A customer is contemplating purchasing one of our Super-Ideal Cut SuperbCert Hearts and Arrows Diamonds, is working within a given budget, has already correctly decided that cut matters most and is now looking to sacrifice a little bit on the diamond specifications.
Part of the beauty of maximizing on the precision cut quality of your diamond is the resultant effect it has on the diamonds visual appearance and beauty. A diamond that has been crafted to achieve maximum cut precision will have significantly greater brilliance, fire, and scintillation than a poorly cut diamond which will appear completely dull and lifeless to the eye.
A diamonds color and clarity grade as good or as poor as it may be, will have almost no effect on the diamonds physical beauty or lack thereof.
The most important factor to consider when purchasing your diamond (and unfortunately the least understood of all....) is the diamonds cut quality, which will determine whether you are buying a visually stunning diamond, or a piece of frozen spit the likes of which you will see on Ebay or at your local mall (a.k.a. maul) store.
By increasing the cut quality of your diamond you are ensuring that the diamond will face up eye-clean and completely white due to its incredible brilliance.
This means that you can sacrifice quite a bit (and save quite a bit of money in the process...) on the color and clarity grades of the diamond with the knowledge that your SI clarity, I color stone will be eye-clean (you will not see the diamonds inclusions with your naked eye...)and face up completely white.
Once you have done this, then the question of what to choose vis a vis color/clarity becomes more psychological than anything else, since unlike with poor cut quality diamonds; you will not be able to see the inclusions or coloration in your ideal cut diamond.
Some customers will say o.k., all of this makes sense but how about from the side of the diamond.. in the profile? Won't people be able to detect slight coloration from the side where there is no brilliance to mask it? My answer to this is #1; once the diamond has been set into an engagement ring setting of 4/6 prongs it will be extremely difficult altogether to view the sides of the diamond which will be obstructed by the prongs. #2 an excellent cut quality diamond will appear whiter from the sides as well. #3 If anybody gets that close to your diamond, that they are now dissecting the sides of your diamond through the ring basket, you ought to alert the police and have them immediately arrested!!
Remember; the diamonds that you are used to viewing in the typical jewelry stores look nothing like a super-ideal hearts and arrows diamond. Comparing the two would be akin to comparing apples to oranges.
The diamond in the jewelry store when taken away from the glare of the high intensity halogen showcase bulbs (...ever wonder why they put those things in there....) will discriminate against lower color/clarity grades and you will definitely be able to see the interanl inclusions and brownish color.
Not so with a Super-Ideal Cut diamond, which will sparkle like crazy in any lighting environment and mask your ability to see the internal inclusions and coloration with your naked eye.
We regularly set our I and even J color SuperbCert Diamonds (SI all the way up to VVS) in precious Platinum (which incidentally discriminates against lower color diamonds more than any other precious metal type) and they face up absolutely white and eye-clean for the savvy consumer who has just saved a small fortune!!
Only the cut of a diamond; its depth and width, as well as the size, shape, angle, and positioning of the diamond facets will determine its brilliance, dispersion, and scintillation.
Of all the characteristics of a diamond that determine its beauty and value, "Cut" is the one thing that is entirely manipulated by the diamond cutter and will make the difference between a visually brilliant diamond vs. a diamond with a dulled appearance and poor light performance.
A diamond can have a perfect color and clarity grade but if it is poorly cut it will look like a piece of glass; dull and lifeless.
Conversely, if a diamond has been properly cut, it will achieve maximum optical performance regardless of its color and clarity, and will actually look more beautiful and brilliant than a poor or mediocre cut diamond of higher color and clarity.
Here is how it works:
Light is constantly entering into the diamond through the table, which is it's largest facet and the surrounding crown. Once inside, the light will travel within the stone by way of reflecting off of the round brilliant diamond's facets which if aligned and positioned correctly act as mirrors. In a perfectly cut diamond the light will then refract and exit back out through the table to the eye. A perfectly cut diamond is therefore going to display incredible light performance in any lighting environment.
In a diamond of poor cut quality the light will be misdirected when entering and exiting the stone. Instead of the light being refracted back through the table to the eye in the form of brilliance, it will be lost through the sides or escape from the bottom in the form of leakage. This is because the incorrect alignment and positioning of facets results in them acting as windows through which light will exit. A poor or mediocre cut diamond is therefore going to rely on the halogen bulbs of the jewelry stores to make them "appear" sparkly, but will appear dull and lifeless when viewed in normal lighting conditions.
