King’s Jewelry, one of the largest jewelry chains in the U.S., has marketed moissanite as a gemstone rather than as a diamond substitute, and this message has been successfully received by self-purchasing women. These consumers do not want to buy diamonds for themselves, but do want to wear diamond-like gemstones that have a higher quality than cubic zirconia.

Although moissanite is a beautiful and affordable gemstone, its diamond-like qualities might confuse you and your jeweler into thinking that the gemstone is actually a diamond. Scams have occurred throughout the United States, including in O’Fallon, MO where a man purchased moissanite stones from con artists, thinking they were diamonds. The buyer later brought the moissanite to a local jeweler who even mistakenly deemed the stones to be diamonds.

After carefully observing the dual trends of moissanite sales and diamond fraud, St. Louis-based Neustaedter’s Fine Jewelry offers tips about both jewels to dispel their common myths.

What is Moissanite?

Originally discovered by Dr. Henri Moissan at Meteor Crater in Arizona during the late 19th century, moissanite is a mineral composed of silicon carbide. A century after its discovery, laboratories began producing crystals from moissanite, and in 1998 Charles & Colvard began selling the gemstone.

Moissanite & Diamonds have Very Different Origins

Although the original moissanite fragments studied by Dr. Moissan originated from a meteorite that struck earth, moissanite gemstones are manufactured in labs. Since moissanite is difficult to grow, the gemstone is much more expensive than diamond substitutes like cubic zirconia.

In contrast, diamonds are created by natural processes. According to South African Diamonds, a Web site devoted to diamonds originating from South Africa, the jewels were formed millions of years ago in the earth’s mantle when carbon crystallized due to high temperature and pressure. When volcanoes erupted, magma carried diamonds just below or on the earth’s surface. Later the magma cooled and turned into rock which trapped diamonds for thousands of centuries. This rock is what people mine in places such as South Africa.

Their Similar Appearances have Some Distinguishing Traits

A glistening moissanite gemstone often looks like a diamond at first glance, but magnified moissanite has several characteristics that a qualified jeweler can identify.

Your jeweler should examine a suspected moissanite stone under a 10-power loupe to get a good look at the stone and its characteristics. Magnified moissanite stones often feature subtle greenish tints whereas quality diamonds are often colorless. Under 10-power magnification, moissanite’s facets seem to multiply, which is called “double refraction,” but diamonds only reflect their facets once. Moissanite also bears white ribbon-looking imperfections which are not present in diamonds. In order for you to observe everything first-hand, Neustaedter’s has a very large screen in its shop to magnify your gemstone.

Recent technological developments have improved testing methods for moissanite. Some jewelers use special moissanite testers to detect the gemstones. When the tester’s probe tip touches moissanite, you can see the Moissanite light flashing and hear a beeping noise. But since this test is not 100 percent accurate, your jeweler must use his or her knowledge and a trained eye to perform other tests.

A less hi-tech approach that some jewelers use is a flotation test, performed in a dense liquid. If performed properly, moissanite will float whereas a diamond will sink. It is recommended, though, that your jeweler uses multiple tests to determine the true identity of your stone.

What Should You do When Purchasing Moissanite or Diamonds?

You should only purchase the jewels when you are issued a guarantee that states the authenticity of your diamond or moissanite. Neustaedter’s recommends that you go to a jewelry store certified by the American Gem Society (AGS) because they will possess the knowledge and tools necessary to identify moissanite and diamonds.

Moissanite and diamonds both have their own advantages, but you and your jeweler must to understand the differences and characteristics of each stone to make a wise purchase.

Jay Heiseler is the Operations Manager at Neustaedter’s Fine Jewelry, a South St. Louis County jewelry store. Owned by Richard and Jacqueline Neustaedter, the firm has over 42 years experience in the jewelry industry. The Neustaedter’s belong to the American Gem Society, a group dedicated to the highest industry standards which accepts less than 1% of the country’s jewelers.

http://www.wowdiamonds.com

Do you want natural, cultured, or imitation pearls. Please note that imitation pearls are custom jewelry and they don’t have much value. Natural pearls are next to impossible to find in stores they are also of a lesser value than cultured pearls.

