How about Diamond Buying?
Q.About Diamond Buying?
A.I'll let you know up front - I'm one of those dreaded "vendors"!!! But I don't spam and I try to obey the rules. This posting is first intended to educate you about diamond buying. I've seen many postings about engagement rings, wedding bands and jewelry in general. Many of you seem truly interested learning. I trust many of you are looking for a truly special diamond, probably for the first time. I know I was when I got married 17 years ago! (It's been GREAT, but that's another story.) The Gemological Institute of America and the American Gem Society have both done an excellent job of establishing grading standards called the 4 c's. Anyone contemplating diamond buying should review them. The primary thing to learn is not to buy by carat weight alone - the 3 other c's impact diamond value more than carat weight alone! Grading standards are only as good as the person or lab doing the grading. It is wise to seek an INDEPENDENT, professional grading lab - a lab that does not sell diamonds. While many jewelry stores are reputable, unfortunately many are not. A grading certificate from an independent grading lab should not be confused with a local merchant appraisal. When buying a diamond, it should come with a grading certificate - if it doesn't, don't buy it! The world's most respected independent labs are: EGL - Los Angeles, GIA - New York and HRD - Belgium. Respected jewelers will not only be familiar with these labs, but their diamonds will already have grading certificates from them. The diamond market is a very structured and controlled entity. Raw stones go to select cutters around the world who process them. These cutter's stones are then graded and listed for sale at "cutters exchanges" to wholesalers. Wholesalers purchase quantities of stones and then resell them to jewelry stores. I recently met Tom Ritzi, a 5th generation Swiss Jeweler who operates in Daytona Beach. I was as impressed with his honesty, his ongoing efforts to instill continuity and standards in the jewelry industry through GIA and AGS programs as I was with his knowlege and experience. He taught me about a small part of his business called the Absolute Diamond Exchange. Tom is able to buy direct from the cutter! But he doesn't buy a lot of inventory - he simply publishes the current cutters listing, lets people choose a diamond off the listing, and makes the purchase for them. This cuts out virtually all overhead and brings truly the best price for the quality to the end consumer! These are loose stones! You will have to get a custom jewelry maker to set them for you. But it is absolutely the best way to buy a diamond. Tom was running his exchange locally until I convinced him to put it on the Web. We're at http://www.galaxymall.com/shops/diamonds.html. Brouse our cutters list, use "yahoo" or "web crawler" for a search of other diamond jewelry on the web and compare!
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