The One In A Million

When you walk into a jewellery store and see all the diamonds in all of the various settings that are for sale, it is difficult to realize that diamonds are indeed rare. Most people don’t even stop to consider how that diamond came to be sitting in that jeweller’s case! There is quite a bit of work that is done before a diamond is ready to sell to the general public!

For every one million diamonds that are mined, only one will be found that is a quality one carat diamond. In order to find a two carat diamond, about five million diamonds must be mined. More than two hundred tons of ore must be mined to find one small diamond, and even then, more than 80% of the diamonds that are mined are only good for industrial use, such as diamond drill bits.

So, the next time you visit your local jewellery store, ask to see the one carat diamonds. You should look at this diamond with new appreciation – knowing that it truly is one in a million!

Bonded Diamonds

Before you start shopping for diamonds, consider dealing with a bonded jeweller. Bonded jewellers sell bonded diamonds, and there are very few bonded jewellers in the world. In fact, out of all of the jeweller’s in the world, only about 5% of them are bonded. Buying a bonded diamond will cost more than buying a non-bonded diamond, but when you look at what you get with the bonded option, you will see that it is well worth the extra expense.

Buy-Back Policy
First, bonded diamonds have a buy back policy for the life of the diamond. No matter how long you have had the diamond, you can take it back to the bonded jeweller and sell it back to him or her, for a 100% refund. If a jeweller does not offer a 100% buy back guarantee, for the life of the diamond, then you should take a closer look at the diamond to see what is wrong with it.

Breakage Policy
Bonded diamonds also have a breakage policy. If the stone breaks or chips, the bonded jeweller will replace it with a new one – one time. No jeweller would ever offer such a policy on any stone that was not 100% natural, so just the offer of such a policy should give you piece of mind concerning the quality of the diamond. Bonded diamonds are natural and untreated.

Market Value
Bonded diamonds increase in value, with a fixed appreciation rate that is designed to keep up with inflation. This means that a diamond that is worth a certain amount of money today will be worth more in the future, as the price of diamonds continues to rise. This generally does not apply to buy backs, however. It typically applies to trade-ins.

Alternately, by purchasing a bonded diamond, you are protected against the possibility of a market crash. If a market crash occurs, the value of diamonds will drop. However, the bonded jeweller guarantees to refund you the difference between what the diamond is now worth and what you paid for it before the market crash.

It may be difficult to find a bonded jeweller in your area, but if you can, this is who you want to deal with, as opposed to dealing with an un-bonded jeweller. Specifically tell the jeweller that you are only interested in bonded diamonds. You can find a bonded jeweller in your area by using various online resources, or by calling the local jewellery stores.

Tips for Buying Diamonds Online

With all of the potential for scams concerning diamonds, buying diamonds online almost seems unthinkable! However, you actually can purchase diamonds online, without any problems – as long as you are careful.

Why Buy Online
First, think about your reasons for wanting to purchase the diamond online, as opposed to making a purchase from a local jewellery store. The most common reason is price. Due to low overhead costs, online jewellers and wholesalers are able to offer lower prices. However, you must be careful – sometimes a price that is too low is a sure indication of a scam.

One of the best things about purchasing online is the unlimited selection. When shopping offline, you are limited to the selection in the stores in your general area. Online, there are no limits. But again, you must use a great deal of care and consideration before handing your money over to someone that you cannot see and have never met!

Research First
Before shopping, learn as much as you can about diamonds – especially cut, color, clarity and carat weights. When you are knowledgeable about diamonds, it will be harder for a con artist to rip you off. Once you know more about diamonds, you will be ready to start shopping.

Take your time. Don’t purchase the first diamond that you see that interests you. Instead, look for similar diamonds for sale. Do some comparison shopping to find the lowest prices. Once you have found the lowest price, start doing your investigation. You know about diamonds, you’ve found a diamond that you love, and you’ve found the lowest price – but you are still quite a ways away from actually purchasing that diamond!

Ask about the seller’s credentials, such as professional jewellery associations that they belong to. View and print the seller’s return, refund, and upgrade policies. Also inquire about additional services, such as settings and mountings, sizing, and free shipping. Do a search for customer reviews on this particular company around the Internet. Also check online to see if there have been any complaints. Ask for a diamond grading report from an independent laboratory such as GIA, HRD, EGL or AGS. You should see this before making a purchase.

