When a Look Is Worth the Investment: When to Buy Fine Jewelry

You’re fine buying impulse-based fashion jewelry. Here’s how to “move up” to buying an important piece of jewelry for yourself.
Because earrings are an essential element of the jewelry wardrobe for many women, at least one pair of fine earrings is required. Yep. We said required.
Decisions, decisions affordable fine jewelry!

Who’s buying what?

But let’s say you’re all over the idea of buying fine jewelry for yourself. Go for a pair of earrings. Women often buy earrings for themselves as well as give them to others. Because earrings are an essential element of the jewelry wardrobe for many women, at least one pair of fine earrings is required. Yep. We said required. Ways to go? Consider classic diamond studs, a chandelier style that uses your birthstone, a decorative design that shows off an interest in a hobby, or perhaps huggies or buttons that spotlight a favorite or often-worn color.
Many women are very comfortable buying pieces that are purely metal. Chains are common, whether to hang on their own or in groups or as the base for a pendant. Gold is the most common fine jewelry purchase. Platinum is another option. If you’d prefer a more economical white or silver metal, sterling silver is incredibly affordable and can be found in designs of all sorts.
When you’re really not sure

Jewelry and fashion. Fashion and jewelry. Can you really separate the two? When combined with skill, each element makes the other better for the effort.

Fine jewelry can do just about anything. It can make a statement out of jeans and a T-shirt. It can give you confidence when you’re lacking it. And it simply feels special — there’s nothing like the glow gemstones and precious metals give you.

Fashion jewelry is often built around a fad that takes a certain look up a notch — it may become a trend; sometimes it becomes a full-blown classic. Jewelry fads often start with what’s coming down the fashion runway each season — the average woman looks for how she can pull that look together at a price she can afford, then searches for manufacturers who have created less expensive versions.

Women have become more and more comfortable buying jewelry for themselves, but let’s face it, fashion jewelry is an easy kind of buy. It’s usually inexpensive. It often happens on impulse. And you usually recognize that it’s not a “forever” piece.

Start by considering how often you’ll wear the piece. Will it become your signature piece, whether it’s a necklace, cuff or earrings? This will give you reason to spend more. You’ll want better metal that won’t wear down when you wear it on a daily or even just regular basis. That absolutely means you need to look to fine jewelry: a gold-plated bracelet will not wear nearly as well as one that’s 18K, 14K or 10K gold.

Is the piece on the cutting edge of a fad? Will you get tired of it? The more unusual, outlandish or downright crazy the piece, the more likely it will become dated. If so, then go with a fashion piece that will keep costs down and not make you feel awful if you drop if off at Goodwill in two years or hand it over to your two-year-old to play dress-up in two weeks.

Although it seems unfair, if you’re buying for yourself, it’s pretty likely it’s fashion jewelry. Women don’t always believe it’s okay to buy pieces of fine jewelry for themselves, especially ones with gemstones — though there’s really no need to wait. If he’s buying it for you, it’s more likely it’s fine jewelry. Guys are afraid to give a piece of fashion jewelry because they’re just not certain it will be perceived as heartfelt a gift as fine jewelry.

So ... if you know you’re always going to love a style of diamond drop earrings, then get a substantial pair in white gold or platinum from a jewelry store as a good investment. But if you’re only going to wear them once or twice for evenings when you need a little bling, then crystal set in sterling silver will give you that look.

Women sometimes have an issue buying diamonds or gemstones for themselves. Diamonds might seem tricky because of the obvious connection to bridal jewelry and anniversary gifts. But there’s no need to feel limited — diamonds are a fashionable girl’s best friend.  

Contemporary fine jewelry is easy to find in the gorgeous Big Three: blue sapphires, rubies and emeralds. Pearls in a wide variety of colors can also make a wonderful gift to yourself. Tourmaline comes in a wide range of colors (the widest of any gem) and can be deeply saturated or practically pastel. An unusual type is the watermelon tourmaline, which has a pink (fruit) center with a green “rind.”

If you need help, talk to an expert in a jewelry store whose knowledge of fine jewelry translates perfectly to fashion jewelry. He or she can tell you about the pros and cons of hollow gold chains, explain soldering techniques that may make that less expensive piece last longer, and help you decide between a quality bauble and a cheap one.

Fashion, by its very nature, goes through cycles. The fine jewelry you buy today may not be trendy in a few years, but if you love it, it will always make you feel confident when you wear it. There’s also something really satisfying about saying when it will surely be cutting-edge again, that you’ve had that beautiful piece for years.

Reasons to change the locks after moving into new property

Whenever you move into a new home, it’s important that the first thing you do as soon as the papers are signed has new locks installed, or at very least, re-key the existing locks. If you are moving into an apartment or condominium that is considered to be a commercial property since the spaces are leased or rented, there are reasons to change the locks after moving into a new commercial property.

Someone was here before you

Even though the apartment is new to you, it was first rented to at least one other stranger before you. Not only might this former tenant still have a copy of the key, but he or she has also probably given a copy to who knows who. The bottom line is that you want to feel safe and secure inside your apartment, and you cannot ever be completely secure if a key to your front door is roaming around in the hands of someone you don’t know.

