CubicZirconia.com- The Clear Choice — Engagement Rings

9% off for Past Customers of CZ.com 0

Marriage Advice for Young Couples 0

I just came across this excellent article, 36 Things I know After 36 Years of Marriage, from Winifred M. Reilly, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and author of the relationship advice blog Speaking of Marriage. I think it’s pretty excellent!

I’ll post a few highlights here for sure, but I encourage our customers to read the full story at the link posted above, whether you’re just planning on getting married in the coming year or more and coming to CubicZirconia.com for your engagement ring, or you’ve been married for as long or longer than we’ve been online (1999!). Either way, I guarantee you’ll learn (or be reminded of) a thing or three that will help make your relationship have more fun, appreciation, respect, and…sizzle.

1. “What is marriage? Richer, poorer, good times and bad. Each year with its surprises and challenges, its hard fought lessons, its moments of sweetness.”

It’s important to remember the tough times can be weathered, and the sweet moments are never over if you’re with the love of your life. Fight through the one, together…and take time to enjoy the other, as if you don’t the moments that take your breath away are apt to become further and further apart.

2. “Most marital problems are fixable. Really. Even the tough ones.”

Conversation solves more problems than just about anything!

3. “Every one of us is, in our own way, difficult to live with. Beginning to work on even one of your own problem behaviors will make a big difference in the quality of your marriage. Added bonus: your spouse will greatly appreciate it!”

I’m a smoker. It’s a problem in my relationship, no doubt. It’s unhealthy, hurts my body, costs money better spent and invested elsewhere, and many people consider it a nasty habit. Plus, I’ve stopped counting the number of full-mouthed kisses I’ve lost out on from the woman of my dreams because of the smell and taste of tobacco smoke. *sigh* Is this the year I finally manage to kick the butt habit once and for all?

4. “Marriage is a long negotiation about how two people are going to run things. Money. Intimacy. Parenting. Chores. You can battle, or you can collaborate. Collaboration is a lot more rewarding.”

Agree 100% with this marriage advice for couples. Collaboration starts with open conversation, and letting down your guard to be vulnerable as you talk to your significant other about the things that are important to you.

5. “Complaints and criticisms aren't the same thing as requests for change.”

Like someone’s mother is probably saying right this second to a child she’s punishing on each of 6 of the 7 continents on God’s green Earth: ‘It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it!” If how you verbalize requests for change in your spouse’s behavior sound like complaints…they probably are. If you worry that you’re being too critical of someone you love, you probably are.

5. “It's easy to get into a rut when you're with the same person, year after year. Sex. Vacations. Dinner. How you spend Saturday night. Change things. Add some spice.”

Routine is the enemy of spontaneity, and spontaneity is the spice of life. Do you see what I just did there? I combined two different Chinese food fortune cookies, and made a true statement. You try it! Seriously, when was the last time you and your lover had Chinese food in bed? I rest my case.

6. “One of you has to go first. Apologize first. Be vulnerable first. Yield first. Forgive first. Why not let that person be you?”

This is something I’ve been working hard on in my relationship for some time. With my lady, I’ve found that apologizing first after both of us were at fault makes her feel heard and understood even when I hear what she’s said but might not understand exactly what I did wrong. It doesn’t matter; you don’t always need to know exactly what went wrong, to know that you’d like things to be smoother because something you did or said caused problems.

Again, I’ve only shared 6 of her 36 tips and maxims here for marriage advice for young couples (and old), so I encourage you to read the full article at the Huffington Post here.

What would you add to her list?

Mr. Cubic Zirconia
CubicZirconia.com

Is Cubic Zirconia A Diamond? 0

Cubic Zirconia, commonly known in jewelry circles as “CZ”, has been the most popular more-affordable alternative to natural diamonds since the stone was first produced for commercial use in jewelry, industrial machinery, lasers and other applications almost 4 decades ago (1976). The highest-quality CZ stones are flawless, with brilliant sparkle, tremendous clarity, and radiant fire, good durability and hardness, and are visually indistinguishable from natural diamonds to the naked eye.

But is cubic zirconia actually in fact a diamond?

