DasVWBabe’s Diamond Tutorial
I’ve had plenty of requests to write an EDU, so I decided to go ahead and start one. I began this tutorial on Thursday, June 14, 2007, so it’s obviously taken a little while.
So, I’ve helped quite a few of you with the purchase of an engagement ring, and I just want to make sure everyone knows that I am not in the diamond business, although I was for a few weeks in my very early 20s, and I was appalled at the behavior of most mall and chain jewelry stores – diamond switching, blatant lying, charging for services that should really come with this important of a purchase. So, I quit, and started doing my own research. The research turned into a hobby, and here I am almost 10 years later with lots of what I’ve learned to share with all of you.
I enjoy diamonds, but I do have some experience with buying and selecting gemstones. They are quickly gaining popularity as an alternative to the diamond engagement ring, and rightfully so. There are so many more gemstones beyond your well known sapphires, rubies, and emeralds, such as Tsavorites, Garnets, Topaz, Spinel, and many of these come in an array of colours, including white.
First thing’s first . . .
So, you’ve decided to propose, but there is quite a bit of care that needs to be taken when determining whether a diamond is right for your girlfriend.
Firstly, have you talked about it? Do you know what she likes, and what her tastes are? Nine times out of ten, when you decide to make this major of a step, the conversation has come up in the past. Most women have a definite idea of what they like, and what they don’t like.
Take her shopping, see what she gravitates toward. Trust me, if you’re already talking marriage, this will not ruin any amount of surprise the proposal will hold. Most women would rather have a ring they would love, than one that you love.
If you can’t get her exact ring size, there’s a little trick that works about 60% of the time. Take her shoe size, and subtract 2 from it – it should be her left ring finger size, or very close.
Unless you’re buying a 30 carat D IF, collectible quality stone, DIAMONDS ARE NOT AN INVESTMENT.
They DO have horrible resale value, but there are three different main reasons that it seems people want certed stones IMO.
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There is a theory circulating (and I don’t have enough personal knowledge to know if it’s true or not) that the best stones get sent to GIA or AGS because then they can command much higher prices. Stones that won’t grade well are then sent to EGL or not sent at all, because then they can call them higher grades than they really are. Most consumers are unaware of this when they purchase a stone, thus, they think that an E VS2 ideally cut RB from EGL-Israel is the same as an E VS2 ideal cut RB from AGS, except with the smaller price tag. People don’t realize that they might be getting something that’s a few grades lower. So for assurance that they get what they pay for, they pay the higher price tag for AGS/GIA stones. It’s a small price to pay to make sure you’re getting what you pay for.
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GIA/AGS stones DO have a significantly higher resale value than other certs or non-certed stones. So you are somewhat protecting what little resale value you might have by getting a certed stone.
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Most people don’t even KNOW what an Idealscope is, or what compromises an ideally cut stone. So having a qualified cert from AGS/GIA TELLING you it’s the best cut out there is very valuable to the uninformed consumer. This is the same reason why many people will pay extra for a stone from Tiffany’s, because they KNOW that it’s a pretty darn good stone with little other info.
Diamond Grading Reports
There are several grading labs out there – AGS, GIA, EGL, IGI, AIG, GIG, ASG, etc. I’ve ordered the first 3 in levels of strictness in their practice of grading diamonds. AGS is obviously the strictest in my experience. Everything not bolded should probably be avoided simply because you’re paying for the service this lab is offering you, and that’s to ensure that you actually get the colour, clarity, weight, and cut specifications that you pay for. Diamonds that are the most worthy of being graded by an exceedingly strict lab are sent to AGS and GIA, and if it’s somewhat borderline (ie. A GIA G VS2 diamond would be graded as an F VS1 by EGL), they’ll send it to EGL or another lab to get an even higher rating because the Rapp Report (the insider’s report to daily diamond pricing) is based on weight, but heavily weighted by colour and clarity.
