Buying Diamond Jewelry: Know What To Look For

In judging diamond jewelry it is a common occurrence to get a diamonds
shape and the cut mixed up. The cut of a diamond describes the
performance of light, dimensions, and finish. Shape is just the outline
of the diamond from a top view. In judging diamond jewelry you must
make sure there is a good cut.
http://new-exotic-jewelry.blogspot.com/
http://exclusive-crafts.blogspot.com/

On Thu, 28 Sep 2006 20:25:26 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "tyo"
wrote:

In judging diamond jewelry it is a common occurrence to get a diamonds
shape and the cut mixed up. The cut of a diamond describes the
performance of light, dimensions, and finish. Shape is just the outline
of the diamond from a top view. In judging diamond jewelry you must
make sure there is a good cut.
http://new-exotic-jewelry.blogspot.com/

First off, welcome to the rec.crafts.jewelry usenet newsgroup. If you were not
already aware of it, understand that this is a moderated group, with some
restrictions. Notably, you cannot post commercial advertisements. Since your
blogs don't seem to be promoting any particular commercial site, at least a
first glance, I've approved your post. But please understand that promoting web
sites isn't the real function of this group. Rather than pointing us to your
blogs, why not just copy the blog articles to this group, and allow any
discussions thereof to occur here? You'll get more response, I think. For an
even more active discussion, one which some people might feel is so active they
don't have time for all the messages every day, explore the Ganoksin.com web
site, and the mail list it hosts, the Orchid list. That list is almost without
question the most active jewelry discussion forum on the net today, and it too,
will welcome informative postings or articles especially if you'd like feedback
and discussion from people who also know more than just a little about jewelry.
Like this newsgroup, it does not allow commercial adverrtising or extensive self
promotion, but healthy discussion of an article is fine.

Also not that this group does not support postings other than plain ascii text.
No HTML postings, no attached graphics. Graphics should be hosted on the web,
and merely the URL included in the newsgroup post, just as you did with your
article today.

As to your post itself:

Regarding cutting:

True enough, suli, but while this is correct, it's not of much use to a reader,
since you don't describe anything about why one cut is good and another not, or
what the optical differences are, or the optical functions of the various parts
of a facetted stone. Without that sort of actual information, you're saying
nice things, but things that aren't of all that much use to someone looking for
education.

I took the liberty of copying to this reply (which is both in the newsgroup, and
in email) selected sections of the rest of that blog article of yours, with some
comments.

The cut of the diamond has the biggest effect on the sparkle of the diamond.
A diamond that has immaculate color and is very clear can look dull with a poor cut on the stone.


Again, mostly true, though many gemologists will suggest that the color of the
stone has the most obvious effect on the overall look or beauty, since it
affects the stone's appearance at a considerable distance. So does cutting, of
course. But the relative importance of each is in some debate depending on who
you talk to. Color certainly has a greater effect on the price than does
cutting.



In judging the value of a diamond the color of the diamond is a major factor.
The diamonds with the least amount of coloring are worth the most. Even a
very small amount of color in the gem can make it so the diamond’s brilliance is
diminished. The higher grade the diamond is the more expensive it will be.


Mostly true, though it should be noted that this is true only for stones in the
colorless/white to near white range. Once the stone has enough color for it to
be an actually colored diamond, rather than one that's just not as white, the
value goes up. For some colors, it goes up enormously. Even very pale blue or
pink or red tones, when of natural origin in the diamond, will quickly raise the
value way past that of even the whitest stone, and very fine intense yellow and
orange colors will also compete very well with the very white stones for price.
And to make your article more useful, you might also wish to discuss the various
scales by which diamond color is stated. The most common is the GIA scale,
which places the finest white colors at D in the alphabet, with increasing
yellow as you go down the alphabet. ABC are not used.



The weight of the carats in the diamond is important when judging diamond jewelry.
The diamond in the jewelry in terms of its weight is measured in carats.
Considering diamonds that are larger are also rarer than smaller diamonds the value
rises very much when the weight increases.
True enough. Carats are now a metric measurement, with five carats to the gram.


If you are buying a diamond from a
wholesaler they must by law tell you the carat weight in the piece of jewelry.

Not in the U.S.A., they don't. They can sell diamond jewelry, whether
wholesaler or retailer (there are no different laws for wholesalers than
retailers) without stating the diamond weight, or anything else about the
diamonds for that matter, if they don't wish to. What IS in the law is how
accurate any statements made must be. IF the seller, either wholesaler or
retailer, states a weight of an individual stone, or the total weight of a bunch
of stones in a piece of jewelry, the statement's accuracy must be within FTC
mandates. I'll give you a practical example. Take the case of a pawn shop
selling estate jewelry. With the stones already set, the seller (the shop) may
not know, or be able to accurately tell, the exact weight of the diamonds. They
can estimate it, and the estimate has to be reasonable, but often they simply
won't estimate it at all, if it's too hard to be exact. A wholesaler of
imported jewelry may be in a similar situation, especially with low end jewelry
set with lower quality diamonds. Exact weights may simply not always be
provided to the wholesaler from the importer or manufacturer. While one can
question the business wisdom of doing business this way, it is not illegal, so
long as nobody then makes inaccurate claims about the weights of the diamonds.



In judging diamond jewelry look to see how many flaws are on the diamond.
Flaws, also called inclusions, are rare and are highly valued. How the clarity
is graded is based on the number, size, location, and type of the flaws found
within the diamond. Make sure the flaws are picked out as if they are not the
diamond will be much more expensive.