While cubic zirconia exists in nature (see Is Cubic Zirconia a mineral?), the mineral is rare enough that the CZ used in most commercially produced jewelry manufactured over the last 4 decades is of a man-made origin. If you want to get the scientific skinny, cubic zirconia is actually the cubic crystalline form of a physical compound made up of the elements Zirconium and Oxygen (ZrO₂ to be precise) called Zirconium Dioxide.

ASIDE: No wonder we adopted name ‘Cubic Zirconia’, right? It’s got a pretty sexy sound, while ‘Zirconium Dioxide’ honestly sounds like a laundry detergent.

Natural diamonds are found in nature, and as such cannot be considered the same as cubic zirconia stones, the majority of which used in commercial jewelry are man-made.

There’s the short answer to your burning question about whether cubic zirconia are diamonds.

While the stone looks like a diamond and possesses many diamond-like qualities— to the degree that even jewelers with decades of experience cannot tell the difference between a high-quality CZ and a perfect diamond by simply comparing the two side by side with the naked eye alone— Cubic Zirconia is not a diamond.

However, the difference in cost between diamonds and diamond simulants such as cubic zirconia—and others that are somewhat deceptively sold under ‘diamond’ names—can be thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. That’s why perhaps a more important question to answer than if cubic zirconia is a diamond, is whether that DIAMOND you are thinking about purchasing is actually a real diamond?

Before you shake your head or walk away confused from this webpage, bear with me a moment…OK? The truth is: in order to FULLY answer your question if cubic zirconia is a diamond, really you first have to decide in your own mind what a ‘diamond’ is to you.

When you think of diamonds, you probably think of a handful of extremely rare and valuable gemstones mined with great cost and difficulty from deep in the earth, a finite resource that is dwindling in supply…am I right? What if I told you that a large percentage of diamonds sold as ‘diamonds’ today were in fact grown in a lab, created by combining various physical elements into compounds that mimic natural diamonds— very much like cubic zirconia are also manufactured?

What if continued down the rabbit hole and I told you that there was absolutely no limit on the number of these kinds of ‘diamonds’ that could be created in the lab?

That’s right! Those lab-grown diamonds are sold to unsuspecting customers at prices that are just a bit cheaper than natural diamonds mined with sweat and sacrifice (and innocent blood, too, but that’s another story) from the earth…but prices still high enough to be damned difficult to justify in this man’s opinion—an opinion shared by increasing numbers of savvy consumers who know what their money is worth—for a product that is limitless in supply, as opposed to more rare natural diamonds.

And these folks even have the nerve to give their lab-grown ‘diamonds’ an appraisal, and a report, and a certification just like real diamonds mined from the earth and limited in supply…as if they didn’t just whip up a batch in the back-room with a chemistry set.

So, maybe you won’t think it’s such a silly question anymore to ask “Is that DIAMOND really a diamond?”

Listen, natural diamonds have their place. Historically, there is a great tradition that links a diamond in the minds of women—and men—as a rock that symbolizes much more than just geology. And natural diamonds do have some intrinsic value, because they have uses in industry beyond just looking pretty, and a scarcity upon which much of the value of any natural resource is based.

Though, frankly, they’re not as rare as the diamond mining cartels would have you believe— they own full warehouses bursting with them, stones they intentionally keep off the market to inflate prices— natural diamonds still are a finite resource.

If the tradition concerns you and money is no object, by all means…purchase a diamond. We think the money can be much better spent in other ways, but that’s just our opinion and you came here for hard facts about cubic zirconia. After all, some people want to light cigars with $100 bills, too.

However, I want you to think very hard before you pay anything more than $200 USD for any ordinary-size and non-custom-cut substitute gemstone made in a lab, no matter what they call it or how many reports, certifications, or appraisals the faux diamond may receive as part of the proof provided to entice you to pay a bunch of money for something God didn’t have a hand in creating.

$5000 for a lab-grown diamond loose stone? It boggles the mind anyone would pay such high prices for a lab-grown diamond when natural diamonds of good size can be obtained for not much more, and high-quality 5A cubic zirconia for 1/100 or less of the cost.

I hope you’ve learned a few things in this post. No, cubic zirconia is not a diamond. But for that matter, a large percentage of ‘diamonds’ sold today aren’t diamonds either, not by this man’s definition.

