Diamonds might be forever, or at least for several hundred million years, but diamond jewelry is slightly more fragile and requires some maintenance to keep it looking brilliant. Dirt and gunk, not to mention the skin's natural oils and everyday wear and tear, can dull the sparkle of even the brightest diamond, so here are some tips to keep your diamond jewelry bright and shiny:

• Clean jewelry is warm, soapy water. Use a soft brush – an old toothbrush makes the perfect tool! 
• Use cleaning products designed for diamonds, or mild soap like dish detergent
• Take the metal of the jewelry's band and settings into account and verify that your cleaning product won't tarnish or dull the gold, silver, or platinum
• Remove jewelry when using abrasive cleaning products, especially those containing chlorine or bleach
• Don't wear diamond jewelry while cooking or operating heavy equipment or while performing heavy manual labor
• Take off the diamonds while playing sports – this is also a safety issue!

A diamond is most vulnerable to chips and cracks during the setting process, especially at the girdle and corners. This holds particularly true for princess cut diamonds.

Dirt and damage aren't the only dangers to your diamonds. Owners of fine diamond jewelry should consider keeping their pieces in a safe or a safe deposit box, because burglars will zero in on a jewelry box right away. One of the major advantages to jewelry is that it is relatively light and easily transportable, but this makes it easy to steal, as well.

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There is a new addition to Anjolee's "Diamond Dreams" collection – the Timeless Dreams Tennis Bracelet, now available on Anjolee.com.

Since the Timeless Dreams Tennis Bracelet, like the other tennis bracelets in the Diamond Dreams collection, features almost no spaces between its links and all the brilliant round diamonds are set in nearly-invisible prong settings, the eye is drawn to an apparently seamless row of fine diamonds rather than to the hardware.

Customers order the bracelet according to their specifications – deciding on the type of metal and the number of links. The diamonds themselves are available in 11 different sizes that range from 2.5 carats to 13.5 carats. The Timeless Dreams Tennis Bracelet became available for online purchase from www.anjolee.com on August 20, 2010, at a starting price of $1,143.25.

Anjolee's "Diamond Dreams" collection has received rave reviews. In the words of one extremely satisfied customer: "I love that we were able to choose the size, color and clarity and that I got a strong setting that allows light under the stones. My gorgeous bracelet is extremely well built!" More customer reviews are available in the Feedback section of Anjolee.com.

Anjolee.com features the largest customizable diamond jewelry available online: diamond tennis bracelets, diamond earrings, diamond necklaces and diamond pendants, gemstone bracelets, wedding and engagement rings, and more. Anjolee customers have a unique opportunity to construct diamond jewelry to order, according to their preferred metal, diamond quality, size, and/or length. Anjolee.com features high-resolution, 3D images of every piece of jewelry it sells.

The quality of Anjolee's jewelry surpasses the industry standard. Anjolee, which has been in business for over 30 years, institutes a strict quality control process to make certain that customers receive only the very best jewelry products as well as top-quality customer service.

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A sepcial post written by Iris Hortman, IDI's information officer. 

Art and precious stones come together in this 15.90 kg prayer rug woven from 18k yellow gold and set with 27,104 gemstones.

Owned by Kathryn Bonnano, the rug was created in France over the course of a decade, from 1980-1990 and boasts dimensions of slightly more than a meter by 60 cm. The rug includes 1,242 diamonds, 4,580 emeralds, 1,888 rubies, 8,428 blue sapphires, 12,988 pink sapphires, and 9,668 yellow sapphires. All told, the rug contains a total of 14,000 carats of precious stones.

For five years, gemstones from all over the world were gathered, polished, and cut to fit the rug's design. It took another five years to complete the complicated setting process, which required the highest expertise to place the gemstones in their exact places in the design. In addition, the rug's surface had to be smooth and the stones were accordingly adjusted to give the rug a coherent look and pleasant feel.

All the gemstones set in the rug are oval-shaped and measure 6 X 4 cm. The brilliant cut diamonds were set using prongs, a method common in bracelets. Tassels of gold chain were also created for the rug.

After its completion, the prayer rug was sent to the Gubelin Gem Lab in Switzerland to be inspected and certified, where a random one percent of the stones in the rug were analyzed. The gemological analysis required special preparation and the microscope that was used was assembled on a metal rod that could move over the various parts of the rug, while another rod held the rug up from below.

Prayer rugs are widely used in Muslim Asia and the Middle East. While decorative traditions vary from place to place, prayer rugs usually feature a central decorative motif surrounded by a smaller, repeating decorative theme. This bejeweled prayer rug features a diamond shape with a large flower depicted in the middle. At each corner sits a smaller diamond and flower.

The central diamond is bordered by inverted red triangles on a green border and a pattern of sideways S's.

Photo credit: Gubelin Gem Lab

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