As always if you have any questions please feel free to let us know! #ThumbsUp #WeAreHereToHelp
A flat plane on the surface of a gem created by cutting and polishing. In a traditional round brilliant cut there are 58 facets!
The very top facet of a diamond is known as it’s table. It is the largest facet on the gem which allows us to see through it down into the gem or diamond below.
The upper facets from the girdle to the table make up the crown.
The girdle is widest part of the gem, where the crown on top meets the pavilion below.
The lower facets which compose the underbelly of a gem are known as the pavilion.
The very tip of a gem is called the culet. This tip can come to a point, or be finished off with a single facet like Old European Cut Gems and Diamonds!
]]>Not to long ago in the distant past I worked in the corporate jewelry retail world! Yep I worked for the big box stores like Zale's & Reeds jewelers for example! Every jewelry store I have ever worked in one thing has always remained consistent! We always kept the store clean. The showcase glass was cleaned all day long, shelves were dusted, stations were organized and tools were put in their place. One thing that was always cleaned out daily (sometimes twice a day) was out ultrasonic machine! But we didn't use store bought jewelry cleaner and we did not order jewelry cleaner in bulk from our suppliers. No we used.....are you ready......Mr. Clean! Yes that is correct! All purpose Mr. Clean (the green bottle because it smells better IMO)! Its perfect for your Moissanite gems! We use it in our shop to clean your new beauties before they head off to you in the mail! Heres the how to below.
How to Clean At Home:
1). What you need to do is grab 2 small bowls or plastic Tupperware containers. Mix in 1/4 part Mr. Clean & 3/4 Parts Water. Fill a separate bowl with water for rinsing later.
2). Grab an old toothbrush (soft bristles)
3). Let your jewelry soak for a few minutes in the solution. Then take one out at a time and GENTLY brush around the stones and gems removing the oils & dirt.
4). After cleaning rinse your jewelry in the separate bowl of water. Then pat dry with a paper towel.
And thats it. Your jewelry will look amazing I promise! Never again buy the small 5 oz jewelry cleaners from Walmart or Amazon for $5.00. Its really a waste of money!
A few Disclaimers:
1). Never use this solution for semi precious stones like opals, pearls, emeralds, or any coated gems like mystic topaz! This will damage your gemstone. Just remember RED, WHITE & BLUE! Diamonds or Moissanite, Sapphires & Rubies.
2). All gold & Platinum metal is also ok with this solution.
3). As a precaution you should always check the stones to make sure they are not loose before you clean your jewelry. Stones can fall out if they are loose while cleaning your jewelry. If in doubt please consult your local jeweler. They are always happy to help. This is always a free service in just about any jewelry store to inspect and clean your jewelry.
]]>Do you need to spend thousands of dollars on a diamond engagement ring? Can you afford to spend $10,000 and up on a diamond ring? Is there another way to get "that look" or even your "DREAM RING" without spending thousands of dollars? Well fortunately you landed at Port City Jewelers. We specialize in diamond alternatives like Moissanite, eco friendly gems, and getting you into your dream ring without breaking the bank!
I have been in this business for 15+ years and one of the most common questions we get asked, is "how much should I spend on my engagement ring?" Well if you ever went into lets say a mall jeweler, they will more than likely tell you 3 months salary. Blah Blah Blah... This however is not a true statement. I mean why would you want to spend 3 months salary on a ring right? With the day and age of the internet you can now shop comfortably in your own home and get better pricing than the bog box stores out there still in Mall's and the new trend these days, lifestyle centers! Most times college graduates coming out of school are loaded with student debt, car payments etc etc! I used to see it all the time where these young adults would stop in the store and rack up a credit card or even the stores own credit card and go in debt once again for another $5-10 Thousand just for a run of the mill engagement ring! Being from the corporate world, I was not able to offer my customers Moissanite (a more affordable alternative to diamonds). That was just the companies policy; not to offer Moissanite! I mean these stores out there invested heavily in their diamond merchandise! One store I worked at for about 8 years had a $2.5 million dollar investment at their cost! Why would they want to offer Moissanite a better alternative when they invested in diamonds already! "Sell what you have on hand" & "ABC, Always Be Closing," is what I always trained my employees on!
Here at Port City Jewelers we believe you should spend what you comfortably can afford. Port City Jewelers offers so many unique styles and plenty of diamond alternatives like Moissanite by Charles & Colvard, NEO Moissanite from our friend Mr. Guy Stimpson from Wholesale Moissanite and our exclusive brand Eternal Moissanite which is the most diamond like Moissanite on the market and has the best pricing PERIOD! Heres a few examples of Moissanite in the different brands.
Eternal Moissanite Round Brilliant Cut -- EF Color from Port City Jewelers on Vimeo.
The Luna Ring 8CT Eternal Moissanite Round with Baguette Sides in 14K white gold from Port City Jewelers on Vimeo.
