Diamond Buying Tips

Here are some of the points to keep in mind when buying diamonds.

Diamonds are graded four ways. The color, clarity, cut and weight.

Probably the cut is the most important. This is the way a diamond has been literally cut. People think it relates to the shape but this is not quite so. A number of different cuts are available and the princess cut, a square cut very suitable for rings and where you have a number of diamonds side by side in, say a bracelet, is one of the best cuts. When done well it enables all the light entering the diamond to exit through the top and not leak out of the sides, giving the diamond the best sparkle and brilliance..

You then have the clarity. All diamonds have imperfections called 'inclusions' and these affect the transmission of light through the diamonds. The less inclusions the better quality diamond and the more valuable it is.

Color plays an important part of grading diamonds. A colorless or transparent diamond is considered the most valuable and one can have yellow and even brown tinted diamonds which are worth much less. This is where one has to be careful as jewelers will not always tell you the color of the diamond (the tints can be very difficult to see by the inexperienced eye) and this can affect the value, and therefore the cost to the jeweler, of the diamond. This does not apply to 'fancy' diamonds or black diamonds which are in a class of their own.

Lastly there is weight. This is measured in 'carats'. A good quality one carat diamond can cost around 2000-3000 dollars. If you are offered a one carat diamond for around 500 dollars or so you can bet your bottom dollar the cut, color or clarity or all three are of poor quality and the diamond is probably of industrial quality, i.e. ok as a working diamond but not for display.
When a jeweler shows you a diamond then and expresses that it is a "Half carat", or a "Full carat!", ask them also about the color and clarity and if there is a certificate of appraisal to go with the diamond showing details about these qualities of the diamond.

If the jeweler cannot show this it is better to walk out and find a jeweler who can show you.
Keeping in mind the above will go a long way to ensuring that you actually get what you pay for.

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