When it comes to buying a diamond, urban legends are full of people who thought they were buying a gorgeous, well-cut stone and ended up with glass, or the opposite: someone takes a chance on a hard-luck tale and ends up with a fabulous prize, worth so much more than they offered the seller. In real life, however, there are few such instances, with most sales these days, even between two regular people, taking place online – where it is harder to read the body language and general honesty of the person you are trusting with your hard-earned cash! So how do you get the best possible price on a diamond? Let us take a look.
Avoid the High Street
High-street jewelers offer good quality products for as much as the market will bear. This is not unreasonable of them as they have rent and rates to pay, along with salaries and other overheads. However, this does mean that a high street jeweler is highly unlikely to be able to offer you an excellent deal on a diamond – unless they are contracting to create your whole custom piece of jewelry in which case they will almost certainly make up for any loss of profit in the labour or other materials’ costs! In your hunt for a bargain diamond, shun the high street!
Show You Know Enough
When you are talking with diamond traders, especially those who are not usually customer facing, complete ignorance about diamonds can be taken as something of an insult. Do a little background reading and understand enough to hold your own in a conversation about cut, clarity, color and carats. For example, understanding that 200mg (just one-fifth of a gram, or six percent of an ounce) is one carat will prevent you from claiming that a diamond is too light. Know what is ideal in a diamond, and also what is acceptable – there are very few absolutely perfect natural stones out there so any demands for perfection will immediately mark you out as a novice. Or unrealistic, which is no better!
Ask for a Certificate
With any diamond over half a carat, you should request a certificate. Every high-quality diamond over this size comes with certification from AGS or GIA detailing the precise weights, marks and cuts on the stone, which lets you know exactly what you are looking at, and also reassuring you that the stone was reputably mined and acquired. Asking for a certificate should be common practice anyway, but if the stone seems too good for the price being asked, then you should certainly insist on seeing the certificate and checking the number against the online report that will be linked to the certificate number. When it comes to your money, safe is always better than sorry!
Shop Around!
However, you could save yourself a lot of travel and stress, by shopping around for your diamond online! There are reputable sites: such as Whiteflash Diamonds – where you can browse a good range of high-quality certified diamonds, choosing the one that best suits your budget and needs, and place your order in a (white) flash – and all from the comfort of your own home, at a time that suits you!