There are choices of the shape of the pearls that you want. Pearls can be symmetrical, baroque, or irregular. Sphere like pearls are most costly and they are greatly sought after. Symmetrical pearls and tear drop shaped pearls should be even all over.

The size of the pearl is a great issue involving the price. The size of the pearl will affect the price. Bigger is better and they are also more expensive. If money is not a big issue size will only matter by your choice.

Depending on how much you want to spend, what kind of necklace do you want? Do you want a multiple strand with smaller pearls which are less expensive or do you want a single strand of larger pearls which are more expensive.

When inspecting pearls under direct light and on a flat white surface. Check every pearl for luster. Lustrous pearls have shiny surface. There should be good contrast between light and dark, as well as strong and crisp reflections. Avoid pearls that have white and cloudy look to them.

What is the pearls ‘orient’ - a play of iridescent rainbow with high quality colors. Ask whether the color is natural or dyed. The latter is less expensive. More exotic natural colors are more effective.

What is the pearls overtones - a tint secondary to the main body color. Pink tones can increase the price and blues can reduce the price. You can verify that the pearls are clean by making sure there are minimal defects such as nicks, cracks, pits, or discoloration.

Turn the pearl around and check it at all angles. The color, the shape, smoothness, and luster cannot all cannot be different on a single pearl.
Roll a strand of pearls on flat surface to test them for roundness. If they are round they will roll more smoothly and evenly. If they are not round you will feel it when the pearls are rolled, it could feel like going over a bump.

There are three steps you need to take to recognize real pearls from imitations. Run the pearls along the bottom edge of your teeth. A real pearl will feel gritty and or sandy. A fake pearl will feel smooth.

Look at and feel the pearls. Flawless pearls and those that feel light when you bounce them in your hands are probably fake. Check out the pearl under a number 10 magnifier ( a loupe). Imitation pearls appear grainy.
This is definitely a process and it is up to you to do whatever you can to check the value of the pearls. If necessary bring someone who is knowledgeable with you.

About the Author
Martin Smith is a successful freelance writer providing advice for consumers on purchasing a variety of products which includes
Wedding Ring and and more! His numerous articles provide a wonderfully researched resource of interesting and relevant information.

Escorts in the city offer love to their clients and will spend one hour at a time with the escort for exchange of a fee. The fees for London call girls range from 120 pounds per hour to 400 pounds per hour. The fee does not include any taxi expenses or activities like dinner or bowling. The beautiful escorts with Lucy Bond are stuning, the hot escorts are hand picked by the escort firm and have been hand picked for their intelligence.

The call girl company is new to the city and have awesome fees available for new customers. The hot girls from the firm are all experienced and offer in calls at their house and out calls in your home.

Fancy colored diamonds can be found in brown, yellow, blue, green, pink, and red, and occur in various degrees of hue, saturation, and intensity. Colored diamonds can be classified into two categories: as untreated, unenhanced, naturally occurring diamonds, or as treated/enhanced colored diamonds.

The color grading system described here was developed by the Gemological Institute of America, (GIA). It is the standard grading system used in the U.S. and, for the most part, around the world. Diamond color grades are represented by letter grades starting at “D”, which is completely colorless, the absolute best colorless grade, and goes all the way to “Z”, which would be a very obviously brown, or brownish-yellow color. After “Z”, the fancy color grading system is used. Typically, for white diamonds you will only see grades “D” through “M” or possibly “N”.

Grades are grouped in three major groups:

Colorless — D, E, and F;

Near-colorless — G, H, I, and J;

Faint yellow — K, L, and M;

Very light yellow — N - R;

Light yellow — S - Z.

Diamonds are graded with the table side down…this means upside down to the way they are mounted. Thus, when a diamond is mounted in a setting, this usually makes accurate color grading impossible using a color master set. Newer technologies now make it possible to color grade a diamond while mounted, but these instruments are very expensive and not widespread.

Diamonds presented for grading, which are mounted, will only be a “best estimate”. Color master-sets are typically used to color grade diamonds. These master-sets are diamonds, or CZ’s that have been compared against a master-master set, and can then be used to compare to other stones. The GIA maintains such a master-master set of diamonds at the Gem Trade Lab in Carlsbad, California. Other means of color grading include newer electronic technology to grade the stone automatically.

