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There are some who when looking for a wedding ring set for their upcoming wedding decide that they want simply the most affordable wedding ring they can find. There’s nothing wrong with that, and especially with the troubled economy of the past few years, this is extremely justifiable. Even though a wedding is a presumably once in a lifetime event, it is becoming more acceptable today to try to find cheaper alternatives to traditional rings that cost over $12,500. However, it is generally agreed upon that an engagement ring should have real diamonds, and not fake stones such as cubic zirconium. Even though there are a few who believe a Cubic Zirconia diamond is good enough and indistinguishable from a real diamond, there are many differences and ways to tell them apart quickly and easily.

Diamonds have been a staple of wedding rings for over a century now, and a diamond ring is almost synonymous with a wedding or engagement. A diamond is the hardest and toughest stone in the world, and nothing can break it. The only way to scratch a diamond is with another sharp diamond. However, many who are looking for cheaper alternatives tend to look at cubic zirconium diamonds as a cheaper alternative. While the price difference is huge, Diamonique and other fake diamonds have been known to cloud up or scruff up, and many consider fake diamonds to be bad luck for a wedding. More so, most jewelers and others familiar with diamonds can immediately tell the difference because a fake diamond will have a tell-tale rainbow like sparkle from it, while a real diamond has a trademark white shine, also known as its brilliance.

While most jewelers and people who are familiar with real diamonds can almost immediately tell if a diamond on a piece of jewelry is real or fake, there are many objective methods to tell if a stone is genuine. Many jewelry stores will perform a free heat test to your diamonds. During this test, they will heat it up for a few seconds and see if it holds the heat. A real diamond disperses heat quickly and won’t heat up during such a test. There are also tools available such as a is with the use of a diamond tester and a hardness test.  Also, a cubic zirconia and most other fake diamonds typically weigh 40-70% more per carat than a real diamond, a difference that is immediately obvious when you weigh the stone in question and compare it to what a real diamond of that carat size should weigh.

Since the above methods may be difficult for most people to check the diamonds in their rings personally, there are some easier ways to check if a stone is real. For example, a simple fog test can help you figure out if a stone is real. This can be done by fogging the diamond with your mouth. If it’s a real diamond, the fog won’t stay very long and will evaporate almost immediately. Another way to test a diamond is by placing it under a UV light or a black light, since a real diamond will reflect medium to dark blue fluorescence. Finally, fake diamonds tend to seem dull when looked at from the side, while a real diamond will have equal shine and brilliance from every angle.

There are many other ways to test a stone, but the best and most certain way to test if a diamond is real or not is to ask the retailer to give you a certificate of authenticity for the diamonds used in the item. Most prominent jewelers will provide a detailed certificate from a diamond lab such as GIA, the Gemological Institute of America, or EGL, the European Gemological Laboratory. Both are independent and unbiased and will give you a proof without a doubt whether the diamonds in question are authentic.

MyTrioRings guarantees its diamonds are authentic, and is happy to provide a diamond certificate of authenticity upon request, for a standard fee. Simply call or email us to request a diamond certificate for a new purchase or a trio rings purchase you have already made. A Trio Wedding Ring Set is the perfect way for you to save money on gold wedding rings yet have the satisfaction of owning real diamonds. Check out our large selection of Diamond trio ring Sets, as well as our Yellow and White gold trio ring sets. When the Ladies Engagement ring, Ladies Wedding band, and Men's Wedding band are together in a matching set - this is called a Trio Wedding Ring Set.

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One question that we at MyTrioRings get very often is whether the diamonds used in our diamond trio ring sets and other jewelry such as our diamond necklace specials include any conflict diamonds, which are often referred to as blood diamonds. Our answer, displayed on every product page, has consistently been our guarantee that “Our diamonds are all authentic naturally mined diamonds and guaranteed to be from reputable and conflict-free mining sources.” Blood diamonds or conflict diamonds have been a point of concern for decades now, but there is very little proof that most diamonds available in the United States today are funding bloodshed in Africa.

The United Nations defines conflict diamonds as “diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council.” The popular movie titled Blood Diamond, which came out in 2006, shows the horror and bloodshed that is associated with diamonds mined in Africa. Set during the Sierra Leone Civil War of 1999, the movie shows the RUF rebel group of Sierra Leone enslaving villagers to mine diamonds that they would then trade directly for guns.

In 2001, in response to outcry from many about the news about the wars in Africa raged over diamonds, the UN called for the creation of an international certification scheme for rough diamonds. The result was a piece of legislation titled, the Kimberly Process, which enforces rigorous requirements on diamond producers to certify shipments of rough diamonds as “conflict-free” and actively prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate market. For example, when the UN deemed that Liberia was being used as a vehicle for exporting conflict diamonds by the RUF rebel group of Sierra Leone, the country was banned from the Kimberly Process, and its exports of diamonds were forbidden.

Today, diamond holding company De Beers controls about 35% of the world’s supply of diamonds, and is the direct distributor of the diamonds that are used in the trio wedding ring sets and jewelry available on MyTrioRings.com. De Beers commits fully to preventing conflict diamonds and only distributes diamonds from its own mines. This way it can guarantee that its diamonds are completely conflict free. De Beers has a highly regulated and restricted process for distributing its diamonds, and not ever jeweler and diamond distributor is granted access to its diamonds.

