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Conflict-Free Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend
Cut, size, shape and clarity are all important characteristics to consider when purchasing a diamond. But have you ever given much to where a diamond comes from? I am referring to the origin from which your diamond is mined. Loose diamonds are a hot commodity, and while they are the worlds most sought after gemstone for the durability and beauty, they are often mined in some of the most volatile, ugly environments on Earth.
Have you seen the movie “Blood Diamond?” This movie details the origin of many diamonds, blood diamonds (also referred to conflict diamonds), which are for sale in the United States and across the world. A blood diamond is a diamond that is mined in African (or other) war zones, which are then sold to fund wars and conflicts and to make money for warlords and diamond companies alike. Aside from being a source of income for warlords, the working conditions in these diamond mines are likened to that of a concentration camp. Not a pretty site for such a beautiful product.
But there is hope! The diamond industry has put very strict system in place for certifying conflict-free diamonds. Diamonds certified by Whiteflash, guarantee that the diamonds are conflict free diamonds. Leaving you free from the worry that your purchase is contributing to a war halfway across the globe.
The other way to purchase a conflict-free gem is to buy from a retailer who adheres to the Kimberly Process guidelines. This is a process that is designed to certify and track diamonds to ensure they have come from a conflict-free zone. Each diamond mined in a conflict-free zone is lasered with a serial number and these numbers are checked at the borders of all participating countries. Many large diamond retailers are now participating in this process making it easier for consumers to find a diamond with a clean history.
If this is all too overwhelming for you and you’d just like to know where you can buy a good, honest diamond, I did a little hunting around on the mywedding.com site and found that one of our nationwide vendor, Whiteflash, guarantees that all of their diamonds are from a conflict-free zone. Whiteflash is listed in the “Jewelry” section of each local city wedding planning guide if you’d like to check them out. Otherwise, just ask your local jeweler the following questions:
- Where do you buy your diamonds and where are they mined?
- Do you participate in the Kimberly Process?
This should cover all of your bases and ensure that your diamond is beautiful inside and out.
Tips for Planning a Casual Wedding
The fun thing about planning a casual wedding is the flexibility. Instead of adhering to formal wedding etiquette, you can create a wedding celebration to your own liking – deleting or including whichever traditional wedding rituals fit your needs. Having so many choices, however, can be a bit overwhelming. If you’d like to plan a casual wedding, but aren’t sure where to start, follow these steps to help reel in your ideas and to begin formulating the wedding of your dreams.
- The Bigger Picture - First, ask yourself: Just how casual do you want your wedding to be? Do you want to wear street clothes and serve a homemade sheet cake or wear a gauzy white sundress and serve cherry pie instead of wedding cake? Run through the details with your fiancé and write down your ideas. Get a good idea of how you want your wedding to feel-both for yourself and for your guests. Casual means different things to different people-so get clear on what it means for the both of you.
- The Guest List - Most (but not all) casual weddings call for a smaller guest list. Inviting fewer people will ensure a less fussy, easy – going atmosphere and save you a lot of stress. Plus, when you have a smaller crowd you can afford to include a few luxurious details that you wouldn’t have otherwise been able to include in your celebration.
- The Venue - Another perk of planning a casual affair is that you won’t have to spend a fortune on your wedding ceremony and reception venue. Choose a location that reflects the “level of casual” you want. For example, if you’re thinking sundresses and flip flops go with an outdoor setting, preferably on or near a beach. Other ideas are: parks, backyards, community center, your favorite restaurant, or a farm.
- The Style - Casual does not have to lack style. If your personal style tends toward bohemian, for example, bring elements of this style into your wedding planning. Go with rich colors and vintage details. Your wedding can still exude elegance without being a formal affair. Make sure that your wedding style matches your diamond engagement ring style.
- The Food - If you’re hosting a smaller crowd, serve a family-style meal. Being able to sit at a table with your loved ones makes the occasion feel more intimate. Another idea is to serve a buffet-style dinner so your guests can help themselves to a simply cooked meal. Place pitchers of water, lemonade, and iced tea along with bottles of wine on a self-serve table as well. Also, set out tubs of ice filled with sodas and beer so that guests can reach for their own refreshments. Your wedding meal can feel more like a potluck dinner or a family gathering than a formal wedding. Just make sure someone is in charge of restocking food and drinks when supplies run low.
