How to Buy Jewelry Online

By eHow Internet Editor

Buy Jewelry Online

Rate: (3 Ratings)

Fine jewelry is available online for up to 50 percent less than you'd pay retail. For such a large investment, however, you'll want to be sure you're buying from a trusted and reliable source - and that you have done enough homework to make a smart decision.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Internet Access
Computers

Step1

Familiarize yourself with how to measure quality in gold, diamonds or other items you may wish to purchase. Know the difference between carats and karats.

Step2

Enter the word "jewelry" in a search engine such as Google or Yahoo. If desired, enter more specific words such as "rings," "diamonds" or "gold."

Step3

Browse sites for information. Some sites offer jewelry made by known manufacturers while others have their own jewelers that make the pieces for sale.

Step4

Read information on guarantees, secure ordering and returns. A piece of jewelry is a major investment, and you want to be sure your purchase is guaranteed and that your purchase price can be refunded if you want to return the item.

Step5

Check to see if certificates are given, particularly for diamonds.

Step6

If you are confident that the site is secure and reputable, browse the categories ("diamonds," "gold," "watches," "rings," and so on) or do a site search using the key word or words of the item you are looking for ("gold watch," "diamond ring," and so on).

Step7

If you find a piece that interests you, you may have to click its image to make it larger so you can get a better look. While this is not necessarily a good substitute for seeing the piece in person, it will give you a pretty good idea of what the piece looks like.

Step8

When you order, pay special attention to sizes and other options offered. (For example, do you want the diamond set in a yellow gold or white gold band?)

Tips & Warnings

It may be wise to visit your local jewelry store to look at and try on something similar to what you want. This will give you an idea of size and other features of fine jewelry.
Once you've found what you want, take the online price to your local jeweler and see if he or she will give you a similar item at the same price. This can save you shipping and handling costs and the hassle of returning something that you don't like through the mail.
Remember that no matter how clearly a picture of jewelry appears on your monitor, it's not the same as handling or trying it on before buying. It's especially important to check online sites' guarantees and return policies, which will be extremely important if you are not happy with the item once you see it.
If you return a piece of jewelry bought online, items often must be returned within a limited amount of time, and you will need to insure the item being returned. While your purchase price may be refunded, insurance, shipping and handling charges are usually not refundable.

Comments

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 Diamond Rings, What You Need To Know.

A diamond ring is something that almost all of us would want. However huge price tags and the
fear of being cheated keeps most of us away from diamond rings. Diamond wedding rings and diamond
engagement rings are hot favourites and for the few who can afford the high prices, there is
surely no shortage of designs to choose from.

What we are going to discuss here is the possibility of getting a nice diamond ring at a price
that does not burn a hole in your wallet or does not rush you into mortgaging your house. We will
leave aside the gimmicks that sell low grade diamond rings with diamonds that are an almost
opaque white in color. Here are some ideas that could help you get your dream diamond ring
at a down to earth price. We have tried to be as non technical as possible in writing this article.
The ideas is to provide information to a much larger base of readers. This article is divided into
two sections, the first provides general information regarding diamonds. The second section
deals directly for what you should expect and look for when buying a diamond ring.

SECTION I:

General Information.

(1) Genuine Diamonds: Cubic zirconia, mossanite and other diamond look alikes are not diamonds.
They are at best imitations of genuine diamonds and cost a fraction of what genuine diamonds would cost you. This article will not deal with these imitations and will cover only diamond rings with genuine diamonds.

(2) Diamond Size and Price: Diamonds are weighed in carats and a carat is about one fifth of a gram. This means that a gram consists of five carats and each carat is really very small. Diamonds are priced per carat and price is based on the color (degree of whiteness) and the clarity (inclusions) of the diamond. If you said that you had a 'one carat diamond ring' it would generally mean that your ring had one single diamond that weighed a carat. On the other hand
you could also have a diamond ring, with diamonds that weighed a carat. In this case your ring could be made up of ten pieces of small diamonds each weighing 0.10 carat. All the 10 pieces in your diamond ring would together weigh a carat. The diamond weight in both these rings would be the same (one carat). Now let us assume that both these diamond rings had diamonds of the same whiteness and clarity. One would expect the diamonds in both the rings to be priced the same, per carat. However this is not true, the diamond that was a single piece and weighed a carat would be more expensive, as compared to the ten small pieces of diamonds
that together weighed the same one carat. It is important that you understand this concept
very clearly as this could influence the design selection of your diamond ring.

