Maria Tash Piercings

Although I'm not a big fan of multiple ear piercings for myself, I know where I'd go if I were. Full disclosure, I got my ears single-pieced when I was 22 years old because I looked in my car mirror to change lanes on my way home from work one day to see that I had lost another clip-on earring. That is what it took to get me to pull into a shopping center, enter a high-end store, and have my ears pieced on the spot. Definitely, a sensible move if you don't want to continue losing earrings. 

Nowadays multiple ear piercings are trendy, but I don't want to work that hard, or have to buy so many earrings! However, if you don't mind buying and putting in all those extra earrings on in a given day, having your piercings done by Maria Tash is the smart way to go. It's costly, yet anytime you decide to permanently alter your body THE SAVVY SHOPPER recommends paying the piper to have it done properly by a well-trained professional. It's safer and you avoid mistakes when putting holes in your flesh.

At Maria Tash, you 1st meet with a stylist who examines and measures your ears and then gives you advice and suggestions to make sure your vision matches the anatomy of your ears. The locations of the piercings are determined along with you and marked with a special pen before the needle goes in, so the piercings are personalized, even, and precise.

Every client heals at a different rate. Healing times also depend on the piercing location. The chart below gives you an idea of approximately how long it takes for ear piercings to heal.

The earrings you buy are 14k or 18k gold with GIA-certified diamonds, as well as, colored gemstones. They come in many sizes, shapes, lengths, and styles to fit individual customers.

Maria Tash has locations all over the world including New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami, London, Dublin, Paris, and the Middle East. Taylor Swift, Naomi Watts, and Helen Mirren are a few celebrity clients.

Save up ... having your ears pieced at Maria Tash ain't cheap, but money well spent!💰💸🤑

Despite not being a fan of multiple piercings, I am a fan of having your piercings done at Maria Tash for the hygiene and precision. You need an expert who'll pierce in the right places. 

One word of caution: For the luxury price, the retailer should offer a lifetime warranty on its jewelry, but doesn't. Often customers must pay for repairs, which IMHO reflects badly on Marla Tash. I mean, how cheap for a business not to stand behind its pricey jewelry!

Extra Tips: Maria Tash earrings are also sold by 3rd party jewelers, which you can look for in your town. James Free offers 20% off Black Friday sales. Other 3rd party sellers, such as Tappers and Millo, offer free shipping and returns. 

The earrings are beautiful and real gold, yet it's the skill of the piercers that drives a Savvy Shopper to pay a premium.  

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Blue Diamonds Hold The Earth's Secrets

Photo: IFLScience

Full disclosure: I'm not a scientist and I don't want to take credit for the work of others. All I can do is read a bunch of sources, then put some of the facts together so you don't have to read all those sources yourself. The following is a paraphrasing -- the Turner "CliffsNotes" -- from several sources on a subject I love covering ... gemstones and jewelry! In today's blog, let's learn more about blue diamonds!

Photo: The Hope Diamond - Smithsonian

Only 1 out of 200,000 diamonds are blue. Like all other diamonds blue diamonds were formed billions of years ago when the element carbon was exposed to extreme heat and pressure deep in the earth's mantle. Clear (a/k/a white) diamonds are pure carbon. If traces of boron contaminate the carbon during its growth, a blue diamond is created. The industry calls all colored diamonds fancy diamonds.

Photo: MID: Okavango Blue

Scientists are intrigued by the origin of blue diamonds because they hold many of the earth's secrets. Once an enchanting mystery, gemologists now think they understand how these extremely rare blue gemstones came about. It also gives us clues about the evolution of the earth, itself. After the Gemological Institute of America conducted studies using lasers to uncover impurities (minerals) that got trapped inside blue diamonds, the experts started to assemble a picture of how and where blue diamonds were formed.

Photo: Getty - The National

Based on their discoveries, scientists know that blue diamonds were formed much deeper in the earth (below 410 miles) than other diamonds (formed between 90 miles - 125 miles below the earth's surface). It is believed that boron in the ocean floor "was pushed down when plates that make up the Earth's crust collided," making the diamonds appear blue. (According to researchers, boron lets the diamonds "absorb some red light, so the diamonds look blue.")