Escrow Services

Finally, use a reputable escrow service for high dollar diamonds – preferably one that will have the diamond appraised while it is in their possession. The seller sends the diamond to the escrow service, and you send the money to pay for the diamond to the escrow service. The escrow service has the diamond appraised, sends the diamond to you, and sends the money to the seller. This is the surest way to protect yourself…again, make sure that you use a reputable escrow service!

What Diamond Brands Really Mean

Diamonds are one of the few products that simply cannot be ‘branded.’ Even though there are different cuts, different grades, and different values placed on each and every diamond in existence, no diamond is any specific brand – just as gold is not a specific brand.

Branding is actually based on the company that owns the diamond. For instance, if DeBeers owns the diamond, it is a DeBeers Diamond – but it is still just a diamond. If the diamond was cut by a specific well known cutter, then it might be branded in that way as well – but it usually isn’t. It is still mostly branded based on who owns it at the time. So basically, when it comes down to it – diamond brands mean absolutely nothing at all.

Do not allow a jeweller to try to talk you into paying an exorbitant price on a diamond because it is a specific brand. This is a bit of trickery used by unscrupulous jewellers when they know that they are dealing with people who don’t know much about diamonds. Remember that diamonds are not actually branded – unless mother nature has her own brand!

Five Diamond Scams To Look Out For

When it comes to diamonds, there are numerous scams to avoid. Most scams are minor, but there are some major ones that come up from time to time concerning the buying and selling of diamonds. Scams occur simply because most people who buy diamonds – for whatever reasons – don’t know that much about diamonds. Therefore, they are easily fooled.

Carat Total Weight
A common scam that most jewellery stores participate in is the Carat Total Weight scam. The tag on the piece of jewellery, usually a ring, only states the total carat weight of all diamonds in the piece, instead of listing the weights separately for each diamond. This leads consumers to believe that the main diamond in the piece is actually bigger than it is. Ask what the carat weight of the main stone is.

Fractions

Also beware of fractions. Jewellery stores are allowed to round off diamond weights. This means that if the jeweller tells you that it is a ¾ carat diamond, it is probably between ½ and ¾ carat – but closer to ¾.

'Special' Diamonds & Lighting
Jewellery stores often run ‘fluorescence’ scams to varying degrees. Referring to a diamond as a blue-white diamond is such a scam. A blue-white diamond sounds very unique and special, but in fact, this type of diamond is of lesser quality – even though the jeweller will try to make you think you are getting something special. Jewellery stores also like to show their diamonds in bright lights. Lights make diamonds shine. Ask to see the diamond in a different, darker type of lighting as well.

Appraisals
Some truly unscrupulous jewellers target those who want appraisals on diamonds that were given to them as gifts or that were purchased elsewhere. They will try to tell you that the diamond is worthless, or worth less than it actually is worth – and offer to take it off your hands or trade it for a much better diamond, along with the cash to make up the difference. This is called low balling. Get a second, third, and even a forth opinion before taking any action.

Switch Diamonds
Another common dirty trick is to switch the diamond you have chosen and paid for with one of lesser quality and value when you leave it to be set in a piece of jewellery, or leave a diamond ring to be sized. The only way to avoid this is to do business with one trustworthy jeweller. Avoid jewellers that you have not done business with in the past.

There are many more scams that jewellery stores commonly pull on unsuspecting consumers. Just use your best judgment, and purchase your diamonds with the utmost care and consideration.

How Are Diamonds Mined?

We seldom think about how the diamonds we wear came to us. Natural diamonds, as opposed to synthetic diamonds or fake diamonds, are mined from the earth. There are currently two methods of mining diamonds: Pipe Mining and Alluvial Mining.

Pipe Mining
When pipe mining is used, the diamonds are extracted from the earth through volcanic pipes. These are not man-made pipes - they are natural pipes in the ground. Shanks are put into the ground next to the pipes, and tunnels are driven into the deepest parts of the pipe. The diamonds are not sorted out at the mine. Instead, huge rocks that are full of diamonds are brought out of the mine and moved to a screening plant for separation.

