Diamonds might be a girl’s best friend, but rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and all the other colored stones run a pretty close second. Many women are not satisfied to just wear diamonds. They like to mix their diamond selection with other jewels of a favorite color or their birthstones. In some cases, instead of the diamond being cast as the lead with colored stones as the extra, many women change things around and cast a colored stone as the lead. For example, Princess Diana doesn’t wear a diamond engagement ring. She wears a sapphire. If I were to attempt to go into the do’s and don’ts of buying colored stones we would have another book.
The Black Smudge Mystery
Some women when they wear gold jewelry for a while find that when they remove it there is a black mark or smudge on their skin. This is caused by perspiration reacting with the metals mixed in the gold. Perspiration works like an acid and tarnishes the ring, making the black smudge. Some women believe that this means they are allergic to gold. Actually, only one woman in a million is allergic to gold! What their body is reacting to isn’t the gold but the other alloys in the ring (copper, zinc, nickel, etc.). The way to solve this problem is usually increasing the karat grade that’s being worn. For example, if you reacted to 14K, switch to an 18K ring. But if you are that woman in a million that can’t wear gold and still reacts to 18K, switch the setting to platinum. If you are the one in a million that has to wear platinum instead of gold, don’t sulk; this just means your body has expensive taste! Remember, platinum is more expensive than gold.