(3) Diamonds That Appear Opaque And Powdery: We all come across such garbage and if you haven't,
then try bidding for a 50$ diamond and sapphire ring on your favourite auction site. The diamonds
will be small and have almost no transparency or glitter. Are these real diamonds, yes they are
but they are real junk and have been put in the ring just to allow it to have a title of 'Diamond Sapphire Ring'!. This is not the kind of diamond ring that you or we have in mind. Stay away from such junk, and if your budget is low then avoid diamonds all together. Diamond rings with such terrible quality diamonds are good examples of bad diamond jewelry.

(4) Acceptable Diamond Quality: A diamond ring with an 'acceptable' quality of diamond is not easy to define. Much would depend on your budget and the size of the diamond that you need. However we are talking about an affordable range of diamond rings, so we can set up some parameters to help us. Diamonds that appear white and transparent to the naked eye can be considered as acceptable quality diamonds for our discussion. This would rule out diamonds that appear opaque and cloudy to the naked eye. Diamonds that appear white, transparent and glittering to the naked eye would have to be quite small to be affordable. Larger diamonds with these features would be quite expensive. The diamonds that would fall in an affordable price range would have sizes of 1.5mm, 1.7mm, 2mm, 2.25mm, 2.5mm and upto 3mm.

(5) What Are Colored Diamonds: Diamond rings with colored diamonds have become more common these
days. The reason is not because natural colored diamonds have become cheaper, but because of
the color enhancement treatments that are being applied to diamonds. Naturally colored diamonds
are expensive and pink, yellow, green and brown diamonds carry fancy price tags. Many of the
diamond rings that use colored diamonds have diamonds that have been radiated to change colors.
White diamonds are put through a radiation process that makes them change colors. The basic properties
like hardness of diamonds does not change with the color enhancement process and you can therefore
consider using colored (enhanced) diamonds for your diamond ring.

SECTION II:

Suggestion For Affordable Diamond Ring Designs:

(a) Set a budget for your ring: A diamond ring with good quality diamonds can be had at the price of a good quality gemstone ring. This is assuming that the diamonds that you need are not very large in size. As mentioned above, the diamonds that would fall in this category would be in sizes that range from 1.5mm to 3mm. Your diamond ring would not be cheap, but in most cases would not be as expensive as you think it would be. If this is a special occassion diamond ring,
like a wedding diamond ring or an engagement diamond ring, then do the best you can when deciding
your budget for the ring.

(b) Choose the shape of your diamonds: Most diamond rings have round diamonds, these and rectangular shaped diamonds account for most of the diamonds that are used in designing diamond rings. Though not seen very often, fancy shapes like pear shape and heart shape diamonds are also available. Diamonds in these shapes are quite expensive and would surely not be included in the category of affordable diamond rings. There is another set of princess (square) cut diamonds that are not all that rare, however such diamonds would be heavier as compared to round shaped diamonds in similar size. For example, a diamond ring with two square diamonds of size 3mm each, would have higher diamond weight when compared with the diamond
weight of a ring that has two round diamonds of size 3mm. If you prefer square or princess cut diamonds,
choose a diamond ring design that has fewer diamonds, as the weight of the diamonds would decide the cost of the diamonds in your ring.

(c) Do not compromise on gold weight: Clever jewelry designers often design diamond rings with very
light gold weight. The aim is to make the rings very light and therefore control the price tag. A more acceptable reason is to let the beauty and glitter of the diamonds not be overshadowed by a bulky gold setting. As a buyer you need to look at the long term durability of your diamond ring. Light weight rings would have thin and delicate prongs that would stick in clothes and pockets. Such prongs gradually open up and loosen the diamond. Your light weight diamond ring would look gorgeous when new, but it would easily bend and twist out of shape at the slightest impact. This could cause the diamonds to drop off and call for frequent repairs. This is a hidden
cost when buying light and cheap diamond rings with low price tags. Good diamond ring designs would
look sleek and streamlined with the gold content quietly playing a support role in the background.
Good gold weight for your ring need not mean a clumsy and bulky design.

