Today is a quick post, but I just wanted to share this A-MAZE-ING vintage star sapphire and diamond ring in platinum that we have recently acquired as part of an estate. I cannot stop looking at it. It is pretty crucial that someone awesome buys this. :-)

Star sapphires are unique stones. They have a domed top referred to as a a cabachon cut. When the star sapphire is viewed directly from the top a white star appears in the center. Very special stone.

We rarely take in full estates at Diamonds Direct, but we decided to take a chance with this one. The collection is very eclectic and I am like a kid in a candy store with these pieces.

Keep Sparkling!

Kristina

Maybe we can call this my Wednesday rant. I have something to vent about. Before I start and have you fellas explaining to me all the reasons I am wrong or going on about saving money or time constraints, let me just say that I am woman and I can’t explain why I feel a certain way, but that’s the way it is so deal with it. Ladies, are you with me?

There is a big trend in jewelry that I am not down with. Shopping for your diamond online. Yes, I am a jeweler so I am biased on this topic, but I think shopping for your engagement ring (or any piece of jewelry) is part of the romance. Whether you shop alone or bring your significant other along, there is something to be said for going somewhere and having a conversation with a jeweler. I love my clients. When I sell an engagement ring, I literally cannot wait to hear about the proposal, to see the ring on its new owner and get their input on how it turned out. And I really believe that most ladies love having that experience as well. Who doesn’t want to have a family jeweler?

When I have a new client call who is also shopping for diamonds online, I don’t really get worried. Nine times out of ten, I have no problem presenting a diamond that is competitive and usually more affordable. Just because it is online, does not mean that it is more affordable. If the online distributor can get it for a good price, so can I!

Many people feel that just because a diamond is graded a certain way that it will look like all other diamonds with that grade. Not true! Many of these large diamond houses can have diamonds graded as something better than they actually are. We see it all the time. By definition, an SI-1 clarity diamond should have no imperfections visible to the naked eye. Even though this is a fact, we keep seeing diamonds that have been sold in large retail store and online which have huge, blatant imperfection that is clearly visible to the eye. You cannot go on grade alone! It makes much more sense to go see a jeweler, like myself, who can bring in a few diamonds in your price range and lay them out in front of you. Compare the qualities. Figure out what is the most important to you when it comes to the quality of your diamond.

With the amount of technology in our world, the personal experience of great customer service is lost on us. If we want something, we point, click and it is ours. This is fine when you are buying a CD or some stationary or some office supplies, but not something like an engagement ring. Would you feel comfortable buying a car without seeing it, taking it for a test drive and checking under the hood? No. Diamonds and gemstones have just as many complexities, if not more, as a car. Make sure you are getting what you are paying for!

When I think about shopping for an engagement ring online, I get this mental image of a guy at his computer, eating a sandwich, clicking on the little arrows to narrow down his diamond search. What is romantic about this? Shopping for the single most romantic symbol of your life while sitting at your desk on your lunch break? Make an effort. Drive to the jewelry store. Get to know the person you are buying this ring from. I guarantee that when you have a problem with that ring, that online store will not be as motivated to make you happy as I would be.

There is also something to be said for having a place where you can go. Show us exactly what you want, tell us what your significant other is like, tell us what you are comfortable spending, give us your timeline. We want to help you. We are motivated to help you make this proposal a success. We want you to come back for anniversaries, birthdays, children, etc. We have a desire to develop a long term relationship with. The person who is available to have an online chat with you is not as motivated to support you as we are. It doesn’t hurt that we are all hopeless romantics at Diamonds Direct too. We love a good “how did you pop the question” story.

My last plug…support Main Street America. Small businesses are the life blood of our country. We’ve all seen what happens when large companies get too large. Show the little guys some love. I can guarantee we value our relationship with you much more than these huge chain stores.

Keep Sparkling!

Kristina

Diamonds Direct is a huge advocate for giving. We believe very strongly that you cannot be successful in life or business without giving generously of your time, money and donations. We are all big supporters of being passionate in life so anytime we can catch that enthusiasm for a charity, it is fun for us to get involved.

What is it about giving that makes you feel good? For me, it is that feel good, “aha” moment. That moment when you are up to your elbows in bread dough cooking for a homeless shelter or handing out bottles of water to irritated Habitat for Humanity workers or on mile 62 out of 65 in the 3-Day Walk for the Cure or sorting tiny little diamonds to make a beautiful pendant for a silent auction. It’s that moment when you smile to yourself because this little thing that you are doing right this moment is going to make a difference in someone’s life. Probably someone you don’t know. Someone who will never have the opportunity to thank you. And then I think about a time, whether in the past or in the future, when I will be that person who needs help. It is a totally awesome cycle of generosity that I can’t imagine life without.

The original owner of Diamonds Direct, John, is a Vietnam veteran. Two years ago, his unit received the Presidential Citation at the White House for courage under pressure during his tour in Vietnam. We are very proud of him. John has become an advocate not only for Vietnam veterans, but for families living in Vietnam. Over the past few years, he has become increasingly involved in a non-profit called Bridges to Learning (BTL). BTL raises money to send children to school in Vietnam who would otherwise not have the opportunity to learn. John started out attending the yearly gala and is now one of its biggest advocates and supporters. This year’s BTL gala raised enough money for 400 Vietnamese children to go to school for another year. BTL also raised money to build their own high tech, clean, school for students to attend.  http://bridges2learning.org/

I am also heavily involved in volunteering. Last year, I did the 3 Day Walk for the Cure. It was absolutely a life changing event. I managed to raise $4000 for breast cancer research in the months leading up to the walk…but that was the easy part! Whoever thought of walking for three days to raise money for breast cancer was brilliant. Walking for three days straight is HARD. My feet have yet to fully recover for that walk. I never thought just walking could be that difficult. But walking for three days is nothing compared to the strength, mental awareness, stamina and spirit that is needed to battle breast cancer. The women I met on that walk and the stories I heard have shaped my life forever. I continue to raise money for the walk each year, but don’t know if I will subject my feet to that again for another couple years. J http://www.the3day.org

Anyone who knows me, knows that art is my big obsession. I sit on the Steering Committee for the Uptown Art Fair. Art is awesome. Art makes life more beautiful. Art gives kids an excuse to make a mess. Art is great release of creative energy. I put a lot of time and effort into my position on the committee and I still always feel like I should do more.

