High quality man made diamonds are a bargain at about $80 per
carat, and they do not increase in price exponentially as carat
weight increases. For example, a one-carat synthetic diamond
costs about $80; a three-carat man made diamond would then sell
for $240. A one-carat mined diamond that sells for $3000 would
go for $45,000 in a three-carat size, all things being equal,
which with mined diamonds is never the case. Perplexing
comparative evaluations, exponential price growth, consumer
confusion, and the reality of diamond industry antics is why the
mined diamond business is awash in dirty tricks. Here are
descriptions of the most sneaky and pervasive mined diamond
scams: THE BLUE-WHITE SCAM: A jeweler tells you, "This is a
blue-white diamond." This is a very old term. The dealer will
probably tell you that it is a better diamond, but actually it
is just the opposite. Blue-white refers to the fluorescence that
results in natural light, which contains ultraviolet
wavelengths. This blue fluorescence actually makes a colorless
diamond look a little oily or milky in sunlight and decreases
its value. THE LIGHT MAKES WHITE SCAM: Bright lights make every
mined diamond look better. Of course, every jeweler wants to
show his or her diamonds in the best light, but there are some
lighting tricks you should avoid. Some bulbs have a strong blue
component, which makes yellow stones look whiter. Special bulbs
are often used with strong ultraviolet wavelengths, which make
most diamonds fluoresce blue. This also has a whitening effect
for stones in the lower color ranges. THE GRADE BUMPING SCAM: A
jeweler exaggerates the grade. The FTC says that a jeweler must
be accurate within one grade of color and one grade of clarity
on a diamond. So many jewelers bump the color and clarity just
one grade. Unfortunately, this can mean a great deal of money if
you are talking about a fine-quality, 1-carat diamond. For
instance, you might find a stone that the jeweler quotes as a
1.00 carat F color / VS1 clarity for $6,500. However, if you
sent it to a reputable gem lab like GIA, it would come back as a
G color / VS2 clarity, which is only worth about $5,500. This
means you lose (and they profit) about $1,000. THE FRACTION
SCAM: The tag says 3/4 carat, and the FTC allows jewelers to
round off diamond weights. So a diamond labeled as 3/4 carat in
weight might actually weigh anywhere between .69 and .81 carat.
This could mean a significant amount of money, since diamond
prices leap at certain popular sizes. In this example, you might
be buying a .69 carat round G/VS2 worth about $2,100... but
paying for what you thought was a 0.75 carat worth $3,000. You
lose $900. THE LASER DRILLING SCAM: Dealers drill holes to burn
out black carbon spots. About 1 in 3 diamonds in the United
States is laser drilled. Dealers use lasers to drill a tiny hole
into the depths of a diamond to burn and evaporate large black
inclusions to make them disappear. The trouble with this little
trick is that laser drilling can make the diamond a little more
fragile to breaking with a good knock. Most dealers trade
laser-drilled stones for much less. THE HIDING THE FLAWS SCAM:
Every jeweler hides flaws under the prongs if he can. In many
cases, this can make an I1 clarity appear like a VS2 if you look
at it in a ring setting. Structural flaws like feathers and
cleavages can be damaged by the high pressure exerted by the
prong on the diamond to hold it snug in the ring. THE FRACTURE
FILLING SCAM: New treatments to make flaws invisible. There is a
new process patented a few years ago that melts a kind of
crystal into surface-breaking fractures in a diamond. This
technique will slide by consumers unnoticed. The treatment is
considered slightly fragile because it can be damaging under the
extreme heat of a torch when the diamond is set into a ring.
Fracture-filled diamonds should trade for much less than
diamonds without this treatment, but in reality they often sell
for as much or more because they look like a higher, more
expensive clarity grade. THE CHEMICAL COLOR COATINGS SCAM: A
little paint goes a long way. This very deceptive practice
involves a little point of blue or purple paint on the lowest
tip of the diamond, called the culet. This is small enough that
you might not detect it, but the location spreads the color
throughout the stone. This counters the yellow tint in lower
color grades, making a diamond look like a more expensive,
colorless grade. Man made diamonds or synthetic diamonds are
manufactured in a laboratory under controlled conditions. If
anything about synthetic diamonds is called into question it is
that they are too perfect. And since all mined diamonds have
inclusions, flaws, and birthmarks, under magnification a trained
jeweler can tell the difference. Considering that man made
diamonds cannot be distinguished with the naked eye, lab-created
diamonds have aesthetic beauty matching?often besting?mined
diamonds, and huge savings are realized, jewelry lovers must
regard synthetic diamonds as an intelligent option. Plus, there
is no insurance to buy after purchasing man made diamond jewelry
and the thousands of dollars in savings can be banked!
About the author:
Robert Joseph is an expert jeweler and founding partner of
http://www.diamondnexuslabs.com To receive a FREE comparison
chart on how Diamond Nexus Labs lab-created diamonds stack up
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