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When considering a major purchase like a piece of jewellery, it’s best to make a few decisions before you begin shopping. How to identify a trustworthy jeweller to help you celebrate life’s precious moments is one such a decision – and a very important one WORDS BY ADRI VIVIERS
“I
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never exercise. If God had wanted me to bend over, He would have put diamonds on the floor,” said the irrepressible Joan Rivers – a woman whose jewellery dazzled as brightly as her outrageous wit.
But the long-celebrated love affair women have with diamonds is misleading. In fact, both men and women have had a love affair with jewellery of all kinds since preBiblical times.
considerable or very modest:
Jewellery is one of the punctuation marks in our life stories. Almost all of us have either given or received a friendship ring, a chain or ring with a religious symbol, a piece of vintage jewellery from a grandmother’s collection, a love token from a special sweetheart or an unusual item from a trip abroad. We use jewellery to mark special milestones in our lives. The price of the item may be
a precious memory, one that’s
the point is the emotional investment made in the item and what it represents for both the giver and recipient. A treasured piece of jewellery is a tangible, sentimental link to evoked each time it’s worn. On occasion, a piece of jewellery might be bought on impulse, as it catches one’s eye in a glittering window display. At other times, it can be a wonderful gift-wrapped surprise, or a sure-fire moodchanger. It lifts the wearer’s spirits, expresses a facet of their personality and marks their individuality – something
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all too rare in this era of massproduction, social networking, tech overload and hashtag sentiment.
While many customers do their homework for a planned jewellery purchase, particularly more expensive ones like an engagement ring or a highend timepiece, they must still rely on the seller to be honest, provide them with the highest level of service and behave ethically at all times. Where you buy your jewellery is of the utmost importance – indeed, it's almost as important a decision as the piece you’re planning to purchase. While you can find fine jewellery in many stores