Photo Source: whyisdaddycrying.com
As mentioned in my previous blogs, I proposed to J without a ring. Instead, I gave her a ring box that looks like a fuzzy turtle. After we got engaged, we looked at several different jewelers, including chains at the shopping mall, stand alone jewelry stores, Costco, and online stores. We heard about the 4 C’s (cut, clarity, carat, and color) repeatedly and it was still hard to decide. I learned that shopping together doesn’t necessarily make it easier. J didn’t want a solitaire and she preferred an antique looking ring. Both of us preferred a round stone. And we were open to non-diamond stones as well (e.g. sapphires). The Internet abounds with information about the ring selection process, so I thought I’d share some personal observations. This first part will deal with personal observations about shopping for a ring. In a second blog, I’ll share my personal observations of several jewelry stores that I’ve had experience with in the Northern Virginia/Washington DC region/Online regions. Caveat: These observations are personal and not scientific or proven by any means.
1. Diamond colors were hard to differentiate when viewing one diamond at a time, but easier to see side by side. One jeweler advised that color is important because when girls get together and compare rings, one could be much yellower than others, which I hadn’t considered but is very true.
2. Most of the diamonds I saw were certified by either EGL (European Gemological Laboratory) or GIA (Gemological Institute of America). There is a large price difference between a GIA certified diamond and an EGL certified diamond which had similar ratings in the 4 C’s. This is due to GIA having stricter guidelines. This means that if you were to submit an EGL certified diamond that was rated as D color / VS1 / Excellent Cut to the GIA for certification, it may receive lower ratings in some of those categories. An important thing to consider is that if you ever want to consider the “buy back” option (where a store will buy back your diamond when you want to upgrade or get another), some stores will not give 100% credit for EGL. I’ll cover this a bit more specifically in part 2.
3. I thought the best tutorial on the 4 C’s was a series of videos prepared by Ronnie Mervis of Mervis Diamonds. They are YouTube videos, but all the videos are available on their website: http://www.mervisdiamond.com/diamond-education-videos . The only negative thing is that the videos don’t seem to be in order, so you have to find the first video and then try to determine which one is next.
4. I researched about “lab diamonds”, which are true diamonds that were synthesized in labs. The only difference is that lab diamonds would show 0 flaws under a microscope. Even the most ideal mined diamond would have flaws (like a birthmark or a fingerprint). But it seemed that the two main labs that had synthesized these diamonds (Apollo and Gemesis) were out of business. Also, it turns out that it’s harder to synthesize clear/white diamonds and easier to get colored diamonds (which are far rarer and expensive from mines). I did find one online retailer of lab diamonds and I’ll write more about this in part 2.
5. “Diamond Simulants” and “Lab Diamonds” or “Synthesized Diamonds” are not the same. Lab/Synthesized diamonds are physically/chemically the same as a mined diamond. A diamond simulant is a lab created gem which appears much like a diamond. I didn’t know the difference and saw a great deal so I tried purchasing some to view, but J did some research and we discovered they were not the same. I’ll write more about this in part 2.
6. There were some diamonds that just seemed to sparkle a lot more, regardless of the 4 C ratings. This could be due to the lighting in the stores/display cases, but I could tell a difference. The most “sparkly” diamonds that I saw were the Leo diamonds, the Peerless diamonds, and the diamonds sold at Costco. Many traditional jewelers will say that the Leo and Peerless diamonds are marketing ploys, but these were my observations and I’ll go into details in part 2.
7. Many setting designers appear to set a standard price which the retailer is not allowed to discount. If they do and are reported, they could be blacklisted by the designer and won’t be given further business. One way that retailers try to go around this is by offering a greater discount on the diamonds. In the end, if they can get the sale and make a profit, it doesn’t matter whether the profit comes mostly from the setting or the diamond. It appears that the main reason for the designers wanting a standard price on their designs is to maintain a level of prestige in their products.
Because there were so many observations to share, I had to split this blog into 2 parts. I hope this has helped you out and that you look forward to part 2, which will share other observations, especially regarding jewelry stores in the Northern Virginia/Washington DC area, along with some online retailers.
