Sheri L

Whether you’re buying jewelry for yourself or as a thoughtful gift for someone else, make sure you do it the right way by avoiding these 5 common mistakes:

1. Dealing with inexperienced vendors:

You should always buy jewelry from professional jewelers with decades of experience in the jewelry business. Why? Think about it. Do you really want to be merely sold jewelry, or do you want to purchase quality jewelry from people who know what they’re doing?

Jewelry experts know the standards, follow the regulations and understand what quality is. They back up what they sell. Experienced jewelry experts are proud of the knowledgeable service they can provide to their customers and they want to help educate you. They have a career in jewelry and a well-established jewelry business and understand that purchasing fine jewelry is not the same thing as shopping for a toaster. Jewelry is an intimate purchase and jewelry often lasts several lifetimes as it’s often passed through generations. Why trust something that important to just a salesperson?

2. Skimping on quality:

Expert jewelers are experts on quality. You should be informed of exactly what jewelry you’re buying in terms of its value for the money you’re spending. Jewelry experts should be forthcoming about all of the details about their jewelry. They should provide all the information possible so that you can be sure you’re getting a quality piece of jewelry at the best price available.

Jewelry experts interested in selling only quality jewelry want to communicate with their customers. They truly care about the kind of jewelry they sell and not about making a sale just for the sake of making a sale. Look for quality jewelers with decades of experience behind them to answer all your questions about exactly what you’re buying. If they seem to be withholding information about the jewelry they’re selling, look elsewhere!

3. Settling for a limited selection:

Don’t settle for a limited selection of jewelry. The best jewelers have the largest selections of jewelry for you to choose from. They understand that their customers are not only interested in purchasing quality pieces of jewelry for themselves, but also want to buy pieces for their loved ones for gifts on special occasions. When you find a knowledgeable, trustworthy jeweler, you’re going to want to keep buying from that jeweler, so a large product line that keeps expanding is important.

Career jewelers stay on top of trends and demands in the marketplace. They give you a wide choice so that you’re sure to find just what you’re looking for. You don’t want jewelry you just like, but jewelry that you just love – the perfect accent for that special outfit or the perfect gift for someone you love. You need a large selection of quality jewelry options with jewelers who care about helping you find what you want.

4. Ignoring the importance of your convenience:

The last thing you need or want when buying jewelry is to be rushed or pressured. That’s why many people prefer shopping for jewelry online in the comfort of their home or office. This way, you don’t feel pressured from sales people or rushed near closing time at the mall. Today’s computer technology allows for clear, close up photographs so you know just what you’ll be getting. No need to try and point to items in a display case or to try to wait patiently to get a sales clerk, often with limited knowledge about the pieces he or she is selling anyway, to help you.

Be sure that the jewelry website you choose to buy jewelry from is backed by knowledgeable career jewelers with many years of experience. You should be able to find all the information you need on the site and should be able to ask any additional questions you’d like before you buy.

5. Paying retail instead of wholesale:

Ecommerce and online shopping are not only popular for reasons of convenience, but for value and lower prices too. Big box retail jewelry stores like you to think that they’re still the only option, but smart consumers know better. Why pay more than you need to for quality jewelry? Look for a reputable online jeweler that’s committed to finding you the best price possible.

A reputable, experienced jeweler wants you to receive the best value possible. The best value possible when you’re buying jewelry is getting quality, service, selection and price. You shouldn’t settle for anything less than that. Look for wholesale prices and discounts and specials. Look for a career jeweler that wants to please you by providing ultimate quality at ultimate prices. It’s that simple. Fine jewelry is a lasting remembrance, unlike flowers or candy. You really don’t have to spend a fortune to get quality jewelry you love.

Tom B

For as long as man has been able to craft jewelry, the gold standard for shiny ornamentation has been, well, gold. And for good reason. Gold is reasonably abundant, but not so much as to detract from its value, malleable (one gram can be pulled into a thread almost two miles long), stable, and can be polished to a sun-like finish.

However, gold is not your only choice for, say, your wedding bands. If you prefer white metal jewelry (and many people do), a world of alternatives open to you.

The most prevalent alternative to gold is white gold — gold alloyed with a white metal such as nickel. White gold became popular during the Art-Deco 1920’s as a lower-cost alternative to then-popular platinum. It has remained a popular choice for engagement rings, because it doesn’t threaten to add a yellow tinge to the colorlessness of better diamonds.

The downside of white gold has been the allergic reaction that some people experience to the nickel commonly used to give the metal its white color. The response, nickel dermatitis, is common enough that the European Union does not allow gold/nickel alloys in jewelry. Fortunately, white gold can also be made with non-allergenic silver or palladium in place of nickel.

Silver is another very popular choice for rings. Its greatest advantage is low cost; silver prices are often 5% that of gold. It too is easily worked, and can be cast (melted and formed in a mold) and soldered into intricate shapes.

However, silver is relatively soft, and therefore doesn’t stand up to the abuse most rings experience. Also, typical sterling silver (92.5% silver, 7.5% copper) is prone to tarnish, as you probably know if you’ve ever had to polish the family formal dinnerware. New alloys of sterling silver such as germanium help prevent tarnishing, but do little for the durability question.

Perhaps your best choice for durability, strength and beauty is platinum. When alloyed with a smidgen of palladium, this metal takes a beautiful, long-lasting shine. Platinum prongs (the fingers that wrap around your diamond and hold it in place) wear much more slowly than white gold. Hold on to your wallet, though; platinum is about twice the price of gold.

Many people who are concerned about allergic reactions are drawn to a more uncommon, but excellent jewelry metal, palladium. This white metal also takes a high polish. It is also lighter than platinum, making it a particularly good choice for ornate earrings. Palladium came into use during WWII, when platinum was restricted to military use only.

There are good reasons why Palladium isn’t more widely used in jewelry, though. It is very hard to cast, because it oxidizes, resulting in unacceptable pitting.

For the space-age set, titanium can be an exciting choice. The strongest metal on Earth is better known for use in joint replacements, and as a whitener in paint, paper, and even toothpaste. However titanium rings are virtually indestructible, and can be polished to a high gleam. Titanium can also be anodized (colored by passing an electrical current through it) producing a lovely gray/black finish that is permanent. On the down side, titanium cannot be soldered or cast, which rules out most applications other than bands.

An even more esoteric choice is tungsten carbide. Tungsten carbide might appeal to machinists, since it is the compound used to cut and shape steel. The metal is so hard that one retailer of tungsten carbide rings guarantees to replace the ring should even a single scratch appear. As you can imagine, something this hard is going to be weighty, a concern for some.

Gold, white gold, platinum, and more — choice is good. In the end, though, there is no correct choice, except the one that delights you.

Or, for some of us, that choice could be – one of each?