In today’s society, there has been much focus on the word “value” – and rightly so. In tough economic times, only the foolish don’t stop to evaluate the best way to spend their dollars. By most definitions, the term “value” means what you get relative to how much you spend. Lately, however, most advertising has equated value with simply being the cheapest. And that’s a big mistake.

Value in a Nutshell
The real factors of value are: 1) the amount you spend; 2) the fulfillment of a want or need; and, most importantly, 3) the degree of personal fulfillment over time.

We can use these factors for determining the value of just about anything. Is a $0.75 cookie a better value than a $1 apple? Well, it’s certainly cheaper. Over time, however, the nutritional properties of the apple and how it benefits your whole body likely make it the better value.

The Value of Jewelry
Jewelry is a unique commodity in that it has an inherent global monetary value. Society values precious metals like gold and platinum, as well as gems like diamonds and sapphires. These factors build in a lasting sense of monetary worth over time. That a ring lasts longer than, say, a sandwich, also brings a sustained value to jewelry.

Perhaps, the one factor that increases the value of jewelry more than any other, however, is the sentimental attachments we bring to it. Do you have your grandmother’s antique wedding ring? Would you ever sell it? Do you have your daughter’s baptism or christening pendant? Would you sell that? Of course not. We don’t sell these things because the value they have has nothing to do with their price. And that’s why using cheap as a synonym for value is more of an advertising trick than an actual representation of value.

True Story
I have a seven-year-old daughter who just loves kitty cats. When she was just five, I brought home this diamond cat pendant for her. She loves it. She takes very good care of it, keeping it in a safe place so that it won’t get lost or damaged. She doesn’t wear it every day, only for special occasions like family gatherings or school pictures – you know, the times when little girls want to look and feel special.

We sell that pendant for just $99 at SuperJeweler. We think that’s a pretty affordable price for this particular pendant. What I had not taken into consideration at the time, however, was just how attached my daughter would become to this pendant. To see such a young girl show such responsibility and affection for it is something that also brings me happiness. And you can’t put a price on that.

This is the Way We Give Jewelry
Jewelry is not like chocolate or a sweater where the price can often be the first factor. After all, you wouldn’t give her a piece of jewelry she didn’t like even if it was free, would you? Instead, the first thing we consider is what she likes. When we find the styles we are looking for, we then try to find those styles within our budget. The ultimate goal when giving jewelry is to wow her as soon as she opens the box, then have her be wowed again, over time, whenever she wears it. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a piece that she wears only on special occasions or a piece, like an engagement ring, that reminds her every minute of every day how much she is loved. The right piece of jewelry truly is priceless.

SuperJeweler: Value Jewelry
At SuperJeweler, we take all of these factors into consideration and work hard to offer you a wide array of choices so that you can find the perfect piece. We also offer jewelry at a wide range of prices because, while price might not be your primary consideration, it will still always be a consideration.

Valentine’s Day is approaching quickly. We know it’s a very popular jewelry day. So whether you are shopping for engagement rings, diamond heart pendants, or any other piece of jewelry for Valentine’s Day, SuperJeweler has the jewelry you are looking for … at a real value.

Last Tuesday in Hong Kong, a huge and very rare, 5-carat pink diamond was auctioned off for – get this – $10.8 million!

The stone itself, which is of a “vivid pink” color has been considered nearly perfect, but not completely flawless. Still, the bidding was fast and furious for it at Christie’s Autumn Sales of Asian and Chinese art in Hong Kong.

By comparison, this huge diamond ring totally smashed the previous record, which was set 15 years ago in Geneva, when a 19.66ct stone sold for a measley $7.4 million. This new pink gem sold for $2.2 million per carat, which set another record as the most ever paid for any diamond at auction. And that record is likely to stand for quite some time.

So where does this diamond stand in comparison to other diamonds sold at auction? Well, it still has a ways to go to catch the “Wittelsbach” blue diamond, a 17th-century stone that went for a whopping $24 million last year.

Still, if $10.8 million is a little out of your budget, we have some other diamond rings at SuperJeweler.com that might be a little more in your range.

Okay, you have all seen them: those hokey, cornball jewelry commercials the national chains drag out every Christmas. They are full of unreal scenarios and terrible acting. Never ones to just sit and complain, however, we at SuperJeweler decided to take matters into our own hands.

Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you: The Best Christmas Jewelry Commercial Ever.

For several months, we at SuperJeweler have been planning ways to save you money on jewelry gifts for this holiday season. It all kicks off today, so we wanted to take a moment to highlight all of the money saving offers we have going on right now!

