Purchasing Jewelry for Valentine's Day - How to Get It Right

If the thought of buying Valentine's Day jewelry for your loved one this year leaves you feeling daunted, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) says that these five easy tips can help relieve your worries.

Tip 1: Capture a heart with diamonds and gems. Just about everyone, girl and guy, loves jewelry, and it's a romantic sentiment that will strike the right chord on virtually any day of the year. But it's important to know what your special interest likes and will happily wear. On Valentine's Day, girls especially love carefully thought-out symbolism. Think outside the "jewelry" box, such as having a custom-made heart pendant with a red ruby to prove your passion.

Tip 2: Take two important web tutorials at http://www.gia.edu. GIA helps educate the public on how to purchase gems and jewelry and has created two online tutorials that teach the basics of diamonds and gemstones. Each site features an interactive guide -- Lucy in the "How to Buy a Diamond" tutorial, and Ruby Tuesday in "How to Buy a Gemstone in 7 Simplified Steps." Lucy and Ruby reveal some of the most important information needed to make the right buying decision, including the famous Four Cs of diamond value -- color, clarity, cut, and carat weight -- which GIA created in 1953.

Tip 3: Don't wing it. Go to a trusted source. You'll be an angel when you deliver a delicious box of chocolates, flowers, or football tickets, along with personally engraved jewelry this Valentine's Day. "But the important thing is to ask a jeweler or store if its associates have been professionally trained," says Brook Ellis, GIA's Education vice president. "Find a jeweler with Graduate Gemologist or Accredited Jewelry Professional credentials -- two of the jewelry industry's most well-known and respected titles .Choose your jeweler carefully -- he or she will be of immense help to you throughout your jewelry buying career."

Tip 4: Don't buy a diamond without a GIA report. It's the most trusted authentification in the worldwide jewelry industry, and you should always ask for one when you purchase a diamond. You can request a GIA report from your jeweler or send the diamond to the GIA Laboratory on your own. Visit http://www.gia.edu/gemtradelab/31505/services.cfm for more information about all of GIA's Laboratory services.

Tip 5: Laser inscribe the diamond with a romantic message and get extra security. The GIA Laboratory will laser-inscribe any message on the gem's girdle (outside edge) for a romantic touch. The diamond's unique report number can even be inscribed and permanently recorded, which can later provide verification if the diamond is ever lost or stolen.

With laboratories in New York and California, research facilities in Geneva, Antwerp, and Bangkok, and 14 campuses worldwide, GIA is regarded as the world's foremost authority in gemology. For more information about the GIA Laboratory, Research, or Education, visit http://www.gia.edu, or call 800-421-7250. An independent nonprofit organization, GIA is recognized as the world's foremost authority in gemology. Through research, education, gemological laboratory services, and instrument development, the Institute is dedicated to ensuring the public trust in gems and jewelry by upholding the highest standards of integrity, academics, science, and professionalism.

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