Buying loose diamonds from exceldiamonds.com makes sense considering our lowest diamond prices and unrivaled level of information provided for every loose diamond we sell.
Educate yourself on loose diamonds
Spend as much time as you can researching how loose diamonds are sold and you will be amazed at the in-depth infomation you will learn on how to properly evaluate any loose diamond you might be considering for your purchase. Many first time loose diamond shoppers will make the mistake of not getting the proper education to empower themselves before making a once in a lifetime purchase (we hope..;-)) of this magnitude.
Buying Loose Diamonds
In order to get the very best value for your dollars in a loose diamond you can be proud of, you need to set clear goals and an attainable objective. Establish exactly what you are looking for and then commence with your search for perfect loose diamonds online that would match your criterion. Compare and contrast different loose diamonds and ask for as much information on your loose diamond selection as you could possibly get. As for Megascope, BrillianceScope and IdealScope images for every loose diamond and certainly do not settle for anything less than actual diamond photos and a scan of the loose diamond's grading report.
Research before Buying Loose Diamonds
Cull us at any time for help with you loose diamond purchase, we hope to make your dream a reality!
Hearts and Arrows Diamonds: Why You Should Buy One.
Hearts and Arrows Diamonds. Why you should buy one.
As you learn more and more about loose diamonds, you will come to understand that the ideal cut round diamond, will have the most refracted brilliance from any other diamond. Another hallmark of the finest ideal cut diamonds is the hearts and arrows patterning exhibited in these stones. There are many visual benefits in diamonds that have hearts and arrows patterning within the stone. These benefits will be most noticeable when the diamond is viewed in various lighting conditions. This is an important factor, since a loose diamond, when worn on her finger, is not a static object. Rather, it is constantly moving with every motion of her hand. These movements will play the light off of the diamond in a brilliant array of brilliance, fire, and scintillation, but, only when the diamond is cut for maximum brilliancy.
A diamond, when viewed under direct light (such as the overhead spot lights in most jewelry stores) will make almost all diamonds sizzle with life and fire. Obviously, how much fire and brilliance you will see, is largely dependant on the precision cut of the diamond. However, since this kind of lighting is entering and exiting through the diamond with such intensity, it will actually give an (inaccurate or fake) illusion of brilliancy even in poorly cut diamonds. It is for this reason that jewelry stores invest so much effort and money in their overhead and showcase halogen lighting, so as to give themselves an unfair advantage and trick the customer into buying poor quality diamonds that “look great in the store”.
The real trick of evaluating a loose diamonds beauty and light performance would be in sub-par lighting conditions, such as under a cloudy sky or drab office lighting. You may ask yourself, why cheat the diamond out of its ability to shine? The answer is that a diamond that has been cut for maximum beauty generates its own brilliance and light performance. It does not need to rely on an artificial light source to give it an appearance of being beautiful. Therefore, under typical office lighting, otherwise know as diffuse lighting, you would typically see less of a diamond’s dispersive qualities. This will be true for poorly cut diamonds. However, in a well cut diamond the excellent return of white light will be able to compensate for the somewhat muted fire in this environment. Ideal cut diamonds will certainly exhibit excellent light return in all environments.
Hearts & Arrows patterning in a loose diamond will make the diamond perform even better than typical ideal cut quality diamonds in practically any lighting environment. This is because Hearts & Arrows diamonds due to the precision of their facet alignment and placement will create increased contrast brilliance in the diamond.
The most noticeable type of lighting environment where a hearts and arrows round diamond will really shine, is under soft ambient or restaurant lighting. One of the biggest joys of owning a true ideal cut hearts and arrows diamond is to examine the diamond under dim candlelight or in a parking lot at night! Under these types of lighting conditions, a hearts and arrows diamond will absolutely explode with flashes of light that will be noticed from across the room! This is a direct result of the diamond’s perfect facet alignment which takes in all surrounding light and maximizes its refraction back to the eye in a prismatic burst of fire from all facets working in tandem.
Another much discussed advantage of buying a hearts and arrows or superideal cut diamond, is the effect of brilliancy on the wearers perception of the diamonds face-up color. All loose diamonds are assigned a color grade based on an evaluation of the diamonds appearance in the face-down position when viewed through the profile. The reason diamonds are graded this way, is because well cut diamonds that exhibit maximum light performance and brilliancy will actually create the appearance of a ‘whiter’ diamond. In the case of certain ideal cut diamonds, AGS-0 diamonds, and certainly superideal cut diamonds, this has proven to be true to the tune of 2 color grades better than the actual designation!! Therefore, diamonds have to be color graded in a way that will give the grader the best chance of eliminating the (advantage of) superior light performance in a well cut diamond! The only way to do this is by assessing a diamonds color grade in the position where brilliance, fire, and scintillation would not be harnessed and refracted back to the eye in a well cut diamond!