Alluvial Mining
The Alluvial mining method is done in riverbeds and on beaches. Walls are built to hold back the water and the sand on the bank or beach. The sand is moved with a bulldozer until the level of earth that diamonds can be found in is reached. Again, the diamonds are not sorted here. Instead, the sand that contains the diamonds is bulldozed into trucks, and taken to screening plants.

At the diamond screening plants, natural rough diamonds are extracted from the rocks and earth, and then undergo cutting and polishing, before finally becoming the diamonds we see on jewellery.

How To Buy Diamond Engagement Rings

There is much to consider when purchasing a diamond – especially diamond engagement rings!

The tradition of presenting a woman with a diamond engagement ring when proposing began n 1477 when Archduke Maximilian presented a diamond ring to Mary of Burgundy – and in most cases, the woman you plan to propose to will expect a ring to accompany that proposal!

First, determine how much ring you can afford. Most people use the ‘two months salary’ rule. This means that the ring should cost the equivalent of two months of your current salary. Because you have other bills to pay, saving up this amount of money may take quite a bit of time. You should consider financing. Simply go to the jeweller of your choice and tell them that you plan to buy an engagement ring, and that financing will be necessary. Go ahead and get the credit check out of the way, find out what your payments will be, and how much of a down payment is required.

Now, have your mother, sister, or your girlfriend's best friend take your girlfriend shopping, and make sure that they gaze at the engagement rings to get an idea of what she might like. Make sure that the jewellery store you buy the ring from will allow you to return the ring, if that is required, or allow your girlfriend to exchange it for another if she isn’t happy with it!

How To Care For Your Diamonds

Caring for a diamond takes more than occasional cleanings. Diamonds are forever, but they can be damaged if you are not careful. By learning how to properly care for your diamond, you will ensure that your diamond is indeed forever.

First, you should take your diamond jewellery to a jeweller once a year. Have him check the mountings and prongs that hold your diamond in place. Have him make any needed repairs. This will prevent your diamond from falling out of its setting and becoming lost.

Diamond jewellery that is not being worn, or diamonds that are loose should be stored in a fabric lined jewel case, or in a jewellery box where it can be kept separate from other jewellery. Each piece should have its own compartment. This will keep diamonds from becoming scratched, and it will also keep your diamonds from scratching other jewellery as well.

Remove your diamond jewellery when doing physical work. Diamonds can be chipped and scratched easily. Also avoid allowing your diamond to come into contact with bleach or other household cleansers – this can damage or change the color of the settings and mountings, and it may even irreversibly change the color of the diamond!

How To Clean Your Diamonds

Through our day to day movements our diamonds get smudged and soiled. Even when we are not wearing them, they collect dust. Lotions, soaps, our natural skin oils, can cause film and grime on diamonds and inhibit their brilliance.

Want to keep that Brilliance and Shine? Diamonds require cleaning so that maximum amounts of light can refract fiery brilliance. Remember that all it takes is a few minutes and a little care to keep that diamond as fiery as the day you first saw it.

You can use an small soft brush such as an eyebrow or lipstick brush and soap and water to clean your jewellery. Simply make a bowl of warm sudsy water with a mild detergent and place your pieces in the mixture. Then brush the diamonds with the soft bristles of the brush while they are in the suds. You will need to make certain that you rinse them clear of the suds after cleaning them. You can use a small kitchen strainer such as a tea strainer to contain them while rinsing under warm water. Use a lint free cloth, or a jewellery polish cloth to pat them dry.

If your diamonds are in need of a stronger cleansing, you may want to soak them for 30 minutes in a solution of half water and half ammonia. Once they have soaked for 30 minutes, remove them and gently brush the mountings with a small brush. Then replace the pieces to the solution and swish them around in the mixture before removing them to rinse and pat dry.

If you find yourself too busy to be mixing soaps and ammonias, many department stores sell liquid jewellery cleaners. Most are kits with everything you need included. You need to read the labels to determine the one that is right for your diamonds and other jewellery. Read the complete directions and follow all the precautions.

And if you find yourself more the “high-tech type”, even in your diamond cleaning routine, there are multiple ultrasonic cleansers on the market. These machines use high-frequency to create a cleaning motion. All machines are not the same, so please read the instructions before using.

