you end up wondering if it's never worn because it wasn't really that appreciated in the first place.

You don't even have to buy it from new. Second hand jewelery is far from the initial mental association that pops into heads. It's also a great way to grab a bespoke ring or necklace that your partner isn't likely to see on anyone else.

Of course, as with most things, jewelry is a matter of taste, personal taste to be specific. If you are buying jewelry for a loved one and actually want them to wear it the best bet (short of taking them into a shop and having them pick something out) is to pay attention to what they normally wear.

If your girlfriend or wife normally wears small and delicate studs in her ears, hooped earrings that you could throw a basketball through are never likely to be worn after Boxing Day. If you've never seen gold on a persons finger then silver, white gold diamond rings are a safe bet.

Of course, getting the right size will be a good thing too, if it cuts the circulation off it's going to end up in the same place as those hooped earrings. Find one that already fits and use it as a size guide.

So, find a piece of jewelry that's not going to break the bank or be too expensive to wear yet avoid the tack, find something the right size, the right style and you should be laughing. Hope that's made it a bit easier. With any luck, come Christmas morning I'll be celebrating the success of my own guide too.

Tony is an online marketer, researcher and article writer. He is currently researching Jewelery and Diamonds


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