For all of these reasons, more and more customers are searching out the most beautiful diamonds, or hearts & arrows diamonds that money can buy!
About Excel Diamonds
"You don't know how much we know, until you understand how much we care"
Diamond Education: All About Diamonds | The 4 Cs And More
At Excel Diamonds.com we eliminate the headache and risk involved in making a purchase decision of this magnitude. Making an informed decision online does not have to be difficult and is completely within reach. It is for this reason that we promote a comprehensive and detailed diamond education on our website. We back up our promise of full disclosure with our money back guarantee.
Our team includes GIA gemologists, diamond graders, expert diamond cutters, master jewelers and a trained staff of people dedicated to your complete satidsfaction!
Our President, Barry Gutwein, is a master diamond cutter with over 30 years experience in the art of cutting beautiful diamonds. He is the creator of our flagship diamond brand; our Signature SuperbCert super ideal cut diamonds.
About Excel Diamonds
"You don't know how much we know, until you understand how much we care"
Diamond Cut Is The Crucial C | The Internet Diamond Revolution
Walk into a typical jewelry store and you'll hear all about the 4 c's of a loose diamond. The first thing your'e gonna notice is that they give you a whole run down on diamond color/clarity with very little information on the most important aspect of the diamond; namely its cut.
For many years diamond cut was not something that was actually quantified and graded by the major laboratories. Many unsuspecting customers had no clue what differences, if any, existed between poorly cut and finely cut diamonds. In fact, most people didn't realize that the reason certain diamonds looked brilliant and sparkly, while others looked like frozen spit (love using that analogy..;-) had nothing to do with differences in color/clarity and everything to do with differences in "cut quality".
Heck, many people believed that the "cut" of a diamond referred to its shape!! This is still a common misunderstanding by many uninformed consumers who invariably end up spending a small fortune on a "maul" store diamond with poor cut and terrible light performance.
Today's Internet savvy consumers know better. They understand the intricate details and skill involved in cutting the finest ideal cut diamonds from a piece of diamond rough. They realize that it requires more effort, more manpower, and greater expense (there is more lost carat weight when a diamond is cut for greater precision and brilliancy....More weight = more money lost) on the part of the diamond manufacturer to cut a rough diamond for ideal specs. or better light performance/brilliancy in the polished/final diamond product. They know very well that this is the reason many manufactures will take the easy and cost efficient way out by mass producing mediocre to average cut quality diamonds in half the time/expense and sell it to the many "maul" store mentality" customers who don't know better. It is indeed for this reason that almost 85% of the world's entire polished diamond output is of average cut quality at best.
A diamonds "Cut" is King"!
For several years now, the Internet has been at the forefront of the diamond revolution with disseminating crucial information on all aspects related to a loose diamonds cut quality and light performance.
Consumers have access to all of this information, which is just a "click" away and quite literally at their fingertips!
Some diamond Internet vendors will even showcase their listed diamonds with all of the scientific cut precision and light performance data, which eliminates all of the guesswork from buying diamonds online.
It is for this reason that it never ceases to amaze me when I see many consumers still opting for the "don't ask, don't tell" method when purchasing an expensive diamond.
Why is it, that with all of the information available on a loose diamond, people will still choose to buy blindly without so much as an inkling of what they are paying for??
It boggles the mind, that the guy/gal behind the counter will pull out a crappy diamond from under the high intensity halogen blubs (designed to give a diamond artificial brilliancy...the oldest trick in the book) and tell you it's the best thing since "sliced bread".
No diamond information, or attribution....maybe some dubious "grading report" from the guy in the back room....and people will buy the stone!!
Some diamond salespeople are no better than a used car salesman.
These same people might exert tremendous effort and do a ton of research when selecting a gown or tux for the wedding....so why is buying an expensive and once-in a lifetime diamond (we hope..;-)) any different?????
The fact is, not all diamonds are created equal.
Just like any other product that has different levels of quality, beauty, and craftsmanship; there are commercial quality diamonds, better quality diamonds, ideal cut diamonds and even superideal cut diamonds.
The funny thing however, is that while you will almost always find a price premium associated with better quality products over the lesser items in most industries, it is not quite true in the diamond marketplace.