Only you can choose the cleaning method right for you. Whichever the way, it is essential to keep your jewellery clean to keep it brilliant and sparkling. Between cleaning, try not to touch your clean diamonds with your fingers and handle your jewellery by its edges. This will help maintain its shine and brilliance for longer periods.

How To Sell Diamonds

There are many reasons why you may want to sell a diamond that you own. Perhaps you’ve gotten divorced, or you are strapped for cash. The reasons why don’t really matter – getting the best possible price is what counts! The way to obtain the best price for the diamond is to not be in a rush. Slow down, and carefully consider all of your options – there are many.

First, have the diamond appraised. In fact, have it appraised by two or three jewellers to get an accurate idea of the diamonds value. Tell the appraiser that you want the Rapaport Value. This is the wholesale value of the diamond, and it basically tells you the highest price that you can sell your diamond for. If your diamond has no certificate, you should consider getting a certificate from GIA. This may help you get a better price for the diamond as well.

First, try to sell the diamond yourself, to people you know. Friends and family members may be interested. If you don’t have any luck with friends or family members, you should turn to outside sources. Absolutely avoid pawn shops! A pawn shop will only offer you about 10% of what the diamond is worth! Also avoid offers of selling the ring on consignment. There are many things that can go wrong, and there is no shortage of diamond scams – even in well known jewellery stores.

If the diamond is important, you should strongly consider auctioning it off through one of the famous auction houses, such as Christie’s or Sotheby’s. If it isn’t what is considered an ‘important’ diamond or a high-end diamond, you should try to sell it to an individual using classified ads, or even eBay. However, selling to an individual that you do not know could put you in danger – especially if the diamond is worth a lot of money.

Your final option should be a jewellery store. It is vital that you not let your diamond out of your sight while in the jewellery store – you might find that the diamond you walked in with is not the same diamond that you walk out with! The jeweller will try to tell you that your diamond is of poor quality or low weight. Inevitably, there will be some problem with the diamond. This is where your appraisal and/or certificate will come in handy.

If the jeweller is fair, they will offer you between 60% and 80% of the value of the Rapaport Value. Do not accept anything less than this. Again, do not let the diamond out of your sight until you have been paid for it.

How To Spot Fake Diamonds

In this world of advanced technology it is almost impossible to simply look at a diamond and determine whether it is real or not – especially if you don’t know much about diamonds. There are some steps that you can take to avoid buying a fake diamond, however.

First, only deal with reputable jewellers, and when you find a reputable jeweller, stick with them. Avoid buying diamonds or other jewellery from jewellers that you have never dealt with before in the past. Ask to see the certificate for the stone. If no certificate exists, walk away.

Look at the setting that the stone is in. Fake diamonds, such as zirconias, are usually set in low quality metals. Take a close look at the stone. Fake diamonds are not durable – natural diamonds, on the other hand, are the most durable stone on the planet. Look for scratches or nicks.

After purchasing a diamond, take it to another jeweller for appraisal. In fact, take it to two or three other jewellers for an appraisal to make sure that the appraisals are all fairly close. If you find that you have purchased a fake diamond, you may be accused of making a switch when you return to the store of your purchase; therefore, it is important to have a certificate for the diamond. No two stones are alike.

Quick Guide to Selecting Diamonds

Diamonds are graded for certification by laboratories using grading criteria. Four of these criteria are critical to understand when making a diamond purchase or investment. Known as the “Four C’s”, these criteria are: color, cut, clarity and carat.

Colour
Color is the result of the composition of a diamond and it does not change. When a jeweler is describing the color of a diamond they are referring to the presence or absence of color in white diamonds. Because a diamond with no color allows maximum light to pass through, colorless diamonds are preferred for their sparkle.

Read more on Diamond Colour.

Cut
Cut refers to a diamonds reflective quality. Most diamonds are cut with 58 facets. The brilliance of diamonds is heavily dependent on the cut. The different angles and the finish of a diamond determine its ability to reflect light and cause its brilliance and fire.

Remember that the cut of a diamond can have an impact on its durability as well as its beauty. Some cutting faults can make a diamond prone to breakage. A diamond that is cut too thin can also cause light to leak out of the back and the diamond will lose some of the sparkle and appear not to shine. So, as you can see the cut is probably the most important of the Four C’s.

Read more on Diamond Cut.