Getty - The Oppenheimer

Diamond deposits formed very deep within the earth eventually reach the surface by volcanic eruptions.

Now we know how some of the big rare blue gemstones such as the Hope Diamond and Oppenheimer Diamond were born. Billions of years ago Mother Nature had to come together in just the right way to produce them and for humans to find and have them all these years later.

Heart of Eternity

Both blue and white diamonds are graded using the 4 Cs: cut, clarity, color, and carat. But! Blue diamonds are so rare and in demand for their beauty, that they tend to cost more per carat than white diamonds. The blue diamonds that become well-known and fetch millions of dollars at auctions invoke excitement and fame because their unique size, color, and clarity are so rare.

Mouawad Blue

As it happens I don't have any blue diamond jewelry. Diamonds are valued for their sparkle and brilliance. Colored gemstones will have less sparkle than white diamonds. Their value is determined by the vividness, tone, and saturation of their color. Vivid blue diamonds are so rare and expensive that we get less for the money than if we buy white (a/k/a clear) diamonds. I have never been tempted to buy blue diamonds because blue diamonds aren't very budget-friendly, and I don't want to spend a lot of money on faint or tiny blue diamonds! I'd rather compromise by buying a commercial-grade sapphire.

The good news is scientists can make blue diamonds in a lab. Laboratory diamonds are grown in an artificial setting that mimics how diamonds grow naturally below the earth's mantle. Lab-grown diamonds are getting better and more plentiful all the time, which is lowering the prices per carat of all diamonds! 

The color of these blue diamond earrings looks enhanced. You never see such dazzling blue diamonds in jewelry display cases! They did, however, inspire me to write the blog. Wouldn't we love to own real blue diamond earrings just like them? Of course we would!:)💙🔵  

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Georgous Ruby Jewelry But Small & Pricey

I've had my eye on these Effy rubies and diamonds in 14k rose gold hoops selling on Macy's website for a while because they're classic and gorgeous! I love the rose gold and baguette-cut rubies sandwiched between 2 lines of small round diamonds. But because of the small size of the earrings (mentioned in the reviews) compared to the relatively high price, I don't think we're getting enough for our money even when they go on sale. It isn't the greed of Macy's or Effy (the vendor) in particular that I fault for being so costly. Universally across different retailers, we are now charged more for less than substantial pieces of jewelry. Why?

Lali Jewels (left) and LeVian (right)

Gem-quality rubies (and red gemstones in general) are rarer in nature, therefore rubies tend to cost more per carat than sapphires or diamonds. (Gem-quality emeralds are even rarer so cost more per carat than rubies, sapphires, and diamonds.)

Le Vian (left) and Effy (right)

To be called a ruby the corundum (stone) must be red. Frankly, some of these ruby stones I'm featuring on the blog look more like pink sapphires online, but perhaps they are darker in the retail store? To recite an industry saying, "It's a pink sapphire if you're the buyer and a ruby if you're the seller." Both can be lovely gemstones, just be sure the price matches its color!

The jewelry featured in today's post is beyond cute and so tempting, especially near Valentine's Day. I just can't believe the steep prices of over $1,000 for such slight pieces!😳

Why has dainty jewelry gotten so expensive? One reason is the price of gold is higher so now we're asked to pay through the nose for flimsy pieces of jewelry!

Is it worth it? People must decide for themselves, but if I saved up weeks of salary in exchange for tiny earrings or a thin ring, I'd be disappointed after opening the box regardless of how pretty the design is. Perhaps I'd feel somewhat taken, and clearly, I'd feel I could do more with the money elsewhere.

Macy's in-house brand (left) and Lali Jewels (right)

One way to lower the cost of fine jewelry is to find pieces in 925 sterling silver instead of 14k or 18k gold, suitable for earrings, necklaces, also rings, and bracelets you don't wear daily, i.e., jewelry you don't bang around. Like gold, silver is a precious metal yet softer than gold. I own 2 pairs of earrings (10'' round freshwater pearls and 4-carat lab-grown white sapphires with silver posts. Each durable pair costs under $100.)

Even freshwater pink pearls with tiny marquise-shaped pink tourmaline earrings (below↓) are pricey! Some people love delicate jewelry, but how much are customers willing to pay for it?

