Read This before Investing In a Diamond Engagement Ring

Image by VintageLondonDiamonds via Flickr

Very often, customers will shop for a diamond via a traditional jeweller, even if they land up making their purchase online. It’s the perfect way to see various diamond shapes, sizes, and qualities first hand, and makes for a more informed decision. In some cases, you may decide to buy from a local jeweller based on their service and collection. Either way, shopping for a diamond requires you keep the following points in mind.

Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a Diamond Engagement Ring

The biggest mistake people make when shopping for a diamond is to allow themselves to be deceived on cut quality. Cut can be harder to define than clarity or colour, and is often misrepresented or ignored. Common problems include:

• Being shown several diamonds of differing cut qualities. While you may choose the best option presented to you, it may not necessarily be the best cut diamond. It’s just the best option in a particular store.
  
  
• Buying a diamond that is deeply cut and which carries most of its carat weight hidden in the pits of the stone as opposed to the stone’s width. These badly cut diamonds tend to be less expensive per carat.
  
  
• Since well-cut diamonds are more expensive per carat than good cuts, very few are carried in traditional jewellery stores.

It can be almost impossible to accurately judge the colour and clarity of a diamond once it is placed in a setting. Flaws can be easily hidden under prongs and even the colour can be obscured by the reflections of the setting. If you are able to, try to view the diamond first hand to see what you are getting.

Colour Grading

This is a notoriously difficult point. The GIA goes to lengths to create training and standards for colour grading and you should never accept the jeweller’s own grading as a substitute. If the jeweller offers a colour range, chances are the diamond hasn’t been graded by the GIA or a lab and the colour grade will be unreliable. Take a look at the superior and exquisite collection of engagement rings in Toronto at Diamonds for Less and rest assured you will be getting top quality diamond rings.

If there is no master set, or any other objective measures, be very weary when comparing colour diamonds. If you are shown two diamonds, one referred to as a ”G” colour and one as an “H” colour, for example, there are certain problems you may encounter with this approach:

• You may not know for sure if both diamonds are GIA colour graded.
  
  
• You may well be comparing two different shapes.
  
  
• You won’t be able to tell is both diamonds are the same cut quality. 

Typically, jewellery store lighting is designed to make diamonds sparkle at their very best and emit a spectrum shift. When considering a diamond engagement ring, be sure to ask to see the diamond in a normal lighting environment, away from spotlights. You may want to take the diamond outside of the store to a place with standard lighting, a skylight, a window, or even direct sunlight. It is imperative that you see how your diamond looks under those natural conditions as they will be the norm once the ring is worn.