I know nothing in the area. Bought my wife a $400 ring 20+ years ago. Talked about upgrading it but it wouldnt be the one I proposed with.
There is a guy online who has sold rings to 7 of my friends who have all been over the moon excited. This is a post from him that needs reading:
I'm one of the foremost experts in the
gemological field of light dynamics, which is the study and research into how
light slows down, bends, and reacts within gem stones (specifically diamonds).
Diamonds cut to my research standards grace the likes of famed retailers
Tiffany & Company, Cartier, Harry Winston, Van Cleef & Arpels, and a
host of other high-end jewelers. I lecture, teach international classes, and
train people all over the world in light theory, which is utilized to cut
diamonds that are more brilliant, firey and scintillating. The difference
between what I sell and what you find online and in your standard jewelry store
is night & day.....yet I'm still less expensive than them all.
In addition to being a Light Theorist, I'm also a Graduate Gemologist, which is
the highest academic achievement in the gemological world, and hold a graduate
degree from the world's top research institute, GIA.
That said……
I understand why so many people push the idea of shopping at Blue Nile and
other online retailers. Everyone wants to save as much money as possible. And,
in this economy, you'd be a fool NOT to want to save some cash. But, there are
a lot of inherent problems with the online guys that, unless you're in the
industry, you'd never know about. To put it simply, take what you see online
with a grain of salt. Their diamonds ARE NOT what they appear to be.
One of my biggest problems with Blue Nile and many of the other online
retailers is the fact that they don't actually own the inventory they sell.
They simply contract with suppliers around the world to list their inventory
online. Essentially, they're almost all drop-shippers. What's most appalling is
the fact that they have the gall to turn around and give non-round diamonds a
cut grade. If you do a little research, you'll learn that only round diamonds
come with a cut grade (though AGS is now issuing cut grades for princess cut
diamonds). Because of the fact that non-round diamonds can vary in their
length-to-width ratio, it's difficult for grading labs to illustrate exactly
what makes a cushion, asscher, emerald, radiant, princess, pear, marquise, etc
an "ideal" or "excellent" cut grade. Despite the fact that we're able to
determine what dimensions, proportions and facet arrangement & angling are
needed, there are no cut grades issued for non-rounds.
However, if you go on Blue Nile, you'll see a cut grade issued for EVERY shape
of diamond. That cut grade is not coming from a reputable lab, but from Blue
Nile themselves. As I've illustrated by my background, it's not impossible to
say if a non-round diamond is an ideal or excellent cut diamond. But, two problems
exist for Blue Nile. (a) They never, ever see the diamonds they sell….EVER! You
cannot give a cut grade to a diamond you never see b/c you have to put the
diamond in a Sarin machine to map the intricacies, as well as test the light
leakage and return. And (b) Blue Nile does not have any light theorists on
staff, nor do they possess the machinery necessary to cut grade a non-round
diamond. In addition, none of their vendors have this technology either. So,
their cut grades are nothing more than figments of their imagination designed
to illicit sales from customers. Their "signature select" grade is most
galling, b/c many of these diamonds are pure and utter junk; stuff I'd never
recommend to an enemy!
But, there's a lot more to the story than simply Blue Nile inventing cut grades
to sell stones they don't own and never see. To better understand WHY you
should never buy online, you have to understand the structure of the diamond
industry.
There are darn near two dozen levels within the diamond industry. As you'd
expect, diamonds trade hands over and over before they reach the end-user,
which is you the buyer. The diamond industry is controlled largely by 3 large
diamond mining companies (De Beers, Rio Tinto & BHP), in addition to
several mid-sized mining companies. The simple version of the story is: the
mining companies prevent the online stores from getting the high quality
diamonds, b/c if the online stores sell quality, it'll kill the mining
companies.
