Novica,
in association with National Geographic, has a huge
selection of handcrafted jewelry items from around the
world and at excellent prices. They sell jewelry by
region and type, with bracelets, rings, necklaces,  and
earrings from Bali & Java, Thailand, India, Brazil,
Mexico, and the Andes. To give an idea of
their selection, they currently offer 215 Balinese
bracelets alone (and many are less than $50).
Novica also sells other handcrafted items besides
jewelry such as those for home decor including masks,
mirrors, paintings, sculpture, rugs, and
tapestries. Shipping is slow, as they state on
the website, with orders typically arriving in 2 to 3
weeks, but at a reasonable rate for international
shipping (no duties or tariffs when shipped to the
US). |
JustMetal offers jewelry made in non-traditional materials such
as titanium, carbon fiber, and fine stainless steel as
well as traditional gold and platinum. Titanium
and carbon fiber jewelry are becomingincreasingly popular due to
their durability and lightness, and because some people
have allergies to the traditional materials used in
jewelry. Plus, they're generally cheaper. JustMetal
has anexcellent  selection of wedding and anniversary
rings plus pendants, bracelets, earrings, and
necklaces. Shipping is usually free for orders over a certain minimum, often less then $100. Just Metal rates a perfect 5/5 vendor rating on Epinions. |
Fossil is best known for their wide selection of stylish
watches, almost all of which are priced in the $50 to
$100 range. Some of them run higher for unique
features, such as WristNet products which receive an
MSN Direct Service feed (get sports scores in realtime!)
and a WristPDA, the world's first watch with Palm
OS. Besides their huge selection of traditoinal
watches, they also feature modern and retro selections
-  remember watches that had wide leather straps?
They have 'em - check under Men's -> Watches ->
Strap -> Casual. This also illustrates the
vast number of product categories, which can be hard
to find without a bit of searching, but for watch
enthusiasts or someone trying to find that perfect
style for themselves or as a gift, Fossil makes
it. Shipping is excellent with $1 standard
shipping (5 to 7 days), $7 Priority Mail (2 to 3
days), or $10 overnight next business day.
Fossil has a presence in about half of US states, and
if ordering from one, sales tax will be charged. |
WatchZone carries among the best selection of watches at discount prices on the net. They feature well over 50 brands in every price range with over 4000 watches in the below $30 to $100 range like Timex, Citizen, Paris Hilton, and Diesel to the midrange brands such as Bulova, Wittnauer, Seiko, Oakley, and Movado all the way up to a vast selection of luxury watches in the $1000-3000+ range including Tag Heuer, Versace, TechnoMarine, Rado, Longines, and Tissou, all at great discounts.  They carry virtually the entire line in some brands, a good example being Seiko with watches ranging from about $60 to over $4000 for their top-of-the-line Sportura model. A limitation of the WatchZone website is the ability to only display 45 items per page, even when a search or category display yields thousands, but one can narrow the selection a great deal using the price range and gender/size pulldown selectors to yield a small enough number to be manageable. Watch Zone accepts PayPal and major credit cards. They only ship FedEx, probably to take advantage of their reliability and insurance, with 2 day shipping at the reasonable price of about $11. Note that there is an $11 restocking fee on returns. Watchzone rates a very good 4.5 vendor rating (out of 5) on Epinions. |
Body
Candy offers a wide selection of jewelry for the
pierced crowd at heavily discounted prices, sometimes
75% or more off list. Body Candy includes a
section of titanium jewelry items, too. They
also carry jewelry  for the more mundane crowd
including temporary tattoos, earrings, toe rings, and
belly chains. They provide a forum for customer
reviews, always a good feature. Shipping is fast
and with a $25 or more purchase, free, with USPS first
class and Priority Mail available. Body Candy rates a perfect 5/5 vendor rating on Epinions. |
The
Jewelry Box specializes in sports and school rings
as well as military jewelry. They are all
customizable with the customer choosing the style,
stone, engraving, and other features of the
ring. Rings are available in everything from 18k
gold, generally in the $500 range, down to plain
stainless steel in the sub-$200 range. High
school rings allow  choices of activities, interests,
and school mascots. They also offer Balfour licensed college rings with the
choice of about 25 colleges plus, like high school
rings, a selection of customizable styles. In
sports jewelry, they feature licensed jewelry such as rings from all
the major professional sports organizations including
MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and NASCAR plus championship
rings. There is a selection of sports team
watches, too. The Jewelry Box has a flat shipping rate
for jewelry of $7 for ground service with upgrades
available. It is hardly worthwhile upgrading
this since most of the custom jewelry takes 4 to 6
weeks for delivery anyway. |
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