america diamonds

Tips on Online Shopping for Diamond Rings

Women all across the globe are dotty about diamonds.
Online diamond merchants offer a wide array of high quality diamond rings. Sliding a sparkling diamond ring onto a women’s finger is a wonderful way to make her heart flutter for you. The gleaming diamond rings come in varied designs and styles. And you can get all these designs and styles online.You can have a look at the display windows of the online stores to have a glance at those prized diamond rings. However, you have to be prudent while shopping online for diamond rings.

Here are few tips on online shopping for diamond rings

Know the Diamonds
Before shopping online for diamond rings, you have to know the diamonds, for they come in varied forms and designs. If you do a bit of research and spend some time looking at different kinds of diamonds, you will be able to understand what you need and what you should pick.

Shop at trusted stores
Diamonds are really expensive. This is a reason enough for you to ensure the credibility of the online diamond merchant you are purchasing from as well as the quality of the diamonds they offer. Before you type in your credit card number to pay for your favorite diamond ring, you must check the testimonials and feedback of the merchant’s customers. It is advisable that you don’t take any chance, and shop only at tried and trusted stores.

Buy only what you want
You can get all kinds of diamond rings at online stores. Online diamond merchants provide you with diamond rings to suit different occasions and cultural styles. This connotes that you can easily have diamond rings of your choice. But, for that you must visit different online diamond stores.

Custom-designed diamond rings
A lot of online diamond stores offer custom-designed diamond rings. So, if you are not too excited by the designs you have come across, just ask your online merchant to create specific designs for you. You can ask them to emboss letters on the diamond ring. You can have your diamond ring embellished with other jewels as well.

AMERICA RING

Ring size guide

Since ring size is affected by the weather, time of day, weight, diet and many other factors, the most reliable method for sizing a ring is to wear it for several months under a variety of conditions. A ring which has been worn for some time can be the most accurate guide, but there are also other methods to determining the appropriate ring size.

It is also important that the ring not only fit the finger, but is also able to be pushed over the knuckle. This means that knuckles must be taken into consideration when getting a woman's ring size.

The most simple solution is to ask her, many women know their ring size.




The average woman's ring size is 6.

If your knuckle is a lot larger than the base of your finger, measure both the base and the knuckle with a strip of 1/2-inch paper and select a size in between the two. When buying larger bands, you may want to consider a ring one size larger, for comforts sake.

Rings sized between 5-7 do not incur an additional charge. Rings sized below 5 or above 7 may incur an additional surcharge depending on additional materials and labor.

* Remember to measure your finger in warm temperatures at the end of the day. This is when the most blood will be in your hands, and you will be guaranteed a ring fit that will be comfortable for a lifetime.

Ring Size (USA)	Measured Size (mm)
3	44.1
3.5	45.4
4	46.7
4.5	48.0
5	49.2
5.5	50.5
6	51.8
6.5	53.5
7	54.3
7.5	55.6
8	56.9
8.5	58.2
9	59.4
9.5	60.7
10	62.0
10.5	63.3
11	64.5
11.5	65.8
12	67.1
12.5	68.3
13	69.6

AMERICA DIAMOND

Diamond Guide
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What gives a diamond its color?


Absolutely colorless diamonds allow more light to pass through them than any other colored diamond, making them the most brilliant of diamonds. Like a prism, a diamond divides light into a spectrum of colors and reflects this light as colorful flashes called 'fire'. The less color in a diamond, the more colorful the fire, and the better the color grade. Colorless diamonds emit more sparkle and fire, and are subsequently more expensive.
colorless
faint yellow FIRE: Also known as dispersion, this is the effect caused when a diamond breaks up white light as it hits its surface, separating it into its component spectral colors.

A diamond's color is the result of a combination of trace impurities (sometimes as little as one part per million) or structural irregularities within the diamond's atomic structure. Your diamond's color has always been the same and will not change over time or through wear.

Personal preference is an important aspect when choosing the color of your diamond. Much like pearls, different colored diamonds work well with different skin tones. And though colorless diamonds are rarer and more expensive, many people find the warm glow that radiates from a faint yellow diamond (especially when set in yellow gold) to be very attractive.

However, if your setting is made of white gold or platinum, you may wish to select a diamond of a higher color grade. yellow

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flourecence

Besides grading the color, diamonds are also graded on their reaction to ultraviolet light, which may cause the stone to fluoresce or 'glow'.

Fluorescence: If a diamond is naturally fluorescent, it will emit a soft colored glow when held under an ultraviolet lamp or "black light."

Some people seek diamonds that produce this unique effect, while others definitely avoid it. Fluorescence within a diamond does not influence its durability. However, a very small selection of diamonds with strong fluorescence may appear cloudy to the eye. Diamonds with a strong or very strong fluorescence are priced slightly lower than other diamonds. The color and intensity of the fluorescence are noted on your diamond's grading report.

Fancy Color Diamonds do not follow the rules described above when discussing color as one of the 4 Cs. They are rather very rare and very expensive diamonds that include hues such as red, purple, blue, green, orange and pink. Some of these diamonds are even rarer than a 'D' colored diamond, therefore only available in very limited quantities. If you are interested in a Fancy Color diamond, please contact our customer service.