When you breakdown the profit stream for the mining companies, you'd be
surprised to know that most of their revenue and profit comes from selling the
small little accent diamonds you find in anniversary bands, earrings,
necklaces, pendants, bracelets and watches. At the retail level, the online
stores don't sell much of the "dainty diamond" goods. They largely sell
engagement, wedding bands, and miscellaneous pendants. It's the brick &
mortar stores (B&Ms) that sell approximately 97% of the dainty diamonds
sold worldwide. So, because the mining companies get most of their revenue and
profit from the B&Ms, they have a vested interest in making sure they are
protected from the online stores. They do this by limiting the quality of
diamonds the online stores can sell.
If the online stores sold the same quality as the B&Ms AND were able to
sell for 30-40% less, the B&Ms would go out of business. This is b/c the
engagement business is the pillar of every B&M's revenue stream. A jewelry
store, with all its overhead, can't survive if all they sell are pendants,
bracelets, watches and the like. They have to sell the big stuff, b/c it takes
20-30 pendants/bracelets/earrings to equal the profitability of your typical
engagement ring. So, if the mining companies allowed the online stores and
B&Ms to compete, they'd cannibalize their own profit, b/c the online stores
would eat the bridal sales of the B&Ms (which isn't necessarily bad), which
would cause many B&Ms to go out of business (which is bad). If the B&Ms
go out of business, who's going to sell the dainty diamonds? Women, for better
or worse, have to be able to try on and touch the fashion jewelry they wear and
buy. They're not going to buy that kind of jewelry online. As such, with
B&Ms going under, the mining companies lose a HUGE resource for selling the
hundreds of millions of carats of dainty diamonds they mine each year.
Now, you might ask how the mining companies can prevent an online store from
acquiring high quality diamonds to sell. Well, every sight holder (which are
the companies that act as the distribution arm of the mining companies) have to
report what they sell and to whom they sell the inventory they get from the
mining companies each year. If a sight holder is found to have sold to an
online retailer OR knowingly sold to an import/export company who sold to an
online retailers, they're removed as a sight holder FROM ALL THE MINING
COMPANIES! And, if you're further up the supply chain and are found to be
supplying the online companies with the choice diamonds, you're put on a black
list (yes, one actually exists) and no one will ever sell diamonds to you
again. Believe it or not, the diamond industry is very, very small. Everyone
knows everyone. There might be 300 wholesale diamond companies worldwide, and
120 sight holders.
You're probably asking what Blue Nile is selling if they're not selling the
same quality as the B&Ms. The answer is, they're selling either off-cuts or
junk-cuts.
OFF-CUTS
An off-cut is a diamond that was cut for weight retention and profitability,
rather than beauty and sparkle. B/c diamonds are the most reflective natural
gem stone on Earth, they have a unique ability to act like mirrors. Any light
that hits the surface of a diamond at 28.5-90 degrees from perpendicular,
bounces off the surface the diamond. That unique property allows diamond
cutters to angle the facets (the flat parts of the diamond) such that light is
bounced around the inside of the stone and deliberately reflected through the
top of the stone (called the crown). The higher the percentage of light that exists
through the crown (versus the bottom of the diamond, called the pavilion), the
more sparkle the diamond has. In essence, every shape of diamond has ideal,
dimensions, proportions and facet arrangement & angling that will maximize
the sparkle (or light return) of the diamond. Diamonds cut to maximize sparkle
are referred to as Ideal or Excellent cut diamonds (though every diamond that
is given that label isn't necessarily an Ideal or Excellent cut).
Despite the fact that cut quality is the OVERWHELMING most important aspect of
a diamond's grade, it has the least "value" in terms of price. The biggest
influencer of a diamond's price is its carat weight, followed by its clarity.
So, when diamond cutters cut diamonds, they will deliberately deviate from the
ideal standards in order to eek out a little more weight from each stone. On a
1.5 carat diamond, for instance, an extra .20 carats is worth about $2,000!
Because of that, most diamonds are cut as off-cuts rather than ideal cuts.
