LEARN HOW TO UPGRADE YOUR DIAMOND
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU UPGRADE YOUR DIAMOND
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It’s Time for That Upgrade
You want a Bigger Diamond Set into your Mounting, Solitaire, Engagement Ring or Wedding Set…
Then You MUST Read This First!
There are a lot of Tips and Tricks that you need to know in Order to Get a Great Upgrade for the Right Price.
Whether you’re Upgrading for a Special Anniversary, a Milestone Birthday, Holiday or any day, the first thing you need to know is…
Trade In Prices are Deceiving
A lot of Jewelry Stores will give you a Great Trade in Price for your Diamond. In Fact, a lot will give you what you Paid for it to Trade it in. That Sounds Pretty Darn Good…
But what they give you Doesn’t Matter. What Matters is the Bottom Line Price!
Let’s look at this Example:
Say you have a Half Carat (.50), SI1, H Diamond and you want to Trade it in towards a One Carat (1.00) Diamond of the same Clarity and Color. The Jewelry Store tells you they will give you $1.200 for your Diamond (What you Paid for it) towards the One Carat Diamond retailed at $6,980, so the Difference that you’d Owe is $5,780.
This Sounds Good, they gave you a Great Trade in Price (Can’t Argue with that), but what they Failed to Mention is the Fact that a 1.00 Carat Diamond, SI1, H is on Sale right now for $4,890… Which means that anybody Walking in the Door (without a Trade-in) could have gotten that Same Exact Quality for just $4,890!
That’s WAY Cheaper than your Trade in Price of $5,780 (Which Sounded Good at the time).
Guess who just got Suckered?
It’s Sad, but True. Just because they give you a Kick Ass Dollar Amount for Trade, what matters the Most is what you’ll end up Paying in the long run.
Whether it be a Sale Price, Sale/Trade Price, or just Trade, find out what the Best Deal is that you can get and take it!
Sometimes using a trade-in is NOT the Best Way to Save Money or do Business.
P.S. Don’t Forget to Shop around. Check out other Jewelry Stores for that Same Diamond Quality and Size. See what you’ll Pay for it with and without your Trade-in. You may be surprised.
Always Focus on how much you’ll Pay, not how much they give you.
Plan to Pay Double
Most Jewelry Stores will Trade your Diamond in, but most will make you Double up. Which means, if they give you $1,000 for your Trade, you’ll need to Buy something for $2,000. After Trade you’ll end up owing another $1,000.
In all Fairness, this is a Pretty Standard Practice across the Board. Realistically the Next Step up in Diamonds Generally is Double the Price anyway, it’s just that most People don’t Realize this. Some People get Sticker Shock.
A Few Stores may allow you to spend less than half, but you should be Prepared ahead of time. Nine times out of Ten Double up is the case.
And if it’s a $6,000 Trade… That’s a lot more Money… Nice Upgrade eh?
Size Matters
When Upgrading your Diamond to a Bigger Carat Weight, you may have to get a much Bigger Diamond than you Expected just to Notice the Difference.
If you have a .75 Carat Diamond and you Trade it in for a .89 Carat Diamond, you probably won’t Notice a Big Difference in the end. You’ll be Wearing your new .89 Carat Diamond (after Spending Thousands on an Upgrade) and no one will notice. No one will even know you Upgraded because the Carat Weight Sizes are too Similar.
For an Obvious Difference, one where people will say “OMG you got a New Diamond!“, you’ll have to make a Much Bigger Leap in Size.
Here’s a Test:
Throw 75 Pennies on the Ground in one Pile.
Now throw 89 Pennies on the Ground in Another Pile.
Can you tell the difference between the Two Piles? Probably Not! Diamonds are the Same Way. A Couple of Points More of Less is not going to be anything the Eye Can Detect.
To Upgrade to a Visible Difference, you should Consider at least a 25-30% Increase in Size.
But, there’s one more HUGE thing you must know about Trading in Sizes…
The Millimeter Counts
Upgrading by Carat Weight alone will not do the Trick. Because a 1.00 Carat Diamond and a 1.25 Carat Diamond could look the Exact Same Size…
It’s all in the Width of the Diamond, or more Appropriately, the Millimeter Size (mm).