Here you obviously were typing too fast, and didn't proofread your text. Flaws
or inclusions are NOT rare or highly valued, in the vast majority of cases.
Diamonds WITHOUT flaws are rare and highly valued, not the other way around, as
your posting implies. And your last sentance makes no sense to me. Did you
mean to say they should be pointed out to you so you know they are there?
"Picked out" seems to imply you want them removed. That's generally not
possible, though dark spots can be drilled to with a laser, and bleached. But
that isn't the same as removing them. And you then say if the flaws are not
picked out, ie left in place, the diamond will be MORE expensive? I think
you've got that backwards. The most expensive diamonds are those with the least
inclusions or flaws.


Make sure to check the cut, carat weight, color, and flaws on the diamond in the
jewelryto make sure you are getting the best deal. Considering a diamond can
be very expensive it is wise to understand all of these factors or get a
professional to judge it for you.

True enough. With any costly purchase, whether it be a car, a home, or a
diamond, the more you know about the subject, the more likely you'll be to get
the value you wish for your money and not be surprised later to find you didn't
get what you thought you got in terms of value or quality.


Also make sure the diamond is certified as
the certification will guarantee its authenticity.

Not really true. A certificate is a grading report, not a guarantee. The labs
that provide the certs are providing, for a fee, and impartial and education
opinion as to the quality of the stone, just as an appraisal, when done right,
provides an impartial opinion as to the value of an item. But certs are
generally not guarantees. For one thing, there can be reasonable differences
of opinion between labs or graders from time to time, and people can disagree
slightly on a color or especially, a clarity grade, which can have implications
to the appraised value. In such cases, the labs are not liable for changes in
value. But what certs do for you is to provide you with an opinion that can be
reasonably expected to be an expert opinion, and not tainted by the desire on
the part of the seller to make the stone look better than it is. There are also
many honest and well intentioned jewelry sales people who simply are not experts
at diamond grading, or who are, even if somewhat trained, not good enough at it
to provide consistant accurate grades, especially when their commission depends
on making the sale, which provides an incentive to overstate the quality, even
if unintentionally. So the cert gives you some assurance that the quality is
what it's represented as, and also frees the seller from having to make the
decision or to convince you he or she is correct in the grade. Note that the
certs do not mean you'll get the best price, or even that the stone is a good
one. Only that the grading information provided on the cert is a reasonably
impartial one arrived at by experts according to established grading standards.
A cert does not protect you from being overcharged. And the protections of a
certificate only exist if it's from an established impartial gem lab. Usually
this means one of the large national or international labs, like GIA, EGL, AGS,
or the like. Small local gem labs may be OK, or may not. it's harder for a
customer to know. And understand that the accuracy standards between the
different labs is not the same. It's fairly accepted common knowledge in the
industry that a cert from GIA or AGS is likely to be a bit more accurate, or
more stringent, in grading than one from EGL, which sometimes is more likely to
give a borderline stone the benefit of the doubt and give it a higher grade if
the stone is not clearly one or the other. Thus prices for stones with EGL
certs can often be slightly lower, since the grades are not as stringent.

it's also important to remember that many stones are legitimately sold without
certs. You pay more, usually a couple hundred dollars, for a diamond with a
cert. There are many jewelers who are or have on staff well trained gemologists
who, in combination with the wholesalers they buy from, have plenty of expertise
to accurately represent the quality of a diamond, and if you, the customer, have
educated yourself to the quality aspects, you can be shown the diamond and it's
quality features, and judge for yourself if you like it, and if the price is
right for you. While a cert may make this easier, it's not always essential,
especially with stones that are not quite as large as some. And whether or not
you have a cert, it's always better to judge a dimaond by actually looking at
it. Don't buy a diamond just because some piece of paper has numbers you've
been told are good. Buy it because you're eye, having looked at a number of
diamonds, has decided that you like this particular stone. The cert should be
used to back up your decision, not to make it for you. After you've bought it,
it becomes useful too, in order to help you get accurate insurance coverage, inc
onjuction with a properly written appraisal (which, like the cert, should NOT
generally be written by the jeweler selling the stone, if it's to be the most
accurate document possible. Some jewelers supply appraisals that are very
professional and well written, but others do not, and it's difficult for a
customer to know the difference. So there's an advantage to an independent
appraisal, just as with the independent grading report (certificate). But in
both cases, the added advantage and value of the independent reports will cost
you additional money.

cheers

Peter Rowe

tyo wrote:
In judging diamond jewelry it is a common occurrence to get a diamonds
shape and the cut mixed up. The cut of a diamond describes the
performance of light, dimensions, and finish. Shape is just the outline
of the diamond from a top view. In judging diamond jewelry you must
make sure there is a good cut.
http://new-exotic-jewelry.blogspot.com/
http://exclusive-crafts.blogspot.com/



So what's the point of your post?

Disseminating incomplete and inaccurate information, or promoting a couple of
new and rather empty blog sites? One has all of two posts, the other one. All
by you. Those blogs are just silly.

Furthermore, the Net is full of sites that describe accurately and in detail
what to look for when buying a diamond. With all due respect, nobody needs you.
All of these sites do a much better job of it, than you can ever begin to
imagine.

Let's start with the Granddaddy of them all:
http://www.debeersgroup.com/debeersw...y/The+Four+cs/ (the four
links do not seem to work in Firefox, use I.E.)

And then there is:
http://www.adiamondisforever.com/buy/
http://www.adiamondisforever.com/buy/4cs_flash.html
http://www.adiamondisforever.com/buy/4cs_print.html

http://www.diamonds.com/Education/Education_Intro.aspx
http://gilletts.com.au/information.php?info_id=7
http://www.gjezarian.com/howto/fourc.html
http://www.refineddesigns.com/page,%...l_Diamonds.htm
http://www.gwgoldanddiamond.com/to_look/to_look.html

Do I need to go on?

Either way, ... "Another blog bites the dust!" Go Away, ... please.

--
Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com