How Will You Wear Them? Angelina Jolie Style!

That's right, Ms. Adopts-unfortunate-children-from-every-continent, also pops the pearls on.

This time I will leave you with a jewelry adage regarding pearls. Because they are so sensitive to sweat and chemicals, "They are the last thing you put on before you leave, and they are the first thing you take off when you get home."

How Will You Wear Them? -- Kate Hudson Style

Inadvertantly I realize that I have been showing a dressy style and a more casual style for each celebrity. This week is no different.

Here Kate is, still dressy, but I like this picture because in some ways it resembles what Sarah Jessica Parker does with her pearls. She's really let her hair down in this photo. The long strand does wonders with a shirt, or dress that is more formless. The pearls pull the eyes in a straight line and set off her figure here. A longer strand against something a little more form fitting, and you lose that carefree style

Here she is with some wonderful pearl dangles. Completely changing the look of pearls.

How Will You Wear Them? -- Michelle Obama Style!

The First Lady knows how to rock these gems. A quick search of pictures of her and you'll see she favors a classy single strand for a majority of events. They dress the black tee up quite a bit, but I'm bias as I can't seem to find a reason to take mine off.

I also pictured her here with a cluster of strands similar to Kathrine Heigl. If you're looking at a fun piece of jewelry to dress up an evening gown, this is obviously in style.

Don't Like Diamonds? An Alternative, Gemstones

Don't want a diamond center to your engagement ring? You don't have to.

Whatever the reason (everyone else has one/you watched Blood Diamond and are worried about getting a conflict stone-don't be! I'll cover that soon, you love sapphires, etc.) you should know that gemstones back in medieval times were /the/ gemstone everyone used.

Before diamonds, it was customary to pick a stone of importance, like a birthstone, or favorite color. Some gemstones are thought to give good luck, help you sleep better. If you can think of a problem, the ancients thought of a gem to cure it.

The first real diamond engagement ring was in 1477. Given by Archduke Maximilian of Austria, to his bride. Just like us all wanting the jewelry we see on stars today, it sparked a huge trend. So, if you decide diamond's are not for you, you aren't alone.

If you are not a fan of diamonds, but also don't want a colored stone as your center, you could get some of the clear alternatives.

First up, I suggest white sapphire. On the hardness scale, it ranks as a nine so it's great for everyday wear. It's pretty and stronger than a clear quarts, but does lack the fire diamonds are known for.

The second best is moissanite. Moissanite is a man made diamond.  And honestly they look great. Most jewelers have a hard time telling them apart from diamonds. As a jeweler who sells this, they all have kind of a greenish-yellow hue. Yellow is normal in diamonds, but the green is the give away. There are so no such thing as a colorless moissanite (at least not yet).

Ultimately, I am a fan of you getting what you want, you are the one who has to wear the ring.