COVER UP FLAWS WITH A PRONG

Some flaws you CAN cover up!

Not all, but every now and then you run across a diamond that has a visible flaw or blemish that sits close to the outside of the diamond.

Those are perfect for cover ups!

If the flaw is near the edge of the stone, like on the girdle, you can hide it! And That’s awesome!

You could make an I1 clarity diamond look more like a much higher clarity stone. Like VS or VVS!

That’s if you know what to look for…

You need to look for a lower clarity diamond (like SI2, I1, I2 or I3) that has flaws near the rim of the stone. Then all you have to do is ask the jeweler to cover that flaw up with a prong (or the mounting, like tension set or bezel set) and it will mask the inclusion and make it disappear! :)

Certain flaws (that would otherwise stand out and be very obvious) can virtually vanish. People would think your stone was an expensive high clarity diamond, and the only person that would know otherwise is YOU and your wallet!

Let me show you what I mean with an example!

Take a look at the SI2 clarity diamond below, you see that big black spot that would usually be an eyesore? Cover that up with a prong and bingo…

IT’S GONE!!!

Jewelers can easily rotate the diamond in the head when setting it so the flaw falls under a prong. This diamond is a perfect example.

But there are many, many more!

Take a look…

Keep this in mind:

You know that the diamond you bought has a flaw in it… Sure! You know that the clarity is low, no problem. You also know that you’re covering this flaw up with a prong and making it appear better. Which is good!

BUT…

On the other hand… If you buy a diamond that is already set (pre-mounted; not loose), then you have no idea what the prongs are covering up or hiding. That diamond could appear much better (as we have seen) than it really is. And an unscrupulous jeweler could take advantage of this fact and sell you a low clarity stone (and call it a VS or even a flawless diamond) and you would never know. They would make way more money on that sale.

Would you know?

No one would… Unless you removed that diamond from the mounting and scrutinized it (with a microscope or a 10x jeweler’s loupe).

This is why I always advise people to buy diamonds LOOSE first, so you can scope them and see what’s really inside the stone. And then, and only then, should you have it set in the mounting of your choice… And covering up any flaws at the same time.

Here are some more diamonds (SI2 and I1) that would benefit from a prong or two…

(All diamonds courtesy of James Allen!)

A prong or two would make these diamonds look so much better! (Like a diamond THOUSANDS of dollars MORE!)

Now you know what to look for!

You don’t necessarily need to buy high clarity, because you could get the exact same look (or very close to it) for less.

It all depends on the actual diamond (if you look at enough you’ll find them), where the flaws are positioned, and how you have the stone mounted.

It could save you tons of money!

And that’s something worth showing off! :)

Once again I’ll stress:

If a jeweler purposefully covers up a flaw in a diamond and sells that stone as a higher clarity, then it’s fraud (Unless they told you they did so).

But, if YOU cover up that flaw with a prong to make it look better (so you can save yourself some dough), then that’s SMART!

See the difference?

Check out these I1, SI2 clarity diamonds HERE!

Cheers! :)