Color preferences vary and are individual in nature. Diamonds mounted in platinum may require a better color grade to ensure the color tint does not show against the pure white of the metal. Color grades of G through J can be mounted in white gold, which has a slight yellowish tint to it which can tend to hide the lower color grade of the stone. Another factor that can affect the way a stone looks is the quality of the cut. A very good quality cut can help mask the color in stones that have a yellow or brown tint to them. By paying a little more to get a stone with a better cut, you can save on the color side of costs by getting a lower color grade without sacrificing the look of the diamond. Nicer cut diamonds, of poorer color grades can look much whiter than the color grade would suggest since the quality cut allows less light leakage and thus more white light is directed out of the top of the stone “bleaching out” the natural body color

Tom Shofner is a certified gemologist and owns Palmetto Gems in Columbia, SC His website is http://www.palmettogems.com

Deciding where to go
I have a list of places that I want to see so I just go down it every year to check off places that might be possible to visit. When we were planning our last trip, we had two options - South America or South Africa. South Africa was proving to be pretty pricey. On the other hand, I found that I could get reward travel to South America. So that made the decision fairly easy.

Researching
One of the best sites to research destinations is www.frommers.com. Their forums (called “Travel Talk”) really interest me. You can ask questions, suggestions and pretty much discuss anything with past and future travelers to a particular country. You really get insider tips from those who have already experienced it. For instance, I came to know through somebody’s post that Malaria pills are really not that necessary while traveling to the Amazon jungle. In turn, when I got back I posted that yellow fever vaccinations were also not required (having seen so myself).

I also found my tour company from frommers.com. In the “planning a trip” section they had given the pros and cons of going with an escorted tour company, with recommendations of some U.S. based ones. I knew instantly that these would be reliable, and decided to go with a name they suggested - Analie Tours (www.analietours.com). In retrospect we feel we could have toured on our own, but having it all arranged for us did save us tremendous time and hassle, especially considering that we don’t speak Spanish.

I also use my local library extensively for travel books and videos. Usually they have older editions, but it saves me the money from buying books every time.

Tour Guide or Solo
As I mentioned above, we believe that we could have done Peru on our own. But that’s because we travel extensively, and have learned, by and large, how to navigate through unknown places. I would recommend anyone not used to traveling to go with a tour company like Analie Tours. What they offer is incredible. You get to have a customized tour planned just for you. You can tell them exactly what dates you want to arrive and return, which places you want to see and how many days in each location, what class of hotels you want to stay in, and whether or not you want to include airfare in their package. That means not having to go on pre-scheduled departure dates or traveling with an army of a group. We toured the city of Cuzco with a guide all to ourselves. In the other places we shared our guide with just a few more people whose travel dates happened to coincide with ours.

We had drivers waiting for us inside airport terminals with our name signs ready to whisk us off to our hotels in nice cars, so we were spared the trouble of haggling with non-English speaking cab drivers. Finally, all the hotel suggestions of the travel agents lived up to expectations. Travel agents to several countries now offer this customized tour option so check on Frommers.com for suggestions.

We are planning a trip to South Africa in the near future, and based on what we’ve heard about how well developed the country is and how easy it is to get around, we will probably go solo and make all arrangements ourselves.

Guide Books
If you plan to go solo, make sure you have some great guide books. I don’t mean the ones that are only hotel and restaurant directories. Look for ones with insider tips to each place. Rick Steve’s Europe books are jewels. Not only are they personal accounts of his travels, they also give superb suggestions for reasonable itineraries, and money saving trips. For instance, when in Paris, it is much cheaper to buy a “carte” (10) of subway tickets than one at a time. In Florence, instead of standing in lines to get into museums, you can buy a museum pass beforehand and save yourself time and frustration. I picked up all these tips from Rick Steve’s Best of Europe book. No other company’s books come close to being as good as Steve’s, but if you shop around you’ll find something you like.

