2012年7月30日 星期一

How to Buy a Good Quality Diamond


Diamonds are the most famous, loved, and marketed stone in the world.

Just about every woman desires diamonds, as do an increasing number of men. Everyone from royalty, celebrities, through to the average person adores diamonds.

Most people will buy or receive diamonds in the form of an engagement ring. But, anniversary gifts, birthday presents, or even just to spoil one self, diamonds cover all occasions. Diamonds are used to represent love or to display wealth.

But just how do you know if the stone you are looking at is worth the price tag?

Firstly let's look at how diamonds differ from stone to stone.

Each stone is unique due to flaws called inclusions. An inclusion can be either a black speck, which is a carbon deposit from when the diamond actually formed in the earth due to massive pressure, or it can be a feather. A feather is a white inclusion, also from when the stone was formed. A stones grade according to the number and location of inclusions is called clarity.

Stones are also judged on other factors. One being color. Traditionally, diamonds are thought of as being colorless, a glass like appearance. But, it is possible to get them in a host of other colors from pink to black, and a lot of others in between. For the purpose of this article we shall deal with the traditional diamonds. The most desirable stones are "colorless". As you work your way down the scale you pass through definitions such as "faint yellow" through "slightly yellow" right the way through to "fancy yellow". As you move along the scale the rule of thumb is that the more yellow present in the stone, the less desirable and therefore cheaper the stone gets. But, if you find a stone in the "fancy yellow" category, the diamond is classed as very desirable because the color is attractive and does not take away from the stones beauty, and therefore the price rises again.

Another factor is cut. This can relate to shape, such as round, square (princess cut), etc. But as far as quality grading it is actually referring to the accuracy in which the facets are aligned to reflect light and make the diamond "perform". When a diamond is found, it is a rough stone and looks nothing like the stones you are accustomed to seeing. It has to be cut. The stone has to be cut into shape and this involves creating facets at certain angles all over the stone. A facet is basically like a mirror. The facets have to line up perfectly for the stone to bounce light from facet to facet and return it to the eye in the form of sparkle, or fire as it is known. If a stone is poorly cut the light will be lost out of the sides and sparkle is greatly reduced. Again this affects price.

When buying a stone of half a carat or larger, you will usually be able to view the diamond certificate. A stone that has a certificate has been graded by an outside and neutral laboratory that has assessed the stone according to rigorous guidelines and given the stone a grading for color, cut, and clarity etc. On the certificate will come a map of the stone, this will display the locations of inclusion so they can be found quickly using a loupe (magnifying eye piece). There are various laboratories that grade diamonds and most are highly reputable.

When visiting your jeweler to view diamonds, ask your sales associate to explain the diamond grading process and to show you the inclusions and diamond cut proportions on the certificate. A good salesperson will gladly does this and explain to you what the certificate means and how it relates to the stone you are viewing.

Once you have viewed several stones you will begin to see how they are priced due to the above factors. Once you see a diamond in your price range you can then write down the color, clarity, cut, carat, and of course price, then shop around to see how the various jewelers compare price wise.

Now you have a feel for who is pricing fair and who is not, you can then select your jeweler and be confident that they are going to sell you a stone that is priced according to its quality.

So there you have it, a very straight forward and basic way to buy a quality diamond.




To find a reputable jeweler in your area I suggest Best local jewelers.com store directory.

Christian Underhill is an aspiring writer and online entrepreneur based in Las Vegas Nevada.

To read more information about jewelry and watches read the best local jewelers webpage. Best local jewelers





This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

沒有留言:

張貼留言