Indeed, the better quality diamonds are not entirely more expensive than the commercial quality stones, with the actual price differential being extremely reasonable and well worth it.
It is simply a question of doing a bit of homework to find these beautiful diamonds from amongst thousands of underachieving stones.
To be sure, there will always be consumers who do not appreciate the tangible differences between poorly cut and better cut diamonds and will decide to purchase a commercial quality diamond over a superior or ideal cut diamond.
This is true for any product and in every industry.
However, a true maven and perfectionist will insist on choosing a diamond for its cut precision and resultant beauty and not just because DeBeers told everyone that this piece of carbon is a womans "best friend".
If you are buying a diamond for its brilliance and sparkle, there is no question that a superior cut or super ideal cut diamond such as a branded SuperbCert Diamond (or any other similarly cut hearts and arrows diamond), is the most beautiful diamond money can buy.
About Excel Diamonds
"You don't know how much we know, until you understand how much we care"
The short answer of course, is a diamond with internal hearts and arrows patterning and symmetry, which proves it to be amongst the most beautiful and brilliant diamonds on the market.
For the long and detailed answer on what exactly distinguishes the beautiful and brilliant hearts and arrows loose diamonds from commercial quality diamonds, read this informative and eye opening article on hearts & arrow diamonds.
The beautiful 58 faceted round brilliant diamond which has become synonymous with the slogan, "a woman's best friend", has gone through a lengthy evolution until today.
The first 58 faceted round brilliant diamond was fashioned in the 1650's and early 1700's. As the cut parameters of the diamond evolved into the 1800's, the first "old-miner" and "European cut" diamonds were born. The premise of these diamonds was to sacrifice as little carat weight as possible from the diamond rough, even at the significant expense of the finished diamonds beauty and brilliancy.
In 1860 Henry Morse opened a diamond cutting facility in Boston, MA. His objective was to overhall the traditional old-European cuts by recutting them for increased beauty (more carat weight removed) instead of maximum weigh retention. His finished/polished diamonds were considered the most beautiful of the time.
In 1919 the famous Marcel Tolkowsky’s brilliant diamond cut was introduced together with his acclaimed published thesis on diamond cut. This framework for a diamonds cut parameters became known as the ideal cut diamond standard, by which round diamonds were fashioned into the most ideal cut for maximizing the stones beauty and light performance.
In the early 1930's Lazare Kaplan began cutting diamonds to the Tolkowsky ideal proportions for ideal cut diamonds.
In 1931 the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) was founded. The GIA and the AGS (American Gemological Society) would carve a niche for themselves in the next 45 years for being the standard bearers of the diamond grading industry and for enabling consumers to select the finest ideal cut diamonds by means of their grading systems.
In 1953, Richard T. Liddicoat developed a unique and novel grading system for diamonds that included a crucial framework for the evaluation of a diamonds cut.
In 1964-66, the AGS developed a 0-10 scale for grading diamond the cut of a loose diamond.
In 1996 the AGS grading Laboratories enters the grading world with a bang by begining to issue a specific cut grade for round brilliant diamonds.
In 2005, the AGS Laboratories introduces the AGS-0 Ideal Princess Cut Diamond. These are the creme-de-la-creme and the finest, most brilliant princess cut diamonds on the market. They also update their brilliance and light performance meauring metrics for the round brilliant diamond.
In 2006 the GIA laboratories jump on the "cut grade" and "light performance" "bandwagon'" by updating their own grading system for round diamonds to reflect and include a measure for the diamonds crucial cut grade.
Super-Ideal Cut Diamonds
In 1985 a diamond cutter named Kioyishi Higuchi produced the first branded Eightstar diamond for a Japanese businessman named Takanori Tamura using a performance assesment device called the Firescope. The Eightstar diamond was cut for the sole objective of achieving minimum light leakage and maximized diamond brilliance. This is the first "branded" superideal cut diamond that was introduced into the marketplace.
Since the creation of the Firescope, which measures the relationship between light leakage and refracted brilliance in a loose diamond, many scientific diamond evaluation tools were developed. While some of these tools measure the cut precision of a loose diamond, others have the ability to directly measure a diamonds light performance and brilliancy.
In the 1990's Super Ideal cut diamonds began to make waves in America.
The immediate popularity of the super-ideal diamond created the impetus for more refinement and evolution in the diamond technology sector for qualifying and quantifying a loose diamonds cut precision and visual beauty.