Keep in mind, when you buy a diamond, the price you pay isn't solely determined
by the 4Cs. It's largely influenced by the cost of the rough crystal from which
that diamond was cut. As an example, to cut a 1 carat "average" cut quality
round diamond, you'd have to start with around a 1.70 carat diamond crystal.
However, to cut an ideal cut diamond, you'd have to start with around a 2.00
carat diamond crystal. So, the ideal cut is going to cost more.
JUNK-CUTS
A junk cut is a diamond that has some sort of hidden (or not easily discernable)
flaw that threatens the diamond's long-term durability or long-term beauty.
This is an area that most consumers don't understand. The jewelry industry has
spent so much time beating into their heads that everything you need to know
about a diamond is available on the diamond certificate. That, unfortunately,
is blatantly false. The diamond report is nothing more than the cliff notes to
the report card. It isn't even the full report card! It'll tell you the diamond
has a "G" color, but doesn't tell you that the G is the result of a diamond
with a true "H" color that has been lightened by the green hue emitted from the
radioactive skin of the diamond. Is that something you'd want to know???
Often times, the issues that plague junk cuts are not on the diamond report. Of
course, you'd think a quick glance at a diamond with a loupe or a microscope
would tell you if you were looking at a piece of junk. But, that's why junk
cuts are so prevalent……b/c it takes a very trained eye (beyond what 99.9% of jewelers
have) to spot those issues. An example of this is bearding. Bearding is a
collection of microscopic fractures along the girdle of the diamond. They occur
due to too much force being applied to the diamond during cutting. Bearding is
so small that under a microscope, it often looks like a faint fuzzy rim around
the diamond. In fact, most people, even those in the industry, remark that they
miss bearding continually b/c it gives the same blurry-rimmed effect you get
when your eyes are exhausted and the edges of objects are no longer crisp.
What makes bearding bad is that every time she hits her ring on a kitchen
cabinet, a car door or your right jaw (duck), or every time she gets it cleaned
with an ultrasonic cleaner or steam cleaner at a jewelry store, those tiny,
microscopic fractures expand. Now, they'll never expand to the point that your
diamond breaks in half. BUT, in about 10-15 years, those fractures will start
to intersect and small chips and nicks will develop all the way around your
diamond, making it look like the serrated edge of a knife.
Other "issues" could threaten the long-term beauty of the stone, rather than
the durability. For instance, if your diamond has certain types of cavities or
indented naturals, it can trap dirt & oils deep w/in the stone. Once inside
the diamond, it will never come out. And, b/c of the reflective nature of
diamonds, the tinge of yellow or brown will be reflected w/in your diamond for
eternity, making it look dingy or dirty.
You could even have "issues" that have nothing to do with inclusions. For
instance, if you have a diamond whose girdle grade varies from top to bottom by
more than 3 grades, it could be at risk for sitting lopsided in the setting,
shifting to being lopsided in the setting, falling out due to too thick a
girdle, or chipping due to too thin of a girdle.
The thing that makes junk cuts scary is that the most beautiful diamond you've
ever seen can be a junk cut. A "D" color……a flawless diamond…….and
ideal/excellent cut diamond. ANYTHING can be a junk cut, b/c a junk cut has
nothing to do with the diamond's grade and everything to do with WHAT
inclusions are present, WHERE the inclusions are, and HOW the diamond was
proportioned. This is why there are many diamonds on Blue Nile that "look"
great on paper. Excellent cut grade…..great color…..great clarity……the exact
carat weight you wanted……and a great price. Yet, it's a junk cut!
There are dozens of other issues that I could lecture on (sorry about throwing
out so much info), but I'll stop with those two. Hopefully that gives you
enough info to go on.
At the end of the day, the online guys play a vital role in the industry. They
sale the diamond product the stores don't want to sell or can't sell. Now, for
the sake of full disclosure, there are plenty of jewelry stores that sell off
cuts and junk cuts as well. Zales, Kays, Jareds, Helzberg, Robbins Brothers,
Americus and Ben Bridge are all off cut & junk cut dealers, though all but
Zales, Kays & Helzberg do mix in some nice stones with their inventory.
