Be Prepared to Pay for Quality When Shopping for Diamond Engagement Rings

Even discount engagement rings can cost anywhere from $125 to $500 dollars, but these are not typically high quality diamond rings. When you are looking for a diamond engagement ring, you want to keep in mind that the normal amount spent is usually three month’s salary to get a quality diamond engagement ring. Otherwise, you can get some lower priced diamond rings, but the settings will be 10k gold or the diamonds will not be AGS or GIA certified. Saving up for a quality diamond engagement ring is important if you want a ring that gives you value for your money.

Lowest GIA/AGS Certified Prices

If you want to make sure that you have a quality diamond, you will have a laboratory like AGS or GIA certify it on the 4 C’s: color, carat, cut, and clarity. Without an actual evaluation, you can get a diamond, but it might be of very low grade. GIA/AGS certified diamonds start at $750 dollars to $1000, but you will only get at most .25 carats. That’s a pretty tiny diamond ring. If you want to offer your sweetheart the standard 1 carat round brilliant diamond you can expect to pay between $2,000 and $3,500.

Best Deals are Online

Prices do vary across jewelers for different diamond engagement ring designs. Cut and clarity can influence the price factor the most. The easiest way to tell how much a diamond ring might end up costing is to visit a site, like Abazias.com, and use their ring builder to build a virtual ring. There you will be able to choose a diamond based on the 4 C’s and find out how much it will cost in a particular setting without actually having to visit a store. Also, online sites tend to sell their diamonds for less because they do not have a commission structure for salespeople nor have to warehouse the diamonds in a brick-and-mortar store. As long as they have some third-party certification that can verify the quality of the stone sent to you, you can be assured that the diamond you choose online is the same diamond you get delivered to you.


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Fashion with Scrubs

With healthcare getting more and more importance in our lives, professional medical workers continue to be in high demand as well. Sometimes I imagine myself a nurse and I take care of the sick. I would wear medical scrubs to work and attend to as many patients as I could. It's tiring and sometimes exhausting, yes, but the financial reward and the sense of fulfillment you get are unspeakable.

I wonder how a fashionable medical worker wears a scrub. If she's a girl, she must be wearing scrubs for women. If he's a boy, maybe some scrub uniforms for men. They might match their medical scrubs with a nice pair of white shoes to look neat and feel comfortable. The girl could wear a nice pair of pearl earrings as accessory and the boy, a good-looking watch. Actually, the possibilities are endless. Just because you work in a hospital or a medical institution doesn't mean you could let go of your sense of fashion. Or so I think.

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The Tale of Two Necklaces

If I could pick my two most prized purchases from my impulsive shopping spree at SM Manila with Albie the other night, they would be the two necklaces I got from Trends. I initially got the first one (a necklace with small charms and a dangling pendant) for and upon noticing the dangling pendant in the middle, an idea popped in my head.

PHOTOS TO BE UPLOADED SOON...

I approached the lady that sells metal chains by the inch and ask her for an 18-incher, gold-plated chain with lock. After granting my request, I then asked her to cut the dangling pendant from the first necklace I was buying and attached it to the 18-incher, gold-plated chain. This became my second necklace. The first necklace, on the other hand, became a charmed necklace only, a classic piece if you’ll ask me.

Instead of buying two separate necklaces, I was able to turn my first necklace into two beautiful jewelry pieces. I didn’t just save money by doing this (P430 total price at 50% off), but I also got the style I wanted.

That, my friends, is the tale of my two necklaces.


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Signature Bags of 2011

I love bags. At one point in my life, I was able to acquire a dozen bags without knowing about it. I would instantly buy a bag when the design and the style catch my fancy. But I have never really purchased a signature bag yet. I buy local brands, yes. But nothing like those with monograms and owned only by a few number of people.

Bags come in different shapes, styles and designs. The bag industry continues to be a flourishing business, both locally and abroad. I guess the trend on handbags will continue this year. Ooopps, call that my fashion forecast. I particularly adore marc jacobs handbags. They're just too awesome and trendy and classic. Brands that stand out on handbags category, in my opinion, includes marc by marc jacobs, hermes, channel, MK and prada, among others.

We're lucky these days because there are many online shops that could give us the bag and other fashion items we need with just a few clicks of the mouse. And when they come with up to 65% discounts like what I saw over at Bluefly.com a while ago, who wouldn't get tempted?

How about you? What do you think are gonna be the 'in' bags this Year of the Rabbit?

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My Prized Flats

My recent shopping spree with Albie courtesy of her BPI credit card at SM Dept. Store ended up happily. I was able to snatch away two pair of gorgeous shoes (one flats and one pumps), two stylish gold-plated necklaces and more ‘me’ items. Among the two pairs of shoes, I was wowed by the flats. It’s black and has a big metal stud that's shaped like a princess cut of diamond to me.



My flats is from the Parisian line of SM Dept. Store. It's made of synthetic leather. It's priced at P499.75. The first time I saw it, I knew it’s going to be mine. When I tried it on, it won me over. The size 8 pair fit my feet perfectly. It's also comfortable to walk on. (My feet didn't hurt nor develop sores after using it for a few hours this morning.)



Methinks the stud makes this pair a stand-out. I consider it my prized flats. Haha. I also love that it has enough front coverage, the lines in between my foot fingers don’t show like they normally do with ballet flats.

I bought the flats immediately without second thoughts. After all, I really needed one to wear in the office. I hope this pair lasts for months. :)


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