Today, in 2007, the most visually stunning and absolutely brilliant diamond that money could buy, is knows as the super-ideal cut diamond.
For more information on what exactly distinguishes the super-ideal cut diamonds from even the typically beautiful (albeit, less precise) ideal cut diamonds, click here.
About Excel Diamonds
"You don't know how much we know, until you understand how much we care"
The Brilliance Of An Ideal Cut Diamond Will Mask The Imperfections.
It is definitely true that the beauty and brilliance of an ideal cut diamond will be able to mask the internal imperfections from being visible to the naked eye, even in the case of a lower clarity graded diamond.
The beauty of this, is that it affords you the ability to spend less money on a lower clarity grade, while still buying a diamond that faces up "eye-clean" with incredible brilliancy!
Here is a SuperbCert Signature Ideal Diamond that we sold to a customer.
The diamond is a GIA certified, I1 clarity graded stone that actually faced up eye clean as a result of its beauty and light performance!!
Did you ever wonder what a precious and expensive diamond actually looks like when it comes out of the ground?
For those of you who only know what a diamond looks like once it has been fashioned into a gorgeous, polished round brilliant diamond with 58 facets, be prepared for this shocker!
This hand is holding millions of dollars worth of diamonds in the rough!! Yes, they look like frozen spit now, but just wait until they have been polished.....
Hard to believe..huh?
Methinks this is an appropriate analogy for life; sometimes you can take something so ugly and with the proper care, attention and devotion, turn it into something beautiful and magnificent!
The American Gem Society and American Gem Society Laboratories unveiled a new diamond quality certificate Tuesday at the organization’s International Conclave in Denver, Colorado.
According to the AGS, the DQC “is a guarantee of authenticity and performance by the jeweler”, available only to its retail members.
“By publishing this signed document, AGS Laboratories’ DQC meets the legal definition of a certificate,” said Cecilia Garner, president and CEO of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee.
The American Gem Society is a not-for-profit trade association dedicated to ethics, knowledge, and consumer protection in the jewelry industry.
Less than five percent of jewelers in the United States have met its requirements for membership, the society says.
I1 Clarity Graded Diamonds Can Be Beautiful and Eye Clean!!!
I1 clarity diamonds look like crud when they lack in precision cut.
Why?
Very simple. It's because the diamond exhibits absolutely zero brilliancy and sparkle and looks DEAD. Therefore, if there are many blemishes within the diamond, they become glaringly obvious to the naked eye.
Then, it's almost like you are adding insult to injury.
Not only do you have a diamond that looks like the "black hole of Calcutta"
It also has visible "dirt" all over the inside of it..
Not exactly an award winning combination.
These are the kinds of "diamonds" you might find on e-bay, or at a typical Mall (a.k.a. Maul..) store.
It is for this reason that I1 diamonds have developed a "bad rap" and a stigma associated with buying them.
However, consider this; when a diamond is cut for nothing short of maximum beauty and brilliancy, the resultant sparkle does more than just make the diamond shine, it also masks imperfections within the stone.
This is a fact and is essentially part of the magic of a diamonds all important "Cut".
We have manufactured and sold I1 clarity graded SuperbCert Signature diamonds like the one below, that have faced up completely and totally eye-clean! These diamonds therefore represent unrivaled value for your dollars....AND NOBODY WOULD EVER KNOW IT WAS AN I1..JUST BECAUSE THEY CANNOT SEE INCLUSIONS WITH THE NAKED EYE!!
You don't just "save a bundle" by switching to Geico!
I1 diamonds of ideal cut quality, will do the trick as well!
Certainly, this same principle will apply to similar cut quality diamonds of SI1-SI2 clarity grades.
Buying Diamonds On The Internet vs. Jewelry Stores. Exploring The "Price" Factor
I think it's about time I put up a post to address the major discrepancy between the prices for loose diamonds in the jewelry stores vs. the On-line diamond websites.
We get customers all the time who start their engagement ring search at a local jeweler. They get prices on a few diamonds of interest..and then they go home and do some research Online.
They do a Google search for diamonds and jewelry and find our website as well as other Internet diamond dealers.
Lo and behold, they notice that diamonds on the Internet of similar size, color, clarity, quality, grading reports, are being sold at a fraction of the asking price of the retail jewelry stores.
At first glance it seems impossible, since these price differences are often to the tune of thousands of dollars!
However, subsequent research shows that the diamonds advertised on the net are similar, if not completely identical to the ones they saw at their local jeweler!!
Now here is where doubt begins to creep in.....
Many customers begin to wonder, "what is the catch"??