(d) Use smaller diamonds for your ring: If you select a design for your diamond ring that has many
small diamonds rather than a single large diamond, you will get better quality diamonds. This has been
explained in detail in (2) above, under the section 'Diamond Size and Price'. You will find numerous designs where three to five diamonds are set in the same ring. The diamonds can be of good quality as they are smaller sizes. This is one aspect that needs to be kept in mind when selecting a diamond ring. Remember that the price per carat (weight) of a diamond is much lower, for smaller size diamonds as compared to larger diamond pieces and this is true even if both the diamond sizes are the same quality. We have referred to another term 'cluster diamond rings' below, please read that portion too.

(e) Diamonds as side stones for your ring: If you have looked around and still not found a good
diamond ring within your price range, then consider the possibility of choosing another center
gemstone for your ring and use diamonds to highlight the gemstone and add glitter to your ring. This is sincere advice, as going for very low priced diamonds would give you a ring that looks stale and flat and would be a far cry from the glittering diamond ring that you dreamt of. You will be surprised at how gorgeous a simple citrine gemstone ring would look when, you
set a few diamonds on either side of the center gemstone.

(f) Beware of cluster type rings: In this type of diamond rings you will find numerous small diamonds set close to each other. This diamond cluster could comprise of anywhere from 15 to 50 diamonds. These are tiny diamonds set close to each other and cover a fairly large area of the diamond ring. The glitter that this large collection of diamonds provides to your ring is amazing, but there is a downside to it. Diamond rings with such a large collection of diamonds are not very sturdy and also not easy to maintain. The prongs need to be tiny and thin and could therefore easily open up and cause the diamonds to drop off. If you expect to wear your diamond ring very often then stay away from such designs.

(g) Choose the right jeweller: For buyers with little knowledge about diamonds, this is the most
important issue. The right jeweller is not the one who gives you sleek sales talk and rushes you to confirm your order. The age old saying that '......you need to value your jeweller before you value the jewelry.....' still holds true. Make sure that you read buyer testimonials on the seller's website. Ensure that all your queries are answered frankly, promptly and professionally.
It would be best if your jeweller has direct access to large sources for diamonds and other gemstones. If this is not the case, there would be numerous middlemen commissions and all these overheads would ultimately be bundled on your price tag. Select a jeweller who can customize and personalize your diamond ring. Many sellers have a few designs and expect buyers to make a selection from that collection. Most diamond rings are made for special occassions and it is therefore important that you are given the greatest level of flexibility in choosing your design and style.

To summarize this article, we would confidently say that a good diamond ring could be had at an affordable price. Many sellers would push very expensive rings with the hope of getting a fat profit contribution from making a single sale. At the same time, there is also no shortage of sellers who sell pure junk in the name of diamond rings. These rings are light weight, have awful craftsmanship and the diamonds are little more than pieces of inclusion filled garbage. The information in the above article would help you make a well informed decision and spend your money wisely.

You can see a few suggestions for affordable diamond rings in our custom jewelry section at:
http://www.kaisilver.com/custom-jewelry.htm This will give you some idea of the price range for good quality affordable diamond gold rings.

Article by Ms.Tuk
http://www.kaisilver.com

OnlineCoupons said

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on 8/12/2007 go to ice.com or blurnile.com. They are great online jewelry retailer. Meanwhile you can go to http://www.just4deal.com to check their coupons to use to save you more money.

shoppoholic said

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on 8/3/2007 MyShopPal.com recentely launched an intelligent shopping engine which helps shoppers buy Jewelry online. It has incorporated the knowledge of gemologists to evaluate the quality and price of Jewelry. It tells you what is the market prices of all the pieces of the Jewelry item you are buying.

Not only that it also provide you access to all the premium Jewelry merchants such as Blue Nile and ICE.COM. They will also tell you if there any promotions going on from all Jewelry merchants.

Michaelina said

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on 5/19/2007 http://bogett.com is another place to consider. I recently bought a stunning diamond ring for my wife from them. They have jewelry for every style and price range.

partypatrol said

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on 4/23/2007 ice.com is an excellent online jewelry store.
they also offer free shipping and no risk 30day money back policy.

want to save 20% off purchases at ice.com, visit http://www.PARTYPATROL.ca for great coupon codes.

mother's day gifts, jewelry, jewellery, save money at ICE.com...please visit www.partypatrol.ca to save money

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