Diamonds And Precious Gems

I grew up in a family that seemed to always be just scraping by. I remember on several occasions, before I was ten, when I had to give my parents the little money I had saved up, just so they could buy groceries for us, or make up the shortfall in the rent. My parents were hard working but with a big family there simply was never enough to go around. I learned from a young age not to waste things. Fast forward to today and I can probably live on the smell of an oily rag, though luckily I don't have to. I now advise people on how to save money when shopping for a luxury item I would have never seen growing up: diamonds. I received my first accreditation with the Gemological Institute of America in 2012 and soon began to understand that there were plenty of ways someone could save money when buying an engagement ring, or any diamond jewelry for that matter. The fascinating thing (for me, anyway) was that the ways to save money were not that obvious. Some people think that if you ...

The Price Of Diamonds Diamond price increases almost exponentially with diamond carat weight. Ok, not really exponentially, but there are huge differences between a 1 carat and a 2 carat diamond. This can be quite shocking to a first time diamond shopper. Larger diamonds are simply rare and it follows that they are therefore more highly prized. Of course sometimes two diamonds of equal carat weight can be sold at completely different prices. This is because the value will be based not only on size but on three other factors: Clarity, Color, and Cut. Together with the weight in Carats these make up the four defining  characteristics of diamonds, referred to throughout the diamond trade as the 4 C's. Magic Sizes Some weights are referred to as "magic sizes" : half carat, three-quarter carat, and carat.  There's little difference visually between a 0.99 carat diamond and one that weighs a full carat. Even a 0.92 ct diamond can look pretty m...