How could the diamonds be so much cheaper on the Internet??
This is what I call the"sounds too good to be true, syndrome".
There is often an assumption made that if something sounds "too cheap" in relation to comparable merchandise being sold elsewhere, then there has to be a catch, since obviously, nobody is inclined to give away something for nothing and assuredly, everyone is making a profit.
If that is true, then by extension, people start doubting the quality of the diamonds being sold on the net. They call and ask "whether there is something wrong with the diamonds".
Now, while there is a certain truth to the "sounds too good to be true syndrome", the reality is that where it concerns prices on the internet (for any merchandise) vs. prices for the same stuff in the stores, the discrepancy has nothing to do with any qualitative difference.
The difference lies in the completely different business model that exists between traditional "brick & mortar" jewelry stores vs. Internet retailers.....and this difference actually exists in every conceivable market.
The answer is; obviously there is nothing "wrong" with the diamonds being sold on the Internet.
In fact, these diamonds are often of much higher quality and beauty, with better certification and a wealth of information, as opposed to the frozen spit that passes for diamonds in many of the mall (maul) store jewelry chains.
What I always say, is welcome to the world of the Internet!
Consumers on the Internet are often much more knowledgeable and savvy than typical mall store shoppers. They do not buy diamonds without a wealth of information and proof to back up the sales pitch rhetoric.
The traditional brick and mortar jewelry stores must survive (and will sometimes thrive..) with a completely different business model.
They have huge overhead, in terms of sales staff, rent roll, utilities, stock inventory, mortgage, etc.
Somebody has to pay for these astronomical bills...YOU DO!
The jewelry stores have huge markups on the loose diamonds they sell. They literally make a fortune in profit on every single diamond they sell. They would rather sell fewer diamonds at huge inflated premiums, than many diamonds at razor thin margins.
They would not survive if they had to put in all of the effort into closing a sale on a diamond with a small markup/profit margin.
Conversely, on the Internet where we survive, the business model is entirely different.
The nature of the Internet is that it is much more competitive than in the stores. There is no such thing as an Internet dealer or vendor having his own "turf" or being the "only game in town".
Every diamond dealer on the net is competing for the same market share, since everyone is located just a "click away" from the consumer.
Therefore, when a customer does an Online search for "loose diamonds" or "engagement rings" they will typically canvass the results that come up for the first few pages.
They will call/e-mail these diamond websites and compare variables like quality, reputation, value, service, and price.
Whoever provides the customer with the best combination of all of these variables, is the one who will earn the consumers trust and business.
We Internet diamond dealers, know this; we recognize that the competition is fierce.
We also realize that we may not have nearly the same amount of overhead as the huge jewelry store located in an upscale neighborhood, with all of its expenses.
We therefore have the luxury, but more importantly the mandate to bring our actual profit margins for loose diamonds all the way down until they are razor thin.
It's not that we don't wish we could command the same incredible profits as the jewelry stores on every loose diamond we sell. Rather, we could not do this and survive as a viable and profitable company.
The savvy Internet diamond shopper would simply click to the next website and buy the same diamond from the next guy for much less money!
Therefore, the quality/value of the diamonds is certainly the same, if not better than what is being sold in the stores.
In fact, some Internet dealers including our company, earn the customers trust by providing them with a plethora of scientific data and information on every single diamond. This is information that we supply up front to the consumer; stuff they would never get at the local jeweler.
The reason the diamonds on the net are sold for so much less than in the stores, is entirely due to the completely different business model which exists between stores and websites.
Internet diamond dealers work on razor thin profit margins, often to the tune of a few percentage points (something which is considered sacrilege in the retail jewelry stores), and rely on moving a lot of diamond inventory.
Internet diamond shoppers: find a reputable vendor and buy in confidence!!
Here is a You Tube video I put up some time ago on this topic:
Pardon the cliche with the title for this entry.....
The truth is, this diamond I'm about to show you really is gorgeous!
This is one of our in-house Oval Cut Diamonds we have personally manufactured.
The diamond is one of the nicest ovals I have ever seen, with exceptional beauty and brilliance and a "crushed ice" look!
I took these photos today for one of our customers.
"Dirt Cheap Diamonds" - Would You Buy These Diamonds?
I'm sitting here in our diamond showroom after meeting a customer who just left moments ago.
I had the opportunity to show him some beautiful ideal cut diamonds.
This guy was initially set on buying from a local jeweler.
