On Buying Jewelry
Just about everyone owns jewelry of some kind. Maybe just a few items, maybe many. And we all know that it is not inexpensive. Perhaps if the cost were substantially less, we would have more than we do. But it isn't. Or is it?
Consider a 32 gram 4 millimeter 'Rope' style chain. At a retail jewelry store it might cost as much as $1920.00. We may have in stock the same identical chain, from the same factory in Italy, where most gold chains are made. One chain could actually have come out of the machine right after the other. Our price would be about $320.00 depending on the market price of gold. How can you afford to turn down such a bargain?
The same is true of rings, bracelets, and watches. Not long ago, Pacific Loan had a Rolex President mans watch with the heavy 18K gold band. Sold new, from an authorized Rolex dealer, this watch goes for about $15,000.00. At Pacific, it was on sale for $7,000.00.
   But is it real, an authentic Rolex?
Of course it is real. An authentic Rolex with an authentic 18K band. If it were not; if it were a counterfeit, Pacific Loan and Jewelry would not still be in business after half a century.
Yeah, well then it is probably stolen, right?
Wrong. All Rolex watches have serial numbers. All serial numbers of any item, jewelry or otherwise, that is purchased or pawned are reported to the San Francisco Police Department. The item is held for 30 days before it is offered for sale, during which time the police have run the serial number through their computers to make sure it is not 'hot'.

There are other places to get what may seem like a bargain.
 Just because an item is stamped '14K ITALY' does not mean it is real. There are street hustlers that buy cheap gold plated chains or special alloys of copper that  very much resemble gold, from wholesale supply houses and then use a stamp, obtained from the same source, to mark them '14K' and 'Italy'. They may also have price tags still attached to further mislead you- the implication is that they are, in fact, stolen. An attempt to appeal to the sense of greed that some people have. How can you tell the difference?
    First of all, if someone offers it for sale on the street, or a bus station or the airport, be a little suspicious. It more than likely, but not always, will be a fake. And if it is real, it may be stolen. If the price seems too good to be true, then it probably is. Why take the chance and likely get ripped off. Look at the clasp with a ten power magnifying glass or jewelers loup. You may see that the  '14K' has been stamped over something else. Look at the surface of the clasp as well as the chain. A real gold chain will have a smooth unmarred finish. Cheap electroplated chains have a  finish that is uneven or flaky looking. At Pacific Loan, you can buy with confidence. Every chain we take in, whether it be an outright sale or a pledge, is tested to ensure that it really is gold. So, when you buy from Pacific, you know you are getting the real thing. 

A few tips about jewelry.
 Jewelry may be real gold (10 to 22K) it may be plated, or 'filled'. Plating, including the  so called Heavy Gold Electroplate is only a few molecules thick. It will start to wear off in a few weeks or so. Gold filled means that five percent of the total weight of the item is  actually gold. It will last for years. A good example is the Mont Blanc pen. They last a lifetime.

About Diamonds
A natural diamond is a little chunk of the only organic element, carbon, that was  subjected to high heat and pressure over a long period of time while buried beneath the surface of the Earth. The diamond is the hardest substance that occurs naturally in nature, and also one of the most brittle. So a diamond can be easily damaged if abused.

Did You Know? The word diamond comes from the Greek term adarnas which means undefeatable or unconquerable.

The 4 'C's
The value of a diamond is determined by four factors called the four 'C's, which are:
Color
Diamonds my be of many colors; Green or Yellow, for example. Most, however, are blue-white. Other gemstones are composed of different substances than diamonds. A sapphire, for example, is aluminum oxide. Add a little chromium and it is a ruby.

Carat weight
This refers to the actual weight of the stone in points or carats. A carat is 100  points. A one carat brilliant cut diamond will be about the size of a small pea. A one point stone isn't much larger than a pinhead and has fewer facets.

Cut
The main cuts are brilliant, baguette, and emerald. When a stone is about to be cut, it is carefully studied to determine which shape will retain most of the original size.  Brilliant is the most common- it is round and with, usually, 52 facets or surfaces, which is "full cut", hence the term 'full cut and brilliant'. Baguettes are rectangular in shape, and are usually set along side the main stone. The Marquis, Oval and Pear pictured here are also popular shapes.