Macy's in-house brand (left) and LeVian (right) - all the jewelry is sold on Macy's website

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Friends, is love ... as in the love of gold jewelry blind? Nowadays are you buying or passing on fine jewelry?🤔

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Macy's Black Friday Sales: 5 Lab Grown Gemstones

The last of my Macy's Black Friday gift guides will also discuss whether or not, you should buy lab-grown precious gemstones as jewelry. Regular readers of THE SAVVY SHOPPER already know my answer. Yes! Absolutely and without a doubt, if the price is right. When priced fairly (meaning not inflated) you'll get a lot for your money! 

Lab-grown diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds are as real as natural-grown diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. Lab-grown gemstones are physically, chemically, and optically the same as gemstones that form over billions of years in the earth's mental or crust. 

Natural gemstones are more expensive than lab-grown gemstones and tend to fetch a higher price on the resale market primarily because they are in higher demand by the public, but as lab-grown gemstones gain more acceptance ... and now as more retailers are entering the market plus manufacturing methods are getting better and cheaper, this is changing. In fact, the greater acceptance and availability of quality lab-grown diamonds are already lowering the prices of mined diamonds produced in nature.

Under a loupe gemologists and jewelers can tell the difference between natural-grown and lab-grown gemstones, yet both are genuine, authentic, real gemstones because chemically and optically they are the same. Both mined and lab-grown stones are the same chemical elements transformed into various gemstones by enormous heat and pressure. Gemologists can also determine where on earth natural sapphires, rubies, and emeralds were formed, as there are tell-tell signs informing them of a gemstone's origins, so it makes sense they can also tell when a  gemstone is lab-grown.

I sound like a broken record in saying, never think of jewelry as an investment but only as a luxury good with huge markups, things of beauty we love but do not need. Except for high jewelry (the apex of rarity and perfection of cut, carat, color, and clarity) or the estate jewelry of a celebrity, you'll rarely get what you pay for your pieces on the resale market.

The great benefit of buying lab-grown gemstones is customers can get bigger gemstones with higher color grades and few inclusions for far less money. They cost at least 1/3 less than natural stones. Short of a cartel forming, I predict prices will continue to drop.

Whether buying lab-grown or natural gemstones, we still need to ensure we're getting value for a good stone based on cut, carat, color, and clarity. 

For this reason, I'm a big fan of Macy's for mid-priced jewelry that ordinary people can afford, and I'd be over the moon to have any (or all😍) of the five 14k gold large sapphires, rubies, emeralds, or diamond sparklers featured here today. OMG, I live at the right time when huge gemstones can be grown in a lab! Dear Fairy Godmother, gimme!!!!!

Final thought: Black Friday sales come and go. If you miss this one, wait for another promotion to come around. They'll run all season and several times of the year!

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Great Gifts From Macy's Black Friday Sales

I judge every gift by whether I would love it if I received it myself. Here are 5 Macy's Early Access Black Friday Specials where my answer to loving the gift as a giver or receiver is an enthusiastic yes!:

1) Macy's 25 Days Of Beauty Advent Calendar (above👆) - In years past I've featured some of the most coveted advent calendars on the market including from the London merchant Liberty, but priced at several hundred dollars, perhaps they aren't really worth the money. Macy's puts out a winning advent calendar every year containing a lovely curated assortment of top-notch makeup, skincare, and haircare goodies to pamper every recipient! The advent calendar is specially created for Macy's so you get a lot of products for your money. If I were to buy a beauty calendar for myself, I'd select it and use my savings for something more important.

2) Nike Women's Tanjun Move To Zero Casual Sneakers - Nike is the original brand that innovated support and comfort to advance the technology of making sneakers. Other retailers followed. If you need a new pair of athletic shoes you can't do better than Nike. Usually more expensive, how great to find them as an Early Black Friday Special!