This means that you, as a retail customer of diamonds today, can shop with complete confidence that the diamonds on MyTrioRings.com are 100% conflict free. In your search for the perfect wedding ring set, however, it is important for you as a consumer to ask questions and ask the vendor if they know whether or not the diamonds they sell are in fact conflict free. While actions such as the Kimberly Process are helping make the world’s diamond supply safer, for the effort to be a success, it requires diligence from everyone involved in the process, ranging from diamond producers, all the way to consumers. To help the cause, do your part so that you can purchase your diamond rings with a clear conscience.

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The United States was once seen as the emerging front of the diamond market. It was the land of the American Dream, mass-consumerism, and new money. However, the United States’ economy is lagging behind the high growth markets in the east, namely India and China. While demand for Diamonds in the United States fell after the global economic crises in the past decade, markets have in fact surged in the East, to the point where within a decade, Chinese demand for diamonds could reach the same level as the United States.

De Beers has long been the monopoly holder of diamonds in the world, amassing about 95% of the World’s supply of diamonds at one point. They source their diamonds from Africa and India, and release it through select avenues and retailers on a limited approval basis. In an interview this month with London’s Financial Times, the Managing Director of De Beers, Garreth Penny stated that “What we’re now seeing, with China growing as rapidly as it is, [is] annual double-digit growth compounded over a period of five years.”

However, it appears that the surge of the diamond market in China is not solely due to the solid performance of the local economy and stock markets. A lot of it has to do with the wedding culture and traditions in China. According to Penny, 20 years ago, it was rare for Chinese brides to receive diamond engagement rings. However, today about 50% of couples married in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong buy them.

The growth of the diamond market in China is significant, since in 2009, China only accounted for 6-7% of the global diamond market, while the United States accounted for about 40% of it. De Beers has forecasted the Chinese demand to more than double by the year 2016.

A similar trend is visible in India today, where “the diamond jewelry business has been showing a growth rate of about 15% at a time when [just gold jewelry] has shown negligible growth.”The diamond jewelry market in India has been surging, and is representative of similar activity in India. According to experts, this is because with gold prices at an all time high, consumers are moving from investing in pure gold to diamond jewelry.

According to latest figures, in May 2010 alone, India’s polished diamond exports rose 73% from last year, to almost $1.8 billion. India has long been labeled a major hub of diamond cutting and polishing, and has a hand in 9 out of 11 diamonds that are produced around the world. Apart from India, Honk Kong and Dubai are also emerging as key trading areas.

It will be interesting to see how the balance of power between diamond trading centers shifts over the next decade. While the diamond industry is rebounding well from the global economic collapse of the past decade, there are many issues the diamond industry must deal with over the next decade, especially a decline in the diamond supply in the future. According to Penny, “These great mines that were discovered 10, 20, 30 years ago are not being replaced today. According to the data that is out there, we’re going to see some significant declines in diamonds.”

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In a previous blog post, we discussed the origins of the wedding ring and why it has been a significant part of wedding ceremonies for centuries now. However, there is also a great deal of significance to the shape, composition, and placement of the wedding ring, which also date back to centuries ago.

For one, the shape of the wedding ring is extremely significant and not to be taken for granted. The wedding ring and especially the wedding band signify a continuous level of commitment and faith in the relationship. Because a circle has no beginning and no end, it is seen as a fitting symbol for marriage, which in theory also has no end. The circle has been a symbol of eternity for many ancient cultures, including the Egyptians, who worshipped the shape in the form of the moon and the sun. The hole in the center of the ring is considered to be the symbol of a gateway leading to new things.

Many people place the wedding ring and wedding band on the third finger of their left hand, but don’t exactly know the reason behind this. The reason for this is that there was an ancient belief that the vein of the third finger traveled directly to the heart. The Romans adopted this legend, and called this the ‘vena amoris’, which is Latin for ‘the vein of love,’ and placed wedding rings on this finger to symbolize the romantic aspect of marriage. This concept that wedding rings lie within a direct path to our hearts is something that many couples find comfort in when they get married.

When the art of metallurgy came about, and rings were made as metal, they were often made of numerous different types of metal, including copper, brass and iron. However, iron tended to rust quickly, and was not a good choice. Other metals were experimented with, and eventually gold became the metal of choice for wedding rings. Part of the reason for this is that Irish folklore considered it bad luck to be married with a ring not made of gold, and a gold ring also showed that a groom trusted his bride with valuable property.

The wedding ring is the most prominent symbol of love, devotion and fidelity today, and the exchange of rings is highly regarded as one of the key pieces of any wedding ceremony. However, no matter what the origins of the ring or superstitions out there, it is important to get the ring that you want, and one that you will be proud to wear for the rest of your life.

While there is a rising trend today of wedding ring upgrades, it is important to make a careful and well thought out decision when choosing a his and her wedding ring set. There are many things to consider, so when shopping for an engagement ring on our website, feel free to email questions, or to engage with a customer service representative through live chat.