Finding Deals
God bless Google! If nothing else works, you can just type “deals to (wherever)” in the search box, and something WILL pop up. This is usually my last resort after I have exhausted all the possible avenues:
• First I check on airline sites for package deal. I usually go to Continental’s site since we are members, and also we live near its Newark airport hub. I have seen British Airways offer deals like Airfare + 4 nights in London for $300 per person!
• Then I go to the travel websites - Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz. They have pretty good deals too sometimes, especially cruises.
• I also check out AAA’s website since they offer travel package discounts to members. For instance I bought our Alaskan cruise tickets from them at literally half the price that the other websites were offering.
• I go to Frommers.com Travel Talk and note down suggestions by past travelers regarding deals that they got. This is usually a pretty reliable source. Most people will suggest travel agencies’ names, so you can check out their websites and look for good deals.
• Finally, I see how much free stuff I can get with airline miles and hotel points. This has been working out really well for us, and is one of the reasons we can afford to go to all the places we have been to.

After I have got a quote, or an estimate for how much the whole trip is going to cost, I ask around on various travel forums to see if it’s a good number.

Vineeta Chopra is an image and lifestyle expert. She runs http://www.vineetachopra.com, a site that covers everything Indian from fashion trends, home decoration to Bollywood.

Animal print area rugs can vary in price quite a bit, depending on whether you are looking for a handmade, machine made or genuine animal skin rug. You can view all of those options on one online rug store’s website. Make sure you measure the exact size of the room and get a rug that is at least large enough. Its better to have the rug run a little larger than you need than to be too small.

The right area rug can really pull the design of a room together. When choosing a rug to buy for a room, pay attention to the style the room is decorated, the colors and patterns used around the room. Choosing the wrong rug for your room can make the rug stand out as looking out of place instead of bringing the room together and making it look like a perfectly blended part of the decor.

There are many online rug stores. However, some are better than others. Many offer discounted prices, free shipping and other perks. You should check these rug stores first for what you are looking for. To see our list recommended online rug stores that offer discounts and free shipping, visit this page: Recommended Discount Rug Stores Online.

Carrie Reeder is the owner of ezerk, an
informational website with articles and the latest news about various topics.

The simple fact is that these breath machines which determine guilt or innocence in DUI cases are not exactly the reliable devices that law enforcement would have us believe. There are dozens of factors that can cause false test results. An example of that unreliability is the fact that the results will vary depending upon the breathing pattern of the person being tested. This has been confirmed in a number of scientific studies.

In one, for example, a group of men drank moderate doses of alcohol and their blood-alcohol levels were then measured by gas chromatographic analysis of their breath. The breathing techniques were then varied. The results indicated that holding your breath for 30 seconds before exhaling increased the blood-alcohol level by 15.7%. Hyperventilating for 20 seconds immediately before the analyses of breath, on the other hand, decreased the level by 10.6%. Keeping the mouth closed for five minutes and using shallow nasal breathing resulted in increasing the blood-alcohol level by 7.3%, and testing after a slow, 20-second exhalation increased levels by 2%. (”How Breathing Techniques Can Influence the Results of Breath-Alcohol Analyses”, 22(4) Medical Science and the Law 275.)

Dr. Michael Hlastala, Professor of Physiology, Biophysics and Medicine at the University of Washington has gone farther and concluded:

“By far, the most overlooked error in breath testing for alcohol is the pattern of breathing… The concentration of alcohol changes considerably during the breath… The first part of the breath, after discarding the dead space, has an alcohol concentration much lower than the equivalent BAC (blood-alcohol concentration). Whereas, the last part of the breath has an alcohol concentration that is much higher than the equivalent BAC. The last part of the breath can be over 50% above the alcohol level… Thus, a breath tester reading of 0.14% taken from the last part of the breath may indicate that the blood level is only 0.09%.” 9(6) The Champion 16 (1985).

Many police officers know this. They also know that if the machine contradicts their judgement that the person they arrested is intoxicated, they won’t look good. So when they tell the arrestee to blow into the machine’s mouthpiece, they’ll yell at him, “Keep breathing! Breathe harder! Harder!” As Professor Hlastala has found, this ensures that the breath captured by the machine will be from the bottom of the lungs, near the alveolar sacs, which will be richest in alcohol. With the higher alcohol concentration, the machine will give a higher — but inaccurate — reading.