Emerald Brilliant Pear Oval Marquis

Clarity
Clarity refers to the extent which a stone is flawed. Flaws are tiny specks of carbon that did not completely crystalize or may be small bits of impurities. Technically, there are no 'flawless' diamonds; if you look at them with a powerful microscope they will see some flaws, even if they are extremely small. The term refers to a stone that shows no flaws through a standard 10 power jewelers loup. Naturally, the fewer flaws, the greater value of the stone.

Did You Know? In a diamond mine, about 23 tons of ore have to be processed to produce a single carat size stone.

Diamonds, as Ian Fleming wrote, are forever and other stones are no less immortal. They change ownership from direct sales, inheritance, and in times of war invaders  usually 'liberated' gemstones and other treasures from museums and jewelry stores.

It is better to have old, 'secondhand' diamonds than none at all. Mark Twain 1835-1910

So, the stone you purchase at any store, whether it be Pacific Loan or Tiffany's, may  have been owned by any number of individuals. It's fascinating to think that a pair of pear cut ear rings might have once belonged to Marie Antoinette or some other famous person. Unlikely, you say? Perhaps, but it is possible. Diamonds are forever if they are cared for and not abused.

Care of Diamonds.
Diamonds and other gemstones, in spite of their hardness, can be damaged, chipped or even shattered, if struck against a hard surface with enough force. So naturally, one should take off their rings when working around machinery or while at other work that could cause them to be damaged, including working with harsh chemicals, acids, electroplating solutions, and etc. True that most of these things won't damage a diamond, but why take the chance? And why chance losing the stone? Have the mounting checked once a year to make sure it has not become loose. Many jewelers will do this for free, while you wait.

Did You Know? Precious stones can have a registration number etched on them with a laser. This increases the chance of getting stolen jewels back, because it and makes them more difficult to sell. And, the numbers are so small you need a microscope to read them, so this in no way detracts from the fiery brilliance of the stone, nor its value.

How can I tell a real diamond from a fake?
The average person can not; it takes time to learn about gemstones. The experts, for example, are likely to have graduated from the Gemological Institute of America. One of the things you learn is that diamonds are 'double refractive' and most imitations are not, with one exception, the Cubic Zirconia' or CZ. This man made stone fooled a lot of people, including some jewelers when they were first produced back in the seventies.
Then, when it became well known that they were flawless, some manufacturers produced them with flaws.
Several tests are available that separates the real thing from the fakes. An X-ray will do it but this isn't readily available. Scratching it with a known real diampnd will reveal a CZ but destroys its small value.
At Pacific Loan, we have an electronic device that measures the questionable stone with ultrasonic sound waves and it never fails to tell the genuine diamond from the fake.

So, if you have a stone that may or may not be real and you want to find out, take it to a jeweler or, of course, Pacific Loan. They have a sophisticated  electronic device that will tell instantly if it is genuine, as wll as many years of experience
    A couple things you have probably seen on TV should not be tried. It is not true that only a real diamond will scratch glass; many materials will. Most other precious stones, silicon or tungsten carbide... This may also damage the stone.
On second thought, perhaps diamonds are not forever. The idea that a real diamond  will not be damaged by hitting it with a hammer is totally false. As you read above, a diamond is extremely hard, and therefore very brittle. Tap it with a hammer and you will probably destroy it.

Did You Know? The largest rough diamond ever found weighed 3,106 carats. Even Elizabeth would have been  impressed! Queen or Taylor.

A Few Terms:
Karat, gold
Pure gold is 24 karat but it is too soft to be used in jewelry so it is mixed with other metals such as copper. 12 karat, then, is half gold and half other metal. 14 karat is 58.3 percent gold.
CW is carat weight and means a single stone
TCW is total carat weight, meaning more than one stone.
GMW is total weight in grams

"Which weighs more: An ounce of gold or an ounce of feathers"? Gold. Because it is measured in the metric system and there are 12 ounces to a pound rather than 16.
For more information contact Pacific Loan.