How to test the purity of amber jewelery

Use these tests to determine whether the jewellery is worth your money or not:

1. Use your eyes - while buying amber jewelery, using your eyes alone can help you save a lot of money. If you come amber necklaces, amber pendants, amber rings, amber earrings, amber bracelets or any other Baltic amber jewelery with the same insects, poised in the same position in all the pieces, you should be wise enough to bail out. Too many pieces with strikingly similar insects and trappings indicate that they were probably manufactured.

2. Static electricity test - interestingly, amber is as important in science as it is in jewellery making. Real amber gets electrostatically charged on rubbing whereas fake amber doesn't. Rub amber with a piece of cloth and take it to bits of paper. In case of real amber jewelery, paper will stick to it.

3. Ultraviolet light test - if a beam of UV rays is hone upon a piece of amber, the amber will show fluorescence which fake amber would not.

4. Heat test - if you bring a hot needle close to real amber, it will give off a resinous smell. On the other hand, fake amber would burn with an unpleasant smell.

If the jeweller knows that his amber jewelery is genuine, he won't shy away from confirming it with the above mentioned tests. On the other hand, if someone is trying to pass plastic as amber, they will forbid the tests citing company policy or other such excuses. Buying amber jewelery online is a great way of staying safe. You can search the internet for customer reviews of each company and zero down on trusted sellers.

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Why Choose a Guided Tour in Rome

Rome is a vast city and the capital of Italy spread out across a large area that at one time was actually villages on the hills that were enveloped through conquering leaders into this massive city. All those that wish to embrace Rome and learn what it feels like to say, "I am Roman." must hire a private guided tour company.

The only true way to feel the passion of the people of Rome is by having a true Roman as your tour guide. In Italy, one must know that a driver is a driver and a tour guide is a tour guide. By law, a person cannot perform the duties of a tour guide unless they have studied, passes tests, and been given a license from the Italian Government. If you happen to hear your taxi driver ask if you want a tour of Rome in which he will provide, you will not be receiving an official tour and may miss many of the wonders you wish to see.

A professional and licensed tour guide is passionate about their job and providing all visitors with an in-depth tour of Rome while allowing them to embrace the history, culture, and passion that is Rome. 

 

By choosing a professional tour guide, you will also have the chance to create your own itinerary and see all the sights you wish to see even if you only have a few hours to explore. At Rome Tour, they are experts at creating custom tailor made tours that will ensure you and your family will be able to embrace Rome and feel the passion. With a private tailor made tour you will be treated like a VIP. You will not have to stand in long lines and you will avoid all the tourist traps. The tour guide wants to see all of Rome that you have time to see, avoiding the tourist traps and the long lines is the only way to ensure this can be accomplished.

No matter where you arrive, the airport or at the port, at Rome Tour they will meet you with a sign bearing your name. Then you will be off to meet your official tour guide. You will be able to share your thoughts on the sites you want to include in your tour or you can choose to take a private tour of the various faces of Rome. The faces of Rome are vast just as the 2500 years of history of Rome. Within Rome, you can visit Ancient Rome, Jewish Rome, Christian Rome, Renaissance Rome, Baroque Rome, Medieval Rome, and Underground Rome. Along with these options, you may wish to enjoy a cooking tour or a wine tasting wine, or possibly a Vatican City tour.

The choices are wonderful as you can embrace many wonderful sites to see around Rome with a personal tour guide that will be with you the entire time to ensure you are safe while making all the locations around Rome come to life. 

Mallorca Property Boosted by Falling Interest Rates

The latest RBS Interest & Exchange Rate Forecast makes gloomy reading in terms of the worldwide economic outlook but at least offers the prospect of greatly reduced interest rates in the months ahead.

As previously reported the rapid decline in world economies, many moving into recession particularly in Europe, has moved the agenda away from concerns of inflation to one fully focused on stimulating flagging economies. In the Eurozone last months half point cut in rates came after a concerted period of near obsession over inflation pressures even though many economists had highlighted that these were always likely to weaken towards the end of 2008 and the main threat was one of recession.

Whatever ones view we are now in a period when global interest rates are on a sharply declining path that should, according to the RBS, see Eurozone rates back down to 2% by mid 2009.

This will offer much needed respite for property owners in Mallorca that have seen mortgage repayments rise sharply over the last 18 months. That said it is important to point out that with most Spanish and Mallorca mortgages on reviewed annually it will take well into 2010 for much of the benefit of falling rates to feed through to the repayments of individual mortgage holders, but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime it is likely that where necessary banks will work with customers most in need to renegotiate mortgage terms and stave off the threat of widespread default.

Regarding exchange rates, some of the hoped for strengthening of Sterling against the Euro, which would have helped boost some extra interest from British buyers of Mallorca property, has fallen away as fears for the UK economy increase. The RBS foresee relative stability in the Euro - Sterling exchange rates in the months ahead with some only modest improvements in the value of the UK currency.

David Novi is founding Partner of Mallorca property agents, Novi Property Mallorca (http://www.novipropertymallorca.com), Mallorca Chartered Surveyors, Mallorca Real Estate Search and The Mallorca Mortgage Business.
David specialises in advising private and corporate clients on all aspects of buying property in Mallorca including investment appraisal, property and site finding, development project management and funding and is a member of the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors).

David also writes articles on the Mallorca and Spanish property markets offering clients a detailed insight into market conditions generally and the attractiveness of individual investment opportunities. The Mallorca Property News web site displays a selection of these publications.

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