NEO Moissanite Round Brilliant Loose Stone from Port City Jewelers on Vimeo.
Port City Jewelers offers NEO Moissanite engagement rings starting at $595.00 in our 6 Prong Solitaire! Even at this price point these rings will look just like you spent $10,000+ on her ring! Moissanite is awesome like that! We also offer NEO Moissanite loose with the BEST PRICING GUARANTEE! If you find it online less expensive than ours you better contact us because we will beat their pricing hands down! We also have our own brand of Moissanite called Eternal Moissanite! Our Eternal Moissanite is all VVS1 clarity and either EF Color (Colorless) or GH Color (Near Colorless)! Our Eternal Moissanite is also priced better than any other brand out their on the NET!
Custom Design:
FULL CUSTOM
Port City Jewelers also offers full custom design. Our master craftsman has over 30+ years of jewelry design coupled with state of the art computer CAD design, 3D Printing and casting equipment! This allows Port City Jewelers to build your DREAM RING at super affordable prices! Most people hear, "custom design" and try to steer clear of it because it sounds expensive. But not with us its not. The difference with us is we LOVE what we do and we do not believe that you should have to pay more just because its a custom piece. Get in touch with us today so we can help you design your dream ring. See our Custom Design Section or Email us!
SEMI CUSTOM
What is SEMI CUSTOM? Well most all jewelers out there in the market to day will have access to numerous vendors/suppliers. One of the most well respected suppliers in the market today is Stuller. If you are in the jewelry business then you know about Stuller. There are many different ways that companies use Stuller. Most companies mainly use them to order gold casting grain to cast jewelry with or use them to order shanks and heads to make jewelry items with like solitaires or earrings. Some companies use Stuller to order "findings" (clasps, heads, prongs, chain, ring shanks, etc). I have used Stuller my entire 15 year jewelry career. Every repair jeweler out there has an account with Stuller! Stuller also offers finished jewelry and loose stones as well. Stuller also has a LARGE selection of engagement semi mounts that they cast and set to order. For example Port City Jewelers offers a wide range of their mountings on our site. We mainly use these styles because of their popularity and the affordability aspect. A lot of other jewelers do the exact same thing in their online stores and even brick and mortar stores but just do not disclose that info. There are 1000's of Etsy sellers as well that claim to be "handmade" items but they to are using Stuller as a source to have their pieces made for them. There are even some eBay & Amazon sellers out there ding the exact same. Most all retailers are having Stuller set the accents stones on the mountings. Once this is done then they will either set the center stone or have their jeweler set it for them or even stuller. Port City Jewelers also offers this service like other jewelers, but we choose to set all the stones in their mountings ourselves! This insures our quality control and our standards!
Once again we offer our selections at the very best pricing. If you find the same ring somewhere else you better let us know because we will beat it hands down every time!
We also have a ton of awesome VIDEO Content over on our Instagram Page! Stop by and say hello or leave a cool comment in your favorite video!
]]>A little teaser video before you get in to the details of the blog post :-) :-)
NEO Moissanite "Diamond Cut" GH Color Loose Stone - Camera Flash from Port City Jewelers on Vimeo.
Ok so here is why you should buy your NEO Mossanite from us!
Well you should really buy your NEO Moissanite from US! Why you ask? Well there are many reasons why you should buy from US and not the overpriced competition on the NET!
One reason is we will always have the BEST PRICED NEO Moissanite on the NET! Some NEO Moissanite out there on the NET is priced all over the place. Port City Jewelers believes that our customers should be able to afford their new Moissanite purchase(s). We surf the net weekly checking pricing on our competition and spend time doing a lot of research as well on the different companies out there. In our search we believe that we have the very best priced NEO Moissanite on the market! For example, there are some stores out there selling their NEO Moissanite 3CT = 9mm GH Color “Round Diamond Cut” gem for $1030.00 while for the exact same NEO Moissanite Gem, we are selling for $840.00. That is a $190 difference. That’s a huge difference for our customers! There are many many more examples of this kind of price swing out there on the NET! I implore our customers to shop around and see for your self! You will see that Port City Jewelers has the best prices....PERIOD. We only sell the very best NEO Moissanite quality available! All the NEO Moissanite we sell is VS Clarity! Each NEO Moissanite gem goes through a 3 step QC process at NEO Moissanite as well as our own QC process once we receive it in our office!
Another reason why you should buy your NEO Moissanite from Port City Jewelers is, because our time to get your NEO in from WSM (Wholesale Moissanite, the owners of the NEO Moissanite Brand) is only usually a day or 2 since we are about 2 hours away from their offices. We generally do not keep a stock of NEO Moissanite on hand and order them as needed. For this reason we are also able to keep our prices lower since we are not trying to recoup our investment by marking up the NEO Moissanite to crazy prices! But rest assured that as soon as we get your beautiful new NEO Moissanite in the office we will get it turned right around to you sneaky fast! I don’t know about you but I would be willing to wait a couple more days to save $190.00 on a 3CT NEO rather than getting it “right now” and overpaying for your NEO Moissanite!
