These are just a small sample of what we have available for you!
Let me introduce a new line from Natural Beauty ... it is a top quality custom jewelry line ...
with rings, tennis bracelets, pendants and earrings, that look and feel exactly like the
real thing. Those clients who have seen them already, and you may be reading this, will agree
with me, this jewelry shines like the best diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, amethyst,
topaz, and the like. How can this be? Let me explain what they are made of, with some background of
the materials, and also a few price comparisons with other well known custom jewelry
lines.
This jewelry collection is made of 925 sterling silver, some rhodium plated, and some gold
plated. The crystals are made of the finest Swarovski Austrian Crystals, and the stones
are made of high grade Russian formula cubic zirconia. Now, before you think "Hmm, cubic
zirconia, eh", let me share with you what I learned about the truth behind cubic zirconia
that my mother never told me.
Cubic Zirconia is a diamond simulate having optical characteristics that are very close
to those of natural diamonds. It is crystal grown under tremendous heat of 5000’F (the
hardest steel melts at around 3000’F) and was developed by the Russians for use in their
laser programs. It has a refractive index, dispersion and hardness so close to a diamond
it is uncanny. Diamond, one of the hardest materials known to man is rated 10.0, lying at the
top of the hardness scale. The hardness of cubic zorconia ranges between 8.5-8.9. Glass or
sand is approximately 5.0-6.0, therefore dust and dirt will not scratch cubic zirconia. Indeed,
cubic zirconia gems can scratch glass just like natural diamonds.
There are many grades of cubic zirconia from those with a milky look to those of a high intensity,
custom cut, polished girdles with perfect facets, that look just like diamonds. We tend
to see lower grade CZ more often in stores, this unfairly giving us a poor impression of
CZ. I learned that at the highest scale, grade AAAAA, the cubic zirconia looks so much
like a diamond that only the experts can tell the difference. Let me share with you two
examples of how difficult it is to tell between high grade cubic zirconia and real diamonds.
A few years ago, ABC’s 20/20 news team took a high intensity cubic zirconia stone, as
well as a perfect $50,000,000 mined diamond to the New York Diamond District. After careful
examination of the two stones an expert claimed that they were both so perfect that they must
both be counterfeit!
The second example is one much closer to home. Last Thursday evening we attended a charity
fund raising event, and I wore eight rings on my fingers, only one of which was real diamonds. I
asked many ladies to choose which one was real. The majority of ladies chose one of the cubic
zirconia rings as the real one. Only one lady identified my engagement ring as the real one.
Very impressive, don't you agree?
A friend said to me "Why do you wear jewelry?" I said because it looks pretty and I like
pretty things. She said "Right, you wear jewelry because it is pretty, not because it costs
x amount of money". She's got a point.
Now, many women now lock up their real jewelry and wear custom jewelry specially when they
travel abroad. If your real engagment ring, your wedding ring, that special anniversay band
your sweetie gave you got stolen, it will hurt big time. But if your custom jewelry got stolen,
you may cry for three minutes, but then you remember when you come home, you can go to Liz's and get some
more without breaking the bank.
Okay, a price comparison. I arbitrarily compared a few items that look identical, and
here are some numbers:
| Ring | Who Sold | Their Price | Natural Beauty's Price | |
| Right Hand Ring | Fifth Avenue | $105.00 | $70.00 | |
| Antique style Ring | Shopping Channel | $199.00 | $85.00 | |
| Fashion Ring | Fifth Avenue | $105.00 | $79.00 | |
| Engagement Ring | Shopping Channel | $130.00 | $75.00 | |
| Engagement Ring | The Bay | $225.00 | $89.00 | |
| ... and now for some fun ... | ||||
| Anniversary Band | Birk's (real diamonds) | $10,300.00 | $99.00 |
The only difference, therefore, between a high grade cubic zirconia and a diamond lies in the price,
and in the mind...
Come and take a look for yourself ... seeing is believing!