The Four Cs
Carat weight - Carat is the simplest and most objective of the four C’s. A 1.00 Carat diamond weighs 0.2 gm on scales weighs. Most jewelry professionals will refer to a ½ ct. as 50 points. Naturally more Carat weight means more cost because larger diamonds are very rare. A diamond of double the weight costs around 4 times more. Add the magic weight idea to rarity: a 1.00ct D color Flawless costs 1.7 times more than a 99 point D Flawless.
But weight does not equal size! Even when diamond cutters produce so called Ideal Cuts, it is hard to resist leaving a little more weight on the crown and pavilion (the top and the bottom) to push the stone above the next 'magic weight. This has a critical impact on a diamonds beauty. There are many resources available, such as the Holloway Cut Advisor www.pricescope.com that will help you avoid paying for useless weight and find diamonds with a better spread and performance.
Cut - Of the 4 Cs, cut quality is the hardest to pin down, but it makes the most significant impact as it turns a pebble of diamond into a sparkling gem. Sadly most diamonds are not well cut; D Flawless diamonds are often poorly cut and sparkle less than well cut lower quality diamonds. Think of it like a dog show – the dog with the closest ideal proportions to the breed standard wins.
This is a great time to talk about the Holloway Cut Advisor. This tool is only viable for round diamonds, but as they make up over 70% of all diamonds sold, it works well. If you have any question about a diamond you’re considering, run it through the HCA, just to get an idea of where it stands. http://www.pricescope.com/cutadviser.asp
The goal here is to come as close to these standards as possible.
Depth % - 60%
Table % - 57%
Crown Angle – 34 Degrees
Pavilion Angle – 40.5 Degrees
Culet – most diamonds have a pointed culet, so you assign a value of 0
Clarity – The scale – FL, IF, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2
After carat weight, Clarity has the most influence on cost. But grading inclusion size, quantity, color, reflectivity, placement and type is difficult; graders are humans trying to mediate between buyers and sellers. High Clarity is symbolic of “purity” and rarity. Diamond ‘quality’ traditionally meant ‘Clarity’. Flawless and VVS (Very Very Slight) diamonds are said to be “investment grade”, but that is nonsense; demand and liquidity of medium clarity, SI (Slightly Included) and VS (Very Slight) makes them easier to sell or trade up. Inclusions in diamonds are rarely “flaws” that result in breakage like, say, emeralds. Medium clarity diamonds are just as brilliant as Flawless diamonds.
In my opinion, for a round diamond, AGS and GIA SI1s are routinely eye-clean, but if you need a mind-clean stone, the highest you would ever need to go is with a VS2. Anything above that, in the VVS range and above, is just paying unnecessary dollars for something you can’t even see! Only 1 in 100 people can see an inclusion in a VS2, so if you’re worried about your hawk-eye vision picking it up from 16” away, go with a VS1.
Colour – The colour scale is alphabetical, starting with D as icy white, down to Z.
Most diamonds have a hint of yellow or brown. The rarest and most expensive are D or Icy white - on a scale that goes to Z and is yellowish (or brownish). (More color than Z is graded as a ‘fancy’ color). Below 1ct about half of average people can tell the difference between D and H colored diamonds, at I and lower, most people can see the faint tint of yellow. But diamonds over 5ct it is easier to pick G from D, and prices reflect that. Color also has more influence on prices in higher clarity grades.
Glassy looking cuts like Asscher and Emerald cut diamonds show more color than ideal cut rounds; brighter cuts, such as a round brilliant, various square brilliant cuts, and pears, etc. face up more colorless; you can see their color when you look from the side.
It is easier to see the color of a diamond in a white setting (platinum or white gold). If you have a yellowish diamond, then setting it in a rubbed over bezel style setting can improve the apparent color by a couple of grades.
Putting it all together;
Here is how a normal online vendor will advertise a diamond they have in house.
This is the diamond at 40x magnification.
Here is an example of an AGS diamond certification report.
