What do I need to know to buy a diamond?

[jais]

My BF and I have been discussing marriage for a long time now, while he's yet to 'officially' propose, he wanted to look at rings with me today.  Here's my issue...... I know NOTHING about this whatsoever and have no idea whom to ask.  He thinks I know all of this and can just pick one out and be done with it.  HELP!! 

OOPS!  I thought I put this under a different topic. Mods, please move to the correct section.  Thanks!!!

[Maggie]

The 4 c's are cut, color, clarity and carat.  You should look at the  various cuts and eliminate the ones you don't want.  For instance some people hate the heart-shaped diamond and would never wear it.   Others never want anything else.  The major cuts are round, emerald-cut, princess-cut, and marquise.  There are other fancy cuts but for the most part these are the most popular.  If you want a princess cut diamond with the look but not necessarily the cost then look for 'princessa' rings.  These are 4 smaller princess cut diamonds put together to look like one larger one.  They are usually much cheaper than a single diamond. 

Color is a major factor to some people but not to everyone.  Some people would rather have a larger stone with inclusions or flaws in it.  In my personal opinion a diamond with lots of fire or light is much more valuable than a bigger diamond with no fire in it.  I have seen a 4 carat diamond that was horrible and then I have seen a 4 carat diamond that was very clear.  The difference in price is just $100,000.  lol

Clarity is the cloudiness of the diamond.  Like I said a larger diamond with less clarity is not worth as much as a clearer diamond with better color and clarity.

Carat is the size of the diamond. 

I worked in a jewelry store for 10 years.  If you would like to ask anything I can answer and if I can't I'll find the answer. 

[Sophia]

In cuts, it isn't just the shape, it is the quality of the cut.  For example, many times they will make the flat part on top too large so that it 'looks' like a bigger stone, but it ruins the light refraction. 

I would look once to get an idea of what shape/size-ish you want, then research what a perfectly cut stone of that shape will look like.  Cut is something that doesn't have a quantitiative rating like color. 

FH and I had really good luck buying at a Gem Show.  Everything was around 70% off retail, and open to negotiation. 

[jais]

FH and I had really good luck buying at a Gem Show.  Everything was around 70% off retail, and open to negotiation. 

Thank you!!! Any idea where I could get information on these?

[jais]

Maggie~
Thank you! PM me and we can discuss this further when it's convenient for you. 

[Sophia]

FH and I had really good luck buying at a Gem Show.  Everything was around 70% off retail, and open to negotiation. 

Thank you!!! Any idea where I could get information on these?

http://www.intergem.com/

This was the one we went to.  I would have an idea of what you wanted before you got there.  We bought from one booth/store, then picked out a sapphire in another. 

[Bijou]

FH and I had really good luck buying at a Gem Show.  Everything was around 70% off retail, and open to negotiation. 

Thank you!!! Any idea where I could get information on these?

http://www.intergem.com/

This was the one we went to.  I would have an idea of what you wanted before you got there.  We bought from one booth/store, then picked out a sapphire in another. 

I am not saying people who sell at shows are not legitimate, but how do you make certain you are dealing with someone who is knowledgable and honest?  Is there some kind of licensing, an association or something?  It just seems so iffy to not go with a known and reputable dealer. 

[aloe]

This site has great information on all aspects of diamonds along with magnified photos--best tutorial on Net I've found so far (I haven't purchased from him and I am an amateur gem and jewelry person)

http://www.goodoldgold.com/

Diamond cut information with good pictures (modern
round cuts) shows problems with some cuts--halfway
down the page

http://www.gia.edu/newsroom/issue/2798/2563/insider_newsletter_details.cfm


Indispensible tool for anyone interested in gems and jewelry:

Great loupe--one of the best and at an affordable
price--I ordered from this website after finding out
elsewhere that Belomo is great, fast shipping:

http://www.geo-tools.com/lens.htm

[Sophia]

FH and I had really good luck buying at a Gem Show.  Everything was around 70% off retail, and open to negotiation. 

Thank you!!! Any idea where I could get information on these?

http://www.intergem.com/

This was the one we went to.  I would have an idea of what you wanted before you got there.  We bought from one booth/store, then picked out a sapphire in another. 

I am not saying people who sell at shows are not legitimate, but how do you make certain you are dealing with someone who is knowledgable and honest?  Is there some kind of licensing, an association or something?  It just seems so iffy to not go with a known and reputable dealer. 

At least with the people we/he bought from, they were stores that set up a booth.  The setting came from a store in NYC.  I forget where the sapphire came from.  With a diamond, you could probably get one of the certification papers for it. 

We were really picky about the setting.  We did not want a solitare. we wanted a sapphire, but not one with the ring of little diamonds around it.  We wanted it to be unusual but not weird.  We started looking in January, and he bought in mid-July.  All the stores we looked at had the almost the exact same rings.  If we hadn't found something at the show, we would have had one custom made.