- The Details - Instead of spending an arm and a leg on flowers you can go with more casual, less expensive (however still beautiful) varieties such as daisies, sunflowers, or a mix of in-season wild flowers. If you’ll only be addressing 50 invitations, get creative and make them by hand. You’ll be able to communicate the tone of your casual affair this way to your guests. Be sure to mention what guests should wear to the occasion just so that there is no confusion. For example, you can tell your guests to wear whatever is comfortable and to refrain from wearing heels if you’ll be married on uneven outdoor terrain.
There are three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and men not wanting to spend time in a jewelry shop. The simple truth is that most men are just not wired to enjoy the process of picking out and wearing jewelry (props to the ones that are, you’re life is going to be a lot easier).
Furthermore, when a groom comes to the realization that when he slips that wedding band on, it’s going on FOREVER, it tends to lead to some anxiety. It’s not that the groom doesn’t want to display his love and devotion to his wife – it’s just that it’s jewelry…and he’s wearing it FOREVER.
After the wedding, it’s naturally going to be an adjustment for a guy to always have a ring on his finger (especially if he’s never worn one before). If you grooms out there are like me, you’ll find yourself constantly playing and tinkering with the ring for the first few months. Some guys, however, like to take it a step further by coming up with reasons why he sometimes shouldn’t have to wear the ring…
Some of these reasons have merit behind them, however most are completely bogus. Here are a few examples of when it’s acceptable to take the ring off (and when it’s not).
Valid excuse: “I’m going to be in the ocean” – Reasonable excuse. If that ring slips off in the ocean, there’s no getting it back.
Bogus excuse: “I’m allergic to jewelry” – Yes, we know that metal allergies do exist. But they’re very rare. If the groom does have an allergy, make sure to get it checked out and don’t buy a ring that irritates his skin. This is used far more often as a bogus excuse than a valid one.
Valid excuse: “It’s a safety issue or a distraction at work” – If he works around heavy-duty machinery or works closely with his hands – it’s probably a safe idea to not wear the ring at work.
Bogus excuse: “It hurts my golf swing” – Survey says: NO! I’m an avid golfer, and never once has my wedding band affected my swing. Sorry, guys. Nice try.
Valid Excuse: “I’m doing the dishes, and I don’t want it to fall down the drain” – That dish soap does get pretty slippery.
Bogus Excuse: “I’m going to my little bro’s bachelor party, I wanna feel as young as everyone else there” – C’mon guys, use your head.
TMR Recommendation: Only remove your wedding band under certain circumstances that have been signed off on by your wife. Now guys, you don’t have to listen to me – but if you don’t – you might want to start decorating the dog house because you’re probably going to be spending a lot of time in there.
What began as a trip to pan for gold in Salida, Colorado turned into a much more lucrative surprise detour to Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro, Arkansas, the only state park where the finders can unquestioningly keep any diamonds that they find. When Mike Burns of Arab, Alabama, a retired truck driver who now works for Lowe’s, set out with his friend Craig “Arkansas” Wilds, it was to go to Colorado to look for gold. Finding that the property owner there was unavailable, he called his wife, Linda.
Three weeks before the trip, Linda reminded her husband that their 20th anniversary was coming up on May 27, and she’d love a diamond for her gold wedding band. She mentioned this conversation when he called from Colorado, and suggested that he head for Crater of Diamonds. During their original exchange, Mike Burns had told his wife that “she’d better get her rear to Arkansas and start digging.”
Instead, he found himself on Tuesday morning, walking along a creek in Arkansas and looking at the wet banks, remembering that mud doesn’t stick to diamonds. Spotting something shiny, he picked it up and went to the park office for confirmation that he had, indeed, found a diamond. Margi Jenks, a park interpreter, weighed and examined the diamond, telling him that it was 5.75-carat clear diamond with some inclusions(The Arab Tribune). While it is still unknown what the diamond will appraise for, a 2-carat diamond found last year—after being cut and set—is valued at $22,000. Crater of Diamonds State Park provides free identification and certification of the diamonds found there.
