There are few things more important than being sure that the product you’re paying for is worth the cost. In some things, day to day common purchases, we have a gauge; you wouldn’t pay $18.00 for a stick of butter; yet you’d also be suspicious of a stick of butter for $.18. For these items; items which we can place a mental value judgment on, there is little mystery; we know what things of this nature should and do cost, within reason. Even things like televisions, stereos, home theatre systems, baseball tickets, backpacks, boxer shorts, hotel rooms, light bulbs; all these items have a price threshold between which we find acceptable and will pay, to which we find unacceptable and will still pay, up to the point which we find unacceptable and will not pay. There are value judgments we all make in our minds and we only have a certain tolerance for retailers we feel are ripping us off. Based on past experience buying these products and the experience of our contemporaries in addition to the subliminal shopping around we all do when we’re at shopping malls, reading circulars, and scrolling the internet.
However there are some purchases we will only (hopefully) make once. Or once every 25 years. If we are lucky enough to make a lot of money in our lifetime then we may be able to ferret a little bit of extra dough away to be able to buy regular gifts of jewelry for ourselves or our loved ones; this is when you’ll become a regular shopper of jewelry and you’ll have a bit more discerning tastes; however even these opportunities may only present themselves once a year or even less often. So when making these fine jewelry purchases, we need to be observant of a little something called the 4 C’s.
The 4 C’s are the true measure of fine jewelry and is a term you’ll probably get your first course in when you’re shopping for your engagement ring. The 4 C’s stand for Cut, Color, Carat, and Clarity; these are applicable for all fine jewelry but are of particular importance when you’re shopping for your first diamond ring.
You want to be sure that your gem is relatively colorless and is well cut. These are the two biggest detractors from your first engagement ring; clarity is fast on the tail of these other two measurements with carat ranking far lesser in importance; this is just the size of the rock. But your rock can be really big, but if it’s not well cut with a clear and colorless appearance, then it won’t matter as the ring will look dull and lifeless. Even the smallest carat sized ring with clarity and no color can sparkle and will dazzle any girl from just about anywhere.