Lawrence Taylor is the senior member of an AV-rated law firm of San Diego DUI lawyers practicing drunk driving defense exclusively. See http://www.san-diego-dui.com/ for more information.

The recent rise in energy prices changes this dynamic quite a bit, however. As energy prices continue to go up, the amount of time required to recoup the upfront cost goes down. In addition, a number of state and local tax incentives make it even easier for homeowners to go solar and save money right away.

Photovoltaic systems have also come a long way. The costs of installing solar panels is still high, with a typical two kilowatt installation of solar panels from OVR Solar costing at least £10,000 / ($20, 000) in most cases, but special tax incentives and long term energy savings can help homeowners recoup those upfront costs faster than ever before.

Governments around the world are increasingly willing to help. This tax savings can help eligible homeowners recoup some of the costs of installing solar panels and solar water heating systems up front, in addition to the energy savings they will enjoy down the road.

Many states also provide special tax incentives for homeowners who install eligible solar panel and solar water heating systems. The specifics of these tax rebates and tax incentives vary from state to state, but many states provide at least some level of tax relief for homeowners who install and use energy efficient systems.

The factors affecting how long it will take to break even will vary from case to case.. However, as the prices for heating oil, gas and other forms of traditional energy continue to soar, the appeal of solar energy will only grow.

Laptops for gaming are typically not affordable by most people and large brands know they can benefit from the high profit margins even further with their bulk manufacturing. This would be a good chance to make considerable revenues for them. With their deep marketing budgets I am confident they can get anyone to buy laptops like these. Do the smaller retailers even have a chance with this kinda competition? Now laptops for gaming will no longer be perceived as a niche market. Buyers will additionally gather tons more peace of mind when spending a big amount of money.

The manufacturers new laptop computers are receiving a large amount of accolades as being the best laptops from the magazines. In my view the local system builders must take action on this if they are to prosper. Specifying the specification is a thing all us techies prefer. These particular potential customers are generally really knowledgeable with the technology and can compare each of the parts by themselves. If choosing speed and aesthetics, these purchasers generally favour the former. All gamers concur that it is a positive change. It will force prices to slide and make the latest technology cheaper for people. Its difficult to predict what could occur really because the industry is a fast moving one. New innovations are continuously coming out and that should hold costs constantly high. Although I still guess outcomes will be good because of the saturated market.

Why is PSI TECH and remote viewing so controversial and misunderstood? Well, in essence we are selling the idea of round-the-world cruises to people who still think the world is flat. When you describe Technical Remote Viewing® to someone who has no experience or knowledge base regarding it, you usually see them roll their eyes into the back of their head. “Remote what? Is that like some psychic thing?” Remote Viewing can’t possibly be real. Collecting data about people and events remote in time and space with just a pen, paper, and alert mind sounds like an invention of a modern day PT Barnum. Yet almost all Americans believe they possess ESP or a sixth sense. So why is it so hard to believe in the possibility of technology that taps into and focuses that innate ability? A technology the Pentagon spent $20 million developing and kept secret for 17 years.

For those of us who have learned the skill of TRV® by installing the protocols into our autonomic nervous system and perform TRV on a daily basis, we are constantly amazed by the fact that the human mind really can do this. And because we have become so immersed in our own TRV culture, we tend to forget what it was like before we learned this skill. If it’s still incredible for those of us who practice TRV that we possess this ability, it must be totally incredulous to someone who has no idea what it even is.

Humans have a long history of not accepting new ideas until forced to, usually because their very survival is at stake. In the words of Ghandi, “First they laugh at you, then they fear you, then they fight you, then you win.” The process for a new paradigm or belief system to become established in a society, can take generations.

But why? Why do new ideas that benefit mankind to such a degree as remote viewing, cause such defensive angst?

