Derived from Roman belief, the wedding ring is worn on the ring finger because the vein in the left ring finger (vena amoris) was believed to be directly connected to the heart. So, the ring became a symbol of love.

However, through out history different times and cultures have had their own traditions when it comes to engagement and wedding rings. For instance, in medieval Europe, the Christian wedding ceremony placed the ring in sequence on the index, middle, and ring fingers of the left hand. Then, the wedding ring was left on the ring finger.

In a few European countries such as Greek Orthodox, the ring is worn on the left hand prior to marriage, during the wedding ceremony it is transferred to the right hand where it remains for the wedding duration.

In several Eastern European countries both the engagement and wedding ring are worn on the ring finger of the right hand.

In today’s most common Jewish wedding ceremonies, the ring is placed on the index finger; but other traditions record the placement of the wedding ring on the middle finger or the thumb.

In Muslim weddings, the wedding ring is not a traditional part of the ceremony. However, if a wedding ring is worn in an Islamic country, it may be worn on either the left (Iran) or the right ring finger. However, even though the wedding ring is not prevalent in Muslim countries, the use of an engagement ring is.

In Indian weddings, rings are not traditional however in our modern society the wearing of an engagement ring is increasing in popularity. The ring (not to be called wedding ring) is worn in the left hand.

In Sinhala and Tamil cultures (Sri Lanka), the bride will wear the wedding ring on her left hand ring finer where as the groom will wear his on his right hand ring finger.

The history of diamond cuts can be traced back to the Middle Ages, previous to that diamonds were enjoyed in their natural octahedral state. In today’s time, diamonds are cut to enhance the diamond and their cut is based on both the shape and size of the crystal. The most popular diamond cut is the modern round brilliant.

Simpson’s second engagement ring features an approximately 4-carat, oval-shaped ruby stone flanked by “old European cut” diamonds of approximately 2 carats each. The ring is a rare vintage piece, circa 1900.

Coincidentally, Simpson’s engagement ring comes only a week after her ex Nick Lachey proposed to his long time girlfriend Vanessa Minnillo.

Shelton surprised Lambert with a 5 carat engagement ring  in the woods near Lambert’s Tishomingo, Okla., home on May 9, 2010.  And like a true romantic, Shelton called Lambert’s dad prior to the proposal to obtain his blessing.

The engagement ring, 5 carats in size is simply stunning. The gemstone is platinum and gold and compliments Miranda Lambert in every way.  The ring is so stunning that even Lambert commented that she could not have chosen a more perfect ring.

The price of a colored diamond depends on the 4 C’s however if the color is rare, the more valuable it becomes. For example, the deep blue color of diamonds such as the one found in the Hope Diamond are the most valuable and sought after in the world. Back in 2009 a 7 carat blue diamond was purchased for $9.5 million US – that’s an estimated $1.3 million per carat.

However, diamonds are affected by trend as much as any other commodity. So, if a particular color is in fashion, then the price increases. Remember, when Jennifer Lopes received a pink diamond engagement ring?

So, if you are considering buying a colored diamond, do your homework and make sure that you learn about the grading system of colored diamonds.

So, what is important to know about diamond size? Although most people think of a carat in terms of size, carats are in fact sold by the unit of weight. Today, a carat is equal to exactly 0.2 grams.

Useful facts:
1. the word carat comes from the “carob” seed, the original unit of measure for diamond traders
2. as the carat size of a diamond increases, the diamond’s price increases at an increasing rate
Example: If a 1 carat diamond costs $6000 per carat you will pay $6000 for the ring, however if you purchase a 2 carat diamond the cost per carat rises to $12,000 and you will pay $24,000 for the ring. Lastly, if you purchase a 3 carat diamond, it will cost you $18,000 per carat for a cost of $54,000 for the ring. Why the increasing price, because the larger the diamond, the more rare it is.
3. diamonds of equal carat weight can have different costs as other factors need to be considered – cut, color and clarity

Lastly, the best buying tip I ever received was to shop for a diamond that falls just under the popular carat weights, such as 1/2 ct. 3/4 ct., 1 ct., etc. Because most people ask for popular weight diamonds, these ones are often sold at a slight discount compared to diamonds of full weight. For example, a .90 carat diamond will typically cost less on a price-per-carat basis than a full 1.00 carat diamond and visually it is very difficult to tell the difference. In fact, some smaller carat diamonds may actually have the same diameter in size when looking from the top of the diamond.

Here is the Clarity Grading Scale:

FL: Completely flawless
IF: Internally flawless; only external flaws are present, which can be removed by further polishing the stone
VVS1 – VVS2: Only an expert can detect flaws with a 10X microscope. The difference between VVS2 and VVS1 is that if an expert can see a flaw from the top of the diamond, it is a VVS2 where as if the flaw is seen from the bottom of the diamond, then it is a VVS1.

VS1 – VS2: You can see flaws with a 10X microscope, but it takes a long time (more than about 10 seconds)
SI1 – SI2: You can see flaws with a 10X microscope

I1 – I3: You can see flaws with the naked eye.

So, if you are in the market for a beautiful diamond remember that most individuals do not carry 10x microscopes in their pockets and so will not be able to tell the differnce in clarity between an IF and a VS1 diamond.

Clarity is affected by blemishes, air bubbles, scratches, and non-diamond mineral materials found on or in the diamond. Logically, the fewer or smaller the identifying characteristic the more valuable the diamond.

Can you tell the clarity difference?

The most common flaws in a dimaond are as follows:

Pinpoint: the most common – a small white dot on the surface of the stone
Carbons: a small black dot on the surface of the stone
Feathers: look like borker glass and are small cracks within the stone. If the feathers are small, they are harmless but larger ones may cause problems as they may grow with the age of the diamond
Clouds: made up of many small crystals that result in hazy areas within the diamond
Crystal Growth: a small crystalline growth within the diamond

The best way to familiarize yourself with diamond clarity is to look at many diamonds. The other important thing for a buyer to know is that diamonds are graded for clarity under 10x loupe magnification so although a diamond may be flawed the imperfections are not visible to the naked eye. Remember, when chosing a diamond with clarity ranging from IF through SI, a diamond’s clarity grade has an impact on the diamond’s value, not on the unmagnified diamond’s appearance. Hence, you can buy the bigger lower clarity diamond and no one other than the jeweler will be able to tell the difference.

The ring is gorgeous and the style would look spectacular on anyone.

But don’t worry if you do not have a million dollars you can still easily impress your love with a smaller sized princess cut diamond that she is sure to love.

Simple Effective Ways to Clean Diamond Rings

Diamonds get dirty from all the oils, cremes, makeup, dirt, etc. so cleaning becomes a standard practice if you want to keep your diamonds sparkling like new.

First step: Get some warm water and add some mild liquid soap (we recommend Ivory bran liquid detergent soap since it 99.9% free of any impurities – leaving no film behind)

Next get a standard toothbrush which now a day are not tuff hard brush but a soft one will do the job – we are not trying to scratch anything.

Put the diamond ring in a bowl (*never use your sink or you can lose your ring) the fairly warm water with the Ivory soap, move your ring around, then use the soft tooth brush around it and leave it for 2mins.

Remove the diamond ring from the soapy bowl, dump & rinse out the bowl and fill it with some hot water. Take 30-60seconds to move the diamond ring around, in most jewelry stores we would use some pressurized steam to safely clean and remove any dirt. This way let’s you get a similarly cleaned diamond ring from the comfort of your home.

The last step is to take out the diamond ring and place it on a lint-free cloth to dry out.

Do this any time you want to bring that beautiful expensive sparkle back to your diamond ring.