Feminine Buzz

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.

A common scam that most jewelry stores participate in is the Carat Total Weight scam. The tag on the piece of jewelry, usually a ring, only states the total carat weight of all diamonds in the piece, instead of listing the total 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 total carat weight of the center stone is. Also beware of fractions. Jewelry stores are allowed to round off diamond weights. This means that if the jeweler tells you that it is a 1 carat diamond, it is probably between 3/4 and 1 carat - but
closer to3/4!

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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 jewelry to a jeweler 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.

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You’ve been told that having a certificate or a diamond grading report is important, and as a responsible consumer, you get one - unfortunately, you probably won’t understand a word of what is on that diamond grading report, unless you are a jeweler.

On the color grading scale, D, E, and F mean that the diamond has no color. G, H, and I means that it has very little color. J, K, and L means that the diamond has a slight yellow color. P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, and X means that the diamond is a darker shade of yellow. Z means that the diamond has a fancy color - other than white or yellow. On the color grading scale, D is the most valuable, and X is the least valuable - however diamonds that get a Z rating are the rarest and most expensive diamonds in the world.

There are many aspects to a grading report. Figuring it all out can be very confusing. You should talk to a jeweler you trust, and have them explain everything on the diamond grading report to you.

Argye mine located in the Kimberley region in the far north east of Western Australia. Owned by Rio Tinto, this mine is the world’s largest single producer of volume of diamonds. However, due to low proportion of gem quality diamonds it is not the value leader. It does produce 90-95% of the world’s supply of pink diamonds.

Diavik is also owned by Rio Tinto, located in Canada it is a very large mine. It is located north of Yellowknife and south of the Artic Circle on an island. The island is connected by an ice road. It is also an important part of the regions economy employing more than 700 people and producing more than 8 million carats annually.

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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.

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.

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Pricing most products is quite easy. Determine how much it costs to make the item, how much it costs to market that item, and then mark it up by 15 - 30% or more. Simple, right? Well, pricing diamonds isn’t quite that simple. There are many factors that are considered when diamonds are priced.

Diamond prices are determined first by adding the cost of the rough diamond, the cost of cutting the diamond, and all other
costs necessary to turn the rough diamond into a marketable diamond. Depending on the importance of the diamond, an
independent company may be called in to certify the grade of the diamond based on color, cut, clarity, and weight.

At this point, the diamond becomes more expensive each time it changes hands, until it finally reaches a retailer, where the price is raised a bit more. Before reaching the retailer, however, the diamond must travel from the mine, to the cutter and polisher, to the independent grading company, and then to the Primary market. Once it has reached the primary market, it will be purchased by diamond dealers and wholesalers, and from there it will be sold to retailers.

As you can see, the earlier you can purchase a diamond in the process, the lower the cost of the diamond will be - but not the value. The value is based on what the diamond will sell for in the market place ?through a retailer.

If you own a diamond, and you have no idea how much it is worth, you can have it appraised, but the appraisal may not be
accurate. You will be better off obtaining a certificate through GIA - Gemological Institute of America. With the information on this certificate, you can use a cutter?s guide to accurately determine what your diamond is worth.

There are also many diamond price calculators available. These can be found on the Internet, and many diamond dealers
use these as well. You must realize, however, that before you can accurately price a diamond, without a Diamond Grade Report, you need to know quite a bit about diamonds, such as different cuts, clarity, color, and weight - and how each of those aspects adds to the value of a diamond, or decreases the value of the diamond as the case may be.

Again, you will be better off if you get a Diamond Grading Report on the diamond, and use that information to look up the price in one of the guides that the diamond cutting industry uses. This will give you the most accurate value of the diamond in your possession, or of the diamond you are considering purchasing.

Clarity is an important aspect of a diamond, and it is important to know how to grade the clarity of a diamond before you buy one. It is actually quite easy to learn how to grade the clarity of a diamond. There are basically two things that you must understand:

Diamonds with visual inclusions and blemishes, and those that are “eye clean”, meaning that there are no inclusions or blemishes that can be seen with the naked eye. From there, the clarity of a diamond is further broken down into subcategories.

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Among the most well known diamonds is the Hope. This 45.52 carat steel blue diamond is currently on display at the Smithsonian. The legends of the ill-fortune and curse bestowed on the possessor of the Hope Diamond are many. This diamond was donated to the Smithsonian in 1958. The Hope was originally a rather flat, blocky 110-carat rough.

The Dresden Green stands out among the natural colored diamonds. It is the largest green diamond in the world weighing
40.70 carats. This diamond is historic, large and has a natural green color with a slight blue overtone. These facts make it virtually priceless.

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Before you start shopping for diamonds, consider dealing with a bonded jeweler. Bonded jewelers sell bonded diamonds, and there are very few bonded jewelers in the world. In fact, out of all of the jeweler’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.

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 jeweler and sell it back to him or her, for a 100% refund. If a jeweler 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.

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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 who 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 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 jeweler 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 jewelers 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!