His research on the net for loose diamonds was purely supplementary to his focus and objective of ultimately buying from a certain "brick and mortar" jewelry store.
In the end, he realized he could do much better on the net for diamond quality and price and made the decision to take the plunge.
Right now he is probably canvassing a few Internet diamond dealers and although I gave (hopefully) a good accounting of our company, I have no idea what his decision will be ultimately, except to say that he most certainly will wind up buying online.
We had a very interesting conversation regarding the effect the Internet has had on the sale of diamond engagement rings and jewelry.
While the Internet has certainly taken away some of the "romance" (sometimes loosely translated as ignorance ;0) ) from purchasing diamonds, it has not actually turned diamonds into a commodity just yet.
An interesting point this gentleman brought up, is the way that some Internet diamond stores choose to market their diamonds.
He made the point that although the Internet has become known as the place to find great diamonds at great prices, there are those who have clearly decided to push the envelope even further and will consistently promote their diamonds as being "the cheapest" or "the best deals" etc. almost to the exclusion of focusing on the diamond or jewelry items actual merits, quality and beauty.
While the fact that the razor thin profit margins for diamond being sold on the Internet is certainly a truism and a boon for the consumer, how about when a company advertises their diamonds as being "cheap diamonds" or "cheap wholesale diamonds" or "dirt cheap diamonds" etc?
How might that effect the psyche of the consumer?
"Dirt cheap diamonds"..............effective advertising for diamonds??!!!
Well, maybe if the slogan was accompanied by the photograph below!!
"Dirt Cheap Diamonds......Sounds like ---- And Looks Like It Too!"
This customers position was that at some point you enter into the law of diminishing returns when Internet companies continuously harp on price..price...price..in this kind of extreme and exclusive way.
He indicated to me that as a consumer looking to buy a diamond on the net, he is obviously looking for a "great deal" on a great diamond.
However, there are other factors and considerations as well.
He doesn't wish to entertain the notion that he is in possession of a "cheap" or "inferior diamond" and indicated that the Internet vendors who make him feel this way have no shot at earning his trust and business.
I found this to be a very interesting approach with tremendous merit.
In fact, we recently blogged on the "too good to be true" syndrome with the pricing for loose diamonds on the net.
Our prices for loose diamonds are assuredly from the lowest on the Internet and our actual profit margins razor thin.
However, we would never market our beautiful diamonds and jewelry as being "dirt cheap" or any other connotation that makes it sound like we are selling crud.
We actually showcase every one of our in-house diamonds (and all database diamonds upon request) with a plethora of scientific data and information, including actual photos, which demonstrate these diamonds to be the finest and most brilliant diamonds on the market!
Our custom engagement ring settings and jewelry have deservedly garnered praise from our thousands of satisfied customers on the Internet!
Our diamonds might be cheap to buy.....but there is nothing "cheap" about them!
As you start to research loose diamonds for your engagement ring purchase, you may hear the term "hearts & arrows diamonds" and wonder what that's all about?
What are hearts and arrows diamonds?
Basically, hearts and arrows diamonds, are loose diamonds that have been cut to a great degree of precision for maximum beauty and superior brilliancy.
These diamonds are usually synonymous with the Ideal Cut Diamonds and are quite possibly, the most perfectly cut diamonds in the world!
The "hearts and arrows" refers to the internal pattern of the diamond which, when viewed through a special viewer (called a "hearts and arrows diamond viewer") will show a pattern of eight crisp hearts one one side of the diamond and beautiful arrows on the other.
The hearts and arrows diamonds phenomena was actually discovered, back in the 80's and literally took the diamond industry by storm, for its romantic connotation and for its practical indication of a loose diamonds superior cut precision and beauty.
The hearts and arrows viewer itself, is pretty much like a kleidoscope which isolates the loose diamonds internal symmetry, allowing the customer to view the precise hearts and arrows patterning within the loose diamond.
Excel Diamonds Versus Whiteflash. Why Pay For Loose Diamond Information?
When you canvass Internet websites selling diamonds and diamond engagement rings, you will find that most websites offer many thousands of loose diamonds for purchase.
On example, is diamond e-tailer, Abazias.com, who offers a selection of "100,000 loose diamonds" for you to choose from! However, what they fail to mention and what is important for you to realize because it is relevant to every single Internet diamond website, is that none of these websites owns even a fraction of the many thousands of diamonds they advertise for sale. Rather, about 98% of the loose diamond being sold on the Internet are sold via the "drop ship" method, whereby the seller will never see the diamond he is selling, before the customer receives the stone. This can lead to a disastrous outcome, since the seller has no way of assuring the customer of the quality of the diamond he/she is buying.
