Buying a Loose Diamond

By: Tom Shofner
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:42:15
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You want to buy a diamond, but know nothing about cut, clarity, carat (or carrots?) and color. You have no idea whether the sales clerk in the jewelry shop next to the shoe store in the mall really knows what they are talking about or if they are just trying to make a large commission.

And it is really tough to find someone to give you the right answers about diamond buying and help you understand why some diamonds are better than others. How much can you really buy with your hard-earned money?

Okay, maybe you have heard of the 4-C's; cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. You may have even heard that you should get a GIA certified loose diamond. So, are you armed and ready to go out and purchase the diamond from the local mall store? I mean, you know that that if the diamond is clearer and has a better color and a bunch of carats and is cut right, certainly that is all there is to it right?

Well... not exactly.

Diamond grading is not as simple as the sales clerk would have you believe.

The first difficulty lies in your ability to confirm the color, cut and clarity grades assigned to your stone. You see, many people have heard of the 4-C's, but being able to confirm that the grade for each that was assigned to the stone is accurate is a totally different story. How do you know that it is accurate without paying extra for an outside appraisal?

Note for clarification: the GIA Gem Trade Lab does NOT certify diamonds and does not provide a GIA Certified Loose Diamond Report.

The GIA will grade a stone and provide a written grade for that stone, but no certification.

By using the services of trained Graduate Gemologists from the Gemological Institute of America who have both the knowledge and experience and the proper instruments to evaluate your stone, you can be assured of accurate grading.

You see just knowing about the 4-C's could mean that you spend more on a diamond than the diamond is really worth and we don't want you to do that!

Here are some things to be aware of when buying a diamond

*Anyone saying that they have a GIA Certified Loose Diamond Report
*How do you know that the paper that someone shows you belongs to that particular stone?
*Someone who cannot evaluate whether a report is accurate (i.e. Not a gemologist)

If someone claims to have a "certification" it should be a red flag that they either do not know what they are talking about, (and should be avoided for lack of expertise), or are trying to pull a fast one, (and should be avoided for the obvious reasons).

Let's get back, however, to your “certification”, even if you have a grading report from the GIA, (or some other reputable lab), how do you know it is accurate? As good as the GIA is the fact remains that people do make mistakes, and that kind of mistake can cost you a lot of money. How do you even know this paper belongs to the stone you have?

You need a professional to help you. A gemologist can evaluate your stone, and any papers that come with it, and confirm the grade and associated quality of your stone to provide you the assurance you deserve regarding the diamond you are purchasing.

A qualified gemologist can do much more than just evaluate the accuracy of a report, however.

If you are like most people, you probably have to adhere to a budget and you want to get the most for you money…you want the biggest, and best diamond that you can afford. This is where the qualified gemologist can help you and a sales clerk cannot. The experienced gemologist can help you determine the qualities in a diamond that are important to you. Whether size of the stone is most important, or if quality in the form of the other 3-C’s, (color, clarity, or cut), are more important.

A easier way to think of this is as follows: Pick two of the following three selections

Large

Quality

Inexpensive

You can pick any two but only two. Thus, you can have large and quality, but not inexpensive. Or you can have quality and cheap, but not large. Or you can have cheap and large, but not quality.

Tom Shofner is a Graduate Gemologist and writes for his site http://www.palmettogems.com

Article source: Expert Articles

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