Oh and the last reason you should buy your NEO Moissanite from Port City Jewelers is we run a once a month NEO Moissanite sale where you can save an additional 10% off your NEO Moissanite purchase with coupon code NEOSALE! Just place that coupon code in the coupon code box during checkout. Your order total will reflect the new price, which is even lower than everyone else out there!
Well there you have it! Three GREAT REASONS on why you should buy your NEO Moissanite from Port City Jewelers!
If you have any questions please get in touch with us! We would love to answer any question you may have.
FOLLOW US OVER ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR MORE CONTENT!
]]>1) Why are there so many different brands out there now?
One of the main reasons is jewelers like us want to differentiate themselves from their competition. Another reason is "some" jewelers want to give their customers better pricing on Moissanite. However, most jewelers on the NET have no real experience in selecting the correct suppliers for their businesses as they are mostly newbies in the industry. Port City Jewelers has over 50+ years of jewelry experience working in the corporate world and also self employed. We have worked and networked with tons of suppliers, companies and jewelry professionals over the years which kinda makes us experts in this field. We do not just choose any supplier to work with. We choose the suppliers that can deliver us exceptional quality time and time again! We keep our prices on our Moissanite the lowest in the market but also maintaining our high quality standards! Port City Jewelers does not believe in overcharging our customers for their Moissanite purchases like some jewelers out there do. We believe Moissanite should be affordable and obtainable!
2) Which Moissanite Brand Is Most Diamond Like?
Might get a little technical... :-)
This is kind of a loaded question, because Moissanite is a gem of its self. Diamonds are made of up purely carbon where as Moissanite are made of Silicone & Carbon in our 4H Crystal's. We work really closely with our cutters to obtain the closest diamond like Moissanite on the market! This is mostly due to the proportions of each Moissanite gem and also the quality of the crystal rough that is produced. When we speak of proportions we are talking about the cut quality of the the Moissanite gem. When speaking about diamonds the most desirable cut quality in a diamond is "ideal." Ideal cut diamonds will have a depth percentage of 59%-60%. The depth percentage of a gem is measured from the table facet to the culet. This allows the facets of a diamond to reflect the most amount of light back out of the diamond. We also do our due diligence for our Eternal Moissanite "diamond cut" rounds! Since Moissanite is more brilliant and has more dispersion than diamonds do, we work closely with the cutter to help tone down the high dispersion of Moissanite resulting in a more "DIAMOND LIKE" Moissanite. We believe that most of our customers are wanting a more "diamond like" Moissanite, since we get this question on our Instagram page just about daily.
3) How is Port City Jeweler's Moissanite prices better than other companies out there?
That question is simple with a few answers. Firstly we believe that Moissanite should not be priced like you are buying a diamond! We have noticed a few companies out there on the NET selling their Moissanite for crazy prices! Port City Jewelers does not overprice their Moissanite brands! We keep our prices lower than our competition! Secondly we believe in making your dream ring a reality! We want our customers to be able to get that look they have dreamed of without having to think twice. Lastly, "price does not relate to quality!" If you have been looking online for Moissanite for some time, then you have noticed that big price differences out there. Price does not always suggest that quality is either less or better than other brands. Like we previously stated, Port City Jewelers believes in bringing our customers the very best quality Moissanite at the very best price!
4) There are other brands that you don't sell. Why is that?
We choose to sell only the brands that we can get behind and have full faith in! We choose to sell 2 major brands! One being Charles & Colvard and the other brand being NEO Moissanite! Both of these brands are great quality and deliver exceptional fire and brilliance. Now with that said we have been approached by a couple of other major brands and even some independent brands. However, we choose to decline for two reasons. One of those reasons being the quality is just not as good as the brands we sell at Port City Jewelers! Some of the other brands are even more expensive than our current prices. So thats a no go for us! The second reason is, just how many brands do you have to sell? Could you imagine the pricing differences and products we would have to list on our site if we sold 6 different brands of Moissanite. Insane right? We choose to sell only the best while maintaining the best prices in the market!
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To further help your decision you can read more about our Eternal Moissanite in our previous blog post. Also, we have numerous videos on our INSTAGRAM page. You can also EMAIL us anytime with any question you may have!
]]>Hi there Jewelry lovers! My name is Ivey Riggs and I am the owner of Port City Jewelers. I am born and raised in Wilmington, NC! I have a gorgeous wife and the cutest daughter ever....IMO! I have always loved jewelry, even at a younger age. It was always a treat to go into stores and stare through the cases with my mother admiring the gems and all the gold chains! Gold chains like herringbones were a thing back in the day. Heck even men wore gold chains and diamond rings. I still do! Growing up I can still remember the first time my parents bought me my first 14K gold rope chain! I was so proud of it and wore it all the time, taking great care of it! Long story short I have always loved jewelry! Below I will outline my experience in this awesome business! Sorry if I get to wordy, but I like to ramble a little. If you have ever chatted with me on Instagram or email, you already know this.