Even if the last tenant returned the keys, Local locksmith greeley you have no way of knowing for sure whether or not the tenant made copies of the keys. The only way to gain full security in between tenants is to have new locks or rekeyed locks that require a new key, installed. Before you do anything in regards to the locks, however, make sure it adheres to the guidelines of the lease and abides by state regulations.

Are You The Landlord?

From a landlord’s perspective, it’s always the best idea to include every scenario that could arise regarding locks changes in the lease. There are guidelines to know and situations that happen between landlords and tenants when attempting to changing or not changing locks on the commercial property. Some of the scenarios that happen include abandonment or a defiant tenant.

Abandonment occurs when the tenant pays the rent through, say the end of the month but moves out before the month is over and failed to return the keys to the landlord but somehow during the course of her living there had the locks changed. Now, the landlord has no way of entering the apartment or of handing over keys to a new tenant. In this case, the landlord should notify the tenant that the locks will be changed back at the tenant’s expense or wait until the lease has expired and then change the locks back regardless. If the lease has not yet expired, the landlord does not have the right to tamper with the locks without the knowledge of the tenant even if the tenant has left.

When a landlord encounters a defiant tenant who has broken the lease by not paying rent and has destroyed the property, the landlord may decide to change the locks to keep the undesireable tenant out, but this is not legal. The landlord must first file an eviction notice and go through the proper procedures for evicting a tenant before changing the locks.

If the landlord allows the tenants to change their own locks or have a locksmith do it, it’s important to state in the lease that the tenant will then need to give the landlord a key to allow the landlord access to the apartment when necessary.

Gilbert Locksmith will discuss the reasons as well as come help you change the locks after moving into a new commercial property.

Industry Snapshot

According to the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET), an international association serving lawn care professionals, exterior maintenance contractors, installation/design/building professionals, and interiorscapers, there are an estimated 10,000 individual lawn care service providers and approximately 12,000 landscapers in the United States. These run the gamut from independent operations to franchises and divisions of large corporate chains. It's believed that the number of businesses ET Lawn Care LLC could actually be significantly higher because there are so many people doing lawn and landscape maintenance informally and on a cash basis. What is known for sure, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-2007 (U.S. Department of Labor), is that almost 1 out of every 4 landscaping, groundskeeping, nursery, greenhouse and lawn service workers is self-employed and provides maintenance services directly to customers on a contract basis. Of these, about 1 out of every 6 works part time.

The market they serve is huge. A 2005 survey by Irrigation and Green Industry magazine concluded that the U.S. green industry, which includes lawn and landscape maintenance, landscape contractors, landscape architects, irrigation contractors, and lawn and landscape product suppliers, generates $67 billion to $69 billion annually. Additionally, PLANET estimates that the landscaping services sector alone generates 704,000 jobs and $35.6 million in value-added services annually.

Who Are the Customers?
Who's driving this industry? The 77 million aging baby boomers, many of whom are affluent homeowners. They recognize the value of a well-kept lawn and beautifully designed and landscaped yard, but they often don't have the time or the inclination to do the maintenance themselves.

Of course, baby boomers aren't the only ones whose fingers do the walking online or through the phone book to find a reputable lawn or landscape professional. Other potential customers include:

Landscaping:

• Homeowners who don't have the vision, skill or tools to design their own landscaping
• New homeowners who wish to update the existing landscaping
• Homeowners who plan to put their home on the market and want to improve its curb appeal with fresh or updated landscaping
• Builders of both residential and commercial properties who don't already have their own landscaper on staff

Lawn maintenance:

• Homeowners who are frequently out of town on business
• Retirees who don't care to do their own maintenance any longer
• "Snowbirds" with winter homes in warmer climates
• Golf course managers who may need help with maintenance
• Rental property or condominium association managers who are personnel-impaired
• Facilities managers for botanical gardens, historic buildings, municipalities and other government entities, universities, cemeteries and other public places with green spaces

Types of Green Industry Service Businesses
There are numerous ways to get into the lawn and landscaping industry. The basic types of lawn and landscaping businesses include:

• Lawn mowing/maintenance
• Sod installation/hydroseeding
• Weeding or fertilizer and/or pest control application
• Landscape care/maintenance services
• Landscape design/contracting services
• Landscape architecture services

Earnings
Exactly how much can you earn? The sky's truly the limit. The lawn care and landscaping business owners we interviewed for this book earned anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 in their first year, and as much as $160,000 to $250,000 once they were in business a few years. They offer services ranging from basic mowing and trimming to landscape design, installation and maintenance, and chemical application

Lawn & Landscape magazine's 2005 State of the Industry Report offers additional insight into how much a lawn and landscaping company owner can earn. In a survey of Lawn & Landscape readers who own companies of all sizes, the average salary of the owner/president whose company revenues were less than $200,000 during 2005 was $31,273. Owners/presidents in companies with revenues above $200,000 earned $68,859 on average.