Valentine’s Day Jewelry Gift Guide for Her

Posted by Kevin Ulrich on 5 February 2016

woman pendant

Chocolates and flowers have their place, but when it comes to Valentine’s Day gifts, what she really wants is jewelry. This year, think beyond a simple diamond necklace and get creative with your jewelry gift giving. Our Valentine's Day jewelry gift guide will help you find the perfect piece for all the special women in your life.

For girlfriends. You may not be ready to pop the question just yet, but there’s no reason you can’t treat her to a stunning Valentine’s Day necklace. Every woman dreams about opening the iconic Tiffany’s blue box. Give her your heart in 18K rose gold with the Open Heart Pendant from Elsa Peretti’s Tiffany’s collection. Tiffany’s 18k rose gold is an ethical gift choice, too; it comes from a single American mine that meets the jewelry industry’s highest standards for environmental and social responsibility.

For newlyweds. Rubies have long been given as gifts to bring health, wealth, wisdom and success to the wearer. Celebrate your first Valentine’s Day together as husband and wife with a stunning ruby necklace. The Helzberg lab-created ruby and white sapphire heart pendant is a beautiful, affordable choice. Or opt for something a bit fancier, like Macy's impressive ruby and diamond accent pendant in 18k gold.

For wives. She's been by your side through life's most beautiful moments and some of its most challenging. Whether you've been married for 5 years or 50 years, remind her she's forever yours this Valentine's Day. Cartier's iconic love bracelet is "locked" into place by the one you love. We also love Tiffany's interlocking diamond circle pendant necklace, symbolizing your two lives forever joined together.

For younger daughters. Create a Valentine’s Day tradition with the gift of a charm bracelet that you can add to each year. Start with the gift of James Avery’s classic heart charm and add from there! We also love the Pandora charm bracelet collection.

For teenage daughters: While she may be old enough to dream about her first crush and kiss (and maybe even go on dates), remind her that she’ll always have a place in her parents’ hearts. We love these 14K gold heart earring posts from James Avery and the iconic “Return to Tiffany” heart bracelet. Both are timeless gifts that she'll treasure for years to come.

For mothers: Remind her how special she is to your family with a personalized birthstone heart necklace featuring the corresponding birthstone for each of your children. We love the graceful lines of the “mother and child” necklaces from Kay Jewelers that blend mother and child together in single pendant. Or opt for a timeless statement with Tiffany’s iconic Elsa Peretti open heart pendant, featuring a larger sterling silver heart paired with a smaller one in 18k rose gold heart.

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Is your love in the air – or is it set in stone?

A diamond is a forever investment. Understanding the four C’s – carat, color, clarity and cut – will ensure that you make a smart selection. While some of these differences are not visible to the naked eye, they do directly impact a diamond’s overall quality and price. When selecting your perfect diamond, keep the following in mind:

Cut

A diamond’s “cut” grading measures whether a stone has maximum brilliance and sparkle– it’s what brings fire to the ice and catches your eye. Cut is different from the shape of the diamond (e.g., princess cut, emerald cut, etc.). The cut evaluation rates the diamond’s angles and brilliance, evaluating the diamond’s proportion, facet arrangement and overall workmanship quality. Diamond cut grades range from “excellent” to “poor” with the excellent rating resembling the ideal cut illustrated below.

Diamond Cuts

Clarity

Virtually all diamonds for sale today include minor irregularities or imperfections, although these imperfections are rarely visible to the naked eye. The minor imperfections in a diamond are caused by the liquid volcanic rock in which a diamond is created. While diamonds are primarily pure carbon, during the crystallization process, other nearby minerals may become trapped within the cooling mass, which in turn affects the diamond’s clarity.

Clarity is measured on a scale with grades running from “flawless” (virtually no imperfections) to “included” (imperfections heavily included). “Pure” diamonds are flawless or internally flawless; these diamonds are exceedingly rare and expensive. VVS-1 and VVS-2 grade diamonds have very, very small inclusions; VS-1 and VS-2 diamond have very small inclusions; SI-1 and SI-2 diamonds have small inclusions; and I-1, I-2 and I-3 diamonds are heavily included. Diamonds are graded under a 10X magnifying glass in good lighting by an experienced grader. The final grade is determined by how easily the grader can see the inclusions and blemishes.

Color

The “color” rating actually refers to the absence of color in a diamond. Like a drop of pure spring water, when it comes to diamonds, the less color, the better. The jewelry industry recognizes the highest quality gemstones by purity of hue. In order to demine the absence or presence of different hues, an experienced diamond grader will compare the diamond to “master stones” using artificial or natural northern daylight. Colorless diamonds are graded either D, E or F. Near colorless diamonds are graded G, H, I or J. Slightly tinted diamonds receive a K, L, M or N rating. Very light yellow diamonds are graded O, P, or Q; light yellow diamonds are graded R, S, or T; yellow diamonds receive a U, V or W grading and light fancy diamonds are graded X, Y or Z.

Diamond Color

Carat

The most well-known of the four C’s, “carat” is the unit of measurement for ta diamond’s weight. A carat is subdivided into 100 “points”; for example, a 50-point diamond is “half a carat” or “0.5 ct”. Today, many individuals also equate carat with size. Generally speaking, the higher the carat weight, the larger (and more expensive) the stone. However, color, clarity and cut also affect a diamond’s price; two diamonds of equal carat weight may have very different prices due to these three ratings.