Its been a wild ride since starting in the jewelry business over 15 years ago. Seems like so long ago but looking back its gone by so fast too! When I was just 20 I started in this amazing business. I could not wait to get a job doing what ever was required of me in this business! Believe it or not my very first day in the jewelry business was BLACK FRIDAY which was also my first day in the corporate world and in retail. Boy was I in for the surprise of my life! I was not ready for the large amount of people and all day on your feet! However, I was loving engaging with all the different customers while helping them celebrate their occasions and complete their purchases. I realized that each customer was celebrating different occasions and buying their loved ones like Christmas presents! It was such a happy time of the year! This is what HOOKED me into this business....the jewelry business!
As the first Christmas season was now over, I began training and learning everything I could possibly learn. Now being in sales full time, I was having the time of my life! Helping customers was so much fun and in a huge way taking part in their celebrations was also very fulfilling. Moving now just a couple years later, I was asked to run a store in Asheville, NC! I was now 23 years old and I was managing my first jewelry store overseeing a staff of 8. I could not of been more excited! After the first 4 months of taking over the store, I was able to obtain the stores first quota in 2 years! It was so exciting for my staff, myself and even the upper management (district managers). I was receiving calls from all the District managers and even the VP of sales for the area!
I have worked for Stores such as Friedman's jewelers, Zales Jewelers (twice) and also a 5 Million dollar guild store, Reeds Jewelers in Wilmington, NC! At Reeds Jewelers I sold Rolex, David Yurman, Tag Heuer & beautiful and rare diamonds alike! About 5 years ago, I went into business for myself and opened up Port City Jewelers! Moissanite has always been a love of mine, but working in corporate America I was unable to offer Moissanite to my customers! The big box stores just did not carry it in their stores. Moissanite is a very affordable so be aware of that when you are shopping around on the net or on social media! Moissanite should be affordable and not priced like diamonds! Here at Port City Jewelers we believe that engagement rings and jewelry should be affordable while maintaining our high standards and bringing exceptional quality to our beautiful customers! Our Moto is, "Creating Memories With Beautiful Jewelry!" We love each and everyone of our customers and enjoy taking part in celebrating in your milestones and occasions in your life!
If you would like to learn more about Ivey Riggs (the owner) then please head on over to my Linkedin Profile below.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivey-riggs-9110b027/
We look forward to hearing from you and what occasions we can help you celebrate!
]]>Now my mind is wondering what I should say! Should I tell her the truth? Should I tell her it's a diamond?
"Your right, it's not a diamond, it's a Moissanite", I say to my sister!
A look of judgement comes from my sister face and a look of why?
Awkward right?
Well THAT NEVER HAPPENED!
WHY CHOOSE A MOISSANITE INSTEAD OF DIAMOND?
There are a lot of reasons customers choose Moissanite over DIAMOND. Here are just a few below that I have personally used in my long career selling high end diamonds to customers.
1) "Ive been told that when shopping for a diamond if you stay under a 1ct center then you will save money on the loose diamond." I myself being in the jewelry industry for many years now selling diamonds in 5 million a year guild stores have even used this line in my own sales approach many times. I must say that it helps close a sale of a diamond sale keeping the customer under budget or even maybe slightly over budget. While this tactic is a good one, it really is just a sacrifice in order to keep you under budget, but you may be sacrificing your dream ring at the same time.
2) "I'll just buy my diamond on discount websites, like eBay or BlueNile to save money." While you can save money buying from sites like mentioned above, you are not able to touch hold and feel the diamond before you make the purchase. As mentioned above, being in the jewelry business for a while now I too had to leap this hurdle (objection) with each customer that brought it up. Easy though since we had the diamonds in stock and were able to let the customer realize that you do not always get what you think you will receive when ordering from diamond websites. On eBay more especially there are sellers offering fracture filled treated diamonds. Fracture filled diamonds should be an entire new blog post...however to put it simply fracture filled diamonds are diamonds that are a low clarity like an I2 clarity. Then the company will remove the imperfections making the diamond a higher clarity. This is always noted on the diamond certificates and must be known before you make the purchase. However, the prices of these diamonds are way to expensive for what they should be.
3)"You can sacrifice a little on color and clarity to get the size diamond you have dreamed of." This is probably the one used most often to overcome the price objection to get the perfect size the customer is wanting to obtain. I too have used this one as well over the years. Many customers over the years have come in and expected to pay a certain price for their diamond. Lets say for example a 1.50CT round. Coming in they had no clue of what goes into a diamonds cost and how they are priced according to the 4 C's (Carat, Color, Clarity, Cut). This to should be another blog post, but to put it simply the higher up the grading scale the more rare and more valuable each diamond becomes. Many times I have helped customers get their 1.50CT round diamond by sacrificing a little on color and a little on clarity. Its a great tactic, but once again you are settling and sacrificing what really matters most!