Indeed, there are only a few diamond Internet vendors (maybe only a handful...if that many) who insist on bringing in every single one of the thousands of diamonds they offer for sale, for a personal inspection and evaluation by their trained staff of gemologists, prior to making a sale. The diamond will be photographed and placed through a comprehensive battery of tests, in order to determine its precision cut quality, structural integrity and visual beauty. Much of this crucial information cannot be learned by simply looking at the diamonds grading report or certificate, which is the only piece of info. provided to internet diamond "drop-shippers" by the diamond wholesaler. This limited information is not enough with which to base a purchase of this magnitude. It would be akin to purchasing a home without a complete home inspection report. No two diamonds are created equal and there is crucial and important information being overlooked when a loose diamond is purchased via the drop ship method.
Indeed, our company is one of these few websites that add real value to every single diamond we sell and even those not of our own manufacture, by calling in every single diamond for a comprehensive evaluation. We supply our clients with all of the important scientific data up-front and upon request, so that they could make an informed and educated decision.
However, it seems that even amongst our few competitor/colleagues who offer a similar and excellent commitment to the customer; there are some very distinctive differences which I feel are important to enumerate for our clients to understand.
I was reading this recent thread on the consumer diamond education forum, Pricescope.com where a surprised customer indicates that she requested a certain diamond be shipped in by internet diamond vendor Whiteflash.com, for an evaluation. Whiteflash diamonds has the policy of not engaging in blind "drop-shipping" of any of the diamonds they sell.
Excellent policy from a reputable company.
However, it seems that the customer (as well as ourselves) where quite surprised to learn that Whiteflash will actually take your credit card/billing information in order to call a diamond in for evaluation. Certainly the merit to this, is that it prevents consumers from having Whiteflash call in many diamonds at their own considerable expense, with the distinct possibility that they may end up purchasing nothing.
However, John Pollard, who is Director of Sales for Whiteflash diamonds, was quoted on that thread as saying the following:
"The only time we charge for bringing something in is when the client requests multiple stones be brought at the same time (we charge for those not purchased) or if the stone comes in, passes all of our tests, we recommend it and the client changes his/her mind".
While I understand the first half of the policy (Whiteflash does not wish to absorb the considerable cost and expense of having multiple diamonds shipped in for an evaluation and comparison, when clearly only one stone has a chance of being sold....), I fail to grasp the second half of it.
O.k. so the Whiteflash team inspects and passes muster on the diamond, indicating the excellent quality of the stone. Then, the consumer ultimately decides against purchasing the diamond..for whatever reason (broken engagement, negative cash flow, cold feet...whatever..); by charging the customer for the return shipping on this solitary stone, it almost seems as if Whiteflash is penalizing the customer for not "listening to them" and buying the diamond!!
A customer commitment policy of this magnitude is quite impressive, especially when you consider that very few companies selling diamonds on the net offer something like this.
However, charging the customer for this luxury..and certainly when it is mandated and enforced by the company in order to protect the client, seems a bit odd.
Here is where it seems we distinguish ourselves with regards to this policy. It is in the "fine print" and details.
Unlike Whiteflash.com, we will never collect your credit card information and billing details as a prerequisite for calling in diamonds for an evaluation on your behalf.
Any and every single diamond we have shipped in to us, is done at our own (considerable) expense. We do not charge money for the comprehensive (and unrivaled) level of actual diamond information which we provide.
We give our customers a scan of the actual diamond grading report, actual Idealscope photos, hearts and arrows photos, microscopic diamond photos to showcase inclusions, Megascope/Sarin cut analysis, Gemex Brilliancescope diamond light performance results and more.
We charge you for none of this.
We don't care to have your credit card information until if/when you are ready to purchase the diamond..;-)
Moreover, if a client opts to pass on any diamond which we have called in for them at our own expense (and after the incredible amount of time, effort and expense involved in doing a complete diamond workup), we will never penalize the client by charging their credit card for the return shipment of the diamond back to the manufacturer.
Of course this means that there is room for abuse of the system and that sometimes we are gonna wind up spending considerable time and money on a "potential customer" who may very well end up purchasing nothing.
These are the "breaks" and our position is that it is a necessary expense to ensure a real commitment to our customers full satisfaction and we would have it no other way.
No hidden strings.
No hidden costs.
No penalizing the customer for not pulling the trigger on a diamond we felt was worthy of their consideration.
