Virily Editor
Buying a great diamond for an affordable price is but the outcome of some smart choices along the way. The great thing is even a first-timer can make those choices and purchase diamonds like a pro. How? Start by learning a few vital things, the first of which is what makes a diamond great. If you are in search of a diamond that has maximum blaze, fire and scintillation, then a salesman will recommend you to look in the Ideal-Cut high clarity section. Apropos as that would, it will also burn a fist-size hold in your pocket, because if you know anything about diamonds, the Flawless is the topmost and most expensive section. Then, how can someone buy a decent diamond for a moderate price? Here is how the professionals do it.
How Rare Are Diamonds?
Diamonds are not exactly as rare and you may have been led to believe. In fact, they are quite readily available these days, and the sellers have access to that. So, if a seller tells you that diamonds are rare and therefore you will have to wait a while to get a piece, unless you have requested for a specific piece which is hard to source, they probably don’t have a well-stocked inventory. Most land-based stores find it hard to put together an inventory that has every kind of diamond under the stone. It takes tons of money, and bearing that amount of expense is often out of the range of brick and mortar sellers which is why walking into a store and finding something you like instantly is hard with these sellers.
Getting back to the topic at hand however, diamonds are pretty easily available and that’s the reason why moderately priced diamonds are not a thing of fiction anymore, not in today’s market. So, next time a salesperson tries to sell you that diamonds are rare, you know better than to believe it.
How Is the Web Market?
When it comes to buying diamonds, most people are driven by this ungrounded notion that they have to hold it, feel it, and make some sort of a connection with it before they actually buy it. That is understandable, but frankly, it is avoidable. You can buy your diamonds online and still get a chance to inspect it when it reaches you.
A diamond is a commodity, and just like all other commodities, you can purchase it online. Obviously, you need to check in advance that there is a return policy in place that allows you to send it back and get fully refunded should you not like it. These days, online sellers have great policies which most land-based sellers don’t. So, if you have any regrets after buying the stone, you can always get your money back. Whereas, with a showroom, you may have to pay a fee to make the return which they call restocking fee, or be stuck with it if you don’t want to spend any more on it.
In addition to that, they have really fast and very safe delivery service to ensure that the package reaches you safe and sound in just under a few days. So, you can now buy your diamonds online without any problem. As for the price, diamonds have smaller markups online than in stores all-round the year. That’s something you can bring to a tally and find out yourself. 99 out of 100 times buyers say that they were offered a better deal by the online sellers than their land-based counterparts.
For these reasons and more, people these days are more comfortable buying their diamonds online than from reputable showrooms.
Are “Eye Clean” Diamonds Any Good?
Nobody wants less for more. That’s precisely what shores up the demand for “eye clean” diamonds. The topmost category of diamonds are Flawless which, is completely clean, even under a microscope. Now if you are buying a diamond for someone, and knowing that that someone is least likely to see it under a microscope, an eye clean diamond is a good choice.
Eye clean diamonds have inclusions so minute that they are not perceivable with naked eyes. Alternately if you go for a flawless diamond, first they are extremely rare, and second, they are bitterly pricey. For the price of a carat of diamond, you will probably get a quarter of it if you pick from the Flawless section. So, for engagement rings, anniversary gifts and all other like purposes, eye-clean diamonds are the best to pick.
At the end of the day, even with a close inspection, you cannot tell the difference between an FL and a VS2 or an SI1 diamond. So, spending on Flawless is just meaningless for anyone who is not a collector or an investor.
The diamond clarity grading names, image: <a href="https://www.diamonds-usa.com/">Diamonds-USA</a>
How Do 4Cs Work in Diamond Buying?
All the 4Cs of diamonds are important in making the right decision. Color Cut, Clarity and Carat all translate on the price. However, there is no diamond that excels in all the said four areas. So, one has to be sacrificed for another, not matter what your choice is. So the question is which you are willing to compromise with and for what. Set your priorities straight and don’t settle until they are fully satisfied.
The diamond color grades (shades of yellow), image: Diamonds-usa.com
Summing it up
To get the optimum mixture of beauty and budget please consider the following:
Color: D is the highest Z is yellowish, choose the white H or compromise on I
Cut: Choose Ideal Cut or compromise on Very-Good cut
Clarity: Choose the eye clean SI1
Carat: Price has carat price jumps, 0.50-0.70-0.90-1.00-1.50, for better prices choose 0.45, 0.65, 0.85, 0.95, and 1.40 , instead of 0.50, 0.7, 0.90, 1.00, 1.50 carats
These points are likely to help a buyer pick the biggest diamond he or she can buy with their money.
Three diamonds laid on the glass. one is white, other is blue and third is off-white.