There are many other ways you can save money by sacrificing, but why in the world would you want to do that?
There are a few issues as well with the Diamond Industry and how they are priced! Here are just a few
1) In 1938, the diamond cartel De Beers began a marketing campaign that would have a major impact on engagement rings. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the price of diamonds collapsed. At the same time, market research indicated that engagement rings were going out of style with the younger generation. While the first phase of the marketing campaign consisted of market research, the advertising phase began in 1939. One of the first elements of this campaign was to educate the public about the 4 Cs (cut, carats, color, and clarity). In 1947 the slogan "a diamond is forever" was introduced. Ultimately, the De Beers campaign sought to persuade the consumer that an engagement ring is indispensable, and that a diamond is the only acceptable stone for an engagement ring.
2) A diamond is not an INVESTMENT. I have heard so many untrained sales people and even customers over the years say that buying a diamond is an investment. This is just not true. An investment is an asset that you plan to sell at a later date for a profit. However unless your world is turned upside down financially, then you probably never really plan to sell your engagement ring right? If you must sell it as a last resort, then you will never recoup what you paid for it, and I mean never! Would that be considered a bad investment? I think so :-(
3) Young adults should probably spend their money in smarter ways, like paying off student loans or saving money for a down payment on a house! Don't get me started though on student loans. OMG they are so expensive these days! I do not even know how these young adults can come out of college ahead in life! Buying a $10,000 diamond definitely will not help matters after college.
4) Oh and the elephant in the room! BLOOD DIAMONDS! Most jewelers have adopted the Kimberly Process however can we really vouch for all brick and mortar jewelers out there today? Just food for thought.
SO WHAT THE HECK IS MOISSANITE?:
Moissanite, or natural silicon carbide, was discovered over a century ago when Nobel prize-winning French chemist, Dr. Henri Moisson found tiny particles of the substance at the site of a massive meteorite strike in Arizona.
The stone was named Moissanite in his honor.
Years later, scientists created the gemstone that we know as Moissanite today.
There are now so many brands out there today! Our Eternal Moissanite is also really awesome and is a very good substitute and what we call a "diamond like" Moissanite! We also sell Charles & Colvard and NEO Moissanite! Both are excellent brands of Moissy! Some other jewelers out there like ourselves have tried to adopt brands themselves, but the product is not as nice our Eternal Moissanite and their prices are OUT OF THIS WORLD! Moissanite should not be expensive and priced like a diamond! It should be a fun buying process and also affordable at the same time :-)
WHAT DOES MOISSANITE LOOK LIKE?:
Here are a few videos from our Instagram page below that we uploaded to Vimeo.com
This beautiful Eternal Moissanite is our Round "Diamond Cut." The "Diamond Cut" is faceted perfectly to tone down the high dispersion of Moissanite, giving it a more diamond like appearance! This Eternal Moissanite is our GH Color Round Diamond Cut" which faces up really white compared to the competition out there today! And its super affordable unlike out competition out there.
Eternal Moissanite GH Color "Diamond Cut" Round GH Color from Port City Jewelers on Vimeo.
Below is our Eternal Moissanite Elongated Cushion Cut in EF Color! Look how beautiful each facet is placed on our Eternal Moissanite!
Eternal Moissanite elongated cushion cut EF color from Port City Jewelers on Vimeo.
HOW DOES MOISSANITE COMPARE TO A DIAMOND?:
First, Moissanite a lot less expensive than a diamond. A 1ct Moissanite goes for $300-$400 as a loose stone whereas a 1CT diamond could run anywhere from $3,000 to $20,000 and even more depending on cut quality, color and clarity.
Secondly, Moissanite is more refractive and has more brilliance, which gives it more fire and sparkle! Oh Yeah!
Third, Moissanite is not as hard as a diamond (about 9 to 10 on the mohs scale) but the difference is negligible. We can set Moissanite in any type of metal and apply heat to the stone just like a diamond!
Like diamonds, Moissanite can range from colorless to some color. Moissanite will be a little more expensive as you get closer to colorless. However the cost for a colorless Moissanite is a lot less than the highest grade of diamond comparatively.
SO WHY ARE COUPLES CHOOSING MOISSANITE INSTEAD OF DIAMONDS?
Couples aren’t necessarily choosing Moissanite because they don’t have the money to buy a real diamond. They’re not necessarily planning on upgrading it to something else someday either.
Moissanite is a choice. It’s not settling at all. Moissanite is the eco-friendly, affordable, conflict free & SMART choice for your new engagement ring! It just makes sense all the way around.
In my mind, everyone choosing a diamond is settling by not questioning the propaganda that has pressured them for years into thinking that a diamond is what they DESERVE!
