The world has placed great value and importance in diamonds. This precious stone is a woman’s prized possession. It is one of the world’s most valuable assets and ornaments.
Unluckily, there are some individuals who take advantage of other people’s attraction to diamonds. Some are too dishonest and greedy for selling their diamonds in prices higher than the stones’ real and exact value.
Diamond Switching
Diamond switching does happen from time to time. And this kind of scam is severely alarming since it involves the risks of creating wrong accusations and loss of value.
Unfortunately there are some individuals who take advantage of the usual diamond buyers who are not conscious of the details of their diamonds. Usually an unsuspecting diamond owner takes his high value yet dirty diamond stone for an appraisal or repair. After a few days, the owner collects his diamond from the shop but this time the stone is more sparkling and brilliant. In an untrained individual’s eyes, it is the same diamond in the same mounting. But unsuspecting as the diamond owner was, the jeweler switched the diamond with the same size but of low quality. The dishonest jeweler just made thousands of dollars tax free from the undetectable switch. Of course, the diamond owner can’t make out the difference of the stone since he probably didn’t pay close attention to his diamond.
Moreover, to avert diamond switching when you have it fixed or appraised by a jeweler, be mindful of these guidelines:
Pay close attention to your diamonds.
Get to know your stone like it was someone you are truly interested in. Take note of your stone’s color, clouds, feathers, scratches and chips in the stone. Remember where each clarity characteristics are located. You can observe these diamond features using a loupe. Or you can acquire a certification for your diamond. A certification holds all the important quality features of your diamond stone.
Jot down descriptive features of your diamond on the jeweler’s receipt. Although jewelry shops have no ample time to make out the exact color and clarity grades of your stones, they could be disposed to take note of your diamond’s visible characteristics. In case of diamond switching, this note could be used as your evidence against the jeweler. But most importantly, this note-taking method discourages the jeweler from switching your diamonds.
Before taking your stone for an appraisal or repair, clean your diamond first. By scrutinizing your diamond stone in the same state you will have it back, you can get pay close attention to the details of your stone. You will have more chances of recognizing your stone.
Do not be tempted to have your diamonds repaired at an amazingly cheap price. There could be two reasons for the amazingly cheap pricing: lack of expertise of the jeweler, or the lack of honesty. Establish rapport with a jeweler that you think is honest and reliable.
Diamond Misrepresentation
Diamond misrepresentation is equally an outright display of dishonestly like diamond switching. The requirement of the Federal Trade Commission is that diamond stones should be sold within one color and one clarity grade of what originally the stone is.
Due to such requirement, jewelers are predisposed to “bump” the grade. If you purchase a diamond stone sold as VS2-G, most likely the jeweler bumped the diamond grade. The jeweler could have had purchased the stone as a SI1-H. And if you have the diamond stone appraised as a SI1-H, legally the jeweler is covered because he dealt the stone within one grade of what it originally is.
Over the years, exaggerating the diamonds color and clarity by two grades has been a popular practice among jewelers. Unfortunately, the jeweler has the control in this situation. With an untrained eye for diamonds, the differences in the grade levels are hard to detect. The jeweler can manipulate the lighting, the stones to be used during comparison, and even the technical terms they use to describe the stones.
Here is a little suggestion for you to discourage diamond misrepresentation. Always inquire if the diamond stone is certified. If the diamond is not certified, you should assert that the purchase is reliant on the diamond’s certification. Or, you can compromise to have at least another independent appraiser look at it. The request for diamond certification or an independent appraiser’s examination of the stone will discourage the jeweler to bump the clarity and color grade.
Be wary of jewelers who are not agreeable to jot down the diamond facts in paper but offer you to have it examined by an appraiser of their choice. Be cautious in this situation because this might be a scam too! Most eager buyers get hooked to this modus operandi. They become submitting victims of premeditated diamond misrepresentations.
If you want another appraisal of your diamonds, only hire an independent appraiser.
Fake Diamonds
The emergence of the tremendously great-looking diamond imitations called simulants is another popular diamond fraud. These fake diamonds are just so great-looking that they can even fool diamond experts. There are various fake diamonds in the market today. Fakes stones include colorless glass, cubic zirconia, synthetic spinel and synthetic diamonds.
The creation of new diamond stone imitations by some scientists has been a success. Synthetic moissanite or silicon carbide is now flooding the jewelry industry. This diamond imitation is controversial since it can deceive electronic diamond stone testers. When these imitations are tested on the electronic machines, the results would indicate as “diamond”. Good thing that this diamond imitation has its flaw. Moissanite, when weighed, is lighter than genuine diamond stones.
Actually, diamond imitations per se are not bad. Diamond imitations become trouble when they are declared and sold as genuine diamond stone priced more than their real worth. There are numerous diamond tests available.
However the surest way is to acquire a diamond certification. Make sure that the diamond gem matches the characteristics of the stone written in the certificate.
Color Coating
Color coating is not as rampant as it was in the past years. However, there are still several jewelers who paint the bottom tip of their diamond rings. These blue colored painting is minute. It is undetectable because of the light reflection that spreads the blue color all throughout the diamond stone. When yellow diamond stones are painted, these diamonds will appear whiter and more brilliant when compared to their original color.
Misinformation
Misinformation is the more prevalent scam in the diamond marketplace today. The jewelry store or the jeweler offers misinformation about the characteristics of the diamond stone they are selling. Since the jeweler’s goal is to sell all the diamonds they are displaying, they would just say anything they can to make the diamond stone appealing to you.
The best thing you should do before buying a diamond is to determine what exactly you want in a diamond. Knowing what you want will discourage you from just buying diamonds on impulse.