Crazy Sales
Every day from November 23rd – November 29th, we will be featuring a crazy deal on one particular item each day. When you come to the SuperJeweler Homepage, you will see a banner for the crazy deal of the day. We will also keep you updated via social media and through emails. Not to let the cat out of the bag here, but we are going to have some great stuff for less than $100 this week.

One and Done Deals
We introduced our One and Done Deals last month, and they have been a big hit! The idea is simple, each day we post an item of which we have only one remaining in stock. We mark the price way down. And when someone buys it, that’s it; it’s gone for good.

Deal of the Day
Our SuperJeweler Deal of the Day is similar to the One and Done Deal, except we have plenty to go around. Each day we pick one of our more popular items and highlight it at a great price. It’s new every day, so keep checking back.

Social Media Discounts
Each week we offer an exclusive deal to our friends at Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. Starting Friday, November 27th, however, we will be offering exclusive deals EVERY DAY in all three places until December 31st. So, if you aren’t friends with us yet, you should be: SuperJeweler on Facebook, SuperJeweler on Twitter, and SuperJeweler on MySpace.

Email Sales
In addition to all of the above, we will also be running sales through our email blasts! To sign up for our email sales (3 per week), just look for the little birdie on the right side of the SuperJeweler Homepage. It’s that simple.

At SuperJeweler, our customers mean everything to us. And we work really hard to help you get really good jewelry at really low prices. This holiday season, we are working even harder.

Check us out.

Some things are a surefire winner every time: red roses, blue jeans, and vanilla ice cream. The same goes for diamond jewelry. Fellas, if you show up with diamonds, you know you did it right. Sometimes, however, the surefire winner isn’t always the best choice; and it certainly isn’t the only choice.

What if, instead of a dozen red roses, you showed up with a beautiful wild flower bouquet? What if instead of vanilla ice cream, you showed up with strawberry cheesecake ice cream? What if, instead of diamond jewelry, you showed up with fine gemstone jewelry?

See, there is something that is exceptionally wonderful about NOT going for the obvious choice – in veering from the script. When you go for the not-so-obvious choice, it requires a little more thought. It requires you to think more about the gift. I means you look for something that is more representative of your relationship, whatever that relationship may be.

For instance, if you have an anniversary in September, try sapphire jewelry. Sapphire is the September birthstone. As an anniversary gift, it could mark the birth of your marriage. Perhaps your significant other is very interesting in conservation and the environment. Why go with diamond jewelry when emerald gemstone jewelry could have so much more symbolic meaning? You could even put a new twist on an old combination; instead of white diamonds and red roses, try white roses and red ruby jewelry.

Fine gemstone jewelry often makes better financial sense as well. For the most part, colored gemstones cost considerably less than diamonds. This allows you to get bigger stones, and often more daring designs, when you choose fine gemstone jewelry instead of diamond jewelry.

Too often, when people think jewelry, they automatically think diamond jewelry. While SuperJeweler.com has many, many pieces of diamond jewelry, our biggest goal is making sure you get the perfect piece of jewelry, and sometimes fine gemstone jewelry is the perfect choice!

It seems that after Halloween, everybody (especially retailers), shift gears and rush right to Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you have been shopping with SuperJeweler.com for a while, you’ll see that we try very hard to be different from other retailers. That’s why we are putting the brakes on the Christmas train right now to celebrate another very important holiday: Veteran’s Day.

SuperJeweler is an American company that is so proud to have an American workforce, but also to offer the best deals we can to the American public and beyond. We also recognize and honor the sacfrices that have been made by American veterans. Theirs is a sacrifice that can never be repaid, but it can be recognized.

In honor of Veterans Day, on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, we will be offering a very special deal in our Deal of the Day section: Our Purple Heart Pendant for just $49.

If you are on the SuperJeweler email list, you also know that we sent out a special email sale in honor of Military Family Appreciation Week. The sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform are just one type of sacrifice. Families of the enlisted also make a sacrifice. And while we are so proud those who serve, the families who support them also deserve recognition for the sacrifices they make, too.

One of the ways we honor those currently enlisted and their families is by offering free shipping to APO mailboxes. We figure that you come to SuperJeweler.com because we have fair prices; we wouldn’t want you to have to spend the difference on shipping your purchase halfway around the world. So we do it for you.

With the holidays afoot, and so many loved ones far from home, we just want you to know that you can buy men’s diamond rings, engagement rings, diamond earrings, or whatever from SuperJeweler, and we’ll cover the shipping costs for you.

November is Giveaway Month at SuperJeweler.com. Starting today we are launching four (yes, four) great new contests! Entering is easy and you can win some incredible jewelry just in time for the holidays.

