By Gregg Solomon found at huliq.com November 22, 2007

Up to 132.9 million Americans will spend Friday ("Black Friday"), Saturday, or Sunday shopping, according to a National Retail Federation survey.

While 55.1 million people said they definitely plan to shop this weekend, 77.8 million said they may or may not shop, according to the survey conducted by BIGresearch for the NRF. Half of those consumers plan to buy jewelry this year, and about one in six of those will shop for diamonds, according to a survey by National Jewelry.

Many of this year’s post-Thanksgiving shoppers will be young adults 18-24, as nearly half of them (47.2%) said they definitely plan to shop the weekend after Thanksgiving to avoid the crowds expected this weekend.

“Though some people incorporate holiday shopping into their Thanksgiving traditions, others wait to see where the good deals or sales are before they set their alarm clocks for Friday morning,” said NRF president and CEO Tracy Mullin. “Retailers know that customers are looking for good values this holiday season and many will be offering prices and promotions that are too good to pass up.”

Shenoa & Co. the fast growing online diamond retailer is prepared to weather the storm onto its websites. “We always sell for less, year round, without any gimmicks for the holiday season,” says Scott Cowan, Shenoa’s COO.

Indeed, “Bypassing the jewelry shop and getting all the information and selections you need online -- you'll snag a better deal than you could at traditional retailers. In an industry famous for high markups and perpetual closeout sales, diamond e-tailers have brought clarity and competition to pricing jewelry.” Says Scott Devitt, a senior analyst at Legg Mason: "They expose diamonds for the commodities they are."

E-tailers' costs are continuously lower than those of local jewelers because e-tailers spend less on labor, insurance and leases, and they keep their inventories slim.

Comparing online jeweler Shenoa & Co. with Zale Corp. for example, which owns Zales stores, Bailey Banks & Biddle and other chains - for every dollar that Shenoa & Co. pays suppliers for stones and settings, it sells finished diamonds for $1.30. But for every dollar Zale hands suppliers, it sells items for $2. Mall retailers also stock their merchandise for weeks, sometimes months before they see a dime from customers, while Shenoa and Company orders merchandise only after customers pay. As a result, Shenoa and Company has to keep items in inventory for only a matter of days.

E-tailers, as an online retail group booked about $500 million in engagement-ring sales in 2006. Most of online sales are to men, who, in general, prefer the Internet for jewelry-shopping.

This season colored diamonds are the hottest trend. “They’re very unique and stunning,” says Leon Bitelman, CEO of Shenoa, “And they are increasingly popular.”

Yellow diamonds for example are esteemed for their subtly dramatic appeal. The glow of a yellow stone illuminates a woman with an aura, for all to see.

There are many different shades of yellow diamonds, depending on the lightness and intensity of the yellow hue. While pure, rich shades are the most prized and sought after, whereas the lighter tones that are softly dramatic appeal to a select few.

Imagine diamonds the color of champagne bubbles rising up in a crystal glass, or the shade of warm cognac, catching the light at every angle. Or even the sheen of honey and caramel, soft and sweet as they glow. If this is the case then the yellow diamond is for you.

The range of shades available for brown diamonds is striking. Like an artist’s palette, each brown diamond is a unique blend of colors. Brown diamonds come in shades from champagne to cognac and are found in Australia, Africa and Siberia. The Argyle Diamond Mine in Western Australia is perhaps one of the largest producers of these gems.

On The Red Carpet at the Academy Awards, actress Cameron Diaz wore a 20- carat cognac-colored diamond with a Prada dress, while actress Jennifer Love-Hewitt flaunted a 7 carat brown diamond ring.

The hot favorites of connoisseurs, the pink diamonds are considered the treasure of treasures. Pink has always been associated with femininity, love and grace. A pink diamond is their ultimate symbol.

Pure and reddish pinks are the most popular, followed by orange and purplish ones. Pink diamonds have only been found in a few mines across the world making them rarer then most of the other colored diamonds.

The spotlight came to the Pink diamonds only recently, when actress Jennifer Lopez’s infamous 6.5 carat plush pink heart shaped diamond engagement ring drew the attention of the rich, famous and fashionable across the world. After widely reported allegations that football player David Beckham had an affair with personal assistant Rebecca Loos, a well known UK newspaper reported that Beckham bought his wife Victoria a $1 million pink diamond ring as a surprise birthday present.

Blue is the color of the clear water of the sea when mixed with the brilliant reflection of the blue sky as shown in these remarkable gems. Blue diamonds are considered extremely rare. Ranging from the pale blue of a robins egg to the Royal blue of a kings robe, each shade is exquisite.

A little known fact about blue diamonds is that some blue diamonds have the ability to conduct electricity. Blue diamonds are extremely rare. However, the use of them in the movie’ Titanic’ performed a valuable role in educating the public about the existence of blue diamonds!

The Hope Diamond, arguably the most famous diamond in the world, is of an extraordinary deep blue color and weighs 45.52 carats. It was brought from India to Europe in the 17th century, when it was still known as the Tavernier Blue, and sold to King Louis XIV of France. It came to be considered bad luck for all its subsequent possessors, including Marie Antoinette, consort of King Louis XVI, Lord Francis Hope, and later American aristocrat Evelyn Walsh McLean. It is now displayed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.

Pure green diamonds are very rare since their natural green color comes from exposure to irradiated particles over eons of time. With perhaps only one new green being introduced to the market each year pure green stones are more highly valued than their yellowish green or green-yellows counterparts.

Orange diamonds are so rare to receive a color grading of pure orange, that many collectors have never seen one. More common, yet hardly abundant, are orange diamonds with a color modifier such as brown or yellow. Prized for their beauty and rarity, orange diamonds are one of the most sought after colors by prominent collectors.

Often confused with a secondary color violet, purple is a dominant and rare find in nature and color diamonds. As purple color is correlated to internal grain formation, the cut is exceedingly important to color release. So rare are these pure purples, there has yet to be revealed a large, historically important pure purple diamond.

Also often confused with the green family, the olive diamond occupies a distinct, separate three dimensional color space adjacent to green. Bordered in this space by grey, black, brown, yellow and green, pure olive stones often have one or more of these modifiers to impart true uniqueness to its hue.

Black Diamonds are beautiful gems and are often fictionalized in books and movies. The depths of a natural black diamond are almost hypnotic as light absorption is almost complete and the play of light retained is most unique. With a very large range of modifying colors, collectors prize them and fashion jewelry is only now beginning to appreciate their special qualities.

Red Diamonds are the rarest of the fancy color diamonds. In fact, they are so rare in nature that most jewelers and diamond dealers have never even seen a natural red diamond. The world's largest red diamond is known as the Red Shield, and weighs "only" 5.11 carats, compared with over 600 carats for the largest diamond of any kind.

As a blending of black and white, grey is a non-spectral color that makes all others possible. In pure form, grey diamonds are flinty in appearance and to an untrained eye, can come quite close to colorless stones. But they are a highly prized rarity and offer also a wondrous range of modifying color combinations.

Shenoa and Company was founded in 1980, Shenoa and Company is one of the fastest growing online retailers of certified diamonds and jewelry. With photos, drop down menus and special features, the Shenoa Web site makes it easy and affordable to shop for jewelry. Color Diamonds are the hottest trend this holiday shopping season and best quality and values are available from Shenoa & Co

Shenoa and Co can be reached at www.shenoadiamonds.com, sales [at] shenoa [dot] com or by calling (866) 743-9268
sales [at] shenoa [dot] com
www.shenoadiamonds.com