Burns named his find ‘The Arabian Knight’, after his high school alma mater. Whether or not he’ll be keeping it or giving it to his wife is the only question. The couple says that hunting for gold and gems has become a fun hobby for them. In North Carolina, they found enough rubies to make Linda a necklace and earrings, with enough stones left over to make earrings for her daughter, daughter-in-law, and seven grandchildren. Linda hinted that a new wedding band would be nice with a few of those rubies and, of course, a diamond.
Since the Crater became a state park, over 28,000 diamonds have been found. The largest was the 16.37-carat gem-quality white “Amarillo Starlight”, found by WW Johnson of Amarillo, Texas. The most flawless diamond found there is a 1.09-carat D-flawless diamond called the “Strawn-Wagner” Diamond. It was discovered in 1990 by Murfreesboro resident Shirley Strawn and weighed 3.03 carats in the rough. It was cut to perfection in 1997 by Lazare Kaplan International in New York, and is the most perfect diamond ever certified in the laboratory of the American Gem Society.
Also found at Crater of Diamond State Park are amethyst, garnet, peridot, quartz, barite, agate, jasper, and calcite.
After Mike Burns had his find certified, he called his wife so she didn’t first hear it on the news. She told him it would make a good anniversary present, and he told her that the diamond would be great for his birthday.
Linda’s response? “You’d better go out and find you one.”
Perfection for the Bridal Party
The Bridal Party plays an important role in your wedding! They’re your sisters, brothers, cousins, best friends – people who hold special places in your heart!
A great way to honor your (MOH) Maid of Honor, (BM) Best Man, (Gm) Groomsmen and your (Bm) Bridesmaids is to give them a present that they all could use the day of the wedding, but also after as a memorable keepsake!
A wonderful way to achieve this is to get them something they could wear; like jewelry or accessories.
Whiteflash.com is very well known to have a fabulous tool to create the perfect engagement ring as well as having a grand selection of wedding bands. But, I snooped around a bit more – after awing the diamond engagement ring – and found that Whiteflash.com has a fantastic selection of Bm and Gm gifts! It was tough to choose my favorites, but these are beautiful and affordable.
MOH & Bm Gifts
Diamond Wedding Bands
Once you’ve taken care of the engagement ring and mastered the art of getting down on one knee, it’s time to check off another important milestone in the wedding process. Yep, it’s time to go back to the jeweler. But don’t pass out just yet, guys. This time it’s all about you, and it most likely won’t be your pocketbook that’s taking the hit. Generally, if you’ve paid for your fiancée’s engagement ring and wedding band, the common etiquette suggests that she’ll cover your wedding band.
But before you start thinking you don’t really need a wedding band, think again. Although women understand that most guys aren’t crazy about jewelry, your bride-to-be probably won’t let you off the hook without a wearing one after you’re married. Once you understand that, it’s time to start looking for the ring that’s right for you.
First, it’s important to select your band at least one month before your wedding, so there will be plenty of time to deal with any problems related to size or availability. Before you head to the jeweler, it’s helpful to research the types of bands you’re interested in before you step in a store so you won’t be overwhelmed by all of the different options. Believe it or not, there are many different kinds of men’s wedding bands available. Some have different metals, different fits, grooves or engraving, or inset stones. You should also discuss this with your fiancée to decide whether it’s important that your band should match hers. The more knowledge you have before heading in the jewelry store, the better.
There are several different types of metals that wedding bands are made from, and each has its pros and cons. While it often comes down to personal preference and price, probably the most common type of metal used is either white or yellow gold. Gold has several benefits, including its light weight. If you’ve never worn a ring, gold might be a more comfortable option for you. Another popular option is platinum, which is one of the most expensive metals available. However, another caveat is its weight. You’ll definitely remember it’s on your finger. Other options include titanium, sterling silver and palladium. All of these options have their advantages, so it’s important to discuss them with your jeweler before making your decision.