Galileo Found Guilty Of Heresy

Travel back in time with me. The year is 1633. The headline on this spring day throughout Europe reads, “Galileo Found Guilty of Heresy: Condemned to Life Imprisonment For Publishing That The Earth Moves.” Galileo invented the telescope. His observations strengthened his belief in Copernicus’ theory that Earth and all other planets revolve around the Sun. Most people in Galileo’s time believed that the Earth was the center of the Universe and that the Sun and planets revolved around it. The Catholic Church was the ruling authority of the day and when Galileo published his paper on his theory, it infuriated the Pope. So the Pope ordered Galileo imprisoned for life to prevent him from further disseminating his discoveries.

Ever wonder why whenever you discuss politics or religion to people whose ideas oppose yours they immediately become entrenched and ultra-defensive about their beliefs? Even the most intelligent and logically minded are reduced to emotionally charged argument and fights. It’s because they are protecting their paradigms. A paradigm is a belief system. It’s a set of shared assumptions, and values that constitute a way of viewing reality. These fundamental beliefs do not change easily in individuals or cultures. Usually not until a person repeatedly encounters evidence that Reality is simply not as one had thought it was.

The first response to evidence that challenges an existing paradigm is to deny it. We accuse such people of fraud or even witchcraft and convince ourselves that the evidence that seems so contrary to our reality as we know it simply does not exist. When a belief system is threatened because it is in conflict with cultural institutions or an individual’s paradigms it evokes a survival response. Wars are started over such ideological conflicts.

Shifting Paradigms: Stretching Things To Fit

But as the evidence accumulates and is so strong that we can no longer dismiss it we must accept that something is going on that doesn’t seem possible according to our existing paradigm. This is the point that an individual experiences what is called a paradigm shift. When this happens we bend our previous paradigm to fit the new problematic evidence.

An example of such stretching occurred during the days of the Wright Brothers and their battle for manned flight. What most don’t realize is that it took years after the flight in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, before the idea caught on that heavier than air machines were invented that allowed man to fly. Most people laughed at first and assumed it was a fraud. The U.S. government was offered Wright Brothers flying machines, but they were not taken seriously until almost a decade later. The evidence began to pile up and the paradigm shifted, that such a thing was scientifically possible. Once this new paradigm was accepted, it revolutionized travel as we know it and changed society forever.

Usually paradigm shifts move “bottom-up” in a grass-roots way, so it is not uncommon for the power structures of a culture to feel highly threatened by paradigm shifts that seem to contradict the current view of reality. Such power structures may respond by passively resisting change or even by actively combating it. They don’t usually do this with conscious intent or malice, but merely in response to what appears to be “crazy” or “unreasonable” pressures from a paradigm outside their own — which by definition seems “out of touch with Reality.”

It Takes A New Mind - To See A New World

Technical Remote Viewing and the work of PSI TECH is “crazy” according to most existing paradigms of our society. No matter how many demonstrations one witnesses, until you do it yourself it’s just too unreal to accept that the mind…your mind can really do this. And because it is a skill, it can not be executed with perfection by every individual, giving the status quo more ammo to shoot it down. The Wright Brothers first manned flight was only 12 seconds long and went 120 feet. Certainly not a big deal when we look at how the technology has evolved. But that 12 second flight was paradigm shattering, and ushered in a whole new era of possibilities for mankind.

The future holds great promise if we are brave enough to embrace new possibilities and set aside our need to protect existing paradigms. I firmly believe one of the greatest technology breakthroughs of the new millennium will be the development of our innate PSI functioning. But it is so profound and paradigm shattering that it will be fought tooth and nail by those individuals and institutions clinging to the existing belief structure.

It is part of our mission of PSI TECH to take on this quest. And to offer tools to all who wish them to develop their full potential as human beings.

Note: Carl Jung was shunted in his day for declaring that something called the unconscious mind existed. He stated before he died in 1961 that the inevitable development of the human “Intuition/Instinct” (PSI functioning) would be the next big change for mankind. We at PSI TECH believe that Technical Remote Viewing is the language that will actively precipitate that change.

Dane Spotts is the CEO of PSI TECH & the founder and president of Mind-Tek (formerly Zygon Intl)which is a cutting edge mind research company. Dane’s inventions include the Brain Supercharger, the SuperMind Quest programming computer, the Learning Machine® & he has also authored several books. Dane is committed to aggressively oversee the continuity and continued progress of PSI TECH and Technical Remote Viewing®. http://www.danespotts.com