3) 2 Piece Set White and Pink Cultured Freshwater Pearls (8 mm) Drop Earrings in Sterling Silver - I bought these ultra cute and classic earrings this morning as a gift for a friend, and the anticipation of surprising her ... I can't wait! I'm counting on her not reading this blog, but if she does, she won't know she's the friend getting jewelry. Ha! I love the 8mm size baroque-shaped pearls and set in sterling silver, a precious metal. Pink pearls are a color and drop earrings are a style I'm often tempted to buy for myself so I think she'll love them. The sales associate I placed my telephone order with said she now intends to buy a pair too, so today I bought a pair and sold a pair! Macy's, you're welcome!😆

Update - November 17th: My friend was totally surprised, she said overwhelmed and loves her beautiful new earrings!

4) Family Pajamas - Frankly, it's a new holiday tradition my family doesn't follow, but if you need new pajamas, why not buy them now that you can get good substantial cotton and attractive designs at a great price. Also if you don't know what in the world to buy someone, almost every person needs a warm pair of pajamas. There are also matching PJs for the family dog! These are the substantial types of night clothes I like to wear to spend the night at someone else's house so I can leave the guest bedroom or sit at the breakfast table without having to jump into my clothes too early in the morning.

5) Accessories: Scarfs, gloves, belts - Wow, a terrific selection of textiles, styles, colors, degrees of warmth, and price points. It's why I love Macy's, you always find quality to fill a need at the price you can afford. I don't think I've ever had a fashion, beauty, or home good need, traveled to Macy's, and retired home empty-handed. The Herald Square store has  9 floors and such a wide selection!

There's plenty of quality and value to be had right now during Macy's Early Access Black Friday Sale! How thrilling to give fantastic gifts without emptying a bank account.

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Diamond Prices Are Crashing

Photo: istock

As much as I love jewelry I've always known the price of gemstones is arbitrary to a great extent. Jewelry is as much of an overpriced luxury item as Hermes handbags, Manolo Blahnik shoes, or Dior pants and coats. They cost what consumers are willing to pay for them. Never think of luxury items as investments but to be enjoyed as things of beauty only. The value of luxury goods is driven by want not need. If you covet investments, take your money to an investment firm to buy stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, where you'll earn returns on your portfolio. You're lucky to break even by reselling luxury goods after you subtract a 15% - 20% commission.

Photo: That Guy Osiris - I'll take them!

So I'm happy to report an exciting development in the diamond market! In 2023 diamond prices are tumbling down -- about 23% for 1-carat stones and about 15% for 3-carat stones -- according to experts who watch diamond prices such as That Guy Osiris, an ex-diamond trader who has a YouTube channel. 

The reasons for the decline in diamond prices are several: 

(1) Monopoly diamond sellers such as DeBeer aren't as powerful as they once were in setting diamond prices high combined with limiting the supply of gemstones on the market. 

Photo: istock

(2) Nowadays the demand for diamonds is less. Not every bride in 2023 desires an engagement ring. Some wish to put their $7,000 - $15,000 earnings elsewhere such as for a downpayment on a house or car. Millennials are more interested in spending on travel and experiences than buying diamond rings.

(3) A main reason why the price of diamonds is sinking is the greater acceptance by the public of lab-grown diamonds which cost about 1/3 less than diamonds mined in nature. Diamonds created in a lab are chemically and optically identical to natural diamonds.

(4) The process of making laboratory diamonds is getting better and cheaper all the time, and more companies including jeweler James Allan are offering them. According to Liberum Capital Markets, about 25% to 35% of diamonds sold to customers today are lab-grown diamonds.

Photo: That Guy Osiris

5) That Guy Osiris says that industry leader DeBeers is responding by discounting its prices for 2 - 4 carat rough natural diamonds. Recently prices for uncut natural diamonds have dropped from $1,400 a carat to $850 per carat to be competitive with lab-grown diamonds.

All of this is a win, win, win for customers! If diamond prices keep falling, one day I'll be able to afford my fantasy 4-carat stud diamond earrings (that's 2-carats each ear, sister!!), my 20-carat diamond blingy tennis bracelet, and my 5-carat diamond solitaire ring ... no engagement needed!

Diamonds By Bonnie - has an Instagram and a YouTube Channel

I don't care one iota about the lesser monetary value of lab or natural stones as long as I'm not charged for it. Just give this glitter-loving girl her diamonds! I'll start with that big brilliant round diamond at the top of the blog and the pear-shaped diamond ring at the bottom! We can add my fantasy diamonds to my collection later.😉😂

If in the future diamonds cost less, would you value them less?