One last thing to add before I sign off…..
Make absolutely sure, no matter what you buy, only buy diamonds graded by GIA,
AGS or G-CAL. There are hundreds of grading labs around the world. And, much
like colleges, they all have their own grading standards without any
governmental oversight or industry regulation. That's important to know b/c you
could start a lab tomorrow, take a doo-doo brown, fractured like crazy diamond,
and call it a D color, flawless clarity diamond (which are the best color &
clarity grades). GIA, AGS & G-CAL are the only labs that use the
prestigious Gold Standard Grading System, which is the world's most rigorous
grading system. All other labs are known w/in the industry as fluff-labs, b/c
they "fluff" or "embellish" the grades on their diamond reports. Some of the
more notorious fluffers are EGL, IGI and AGI. No matter how good the deal you
think you're getting on a fluffed diamond is, you're still getting ripped off.
I'm writing a book currently about all of the legal scams and fronts that most
online and B&M stores run. As part of the book, I sent off the same diamond
to nearly a dozen different labs to get graded. The most recent was a 3.11
carat pear shaped diamond. At EGL, the most common fluff lab, the diamond was graded
as a G/SI2. At GIA, the world's top diamond lab, it was graded as an I/I1. The
difference in "value" at the retail level between those two grades is
approximately $15,000!!! So, a shrewd store can take an EGL stone and discount
it 20% below a comparably graded GIA diamond. They'll get almost every sale,
b/c the client things they're getting a "deal", not realizing they're buying a
fluffed diamond. But, the store ends up making more profit, b/c they sold the
EGL diamond for more than they could have sold it had it gotten the CORRECT
grade from GIA!
When it comes down to it, you have to deal with someone whom you trust to shoot
straight with you at all times. No matter how much info I give you, you'll
never know enough (w/o schooling) to be able to buy w/o any risk of getting
ripped off.
Now, in addition to my consulting practice, I own a private, appointment only
diamond import company that's based in Austin, with an office in Carlsbad, CA.
We import elite quality stones for clients all over the world. By "elite",
I don't me an "expensive". I simply mean that I won't cut corners to
make a sale. In other words, my integrity isn't for sale…..at any price. So, if
I sell it, it's going to sparkle like a portable disco ball and is going to
have the necessary durability to last a hundred lifetimes (not all diamonds are
cut to last more than 10-15 years as I've explained).
In fact, because of my standing in the industry, I'm able to buy diamonds
directly from the distribution arm of the mining companies. There are more
people on this thread than there are people in the US who can buy as far back
in the supply chain as I can. As such, I'm generally 30-60% below retail. And,
in my company's history, we've never been beaten on price by any store, any
diamond broker, or any online company in ANY country.
In addition to diamonds, I have contracts that give me access to just about
every ring designer world wide. So, there isn't anything from a design
standpoint I can't get my hands on.
If any of this interests you, feel free to shoot me an e-mail at
[email protected] and I'd be happy
to discuss where you are in the process and how to ensure you end up with not
only a great deal, but the most gorgeous diamond available anywhere in the
world. As I mentioned above, my company is private; meaning, I don't advertise
at all, nor do I take walk-ins. It's by referral only. Since you're not being
referred, you don't know me. As such, I'd be more than happy to provide you
with any of the nearly 1,000 references I have available. The only clients I've
had whom I can't give to you as a reference are the professional athlete,
celebrity and political clients I have.
Also, feel free to ask any follow up questions and I'll make a point to check
back and reply. Whether you choose to deal with me or someone else, I wish you
the best of luck in your hunt. I took the leap of faith 5 years ago and haven't
looked back. It's the best decision I've ever made.
My apologies for the insanely long reply. Hopefully it's helpful and aids you
in your search. Believe it or not, but I gave you a crash course on about 10%
of everything you need to know about diamonds in order to make an informed
buying decision.