The Salvation Army is also a personal favorite. I have to tell you, there is nothing quite like the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you are outside in the cold, ringing your bell and a little kid comes up and puts all their change in the bucket. Or when a parent is walking up with their kids and they stop about 20 feet away to give each of the kids a dollar. Or when someone gives you a knowing smile on the way into the grocery store and comes back out with a twenty dollar bill. Or, my personal favorite, when someone comes out with cash AND a hot chocolate for me. I like to switch up the location where I ring because every place has different types of givers. The thing they all have in common is that simple sense of giving because it is right. I also get to meet some pretty amazing people that I would otherwise never talk to! Do you want to ring too? http://www.ringbells.org/

Okay, so if you have made it this far into my blog, you are probably asking yourself why I am babbling on and on about charities and volunteering. I promise, I have a point. This year, we are going to try something new out. We want new clients, this is a given. We want to figure out a fun way to get new clients. So over the next 6 months, I am going to be trying new ways to get people excited about Diamonds Direct, but also pay it forward by donating money and items to charities as a direct result of that excitement. So please, keep an eye out for these unique ways to support local charities and a local business at the same time.

Now, check out these new pictures taken with our fancy new photography system. I could not be more excited about having an awesome space to photograph the amazing work we are doing here. I am still learning the tricks of trade when it comes to taking high quality photos, but hopefully you can bear with me. Don’t forget the holidays are coming up! We have tons of new inventory at every price point.

Beautiful sapphire pendant...yes, those are all sapphires!

14 karat white gold amethyst and diamond ring

14 karat white gold hand made diamond necklace

Keep Sparkling!

Kristina

I’ve been a very bad blogger! A handful of you have noticed that I missed my blogs last week. I apologize. I know how life altering the information I share is and I know you have been desperately awaiting the next post…Just kidding! But I seriously appreciate the fact that you are reading and interested in what I have to say. I enjoy sharing my input.

As I have mentioned before, I am recently engaged. My fiancé, James, asked me to marry him in December of last year. He is a seriously awesome dude. We are the best of friends and have a blast being together. We are planning a June wedding in Minneapolis. We are also house hunting right now…so cue the high anxiety, super stressed time of wedding planning compounded with buying a home. Yikes!

Many of you probably think he is quite lucky to have someone like me. And I tend to agree. There is one major downside to dating me though. I am a jeweler. I am not only a jeweler, but I am a picky, indecisive jeweler. To be fair, James knew what he was getting himself into. J

Original Ring Design

James proposed to me with a gorgeous ring made with a perfect oval shaped yellow sapphire, two half moon diamonds and a bunch of little round diamonds. I had been lusting after the ring for months and months. Sapphires are my favorite stone to work with so he did a fabulous job choosing one for my center stone. Sapphires come in every color of the rainbow, but I was happy to have a yellow one to wear with both yellow and white gold jewelry. The ring was made by a designer we work with a lot based out of Chicago so it was nice knowing the person who put it together.

A few months into wearing my ring, I started to notice a few things I would like to change about it. Yes, I know, I am awful. James chose this beautiful ring for me and I wanted to change it! The problems I was having with the ring were the number of prongs and how thin the band was. I am an active person and I am very hard on my jewelry. This setting was not going to last more than a few years with the way I was wearing it down. I also felt like the center stone should be set higher to make it look more like an engagement ring. I spoke to James about the changes I wanted to make and he agreed. A good man just wants to keep his lady happy, right?

On August 12^th, I dropped my engagement ring off with my goldsmith with several sketches of what I wanted. We discussed millimeter measurements, type of metal, thickness of the band, prongs and other details. We also decide to incorporate both white and yellow gold. He got to work.

A week later, I got to see the wax of my ring. A wax is basically a carving of the ring with no stones, prongs or detailing. It gives the customer an idea of how the ring will sit on their finger, the overall shape and layout of the stones. It was a little sad to see my ring with no stones in it, but it was very exciting to see this purple wax ring. I gave the go ahead to make the ring. It was a very unique experience for me to be on this side of the designing. I am always telling my clients to trust in the process and keep in mind that we are sharing their vision. I could not stop second guessing different things about the ring and hoping it turned out as I expected.

Two weeks later, my ring was done! It turned out even better than I imagined. With the changes we made, I feel as though it looks very custom (which it is), more sturdy, more expensive and just overall more amazing. I find myself just staring at it on my finger because I cannot believe it is mine! I have yet to get a chance to photograph it well, but hopefully you get the idea.

Newly Designed Ring- Now two-tone!

My inspiration for the change is all of the rings we have been remodeling in the past couple of years. I took the stones that I already had, took a gold credit and rearranged them to be something that fits my style better than what I had. The investment is not too crazy for what you end up with…especially if we are talking about an older piece of jewelry that isn’t being worn. Might as well use what you’ve got to make something you’ll wear, right?

To check out a small sampling of some of our custom jobs, check out our custom page on the website at http://www.diamondsdirectmn.com/custom-design.

Keep sparkling!

Kristina