Here are the specs as they appear on the website –
1.02 ct H VS2 A Cut Above H&A
$6,640.00 Item Available - Ready to ship
Item Code: AGS-8452905
. Report: AGS
. Shape: A Cut Above H&A
. Carat: 1.020
. Depth %: 61.5
. Table %: 56.6
. Crown Angle: 34.7
. Crown %: 15
. Star : 53
. Pavilion Angle: 40.8
. Pavilion %: 43
. Lower Girdle %: 74
. Girdle: Thin to Medium Faceted
. Measurements: 6.44-6.46X3.97
. Light Performance: 0
. Polish: Ideal
. Symmetry: Ideal
. Culet: Pointed
. Fluorescence: Negligible
Here is the SARIN report – I didn’t go over this before, but this is a vendor’s validation of the AGS certificate
This is an Idealscope of the diamond – look at how bright the red is, and there are very crisp arrows, and hardly any white – this is an ideal round diamond.
This is an ASET image – again, comparing light and fire performance.
What does it all mean?
It means you need to do copious amounts of research before you make such a major purchase. There is a huge amount of misinformation out there, but I suggest learning all you can prior to making such important purchases. The best resources I’ve found are www.pricescope.com with a close runner up being www.diamondring.com . . . both are consumer advocate sites, with several professionals posting amongst the mix, but they are only allowed to post as consumers, and not try to convince you to come to their company. I’ve seen a couple of vendors kicked off of Pricescope for that behavior, so you can be assured that the behavior is not tolerated.
Purchasing Online – Is it right for me?
Many, many people have a sentimental side, and they need to see, touch, and feel a diamond to make that large of a purchase, and that’s to be expected. I don’t think I could buy a car online, without trying it out first, so most online vendors offer a return policy, that you can “try out” the diamond before you decide it’s the one you want.
Also, the online vendors of today have the technology to take highly magnified photographs of the diamond, including Idealscopes (The 10x lens has a ‘hot pink’ reflector in front of the diamond so you can judge how much of the red / pink light refracts back from the diamond. The redder the diamond the more light is returned. White areas in a diamond show light transmitted from behind the diamond; this is called leakage. The blackness of the lens mimics an observer’s head which blocks out some light sources.) and ASET images, which provide a very accurate depiction of how the diamond will behave in natural light, fluorescent light, and no light.
The bottom line is, you can save an immense amount of money on the diamond itself, as well as sales tax, by buying online. In my opinion, and my experience, time and time again I’ve seen savings in the thousands of dollars when buying from an online vendor rather than a brick & mortar jeweler.
Settings – Which Metal Should I pick?
This is a tough one. There are tons of options for metals such as white gold, platinum, yellow gold, newer, well, actually older, and newly resurgins metals such as palladium, titanium, and tungsten.
Platinum: The priciest of the metals, it will remain basically white throughout its life, dulling to a grey patina with years of wear without polishing. Heavier than similar metals, it “feels” luxurious. The only worries I have with platinum are how easily it scratches, and how easily it dings. However, it loses less metal whenever it’s polished, so can sustain many more polishings before wearing thin.
White gold: In either 14k or 18k, I would avoid most white gold alloyed with nickel. Many people have an allergy to nickel, which causes their white gold settings to yellow over the years. Many white gold alloys are mixed with palladium now, a member of the platinum family. All white gold alloys are generally plated with rhodium, to make it extremely white.
Palladium: A member of the platinum family, it’s a natural grey, and many jewelers plate this with rhodium to keep it white. However, when the rhodium fades, a colour closer to aged platinum appears, making it a fantastic option for people who have repeatedly had to replate their white gold rings.
Yellow gold: Obviously a personal choice, it rose to extreme popularity in the 80s. It’s coming back as a fashion choice, and in quite a few high end jewelers’ collections.
Titanium and Tungsten: Great choices for plain wedding bands, but because you can’t size it, I wouldn’t recommend it for an engagement ring.
I’m always happy to help, and I have enjoyed helping the OTers that I have with their purchases. It’s fun to see the finished product, no matter where it came from.