A 1.00 Carat Diamond should be close to 6.5mm wide from one Side of the Girdle to the Opposite Side. 6.5mm for a 1.00 Carat is pretty much Ideal Standards.
Sadly, a lot of Diamonds Sold Today on the Market are Spread Stones (Stones that are Narrow and Thin). These Stones Face up much Bigger than they really are. So a 1.00 Carat Spread Diamond could look much Bigger Depending on how it’s Cut and the mm Size.
This is where you’ll have to look at the Diamonds side by side and look at the mm Sizes of both.
The Standard mm Sizes of Diamond Carat Weights are as follows:
Bling Bling
The Better the Cut, the more Brilliance, Sparkle and Fire you’ll get out of your Diamond.
Get it all in Writing
Make sure they give you all of your Paperwork; like Receipts, Appraisals and Certificates. That way you can get your Diamond Insured and also be able to Double Check the Quality. You’ll want to make sure that the Carat Weights, Cut, Color and Clarity are listed. Some Jewelers don’t put any of this Info on your Receipt and then you Walk out the Door and don’t even remember what Quality you Bought in the First Place… (Especially if you’ve looked at 40 Diamonds)
Shop and Compare
Don’t Buy a Diamond from the First Store you look. Shop Around. Check out the Chain Jewelry Stores as well as the Independent Jewelers. Figure out what Quality of Diamond you’re looking for and Compare that everywhere you can.
Write Everything Down. Keep track of all the Quality, Prices and Jewelers (use my handy Diamond Buying Checklist that I give away for Free with my Diamond Guide).
If you still want to Buy that First Diamond you looked at, do so. But by then, you’ll be much more Educated and know if it really was a Good Deal or Bad.
Don’t Charge It
If you can Help it, Pay Cash. Don’t Charge it!
You worked so long on finding the Perfect Diamond for the Perfect Price, but then you’re going to Charge it (sometimes at 21% Interest) and you’ll end up Paying Double the Price for your Diamond. Not Cool!
If you can find Interest Free Financing, that’s a Much Better Way to go… As long as you can keep up your Payments, otherwise you’ll be Charged Interest from the Very Beginning!
Check your Mounting
Have the Jeweler Check your Mounting well. Make sure it can even Hold a Bigger Diamond. Some can’t and you’ll need to Upgrade that as well. Have them Check it out for Pits, Cracks, Stress Marks or Thin Spots in the Metal. See if it needs to be Rebuilt or Retipped. Bigger Diamonds take up more Space and need a Solid Support for Durability.
No matter what, they’ll have to at least put in a Bigger Head (the Prongs that Hold in the Diamond), and some Jewelers Tack this Fee on at the Very End. You could Pay Hundreds of Dollars More for the Parts and Labor… It’s Good to find out now if the Alterations are included in the Deal.
Bigger Diamonds show Bigger Inclusions
The Bigger the Stone you get, the Easier it will be to Spot the Inclusions.
You may not see a Tiny Black Carbon Spot in a 1/4 Carat Diamond, but in a One Carat Diamond that Flaw could stand out like a Sore Thumb.
So when you’re Dealing with Larger Diamonds, it may be wise to Step up in Clarity as well.
Bring your Appraisal or Certificate
If you’re Trading in your Diamond make sure you bring all your Paperwork with you (if you have any).
Certificates can Add Value to your Diamond (especially if it’s GIA). Without the Certificate, Jewelers may Knock off $300 from your Trade in Value because they’ll have to Resubmit the Diamond to GIA to get the Certificate Reprinted, and that Costs Money!
Appraisals help Jewelers Determine the Trade in Value. It’s Difficult to Judge Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight with the Diamond still in the Mounting. It could throw off your Trade in Price by Hundreds of Dollars as well. The Appraisals and Paperwork will tell the Jeweler what your Stone really is and help them arrive at a True Value.
