- The Radiant cut diamond is just that, absolutely radiant. It has the classic elegance of the traditional emerald cut shape combined with the fabulous sparkle of the brilliant cut diamond. This diamond is also called a Brilliantized Step Cut because of the way the developer put them together.

The developer of this cut was Henry Grossbard. He developed and patented the radiant cut in 1977 because he didn’t want people to have to sacrifice on brilliance in order to have the shape of the emerald cut diamond. What came about was an utterly beautiful diamond that has become a mainstay of engagement rings everywhere. Mr.

- Women love diamonds. There is no denying that, but what kind of diamonds do you want? Are you looking for oval, emerald, round, pear, or heart shaped diamonds? That is the question that all women ask themselves when thinking about a piece of jewelry. An interesting alternative to the oval or the princess cut may be just what you are looking for. It is called the cushion cut diamond.

- In 1902, what is considered to be one of the greatest cuts of diamonds was conceived. That diamond is the Asscher Cut Diamond. The Asscher cut was named for its inventor, Joseph Asscher who founded the Royal Asscher Company in Amsterdam in 1854. This diamond can only be described as looking at an infinite hallway of reflecting mirrors.

Original Asscher cut diamonds are very rare, and each one-of-a-kind diamond can only be found in estate sales and of course, on the body of the rich, famous, or royal.

The funding of conflicts using the proceeds of diamond sales in Africa has brought about regulations to stop this type of abuse to humanity. With the cooperation of the diamond industry and government intervention to address the issues and work together to solve the problem, great steps have been made to stop the use of conflict diamonds in the past six years.

In 2000, a zero tolerance policy was announced by the diamond industry and that policy still drives its policy makers today. In 2002 Kimberley Process Certification Systems was established and with it the elimination of the trade in conflict diamonds became a reality. The good news is that 99% of all diamonds in the world today are from non-conflict sources.

Forget the iPhone; anyone with an extra $500 to $600 laying around can get that at their local Apple or AT&T store. You want something a little more glam, and a lot more sparkly! And by sparkly we don’t mean those cheap Swarovski crystal-studded phones that were all the rage a few years ago.

If you want a truly blinged-out mobile phone, then look no further than Vertu and their limited edition Vertu Pink Diamond phone. The phone casing itself is made of rose gold, but what really makes the phone shine are its tiny pink and white diamonds paved in a pretty flower pattern.