Here’s the skinny:

Enter SuperJeweler’s Big Twitter Giveaway
Enter for your chance to win 1ct Diamond Hoop Earrings valued at $749!
Enter SuperJeweler’s Big MySpace Giveaway
Enter for your chance to win a 3/4ct Diamond Butterfly Ring in Two Tone 14k Gold valued at $899!
Enter SuperJeweler’s Big Facebook Giveaway
Enter for your chance to win the item of your choice from SuperJeweler.com!
Enter SuperJeweler’s Big Bloggers Giveaway
Enter for your chance to win 1/2ct Diamond Stud Earrings valued at $295!

With four new ways to win from SuperJeweler, this is going to be a November to remember. Keep in mind, however, that all of these contests end on Wednesday, November 25, 2009. So don’t wait to enter. Just follow the links above and you are on your way.

Is November great, or what?

SuperJeweler is so excited to offer a brand new feature at SuperJeweler.com: our Matching Wedding Bands creator!

The way it works is simple.

You can choose from eight (yes, EIGHT) different styles of matching wedding bands. Then you can select the type of metal you want, such as white gold or yellow gold in different karat options. You can select the widths for each ring, starting at 2mm. And you can choose the ring sizes. You can even set different values for the mens wedding band and the womens wedding band.

The best part of the new SuperJeweler Matching Wedding Bands creator is that, when you have picked the wedding bands you want, you get a 5% discount for purchasing a matching set!

That’s right. You get to create your own matching wedding bands and get a discount for doing it.

If you or someone you know is in the market for wedding bands, the timing could not be better. Check out our matching wedding bands now and start saving today!

You see makeover shows all the time. Some, like What Not To Wear, go into great detail to give you the tools to make informed choices about clothes and makeup. We’ve noticed, however, that these shows rarely talk about how to choose the right jewelry. Considering that jewelry is, by far, the most common accessory to any outfit, we though it would help if we offered our expertise in that area.

Here are just a few of the most common questions (and answers) when it comes to buying the perfect piece of jewelry.

Q: If you have larger features, should you wear smaller pieces of jewelry to create an illusion of smallness?
A. No. Wear jewelry that is scaled to your size. Wearing pieces of jewelry that are too small or too large create a comparison effect, not a complementary effect. You want your jewelry to look like a natural extension of yourself. Wearing jewelry that is scaled properly will do just that.

Q. Can the right earrings contour your face?
A. Yes. If you have a well-defined chin, you can minimize it with gemstone earrings set close to the ear. If your face is rounded, you can add the illusion of length with diamond earrings that have some drop to them, like journey diamond earrings. If you have a longer nose, try larger earrings, but ones that do not outline the earlobe.

Q. Should you avoid wearing rings if you have ugly hands?
A. No. Keep in mind, the degree of attractiveness in any part of the body is always subjective. Most times, we are our own worst critics anyway, right? Take an objective look at your hands and be honest with yourself; are your fingers more like sticks or sausages? Are your palms narrow or squared? Ask more question like this, and stay honest in your answers. When you have a good objective sense of your hands, pick diamond rings that share the same characteristics as your hands/fingers. Remember, you want your jewelry act as a natural extension of your person.

Q. Is it okay to mix different types of jewelry?
A. Absolutely. The key, as we have mentioned, is knowing your features and what will work with them. If you are choosing pieces that will complement your features, you can mix and match because you’re features are the point point of reference from which other pieces have been selected. So, if you want to wear emerald gemstone jewelry with pearls, you can.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you are shopping for jewelry and you should find that you are more satisfied with your selection. And keep coming back to the SuperJeweler Blog; we’ll be offering up tips and tricks like this from time to time.

Let’s face it, walking into a jewelry store is a lot like walking into a bank. People dressed in suits looking over guarded goods. You have to ask permission to touch the merchandise. And they often hide the price tag. How often have you loved a set of diamond stud earrings, then had them taken out of the case … only to get the sticker shock of a lifetime? We’ve all been there.

Now there is a new way to buy jewelry. It’s called One and Done from SuperJeweler. Here’s how it works.

Each day, we scan our inventory reports and find a list of items for which we only have one left in stock. Then we take an item from that list and mark it way down and put it on our One and Done page. As soon as it sells, it’s gone forever!

What does this mean for you? First, it means that you get another way to save money on some great jewelry; everybody loves that part. It also means that, every day, you have a new chance to get an item that has been a customer favorite. After all, there is only one left, right?

With the holidays coming up soon, everybody is looking for a deal. And every day, One and Done will feature new engagement rings, diamond earrings, fine gemstone jewelry, and more. Many of the items featured will be less than $100. It’s the perfect way to get something special for that special someone … especially if that special someone is you!

Check out SuperJeweler’s One and Done page now, bookmark it, and come back every day!