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GIA Grading
The internationally recognized diamond color grading scale, developed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), uses an alphabetical scale ranging from 'D' to 'Z' where 'D' is the most colorless and 'Z' contains the most color. American Diamond offers diamonds with color grades ranging from 'D' through 'J'.

In assessing your diamond's color, a gemologist has analyzed it under a microscope and compared it to a standardized set of master comparison stones. The grading conditions for this formal evaluation follow specific standards by controlling variables such as lighting, surrounding environment and instruments used.

While diamonds occur naturally in a range of colors, the most widely used in jewelry are the "normalÓ color range¾from colorless and faint-colored to light yellow or brown. Colors outside this range are considered Fancy Color Diamonds.

robbins rings

E.E. Robbins: Lord of the Rings

Seattlest was recently in the market for an engagement ring. Knowing almost nothing about diamonds, settings, or the metals they bling on, we guessed that finding the right ring was going to be a long, arduous and intimidating quest. We were wrong. It wasn’t arduous.

Then there’s the place that goes “straight to the heart.” And the place where “every kiss begins.” And the place “across from the mall.” And the “diamond people.” For the love of capitalism.

We ruled out mall stores because after about 20 minutes in a mall, we start freaking out. Too many people, too much ambient noise, too much visual stimulation. And we knew the help in those stores are like bipolar hawks, swooping upon passersby with commission-hungry eyes and talons of shameless false enthusiasm.

We refused to include Jared in our search simply because of those sorry-ass commercials.

Our first stop was E.E. Robbins. Because it was close to work and we needed to stop at nearby Target for a box of wine.

Ninety minutes after walking through E.E. Robbins’ door, we felt pretty sure that was where we’d buy a ring. Not because the place had a massive aquarium just inside the entry, nice lighting, an open, racetrack-style layout, and no-pressure staff. Not because they offered cold drinks (Frappuccino? Jones Soda?) to everyone who came in. Not because the selection of engagement rings bordered on overwhelming (in a good way). But because we’d been given a crash-course on diamonds and precious metals by a very cool woman who, if she was exasperated by our ignorance, didn’t show it at all. We’ll call her Ms. Robbins.

Maybe it was simply a result of E.E. Robbins’ hiring and training standards, but Ms. Robbins was just downright super. She showed us multiple rings—those we pointed out and ones similar to them, nothing that differed from our “we think we like this style” aesthetic. She sat us down at a comfy table and busted out rocks that matched our price range. She showed us a little slide show on the “Four Cs,” and let us pore over stones until we could (sort of) guess the differences in clarity, color, and cost. She let us look at them under a cool microscope. And she never once encouraged the purchase of a larger, more colorless, more expensive diamond. Everything was “whatever works for you.” Our taste, our budget, our comfort zone.

Over the next few weeks, we visited several other jewelers. Everything we knew about major-purchase-making told us that we couldn’t love the stuff we’d seen first. We had to shop around more. We had to compare.

The Shane Co., on top of being a strangely sterile, unfriendly place, didn’t offer anything that we liked or that fit our price range. It may be hand-selected in Thailand, but it ain’t thrilling.

International Jewelers was also sterile, but not unfriendly. A giddy woman there tossed out this gem: “You’re getting engaged? That’s always fun!” The ring and diamond selection, and her interest in educating us on both, were less stellar.

The mall stores—yes, we braved a couple—were as expected. Maybe we’d have thought more of them had we not gotten the royal treatment at Robbins, but the help was either overbearing or aloof and the stuff in the display cases somehow sad and desperate-looking.

To check our sanity, we dropped into Fred Meyer Jewelers during a trip for groceries. The experience was surprisingly positive, but friendliness and price weren’t influencing our decision. And honestly, wouldn’t it be odd to purchase a ring at the same place you buy toilet paper?

A second sanity check found us at the E.E. Robbins in Belltown. Was Ms. Robbins an awesome salesperson, or was the business itself awesome? Could our first experience be duplicated? Turns out, yes.

We waited, let all that we’d seen simmer for a while. We stared at Ms. Robbins’ business card and thought about what she’d shown us, how she’d smiled all the while. We heard a few more of those inane radio commercials, and smirked at Robbins’ “how we got engaged” spots. They really sound silly. (Ms. Robbins gave us a book of these proposal stories, too; it reads just as cheesy, but the sentiment is somehow more endearing on the page.)

Finally, we went back to the first E.E. Robbins, to Ms. Robbins, and bought us a fantastically-beautiful-if-we-don’t-say-so-ourselves ring. If the shopping experience (and the free Frappuccino) wasn’t positive enough, she gave us wedding planning books, a coupon for a future purchase (wedding band, duh), and a bottle of champagne. Seattlest felt special.

Those commercials might sound lame and made-up, but we’re betting they’re very real—and partially inspired by experiences in an E.E. Robbins store. We won’t be volunteering our story for anyone’s listening (or reading) pleasure, but we’ll definitely recommend the Robbins folks to those going engagement ring-hunting.