SO WHY DO I NOT TELL PEOPLE ITS NOT A DIAMOND?
It's really your choice to tell people its either a diamond or not a diamond. I would say most of our customers do not tell their friends or family that they choose Moissanite and here are a few reasons why.
First, I think it’s rude to compare rings. I don’t care about the cut, color, carat or clarity of anyone else’s engagement ring so why should you go into the details of yours?
Second, no one will ever bring it up. Our Moissanite rings look great, so no one will question it. After selling diamonds for many years, Moissanite out performs diamonds hand down no matter what price point diamond you may have been shopping for!
Third, most customers do not tell anyone that their ring is not a diamond since I unfortunately know how some people would react. Most people don’t want anyone to judge their relationship because of the ring. It's honestly the customer driving the decision to get a Moissanite stone instead of a diamond from the beginning.
Also most customers do not share that the ring is not a diamond because they try to keep their personal views on controversial topics close to the vest and don’t think it’s worth getting into a potentially dividing discussion with family or friends. Most customers also do not want their opinion to make someone else feel bad or feel like they have to defend their decision to get a diamond. Everyone can make the right choice for them.
HERE ARE SOME TIPS ON HOW TO BUY MOISSANITE AND WHERE TO BUY IT?:
1) DO NOT BUY MOISSANITE AT YOUR LOCAL JEWELER! Most jewelers will not have any clue first of all what the Moissanite pricing should be for the particular brand. I have heard horror stories from a few customers where they overpaid by $300-$400 for the same Moissanite stone we can get from Charles & Colvard just for example.
2) Don't go to big if you are trying to pass your Moissanite off as a diamond to your friends & family. Stay in the Moissanite carat weight range that would seem affordable if you purchased a diamond from your local jeweler. If you are ok with telling your friends that your stone is a Moissanite then do not worry about the size of your Moissanite! GO AS BIG AS YOU WANT :-) And if you just do not care what people think, then still GO AS BIG AS YOU WANT!
3) Our Instagram page @PortCityJewelers has a TON of useful video content showing the different brands with a lot of content centered around our exclusive Eternal Moissanite gems! Our Eternal Moissanite gems are AWESOME and very diamond like. They also are the most affordable Moissanite on the market today! Oh and we do not Compromise quality to bring you Eternal Moissanite! Moissanite should not be expensive! Always give us a call, find us on social or send us an email and we will find you the perfect Moissanite way below other price points out there!
4) Do not be afraid to choose Moissanite over a Diamond! You'll be sure glad you did!
Follow Us On Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/portcityjewelers/
Author: Ivey - Port City Jewelers ©
Creating Memories With Beautiful Jewelry®
Date: 9-21-17
]]>In September of 2015 the Patent on faceting silicone carbide (Moissanite) into gemstones ended! The monopoly on this little gem lasted for 17 years!
So what is Eternal Moissanite?
Eternal Moissanite is Port City Jewelers' brand of Moissanite! We own the name and the rights to Eternal Moissanite. Eternal Moissanite is priced much lower than our competition out there which makes us really affordable. How do we have the better pricing you ask? Eternal Moissanite is not sourced from a wholesale company. Below is a chart to better explain how a traditional markup strategy would play out from manufacture to the end customer and how we are different than most other jewelers out there today.
Other Reasons Why BIG BRANDS are more expensive:
Jewelers online or even the rare brick and mortar stores that sell other brands of Moissanite like Forever One Moissanite must go through a wholesale company to purchase their Moissanite. For example, retail jewelers that sell Forever One Moissanite by Charles & Colvard cannot buy Moissanite directly from Charles & Colvard at wholesale prices. Jewelers must go to one of their authorized wholesale companies like Stuller.com for example. Stuller is a HUGE wholesale company that specializes in many different aspects of the jewelry business and they have been around for over 30 years! Stuller is an authorized re-seller of Charles & Colvard Moissanite. They will buy from Charles & Colvard and take their markup to to resale to jewelers like us who in turn take an additional markup for their retail customers. This is just one of the reasons that BIG brands are more expensive than our Eternal Moissanite! You are also paying the Big Brands high marketing expense which is factored into the price of each Moissanite stone.
So What Makes Eternal Moissanite® Different?
Well to start, we offer the VERY BEST Moissanite Pricing...PERIOD. Our Eternal Moissanite® is priced 15-25% lower than our competitors on average, sometimes even more depending on the shape.
Eternal Moissanite® is also VERY DIAMOND LIKE in all the different shapes and sizes. We have spent hours upon hours perfecting each cut with our manufacture. Our Eternal Moissanite also performs really well in all types of lighting conditions. We have a TON of video content on our Instagram page (link below).