Clarity

During the formation process, inner flaws, or inclusions occur in most diamonds. The number and size of these inclusions determine what is referred to as the clarity of a diamond. Diamonds that are clear create more brilliance and therefore are rarer and highly priced. To be considered “flawless”, a diamond must have no surface or internal imperfections visible upon being viewed by a skilled diamond grader using 10 power magnifications.

Read more on Diamond Clarity.

Carat
Carat is the unit of weight by which diamonds are measured. One carat is equal to 200 milligrams. A carat is divided into 100 segments called points.

Read more on the carat weight.

When you go to the store to make that all important diamond purchase, do not be shy! Ask questions, get the answers needed to make an informed purchase. Shopping for certified diamonds enables you to make an informed selection. Knowing the “four C’s” allows you to comparison shop and purchase the best diamond at a fair price. But, before making a purchase, shop around and decide what shapes and styles really appeal to you. Enjoy your diamond for years to come!

Rough and Dirty Diamonds

A dirty diamond is one of two things: a rough diamond, or a diamond that hasn’t been cleaned in a while. Rough diamonds are uncut and unpolished – hence, they are dirty. But that type of dirty diamond will soon be cut and polished and sitting in a beautiful jewel box in a display case. Then someone will purchase it, and before long, it will become a dirty diamond once again.

Diamonds become dirty. When you wash your hands with a diamond ring on, soap scum clings to it. When you put on hand lotion, it gets grease on it. Shower with your diamond earrings or necklace, and again, you get soap scum. In one short day, your brand new diamond could be dirty!

Purchase an ultrasonic jewellery cleaner the same day that you purchase your diamond jewellery, and use it every single day, without fail. The clarity of the diamond changes when the diamond is dirty – it loses its sparkle. By taking one minute each day to clean your diamond jewellery, you can avoid this, and your diamonds will never be dirty again!

4Cs - Diamond Cut

There are many different cuts of diamonds to choose from. The cut essentially refers to the shape and proportion that the diamond is cut into and this has a great impact on how the much the diamond sparkles.

Diamond Anatomy, Shapes and Cuts
The most popular cuts are heart, marquise, oval, pear, princess, round, trillion, and emerald cuts, with the round cut being the most common of all:

The shape has an impact on how much the diamond sparkles, but the actual cutting itself – when the diamond cutter actually cuts the diamond into a particular shape – also matters a great deal. If the diamond is poorly cut, it will have poor proportions and symmetry and will lose its sparkle, which is essentially based on the amount of light being reflected to the viewer's eyes. The proportion of a round diamond includes its gridle diameter and thickness, table width, crown height, pavilion depth, and culet.

Common cutting problems include a missing or off center culet, misalignment, a diamond that is too thick or too thin, cracks, or broken culets.

Choose Shape First, Followed By Cut
It is almost impossible to manually measure the proportions of diamonds in typical jewellery stores because they are either too small (in carat weight) or already set into jewellery pieces. Therefore when shopping, you should of course choose the shape that you like the best, and then look at several different diamonds of that shape to find the one with the best cut – the one that sparkles the most, in all types of lighting.

Diamond Carat Weight

The Carat

Diamonds are measured in the unit weight carat. One carat weighs 200 milligrams, and is subdivided into 100 points with each point equal to 2 milligram. The word carat comes from the word carob. A carob is a bean that grows on a tree in the Mediterranean. In times past, if a diamond weighed the same as a carob bean, it was one carob, or one carat.

The Grain

A diamond is also referred to as four grains, this means that it is a one carat diamond. In the far east where carob trees do not grow, rice was used to measure the weight of a diamond. If a diamond weighed as much as four grains of rice, it was four grains – or one carat as we know it to be now.

Carat Total Weight

The majority of diamond purchases are for diamonds that are 1/3 of a carat. Beware when shopping for diamonds that are already set or mounted. If more than one diamond is used in the piece, the tag on the jewellery will give the CTW or Carat Total Weight – it does not tell you the carat weight of each stone in the piece.

Remember, two 1/2 carat diamonds is not equivalent to a 1 carat diamond, pricewise, due to the rare nature of larger diamonds. You need to ask the jeweller for the carat weight of the largest diamond in the piece to truly understand what you are buying.