Quotes of the Day
Gail Climaco is in for a dazzling surprise this Valentine's Day. Her boyfriend Michael Chehi, a technical-marketing engineer from Germantown, Md., plans to fly her to Paris, take her to the top of the Eiffel Tower and slip a diamond engagement ring on her finger. "Gail is the most understanding and open person I know," says Chehi, 33, "and I want her to know that she changed my life."
The 1.27-carat rock he bought her should help get his point across. While Chehi is hardly the first guy to propose on Valentine's Day, not everybody is willing to pay thousands of dollars for a piece of jewelry they've only seen online. Chehi bought his $6,000 platinum band and princess-cut diamond from bluenile.com, the largest online jeweler, which is sending it to him via courier. It's perhaps a sign of the buying public's increased confidence in e-commerce that online jewelry sales are growing fast, with more than $1 billion in U.S. sales in 2002 and $1.3 billion expected this year, according to Jupiter Research.
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In many ways, the jewelry trade resembles the book-publishing business that gave Amazon.com its start. Both combine discounted prices with massive selections — too big for mail-order catalogs, perfect for computer searches. But because there are more opportunities for fraud, shoppers need to take special precautions. First, make sure you buy from a site that offers a money-back guarantee so that you can return anything you don't like. Second, do your research before you type in your credit-card number. The Jewelers Vigilante Committee jvclegal.org) is a good place to start; it offers a buyer's checklist and links to buying tips for diamonds, pearls, gold, silver and other precious gems.
Despite their high prices, diamonds turn out to be one of the easiest jewels to buy on the Web because their quality is precisely defined by technical specifications (the "four Cs": color, cut, clarity and carat weight). High-end shops like bluenile.com, diamonds.com, ashford.com and mondera.com have detailed buying guides to help make your choices clearer. Blue Nile even has a build-to-order program that lets shoppers choose from 16,000 diamonds and 70 settings. Its online tools let you see, for example, exactly how a pear-shaped diamond will look in a classic solitaire setting.
If you don't find what you want at the major e-tailers, typing key words (like opals and antique) into any Internet search engine will lead you to thousands more sites. Some of the biggest turn out to be the Web presences of bricks-and-mortar stores. Rare Jewels in Nashville, Tenn. (at www.rare jewels. net), specializes in estate jewelry. Adin in Antwerp (at www.adin.be) features one-of-a-kind antique beauties. And the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (at www.moma store.org) showcases a small but stylish selection of earrings, necklaces and watches.
On a budget? Not to worry. target.com, hsn.com and qvc.com all offer big selections of fashion jewelry with precise size measurements. Jewelrymall.com links to hundreds of inexpensive and unique jewelers. And if you like to set your own prices, the virtual flea markets at ebay.com have deals on everything from moonstones to malachite.
Questions? You can e-mail Anita at hamilton@time.com
- Anita Hamilton