We offer just about any cut shape and size in the market today! Each Eternal Moissanite® is cut to order, which means you don't have to worry about a certain shape or size being out of stock! Some brands out there are having a hard time keeping up with demand and will run out of stock at times for months on end. Most times we can have certain shapes and sizes in the office within 2-4 days. Some larger shapes and fancy shapes might take up to 7-10 days to arrive to our offices from our cutter.
How Is Eternal Moissanite Made?
Eternal Moissanite uses a 4H crystalline polytype Silicon which allows Eternal Moissanite to produce the best "diamond like" Moissanite on the market without any compromises on quality.
Each Eternal Moissanite gem undergoes extensive quality control process's where each rough crystal is checked for impurities. Eternal Moissanite gem's are all VVS1 Comparable.
Once the Eternal Moissanite rough gem has been through its QC we then facet or cut your Eternal Moissanite to the desired shape & size while maintaining an excellent polish. Our gems are cut just like high end diamonds are created with zero compromises!
After your Eternal Moissanite is faceted we then send it off for heat treatment to lock in the color and hardness for the life of the Moissanite!
After final inspection your Eternal Moissanite is set in your new ring or jewelry design created by Port City Jewelers.
If you have any questions please contact us anytime!
]]>In today's market with the boom of the internet in the recent years and eCommerce stores popping up everyday, it makes it easier for consumers to sit at home and buy just about anything they want from brands across the globe. Knowing the company before you make your purchase is a MUST!
It has recently come to our attention that even some successful online companies that use platforms like Etsy, eBay & Amazon that specialize in engagement rings, are not even taking part in the actual build process of their jewelry! Some of these jewelry companies are just great marketing companies that outsources all of their work to other companies to have their jewelry made. Some have even purchased jewelers tools to make themselves look like a real jeweler. It was a huge shock when we stumbled across these companies recently!
Port City Jewelers has over 35+ years combined experience so we kinda know our stuff! There is not anything we cannot take on or have made for our customers! Oh and we do our own work! Just ask yourself this, do you want the company that you have been communicating with to actually be the ones to make your ring or would you like that company to contract it out to another company? I think I know the answer to that question. I would want the company that I was communicating with to actually build the ring or jewelry I was wanting.
There are some ways though that you can validate your jeweler. Here are a few below.
How To Validate Your Online Jeweler
There are many ways you can validate the jeweler you are considering working with!
1) Have them send you pictures of their recent builds. Ask for images of the CAD Renderings, Wax Model, rough casting, polishing, rhodium plating, steam cleaning and stones being set! This will validate that they are the ones doing the work. If they cannot or will not provide this type of content then you should look elsewhere for your dream ring.
2) Ask the company how long they have been in the jewelry business and what are some of the most difficult builds they have completed recently. Ask for their resume of sorts and interview that company before you start working with them.
Ivey Riggs, the owner at Port City Jewelers, and has been in the jewelry business for 15 years alone. You can check my Linked in profile by clicking the link below. My entire career has been involved in the jewelry business! I know my stuff and what kind of designs will work. I'll apologize in advance if I speak jewelry lingo to much and get to chatty :-).
3) Is the company your consulting with on Social Media? Do they post pictures of the behind the scenes type content? Do they post how each one of their rings or jewelry items are made or do they just post completed rings on their social media accounts? Are they able to give you picture or video content of their build process?
4) Does the company offer a repair service on site if problems occur down the road? If the company built your jewelry themselves then they can definitely repair your ring for you if problems arise down the road.
**Some jewelers out there on Instagram, Facebook have even went to the expense of purchasing jewelers tools to make them selves look like a jeweler, but they are not :-(
Here at Port City Jewelers, we will show you the entire process privately or post to our social media accounts for you and the world to see our amazing work! Each one of our custom rings is made in our shop and never outsourced like some out there.
Please read our other blog post about this titled, "
How Is Their Customer Service?
I get emails from customers each day asking me all kinds of different questions and that is good, because I believe that our customers need to be educated before they make their decision. Educating our customers is our #1 Priority! Port City Jewelers has over 50 Years combined experience in this amazing business! We will definitely be able to answer any of your questions. We usually respond rather quickly :-)
We have heard some horror stories about other companies out there saying one thing and then doing another! All our policies are completely outlined in our Customer Service tab.
When you contact us either VIA phone or email we want to make sure that you are first knowledgable and
Do They Offer A Warranty?
Here at Port City Jewelers when you design a Moissanite Engagement Ring with us we give you a FREE 5 YEAR warranty on any accent side stones (which includes diamonds, moissanite or gemstones) in case one may fall out due to reasonable wear and tear. We take great pride in our builds and LOVE OUR BEAUTIFUL customers. So when you buy from us we love to stand behind our rings we build for our customers.
The warranty however does not cover jewelry that has been worn irresponsibility, damaged intentionally or altered in any way by another jeweler. For example, if you purchase a ring from us in a finger size 7, have your local jeweler size it to a 5 and stones begin to fall out then Port City Jewelers cannot stand behind our work and cannot be held responsible for repairs.
