Independent Jewellers

4 I N DE PE N DE N T J E W E LL E R S WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2018 Congratulations to everyone at Independent Jewellers on your grand opening of the new store! TMLAWYERS.COM DAVID KING Partner Property Development & Real Estate p: 204-988-0420 e: dcking@tmlawyers.com REMO DE SORDI Managing Partner Corporate & Commercial, Financial Services and Real Estate p: 204-988-0362 e: rdesordi@tmlawyers.com FRANK LAVITT Partner, Head of the Tax Department Best Lawyers™ Tax Law "Lawyer of the Year" award in Winnipeg – 2018, 2016, 2012 and inclusion in The Best Lawyers™ in Canada 2019 in the fields of Tax Law, Corporate Governance, Wills, Trusts & Estates since 2008. p: 204-988-0438 e: flavitt@tmlawyers.com Celebrate your special day with the right ring BY PAT REDIGER Independent Jewellers wants to ensure that your wedding has the right ring to it. Over the past 80 years, the store has been a premier destination for customers to shop for perfectly-crafted engagement rings to make their wedding experience complete. Independent Jewellers carries a diverse selection of engagement rings, from the clean simplistic pieces of Mark Schneider to MaeVona's Scottish- inspired rings. And Independent Jewellers is the only dealer in the city that carries Forevermark Diamond Jewellery, a recently-released jewelry brand that is focused on beautiful, rare and responsibly-sourced diamonds. Complementing the store's outstanding selection is an experienced and passionate staff that educates customers on all their options. "We love to help people find their dream engagement rings," says Rebecca Smith, a sales associate at Independent Jewellers. "It's a wonderful time in your life and we want to make shopping for your ring a wonderful process. We have a dedicated team including a goldsmith and gemologist on staff." Independent Jewellers understands that much like no two weddings are the same, helping every customer find their perfect engagement ring is a unique process. When you begin your search at the store, the staff will ask you some basic questions: What is your budget? Is there a particular style you have in mind? Are you looking to buy a fully assembled ring or a semi mount? The staff will then guide you through the all-important step of selecting a diamond for your ring, getting you to consider the four Cs: colour, clarity, cut and carat weight. Smith says these factors are "huge players" that will determine the look of your ring and how much you ultimately spend. Carat is a term that many will be familiar with, though you may be surprised to learn that it actually refers to the weight of the diamond and not necessarily its size. The cost of the ring goes up as the carat size increases, so you may have to decide if it's worth having a heavier ring or spending more money on the look of the ring, which is largely determined by the other Cs. The cut refers to a diamond's ability to reflect light. An excellent cut diamond will reflect as much light as possible while a poor cut will see a lot of light lost out of the sides or bottom of the diamond. The clarity refers to how many inclusions are in your diamond. Inclusions – little spots and specks – appear naturally in diamonds that are formed in the earth. Diamonds have less inclusions as the clarity increases, leading to a cleaner look. Colour is an interesting factor due to the number of options available. Although white diamonds are common types purchased, there's also an opportunity to add some colour to your ring. "Naturally coloured diamonds are very rare and they're quite a bit higher in price, but you can also buy diamonds that have been treated to be a blue or a pink, for example," Smith says. "We don't see that as much of that in our store, but we can get those treated diamonds in if people are interested. Some other common colours you see are yellow and brown." There is a common misconception that people should spend two months' salary on an engagement ring. This can cause some shoppers to focus more on how much they're spending over other factors surrounding the ring. Smith says it's important to focus on buying the right ring for you, not necessarily one priced at a certain level. "If you want to spend two months' salary that's great, but it really depends on the couple," she says. "We have people who want to spend $500 on an engagement ring and they're looking for an alternative to diamonds. We also get people who want to spend many times their monthly salary and that's OK too. What really matters is that when you come in and you look at the diamond, what do you see and how does it make you feel it? If you think it looks beautiful, sometimes those little details are so important. It's that butterfly feeling." ❚

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