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The Regent Diamond Sits In the Louvre

Photo: go here  - Note the size of the diamond when holding it and look at the perfectly manicured nails! Both are amazing!

The Regent Diamond is the 7th largest of the D-grade colorless diamonds in the world. It is also one of the purest and most brilliant of the known large diamonds. Gemologists think it was mined in Golconda, India between 1698 and 1701. In 1701 an Indian diamond merchant named Jamchand sold the 410-carat uncut diamond to Thomas Pitt, the Governor of Madras, who sent it to England hidden in the shoe of his son, Robert Pitt, where it was perfectly cut by a diamond cutter called Harris, into an internally flawless 140.64-carat brilliant cushion-shaped diamond.

Eventually, Pitt sold the diamond to Philippe d’Orléans, regent for Louis XV, the 5-year-old grandson of Louis XIV of France, which is how it acquired its name. In 1723 the Regent Diamond was set in the coronation crown of King Louis XV. It was reset in 1775 in a new coronation crown for the ill-fated Louis XVI. His wife Queen Marie Antoinette also wore the diamond attached to a black velvet hat. During the French Revolution, the Regent Diamond was stolen (along with the Crown Jewels) but it was later found in a Paris attic.

In 1812 Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte took possession and had the diamond mounted in his sword. After he was defeated at Waterloo and exiled from France, his 2nd wife, Archduchess Marie Louise smuggled the diamond to her native Austria, but her father, Emperor Francis I, returned it to the French Crown Jewels where the Regent Diamond was set in the crowns of France's Louis XVIII, Charles X, Napoleon III, and a Greek style diadem of Empress Eugenie, wife of Napolean III. After France once again dethroned and expelled its royal family, the Regent Diamond ended up at the Louvre Museum in 1887. During the Nazi occupation, the Regent Diamond was sent (along with the Mona Lisa)  to the Loire Vally where it was hidden in the plaster sealing the marble of a fireplace at the Chateau de Chambord, returning to the Louvre after the liberation of Paris and the unconditional surrender of Germany in 1945. The gem is now owned by the French state. 

Cushion cuts have more fire (i.e., colored light) than other diamond cuts. Today the Regent Diamond, an ideal cut, bluish-tinted stone, is on display at the Louvre for public viewing. What an adventurous journey ... with a happy ending. Home sweet home!

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The George IV Diadem

Photo: Royal Collection Trust

The George IV Diadem is yet another beautiful crown! Not part of the Royal Jewels, it is privately owned and worn by the British royal family for official occasions. Perhaps it was a favorite diadem of Queen Elizabeth II as it is the crown she wore on a myriad of occasions including for her image on postage stamps and her York Minister statue unveiled 2 months after her death to mark her Platinum Jubilee (in 2022). BTW, a diadem is just a fancy word for a jeweled crown worn by a ruler as a symbol of wealth and power.

Photo: Antique Jewelry University

Historically known as the George IV Diadem, the King commissioned jewelers Rundell & Bridge to make the diadem in 1820 for his 1821 coronation. Sometimes its name gets shortened to the Diamond Diadem.

Originally the diadem's 1,333 diamonds which weigh 320 carats were only rented. Some sources claim they were later privately purchased, but for sure they were not returned to the jeweler. The frame is made of gold and silver, and the crown has a 4-carat yellow diamond in the center of one of its 4 cross pattèes (an edged or footed cross). At the bottom, it has 169 pearls forming 2 rows that enclose a 3rd row of brilliant-cut round diamonds. The crown's 4 bouquets of roses, thistles, and shamrocks represent England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Photos: left: Royal Collection Trust and right: Wikipedia Commons

After George IV's reign, the diadem was worn by Queens, starting with Queen Adelaide (the wife of William IV), Queen Victoria, Queen Alexandra (wife of Edward VII), Queen Mary (wife of George V), and Queen Elizabeth II who wore it often on state occasions.

Photo: RCT

As Charles III will likely not wear the diadem, I for one will miss it. I'm guessing Queen Camilla won't wear it as much as her mother-in-law and will likely have a different favorite. Oh, well, fellow jewelry lovers you can always return here to look at it.

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