Okay, you’ve fully educated yourself about the “Four C’s”. You have even discovered that the only diamond certificate that’s worth its salt is from GIA. So, as long as you pick the color, cut and clarity that you like on-line, and if the diamond comes with a GIA cert, you only need to decide on a size and then search for the lowest price. You’re golden! Well, not so fast ….
Did you ever wonder why the prices for a GIA certified stone of the same description vary wildly? That must be because some diamond sellers are willing to give me a better deal! Stores on Fifth Avenue in New York or in major regional malls pay huge rents. Their margins on merchandise have to cover that overhead. Their business model requires a bigger margin for the store to exist.
Okay, so you say to yourself: “I’m just going to avoid stores in malls, or just outside of a mall or on a beautiful shopping street with lots of traffic. NOW I’ve got this figured out. That leaves the rest of the jewelry-selling world. So I just look for the lowest price and I’ll be getting the best deal.”Nope. There is far more to a diamond than just the “Four C’s”!Did you know that a diamond can be “milky” but have a “Colorless” grade from GIA?!? Did you know that a diamond can have an “Excellent” cut grade from GIA and still be what we call “Lifeless”? Do you know that a diamond can have an inclusion that can be black and dead-center or white and out to the edge of the diamond yet have the identical clarity grade from GIA?A diamond can be lop-sided. These are just a few examples of what’s NOT on a certificate.
Did you know that both Mark and I graded stones at GIA while studying there? When we buy a diamond it reflects our decades of experience. We purchase maybe 5% of the diamonds we look at – MOST ARE REJECTED BECAUSE WE SIMPLY DON”T LIKE THE WAY THEY LOOK. A diamond has a definite personality. And there is no way to see that on a certificate.
A further dark cloud lies in the fact that most on-line sellers do not even own the diamonds they are offering on-line! They essentially cut-and-paste other dealers inventories and offer that entire list on-line! When you place an order with them they order the stone and ship it to you or simply have it drop-shipped to you! They may not ever even lay eyes on that stone! We often wonder if the stone on-line purchasers receive matches up to the GIA certificate they receive!GIA certificates and even laser-inscriptions are known to be counterfeited today!
We compete with internet prices for comparable diamonds every day. We also buy you a zero-deductible insurance policy when you buy a diamond and engagement ring from us. We do free lifetime cleaning and checking. We allow you to trade in your center diamond for another diamond if you would ever like to.
WE don’t ever buy on price alone. And we NEVER buy without first seeing the diamond. Why on earth should you?