In addition to the metal you choose, some guys like to add diamonds or other gems to their rings. This is another area where it helps to do some research before hitting the stores. Your jeweler should be able to offer you several different options to compare.
Another important decision is the fit of the ring. There are several options ranging from classic to what’s called a “comfort” fit. The main difference between the fits is whether or not the edge of the ring is rounded or straight cut. We recommend at least trying on a comfort fit band, which are popular because they truly are comfortable and don’t dig into your skin, making it easier to get used to your band if you typically don’t wear jewelry.
Choosing your wedding band is one of the major decisions you’ll make during the engagement process. So it naturally pays to do some research. Make your trip to the jeweler as painless as possible by talking with your fiancée and picking out a couple of different ring options ahead of time. That way, the decisions at the store will be much easier. Finally, as with your fiancée’s ring, it’s wise to look into ring insurance. You’d be amazed at how many guys tend to lose them as early as on their honeymoons (while swimming, etc.).
So you’ve decided to buy her a diamond ring— congratulations! It isn’t easy making such a large emotional and financial commitment. Before you go ring shopping, it pays to do some research to make sure you know what to look for and what to expect.
Here’s a quick guide to help keep you on track.
1. Determine your budget. Remember, this isn’t the time to make a hasty decision or impulse buy. Think of this ring as Super Bowl tickets. If you had one chance to pick any seat available, you’d pick the best one you could afford. This may mean staying in one night per weekend, but it’ll be worth it. This ring will be on her finger for the rest of her life. Do yourself a favor and make it count!
2. There are many different varieties of engagement rings. One of the most traditional examples is the diamond solitaire. This ring features a band and a single (or solitaire) diamond. This can be a good way to go if you aren’t sure about her jewelry preferences. This option also offers the most diamond for your dollar, size-wise.
3. The four C’s: The four most important things to know about a diamond are its cut, color, clarity, and carat weight.
4. Another thing to consider when buying an engagement ring is whether you’ll also want to purchase a wedding band to go with it. A wedding band is generally a smaller band that is sometimes sold in a set with the engagement ring. Again, this is something you may want to do a little research on before you buy. Talk with your girl. Some women like to have a wedding band while others prefer the engagement ring by itself.
5. When you buy wedding ring, you’ll want to get the most for your money. Diamond prices vary from store to store as no two diamonds are exactly alike. It pays to do your research and shop around. Go to several of the larger chain stores and price what you want. We then suggest checking out a few online diamond vendors like Whiteflash.com. Pay them a visit and compare prices. You never know where you’re going to find your diamond in the rough.
6. Before you buy, get info on ring insurance. The store that you buy from may have an in-house program or you can find a national company that specializes in insuring engagement rings.
This is an area where you’ll most likely need some help. There are many resources you can turn to for guidance. First and foremost, it’s always a good idea to be aware of what type of ring your girl prefers. Knowing her preferences is half the battle. Other people you can seek help with are her best friend, her mother, or if all else fails, one of your groomsmen who has already gone through this process.
Diamonds By the Yard (DBTY) Necklace
Although brick-and-mortar diamond retailers are hurting these days online vendors are staying afloat. Stores such as Finlay’s, Shane Co, Whitehall and Fortunoff have closed their doors as diamond sales have frozen in the stale economy. Whiteflash, however, has managed to keep consumers’ interest with over 60,000 loose diamonds and hundreds of diamond settings. Their internet approach educates potential buyers without the pressure of a salesperson. Plus, Whiteflash keeps their inventory costs low, which they pass along to customers, by only purchasing diamonds once the consumer has made their order. That means a 20-40% reduction in price over other retailers. Incredibly, Whiteflash has even competed with Tiffany’s engagement ring sales. It just goes to show, sometimes the better deal is more important than that little blue box.
