Growing up I used to play dress up as many young girls do. Sometimes mom would let me play with her jewelry which added to the experience. Of course the pieces she let me play with were costume jewelry and not so valuable that if I damaged anything she would not be heartbroken. Some of the pieces were classic in their design while others were contemporary for the time. I wished I could play with her good jewelry, but I understood that they were too expensive for play. When I grew up I wanted to have a chest full of good jewelry. Now being an adult I was well aware of the mining practices which went into extracting the pricey gems and did not want to add to that method of land destruction. I am a bit of a ‘green’ person and wanted to find an alternative. I often shopped at resale shops which carried antique pieces. Now, however, I was interested in getting a few quality and contemporary pieces. There are many stores that offer costume jewelry, but they had poor quality settings. Gold plated jewelry was not something I wanted.
While talking with one of my gal pals the subject of affordable jewelry came up. Her boyfriend had just proposed to her and she had the most amazing engagement ring. I asked her all about it. She too is a ‘green’ gal and was adamant that any ring she got be of an earth friendly variety. Further she told me that is was affordable. It looked as though it was custom made just for her. The setting was exquisite. Then she told me it was cubic zirconia. I was stunned. Cubic zirconia was far better from when it first hit the market. It was a Crislu. They are the name when it comes to cubic zirconia. Crislu has been featured in several high end magazines with many Hollywood stars wearing their fine jewelry on the red carpet. Fine quality without the price tag.