Upgrading Good Clarity isn’t Necessary
Why would Upgrading Clarity be a Waste? Because in most Instances, it’s not going to be something you can see with the Naked Eye… Unless your first Diamond is an I Clarity Diamond (I1, I2 or I3). Anything Higher than that on the Clarity Charts (SI or Higher) is going to be Microscopic Differences that the Eye can’t see. The Clarity will all look the same.
If I were Trading in a Diamond I would want to see a Visible Difference. High Quality matters to some people, but Why Spend the Money on something you can’t see?
A VVS Diamond and a VS Diamond side by side will look like Twins. Everything will be Beautiful, except for the Huge Leap in Price. :)
Color is BIG
Literally! The Bigger the Diamond the More Obvious the Diamond Color will be.
If you Compare a .50 Carat Diamond, SI1, J to a 1.00 Carat Diamond, SI1, J, you’ll probably see a Color Difference between the Two. The Larger Carat could look more Yellowish in Hue.
So if you’re Moving on up to Bigger Diamonds, you may want to move the Color up a notch as well.
Buy Certified
GIA is who I Recommend the MOST (since they Wrote and Created the 4C’s)… (AGS would be Second) I Love GIA’s Strict Grading and 99.9% of all Jewelers will state they’re the Best in the Industry.
Plus, you can also look at Buying a Laser Inscribed Diamond (Certificate # Etched Right onto the Girdle of your Diamond), so you get Great Peace of Mind and you’ll know the Diamond you get back from the Jeweler is the Diamond you Bought… No Switching!
Buying Certified also backs up the Diamond Quality because you’re just not taking the Jewelers Word on the Clarity and Color, you’re getting an Expert’s Opinion and a Reliable Report that was made in a Gem Laboratory in a Strict Grading Environment.
Trust GIA, it’s the Best Certificate you can get.
You’ll never get the Amount you want
It’s True. In most Cases Jewelers will only offer you about 20% of what you Paid for your Diamond in Trade. And if they do offer more, they will Sacrifice Sale Price or Warranties (Sold As-Is). Most of the time, when all is Said and Done, the Diamond you’re Buying will Never Fall below the Half off Price. Jewelers have to get you a Deal, but they also need to make Enough Profit to Stay in Business.
The thing you must do is what I’ve already stated… Shop and Compare! Look at the Overall Package and the Bottom Line.
Top Heavy Diamonds
Here’s something most people don’t realize until it’s too late…
When you Upgrade from a .50 Carat Diamond into a 1.00 Carat Diamond or larger, the Ring may become Top Heavy. Which means, it could Lean to the side because there is more Weight on the Top of the Ring now. The Mounting may have to be Adjusted or you may have to set the Diamond Deeper into the Setting just to keep it from Flopping Over. That’s the Sacrifice for a Large Diamond. They’ve got More Junk in the Trunk!
Use your Eyes
Give the Upgrade the Eye Test. Put it side by side with your Diamond and see the Difference. (Make sure they Clean your Diamond First or else this won’t be a Fair Test).
Really look at the two side by side and see at First Glance if it looks like a Bigger Diamond…
If so, you may have a Winner!
If you can Easily Spot the Difference in Carat Weight, so will your Girl Friends!
Trade In & Sale Price
Jewelers can normally do 2 things with Upgrades… They can give you a Trade in Price towards the Retail Price of a New Diamond. OR…
They can give you the Sale Price of your Diamond towards the Sale Price of another Stone. Sale Price for Sale Price, Regular Price for Regular (Retail).
Very Few Jewelers will give you both a Sale Price and a Trade in Price. And if they do, it’s not the Fullest Amount of each. After all, Jewelers can’t Lose Money on the Deal. It’s up to you to Determine which one is the Best Price (How Much you’ll Pay).
Get your New Diamond Appraised
After the New Diamond is set into your Old Mounting, make sure you get your new Ring Appraised once more. The Value will have Increased by Pretty Much what more you’ve Paid into it.
Also keep in mind your Insurance may go up as well, because it’s a more Expensive Item.
But I Guess that’s the Price you Pay for a Larger Carat Weight….
Check out these Awesome Larger Diamonds HERE!
Cheers! :)