Jeweler Doris Panos Files For Bankruptcy
High-end jewelry line Doris Panos Designs has become the latest jeweler to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Papers filed in New York show that the company estimates that its assets and liabilities each total between $1 million and $10 million. Doris Panos is a jeweler who created her own business in 1993 after years in the field. Her dramatic pieces featuring large gemstones and loose diamonds and diamond settings have been worn on the red carpet and appeared in many fashion magazines. Her line is sold at Neiman Marcus and other fine stores. The jewelry industry has been hit by many bankruptcies lately including Whitehall Jewelers, Fortunoff, Robbins Brothers and Ultra Diamonds.
Mandy Moore wanted her sixth studio album, May 26′s Amanda Leigh, to sound like “a quintessential California ’70s pop record.” So, naturally, she recorded it at an engineer friend’s home in Medford, Mass., dead in the middle of a New England winter. “It was so cold that the only time we left the house was to go to the grocery store once a week!” she tells the Music Mix. “Luckily, everything was written in California.” Moore met up with the Music Mix today to chat about Amanda Leigh, her Fleet Foxes fandom, mixed martial arts, and life with her new husband, alt-country song smith Ryan Adams. Click through to the jump for the full Q&A.
EW: Tell me more about how you recorded your new album.
MANDY MOORE: Well, the last record we were in a proper studio up in Woodstock, with all the time and money in the world. This time around, it was like, you don’t really need that. In fact, I was going to do the record in my house, but I thought that my neighbors would make me move. So that quickly got squashed. [In Medford,] we played music down in the basement. I’d sing my vocals in the stairway. We tracked a string quartet in the living room, French horn in the dining room.
Are you shooting a video for the first single, “I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week”?
Mm-hm. I think it’s coming out next week. I actually didn’t want to do a video for this record. Before we started recording, I was like, “Maybe I’ll put it out under a different name.” I’d like for people to at least give the music the benefit of the doubt and feel like they’re discovering something new. Not to sound oddly jaded, but because I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and I understand the rigamarole that goes along with it, I was like, “I don’t want to do a video.” But then my good friend wrote this fun, crazy little treatment that involves martial arts. I was like, “C’mon, you know I love UFC.” And then I pulled some strings and got Chuck Liddell in my video. Pretty cool!
What was it like working with Chuck?
He is a total sweetheart, and actually a really great actor. He has a fight on Saturday, and he was right in the middle of training. I felt bad about taking his time. But he just kind of walked in and did his thing on the first take. We were all blown away.
Who are your favorite contemporary artists?
I love Sara Watkins. Last year, I was obsessed with Fleet Foxes, and I still am. I found their [Sun Giant] EP at the record store — I liked the cover, so I picked it up. I love them. I actually exchanged one email with [Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold] last year. I was like, “I want to write with him!” He was so nice — such a deep, intense music guy. He was really inquisitive about, “What kind of record is this? What do you want to write about?” Obviously he wouldn’t have been listening to my music. I just thought it was so cool of him. He said, “I’d love to, but we’re busy.” I was such a nerdy fan, like, “Oh my god, I can’t believe he wrote me!”
You just got married last month — congratulations. Is music something that you and your husband bond over?
Well, yeah! That’s definitely a common interest between the two of us. There’s always music playing in the house, or being written. It’s nice to be able to share that with one another, and share new things that we discover and find. Usually it’s him introducing me to something. There’s a lot more metal being played in the house than ever before. It’s like, “No, no, that’s hair metal, that’s not black metal. And that‘s more melodic Scandinavian metal.” It’s hard to discern, but I’m starting to get there.
Do you ever talk about each other’s music when you’re working on it?
Sure, just as you would with any other friend or relationship. It’s nice to be able to bounce ideas off someone, especially someone that you have a lot of respect for. It’s wonderful.
Would you ever think of working with Ryan on a music project?
Yeah, I’d throw him a bone. I know he needs the work. I’d certainly allow him to come on the road if he needed a job. [laughs] No, I’m sure in due time something will probably come about in terms of collaborating. We certainly have done that at home, writing together — it just organically happens. In terms of putting stuff out there [for public consumption], I don’t know. Maybe somewhere down the line that’ll be fun.
Conflict Free Diamonds – DreamsofAfrica.org
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Bride's Choice Awards 2011