What do you think?

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below/

Danny Welsh
Vice President
CubicZirconia.com

P.S. Want to know more of the nitty-gritty about the differences between Diamonds vs Cubic Zirconia? We’ve got an ever-growing resource, with case studies and more, ready for your reading pleasure. Take a few minutes and read up, especially if you’re shopping for an engagement ring…after all, if everything goes right, you’ll only be buying ONE. And if what I’m telling you is true—and it is, and our company will prove it to you— you don’t need a diamond engagement ring, when you can get a cubic zirconia replica engagement ring with a lifetime guarantee, and have no one know the difference while you take the difference in price and spend for fun or invest for the future in ways that will satisfy you much more than a rock.

The Great Palladium Sale! Palladium Rings, Bridal Sets, Earrings, and More at Best Prices Ever Offered By Our Company! 0

This naturally white metal has been called the perfect combination of price, beauty, and durability. Palladium is now the 4^th most popular precious metal manufactured and sold for retail jewelry, gaining popularity at the expense of metals with whom it shares a number of physical and visible similarities such as white gold and platinum.

Did you know that in the United States, natural palladium metal comes from very few sources, chief among them the Stillwater Mining Company located in Montana (read more about them at Palladium.com), with whom our company maintains a good relationship.

And we’re celebrating this great relationship with our very first Palladium Sale!

You may have read about our company’s recent efforts to serve the requests of our many customers that have requested greater catalog offerings with palladium jewelry set with cubic zirconia, and so just this year we have begun selling as many of our stylish cubic zirconia jewelry designs as possible—rings, bridal sets, earrings and more set with the highest quality 5A cubic zirconia commercially available— in the palladium metal. We are not yet done, of course, but we continue to make progress to serve this desire of our customers so check back often and keep up with our progress by checking out new palladium pieces here: palladium cubic zirconia jewelry.

What’s that mean to you, today?

Well, we invite you to review the palladium sale we are currently having on some of our most sought-after jewelry items that can now be made manufactured with palladium.

Check out our palladium jewelry sale here:

Palladium jewelry on sale <--- Engagement Rings, Eternity Bands, Anniversary Bands, Promise Rings, Earrings, Bridal Sets, and more!

(Over 72 pieces made in the U.S. by our talented team to choose from)

Best,

Mr. Cubic Zirconia
CubicZirconia.com

What are creative ways to inexpensively have fun at your wedding? 0

Enjoy some creative tips to have fun and save money with a great wedding, shared by a recent survey of some www.CubicZirconia.com engagement ring customers:

A. Rent a Photo Booth - there for four reasons a photo booth is a great idea at weddings:

B. BobbleHeads.com custom couple caricature cake toppers are really cool, and most people have never seen them. For a “wow” that will have wedding guests talking, at the price, you really can’t beat it.

[[Disclosure by CubicZirconia.com VP of Marketing Danny Welsh: while this idea was submitted by one of our customers, I do have a personal relationship with the owner of Bobbleheads.com business Mr. Royal, and while I also endorse the product and business I thought you should know that relationship!]]

C. Release a sky wish lantern balloon (light with fire) and mention deceased relatives who couldn't be there on a touching ceremony that is common in Oriental countries but tends to be something many people in the West haven't seen at a wedding.

It’s very inexpensive, just a few bucks, but surely makes an impression on wedding guests. [[note from Danny: While this idea was mentioned by a customer of ours, I have also been to a wedding in Lexington, KY where a sky lantern was lit and allowed to float away in memory of grandparents that weren't alive to be there; it was pretty touching]]

D. Place “getting to know you” flyer placards on table for guests to learn more about the bride and groom. For example, "25 things she wants her guests to know about him"; other side of flyer, "25 things he wants his guests to know about her" with some funny facts and anecdotes, some serious, and some sweet. This is a great ice-breaker for tables including people who don't know each other! And the cost is basically just printing plus some creativity.

I hope you enjoy these fun wedding ideas that also save money.

You may just find a little extra cash you weren't sure you'd have to afford your dream cubic zirconia engagement ring or wedding set!

Danny Welsh
Vice President
Marketing
http://www.CubicZirconia.com

Creative financing for engagement ring and beyond... 0