When discussing pricing and what is a fair deal, you have to know what you want and how to be sure you are getting what you are paying for. You need to make sure you are following the process to ensure you aren’t getting scammed. It’s hard figuring out how much you should spend on a diamond. It’s just as hard figuring out how to get the best bang for your buck.
1) Certification – This is the most important step. It is an absolute must if you are spending more than $1,000 on a diamond. The purpose of buying a diamond with a certificate is to have peace of mind that you are getting what they claim. The only certificates that provide that are from the GIA and AGS laboratories. They are the gold standards for the diamond industry.
2) Quality – Now that we know which certificates to use, we need to understand all the qualities listed on the certificate and what we should do with that information. You may have heard of the four Cs of diamonds and we have articles on each of them: Colore, Chiarezza, Cut and Carat.
I will use color as an example. If you decide to go with an elegant solitaire setting like this one or this one, you can focus on J+ to maximize value. But if you are going for a more elaborate halo setting like this one, you will need to stick with H+.
I understand that this gets a bit confusing trying to balance the different diamond proportion and qualities. If you prefer more personal help guiding you through the qualities, feel free to contact us.
3) Pricing – We get into the deep background below, but the easiest way to figure out the price is the same way you do with anything else. Shop around. Blue Nile and James Allen are the industry leaders when it comes to diamonds (like Amazon is for many products). A store will always be more expensive than what you can find online, but figure out the right baseline and then you can decide if its worth paying premium “X” for the added value you feel you are getting from the store.
Per esempio, we reviewed Shane Co and were offered a 1.01ct I VS2 cushion cut for $6,477. Firstly, had you gone through our education on quality, you would know that this was an undesirable diamond (cut a little too deep and better to avoid “I” color in cushion cuts. Prossimo, we can do a quick price compare. Here is a superior diamond from James Allen (better cut, higher clarity) for $2,700 and a similar diamond from Blue Nile that is an even better deal coming in at $2,779.
You don’t need me to tell you that the Shane Co diamond is horrifically priced.