Engagement 101 is dedicated to help you plan your engagement. This issue includes many tips and ideas to plan the perfect proposal. Find your dream engagement ring among our selection of hundreds of engagement ring styles. Last but not the least, the skinny on everything a lady in waiting needs to know.

Based on previously unexamined historical documents found in archives in Belgium, England, Israel, the Netherlands, and the United States, this book is the first in English to tell the story of the formation of one of the world's main strongholds of diamond production and trade in Palestine during the 1930s and 1940s. The history of the diamond-cutting industry, characterized by a long-standing Jewish presence, is discussed as a social history embedded in the international political economy of its times; the genesis of the industry in Palestine is placed on a broad continuum within the geographic and economic dislocations of Dutch, Belgian, and German diamond-cutting centers. In providing a micro-historical and interdisciplinary perspective, the story of the diamond industry in Mandate Palestine proposes a more nuanced picture of the uncritical approach to the strict boundaries of ethnic-based occupational communities.

From In Style's jewellery editors, a guide which offers everything a bride and groom need to know about engagement rings and wedding bands

The quilt designer shares her technique for turning traditional square blocks into dazzling kaleidoscope star quilts in this guide featuring 12 projects. Quilt designer Cheryl Malkowski is always experimenting with new quilting possibilities. In Blocks to Diamonds, she shares 12 kaleidoscope star quilt patterns that use a simple yet ingenious design strategy: skewing traditional blocks into diamonds—and then forming those diamonds into stars. As Cheryl herself put it, “the results were instantly spectacular and very satisfying.” Blocks to Diamonds shows you how to create a complex quilt without the headache. With Cheryl’s step-by-step instructions, you will learn how simple techniques can be used to create unique and beautiful kaleidoscope star quilts.

In 1857, Birks was hired as a clerk at Savage and Lyman in Montreal, reputed to be the finest jeweller and watchmaker in the Province of Canada at that time. Although Birks eventually became a partner in the firm in 1868, the company's later financial difficulties encouraged Birks to leave in 1877 With an investment of C$3000, Birks opened his own small jewellery shop in 1879 on Saint Jacques Street in the heart of Montreal's financial and commercial district. In 1893, Birks went into partnership with his three sons (William, John and Gerald), and the name of the firm became Henry Birks and Sons.

The paragon of physical perfection and a sparkling example of Earth's forces at work, the diamond has fascinated all realms of society, from Russian tsars and Hollywood stars to scientists and brides-to-be. The Nature of Diamonds is an authoritative and richly illustrated look at nature's most coveted gem. Leading geologists, gemologists, physicists, and cultural observers cover every facet of the stone, from its formation in the depths of the Earth and its explosive ascent to the surface, to its economic, regal, social, and technological roles. The book takes the reader to cutting-edge research on the frontiers of diamond exploration and exploitation, from Arctic wastes to laboratories that create industrial diamonds for cutting tools that slice through rock. Charting the history of mining from its origins in India and Brazil, the book follows the diamond rush in South Africa to today's high-tech enterprises. It provides a glimpse into the economics of the diamond trade, and an overview of diamond cutting, from the rough uncut stones in early Indian and Roman jewelry to the multifaceted stones we see today. The cultural history of the diamond as both a revered and a social symbol is explored, from its early history as the exclusive property of royalty to today's brilliant-laden jewelry as an emblem of wealth and status. The engaging text is complemented by more than 200 lavish illustrations which span fine art, earth science, and cultural studies and capture the brilliance and beauty of this extraordinary gem.

Sequestered within the heart of a cosmopolitan city is an exotic world—a place where diamonds, astronomically priced, are bought and sold on the strength of a handshake, and business disputes are resolved according to ancient Jewish principles of arbitration. Yet it is also a modern industry facing the same fundamental global changes affecting all businesses today.In Diamond Stories, Renée Rose Shield leads us into the unexamined realm of wholesale diamond traders in New York. Related to several well-respected traders, she had unprecedented access to a society normally closed to outside inquiry. Here she deftly blends her personal relationship and her anthropological training to provide an insightful exploration of this tradition-bound industry, the new challenges it faces, and the ways both industry and individuals adapt to and endure change.Shield begins with a fascinating history of diamond mining, combining the story of the De Beers cartel, the role of Jews in the trade, and the part diamonds have played both in war and liberation. Throughout, she incorporates commentary by current diamond traders. Succeeding chapters explore the evolving nature of both the global trade and the New York diamond district. Shield takes a close look at the increasingly complex ethnic makeup of the district, illuminates the rarely documented work done by women, chronicles the resilient system of arbitration, and reveals the ways in which many traders work well into their eighties and nineties. Their long lives of work, cushioned by the trade's social environment, offer hints for successful aging in general.