Please see our Warranty Page for more details.
However, other companies out there (not gonna mention any names) only give you a 1 year warranty on loss of stones. Your center Moissanite is warrantied through the Moissanite Brands like Charles & Colvard, NEO or Eternal Moissanite.
Our jeweler has over 30 years of experience in jewelry design, casting, setting stones and repair, so when your dream ring is finished, you will be able to wear it proudly without worry! But if issues to come up, please contact Ivey and we will be glad to assist you with your warranty work :-)
As for our Moissanite brands we carry, they all offer their own warranty, but the NEO has the best warranty in the market! NEO Moissanite's warranty covers chipping, clouding, scratches & even the color! Our Eternal Moissanite covers the color and also clouding, chipping & scratches....which will never happen by the way! Moissanite is AWESOME like that! Its a tough gemstone!
If we can help answer any questions or educate you in any way please do not hesitate to contact us anytime.
or
910-338-9751 and ask for Ivey!
]]>This will be kind of a short little blog post! I get emails everyday from clients that inquire about either designing a ring or purchasing loose Moissanite. They all ask different questions and we love to answer all of them :-). We absolutely LOVE to help our customers become more knowledgable about Moissanite and our Custom design process.
SEND US A REQUEST FOR A QUOTE:
When sending us a quote request, please include the following:
1) Any supporting images or sketches that you can send us is really helpful. We cannot 100% duplicate copyrighted designs, but we can come really close. Most times we can make changes to the design to make it even more beautiful. If you have an idea and haven't spoken with any jewelers yet, we would love to create you a one of kind piece!
2) If you have been quoted a price with another jeweler we would love to earn your business. Just send us an email with what you've been quoted with the other jeweler. We will get right to work and get you a quote asap.
WHY WE ARE LESS EXPENSIVE:
Port City Jewelers has over 35+ combined years of experience in creating truly 1 of a kind engagement rings! We do everything in house at Port City Jewelers when it comes to custom design unlike other jewelers out there. This allows us to keep our prices lower than our competition. As your ring is being built with Port City Jewelers we give you the behind the scenes picture and video content of your build. We love to take our customers with us while we build your dream ring! Some companies out there are not able to offer this type of content to you, because they actually do not handle the labor part of your build. Most online companies out there today will have access to design programs such as Stuller's counter sketch. Stuller is a huge company that offers wholesale pricing of jewelry related goods to members of the jewelry trade. They even have a full time custom shop on site! Once the jeweler online creates your design it is then sent to Stuller. Stuller actually builds the ring from the ground up and sends it back to the jeweler so they can send it their customer. This process cost a lot of money and that is always passed off to the customer. The company that you ordered your ring from does not cast your ring, they do not set your stones or even polish and finish out the ring at all. They may have ordered some jewelers tools to make them appear like they are a jeweler, but they are not.
Now this is not true of all online jewelers out there today! If you challenge most of the companies out there offering custom design to send you picture and video content of the ring build they will most of the time be more than happy to send that along. I challenge our customers to shop around and see for your self! Ask the company that you want to do business with to give you content of the build process! Also ask yourself, do you want the actual company you ordered your custom ring from to make it for you or do you want another company you have no rapport with to make your dream ring for you?
Why we are different:
Port City Jewelers does all their custom design work in house! We DO NOT have to pay ANY company labor fees, casting fee's or CAD design fee's! There are a few companies that we have noticed out there that do not actually build the rings they say they are designing. They may draw up an image or computer image but they do not actually take part in the build process. Port City Jewelers does all their work in house!
We do have an account with Stuller and use them quite a bit! However we have NEVER used Stuller for our custom designed rings and will never use them for that service. Port City Jewelers uses stuller to order raw metal casting grain to create our rings and also any accent diamonds, gemstones or anything needed. Our Moissanite we use is sourced from Wholesale Moissanite, who also owns the NEO Moissanite brand! Oh and they are only 2 hours down the road. Can you say ROAD TRIP SOON! Yes!
This is just one of the reasons we are able to offer our customers awesome pricing when it comes to custom design. We also believe that you shouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg to afford your dream ring! That is why our motto is "creating memories with beautiful jewelry!"
EMAIL US AT:
Disclaimer: Port City Jewelers does not condone or take part in copyright infringement and respects the rights of other retailers intellectual copyrights and designs. Port City Jewelers will not out right copy or re-produce copyrighted items by persons or brands! If you send Port City Jewelers a design from one of our competitors we cannot and will not re-produce the exact copy of that design. Port City Jewelers will go to work with our own CAD design software and create you a similar design. Port City Jewelers does not have the ability to copy any items or jewelry items based off an image and have it be 100% exactly like the image. Port City Jewelers cannot load an image into our CAD design software to create an exact copy of the design image you the customer may send us. By contacting us you are in compliance with this disclaimer
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