Fine Jewelry Shopping For The 20-Something With Diamonds Direct!

     I headed down to Richmond this weekend for the most fun event that I'm so excited to share about with y'all today! I attended the Diamonds Direct Designer Holiday Trunk Show. It was an afternoon filled with the prettiest jewelry and lots of sparkle, and I also was able to seriously brush on up on my find jewelry education. Let me show you all of the stunning jewelry pieces and jewelry designers that I got to know on Saturday: 

Today's post is sponsored by Diamonds Direct. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Southern Belle in Training!

     Diamonds Direct has stores across most Southern states and a few midwest/western states as well. I remember hearing a lot of radio advertising for their Charlotte, NC store during the years that I lived there! I was absolutely thrilled when the Short Pump location reached out to me to partner with them. Short Pump is a high-end retail neighborhood in the west part of the Richmond metro area, and it's become one of my favorite destinations for weekend trips, as it's very convenient to get there from Charlottesville! Their annual Designer Holiday Trunk Show is a grand event, with representatives from some of the most popular fine jewelry lines visiting participating stores with special merchandise. Almost everything in the store was 20% off over this weekend's event. What an amazing deal to purchase a fine jewelry gift for someone or yourself Christmas, or an engagement or wedding ring! 

     I had a couple goals in mind for attending the Designer Holiday Trunk Show event. 1.) I thought it would be really fun to try on a few engagement rings! I've never even given much thought to the type of ring that I'd like someday if I get engaged, so I thought it would be cool to try a few on and see what types of styles that I like, for when that time comes someday! 2.) I was really excited to check out their selection of gemstone pieces, and especially hunt for those under $500. As I'm getting into my mid 20s, I'm realizing that while I have a huge collection of fashion and costume jewelry, I have just a couple of fine jewelry pieces. With the years to come, I'd like to save up for more fine jewelry that will last through the years, rather than just cheap trendy pieces. I was excited to see the types of gemstone pieces that Diamonds Direct had in-store.

    First- a recap of the engagement ring "search" process. (So funny to type that as I'm very single!) First up was a ring sizing! I learned that I'm in between a 6.5 and 7 (6.75? Haha!). My friend Abigail, who came with me to help with the photography in this post, had her ring finger sized as well. She learned her finger was smaller than she thought- which shows how important it is to know your accurate ring size!

     I tried on beautiful engagement rings from Tacori and A. Jaffe. Another line that I absolutely loved looking at were the engagement rings from Henri Daussi. I think that as of now, my dream enagement ring would be either a halo, or a solitaire with a larger karat diamond!

    

     Good news for us single ladies or anyone already married- Diamonds Direct has many more varieties of diamonds than just engagement rings! They had the most stunning diamond earrings, right hand rings, bracelets, necklaces... everything diamond that you could possibly think of, and more! Many of the stunning diamond jewelry pieces are from the store house brands.

     I wanted to try on a pair of diamond hoop earrings, and I was just in love with the ones that were suggested for me to try! Such a timeless and classy piece. The current silver hoop earrings that I own I purchased at least 10 years ago in high school, and I'm 99% certain they were under $10. So it's safe to say these gorgeous hoops from Diamonds Direct were a big step up for me!

     You can see here that there are diamonds on the inside of the earrings as well- Diamonds Direct goes the extra mile to make sure their hoops have the most sparkle!

     As stunning as all of the Diamonds Direct diamonds are, this store has so many gemstone jewelry pieces as well! I couldn't wait to head over to those cases and explore.

     My birth stone is sapphire, so I adored getting to try on these two pieces! The brand on these is Real Gems. The bracelet is pink sapphire and diamond, and the ring is classic blue sapphire. These might be two of my favorite things that I got to try on!

     The next ring, pictured below, is an incredible morganite stone. I love the rose gold tones of this amazing gem! Now I really want something with morganite. 

     As I shared earlier in this blog post, one of my goals for my store visit was to find several gemstone jewelry pieces that would be perfect "treat yourself" gifts, or nice gifts for a special woman, like your mom, sister, or best friend. It became pretty clear to me that Tacori is a fabulous jewelry line for these types of pieces! Tacori is sold at fine jewelry retailers nationwide, and Diamonds Direct Short Pump had a fabulous in-store selection. I loved these amethyst drop earrings and the long gemstone necklace, shown below! 

     I also loved this gemstone bracelet from Tacori. Look at how it's adjustable so that it's easy to put on and take off your hand! 

     And finally, this stunning gemstone ring from Tacori. Ahh! I love pretty much anything that is teal or aqua in color, so this ring was definitely one of my favorite pieces in the entire store. This would make a beautiful right hand ring, or cocktail ring! 

    The Tacori selection at Diamonds Direct Short Pump includes many pieces that are under $1000, and a fair amount that are under $500 as well! One beautiful ring that I tried on was $325. This is a great price point for one of your first pieces of fine jewelry- it's definitely an investment, but if you save up for it you won't break the bank! 

     The Designer Holiday Trunk Show also featured some delicious treats (think gourmet mini cupcakes!), and they even had a photo-booth company on-sight for the later part of Saturday afternoon! The whole store was bustling with activity during the time I was there. It's clear that the Diamonds Direct team goes all out for this annual event, and there was definitely excitement in the air! 

     To my Virginia friends- if you have any engagement ring or fine jewelry needs during this holiday season, I highly suggest an in-store visit to Diamonds Direct Short Pump! If you're a Charlotte reader friend, they have a store there as well.  And if you're not in Virginia or North Carolina- don't fear, as Diamonds Direct has stores in 12 states! Thank you so much to Diamonds Direct Short Pump for the invitation to this holiday event, and for letting me play dress-up with such beautiful jewelry! I'm already dreaming of so many pieces to start saving for.

     God Bless,


     xoxo Annaliese