My Pink Diamonds

The issue of diamond certificates is one discussed in dept in many articles, but the significance of this document is in many instances grossly overrated, pushing customers to overspend or make unfavorable choice. In this article I will state my opinion, based on more than 18 years of experience with diamonds including working with, quoting and examining this gem, as part of my full time job. I would like to stipulate that this opinion is based on my own experience and clarity on the matter, rather than scientific research or stringent statistics and should be perceived as suggested guidelines and not as sole source of information.

How important really is the diamond report or certificate?

First point to come in mind is that the certificate is an expert’s assurance that we got what we paid for. If this assurance is to have any weight, it must come from 3rd party, independent expert with the necessary credentials. It must not come from an expert, employed by the selling company or in the form of evaluation, from a rival company, offering you a better deal. The certificate has as much credibility as the company you are buying it from. Even AGS or GIA certificates become useless pieces of paper if they come with the wrong diamond, so before you start pondering the choice between two similar stones with GIA and EGL certificates, checkup the merchant’s credentials.

Second point is that the certificate is assurance of the investment value of your diamond in future, and this is where the borders are starting to blur. Anything bought with investment in mind, should have a reasonable increase in value in time in order to be sold with profit. Although diamonds generally have steady growth due to proper managing of the market, only certain sizes and qualities have reasonable investment merit. Extensive statistics are not the purpose of this article and are available for those who want to know more. Here, it will suffice to say that the diamond with investment quality should be in the very rare to extremely rare category, which calls for sizes of 3 (better 4) carat up and quality of F-VS1 and better. So, is 1.5 carat H-SI1 diamond not an investment? A Diamond is an investment in beauty and pride of ownership, but not an investment upon which one can reasonably expect to make a profit. Remember, that when you buy, someone is making a profit. A profit, which your diamond has first to cover with its value growth before you are legible for any profit, and for 1.5 carat H-SI1, although a beautiful stone, this is not going to happened in the near future.

The third point of reference is the purpose of the diamond. While the industrial diamonds (natural and synthetic) have plenty of useful applications, the only purpose of the jewelry diamond is to be beautiful.  I cannot help it but to refer to the following paragraph by the psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa :  “Of course, diamonds and flowers are beautiful, but they are beautiful precisely because they are expensive and lack intrinsic value, which is why it is mostly women who think flowers and diamonds are beautiful. Their beauty lies in their inherent uselessness; this is why Volvos and potatoes are not beautiful”.  It makes sense then to choose a diamond for its foremost purpose – its beauty, and for this, your best advisor is your eye. The modern diamond buyer, presented with extensive highly specialized information, is trying hard to single out the best deal, comparing crown angles, pavilion angles and other proportions, often forgetting that he/she is buying a diamond and not a certificate.

Back to the issue of the certificates. If you agree, even partly to the above mentioned three points of reference, you are close to achieving clarity on what the importance of diamond certificate is to you.

For me, the certificate of pedigree origin (AGS, GIA) is an important issue when it comes to investment quality diamond. For anything less, a good origin certificate is a bonus, as long as it does not add up to the price, otherwise EGL or the likes will do perfectly well. Recently I have read a forum discussion, where a woman was asking for an advice in order to make the right choice between two diamonds with seemingly identical characteristics. The one was GIA and the other EGL certified. With a difference in the price of almost 30% she was still in doubt. Different experts pointed out that with such a vast difference there should be something wrong with the cheaper one. No one considered, that may be the expensive one was overpriced because of its certificate origin. Let me put this different way. If the two stones are graded the same color, clarity and cut, how much of “generosity” in the grading of the one stone will command a price difference of 30%?

Now, to convert this information into practical advice:

The diamond report is an important document for any diamond over 0.30ct as a document of authenticity, treatment disclosure and for insurance purposes. The credibility of the diamond merchant is more important than the certificate origin and is good to be addressed in respective order. Do not expect to be able to sale your diamond for the price you bought it for any time soon, especially if it does not fit in the investment diamond category. Bearing this in mind spend your budget on parameters that really counts, like size, color and good make (cut) rather than invisible ones like clarity higher than VS1, Ideal crown angle or pedigree certificate.  Try to detach your choice from too many technical details and see if you can choose with your eyes. I will encourage you to make the following test. Go to a local jeweler and ask to see few diamonds with similar weight, without knowing the certificate details and price. Make your first, second and third choice and then ask for the price. Ask for the price alone and not for the details. Now with the price in mind look at the diamonds again and figure out if the difference in price corresponds to the difference in appearance, remembering that beauty is the sole purpose of this gem. Only then ask for the certificates and decide for yourself the level of their importance.

After you have decided to marry you will have tons of tensions related to the preparation of marriage and other things. Searching of wedding ring and jewelry are two common but inevitable things that you will for sure search for. Before marriage for your engagement you too have to do choose a engagement ring for your beloved and the very job is not too simple. It is as tough as the selection of your wedding ring. Now there are lots of websites and online shops’ catalogue that can help you for sure. You can have a prior look at those jewelries and then you can set up your mind that what will be your budget and other related things. As you will need to search for the best and most perfect items for your event you will also visit all the local shops and outlets too. And after all this you can ultimately relies that there are tons of different designs and styles you can choose from. As you have tons of options in case of your wedding dress, similarly you can have lots of options for having a wedding ring. Choosing a dress is difficult and choosing a wedding ring is much more difficult than that. Among all those options there will be a option of vintage wedding ring as your vintage wedding dress. If you cherish collecting vintage items them you can opt for a vintage wedding ring but not a stylish and modern chick looking platinum wedding ring for your wedding ceremony. And the making a final choice of a perfect vintage wedding ring is tougher than everything. So if you love to have a vintage wedding that have some historical value and special significance, you can surely opt for this option. Exactly like your vintage dress your vintage ring is also elegant in looking and as you know that elegance is a style statement your choice to have a vintage ring will be a success on that very day of celebration. One thing you have to remember that while taking this type of ring you have to have the money factor as the rings can be tagged expensively. So you have to loosen your budget before buying one. A vintage diamond ring is elegant and perfect for the occasion you are organizing for a new life experience. You will need to understand that it is not that easy for you to search for your vintage diamond wedding rings. Not many shops will sell this kind of items. You will need to spend some time to search for it. Of course the best situation will be that you can get the rings you want from your parents. They may keep rings which they bought forty years ago. It will be even more perfect if you are going to wear the wedding dress your mother worn when she got married! You should try to discuss with your parents to this end. So carefully choose your vintage wedding ring.

The wedding rings, platinum wedding rings and diamond wedding rings you can get here with attractive price.

If you are in a relationship that’s not working right now at work or home, you’re hardly alone. It happens. The question is what are you going to do about it? Some of us get lazy. Rather than roll up our sleeves and get busy, we put on our running shoes instead. We race from one job to another, one relationship to another, only to end up in a similar mess each time. Others of us bury our heads in the sand, in the vain hope that our difficulties will miraculously disappear. Usually, it’s the relationship (and sometimes the job) that disappears instead. In either case, we tend to rationalize our part in it all: Well, what could I do? That’s just the way men/women/bosses/employees/co-workers/jobs-in-general are.

Here’s what you could do: I’m going to give you five tools; five ideas and steps on how to retrieve your ring from the rubble of broken relationships at work and home. The ring represents the opportunity to build better relationships. The rubble represents the hurt, frustration and pain we all have to dig through from time to time. These tools will help you fix your relationships, if you apply them to yourself. Please note: You can’t fix anyone else! If you want others to pick up these tools, then be a role model and pick them up first.