HOW TO CHECK IF A DIAMOND IS A GOOD DEAL OR NOT

I always tell people to shop and compare diamonds and prices to see if a deal is good, or bad.

I can’t stress this enough.

If you’re out shopping for a diamond for an engagement ring, anniversary ring, or just buying a diamond day, and want to know if the diamond you’re looking at is worth it; compare it!

Compare it with the same qualities and characteristics, because a diamond’s price is relevant to all of the criteria on a diamond report; the 4C’s; cut, color, clarity, carat weight. As well as; polish, symmetry, and fluorescence. All these things make up the price of a stone.

You can’t compare apples to oranges. You can’t compare an SI1, E, very good cut, faint fluorescence, to an SI1, J, excellent cut with no fluorescence. They’re not the same thing.

Every single thing listed on a certificate (diamond report) needs to be compared. Just a couple of small differences could result in hundreds or thousands of dollars difference. And you’ll still never know if you got a good deal, or a good diamond.

You must compare everything!

But this also means, that you need to look at the diamond report, and probably have to write down most of the important info. And the main info, are these things:

• Location
• Stock Number
• Origin
• Certificate
• Shape
• Carat Weight
• Cut
• Clarity
• Color
• Polish
• Symmetry
• Fluorescence
• Price

So when you get done, it should look something like this:

• James Allen
• SKU: 22274622
• Lab-Created
• IGI
• Round
• 1.00
• Excellent
• SI1
• E
• Excellent
• Excellent
• None
• $770

Plus, if you shop at local stores, make sure to get a business card or the salesperson’s name for convenience. And to help you understand what is asked for, the location is the store name. Origin is Earth-made or lab-created. Certificate is who certifies it: GIA, AGS, IGI, or no one. Shape is: round, emerald, oval, heart, pear, marquise, princess, radiant…(do note that only rounds diamonds have a cut grade, no other shape of diamond does). These will all be listed on a diamond report, except for price, of course (which should never have a bearing on the actual report).

Or, if they allow it, you could always take a picture of the report to compare later on. Or bookmark the page online or print it out for reference.

And where do you compare these to?

Other stores. Other local jewelers. And most definitely online. For online generally has a much bigger selection of stones to compare to (they have no overhead, so the prices are cheaper). And the two biggest diamond dealers online are James Allen, and Blue Nile. I prefer James Allen, because I think the selection tools are easier to use. But these are the two giants and will both give you a better diamond comparison and a better deal than any other jeweler you compare them to.

Right now, James Allen has about 260,000 diamonds to choose from (both Earth-made and Lab-created). So the variety of diamonds is vast (most jewelry stores only carry a couple hundred diamonds at most). This means, you can not only see all of the different shapes and sizes, but you can narrow down search and look for specific diamonds for exact match comparisons. You can use the sliders to look at only SI1 diamonds with E color (or whatever quality you’re comparing), excellent cut, excellent polish, excellent symmetry and no fluorescence. AND… you can also see the real stone. Super size it, and spin the diamond all the way around to see all sides of the stone. It’s spectacular.

That is how you compare apples to apples

Say for example you want to compare a diamond from Fred Meyer Jewelers; 2.00 carat, lab-created, VS2, F (in a standard 14k white gold solitaire mounting):

The diamond at Fred Meyers normally sells for: $5,350.00. It’s on sale right now for: $3,699.00 (right now, only at the time of this post).

Also note that Fred Meyers does not show you all of the specs of this round diamond, like cut, symmetry, polish, or even show you a real picture of the diamond ring (that’s a stock photo you see). So you have no idea what the real diamond looks like.
When you compare this diamond to an exact match on James Allen; 2.00 carat, lab-created, VS2, F, you see the price (for the loose stone only) is normally: $3,690, and right now they’re on sale starting at: $2,590 (at the time of this post).

Add in the price of a solitaire mounting (which is going for $465 right now on sale), and you get a grand total of: $3,055.

That’s a savings of $700.

But it’s actually a bigger difference, because at James Allen you see the real diamond, and all of the rest of the specifications which Fred Meyers is hiding. You can also see the real diamond report, which Fred Meyers does not show you either.

So when you compare these two, James Allen is the real winner.

You can do comparisons like this with any diamond online, and any diamond ring in stores today. James Allen has tons of different mountings (pave, channel set, tension set, halo…), so finding a similar setting is pretty easy and convenient.

Doing this allows you to compare apples to apples and really see if you’re getting a great deal, or a dud.

You will find that most places are not this transparent with their diamonds. Most places do not list everything you need to know to truly compare diamonds or prices. I would avoid those places. If they are not showing you all of the facts that make up the price of a diamond, I would wonder why not.

What are they trying to conceal?

So when it comes to diamonds and deals, compare store to store, and diamonds to diamonds. And also check out their return policy, just in case. Because seeing a diamond in person will really tell you if your diamond blings, has tons of sparkle, or is dull and dark, and totally not worth it.

See these beautiful lab-grown diamonds here at James Allen today.

Cheers! :)