Buying Diamonds Online

With all of the potential for scams concerning diamonds, buying diamonds online almost seems unthinkable! However, you actually can purchase diamonds online, without any problems – as long as you are careful.
First, think about your reasons for wanting to purchase the diamond online, as opposed to making a purchase from a local jewelry store. The most common reason is price. Due to low overhead costs, online jewelers and wholesalers are able to offer lower prices. However, you must be careful – sometimes a price that is too low is a sure indication of a scam.
One of the best things about purchasing online is the unlimited selection. When shopping offline, you are limited to the selection in the stores in your general area. Online, there are no limits. But again, you must use a great deal of care and consideration before handing your money over to someone that you cannot see and have never met!
Before shopping, learn as much as you can about diamonds – especially cut, color, clarity and carat weights. When you are knowledgeable about diamonds, it will be harder for a con artist to rip you off. Once you know more about diamonds, you will be ready to start shopping.
Take your time. Don’t purchase the first diamond that you see that interests you. Instead, look for similar diamonds for sale. Do some comparison shopping to find the lowest prices. Once you have found the lowest price, start doing your investigation. You know about diamonds, you’ve found a diamond that you love, and you’ve found the lowest price – but you are still quite a ways away from actually purchasing that diamond!
Ask about the seller’s credentials, such as professional jewelry associations that they belong to. View and print the seller’s return, refund, and upgrade policies. Also inquire about additional services, such as settings and mountings, sizing, and free shipping. Do a search for customer reviews on this particular company around the Internet. Alsocheck with the BBB Online to see if there have been any complaints.
Ask for a diamond grading report from an independent laboratory such as GIA, HRD, EGL or AGS. You should see this before making a purchase. Finally, use a reputable escrow service for high dollar diamonds – preferably one that will have the diamond appraised while it is in their possession. The seller sends the diamond to the escrow service, and you send the money to pay for the diamond to the escrow service. The escrow service has the diamond appraised, sends the diamond to you, and sends the money to the seller. This is the surest way to protect yourself…again, make sure that you use a reputable escrow service!

Where Diamonds are Mined

Argye mine located in the Kimberley region in the far north east of Western Australia. Owned by Rio Tinto, this mine is the world’s largest single producer of volume of diamonds.  However, due to low proportion of gem quality diamonds it is not the value leader.  It does produce 90-95% of the world’s supply of pink diamonds.  

Diavik is also owned by Rio Tinto, located in Canada it is a very large mine.   It is located north of Yellowknife and south of the Artic Circle on an island.  The island is connected by an ice road.  It is also an important part of the regions economy employing more than 700 people and producing more than 8 million  carats annually.

Ekati diamond mine is owned by BHP Billiton and located south of the artic circle in the Northwest Territories of Canada.  The Ekati is Canada’s first operational diamond mine. Diamonds mined here are sold under the Aurias trade name   Authenticity is verified through Canada Mark service.  CanadaMark service is also owned by BHP Billiton Diamonds, Inc.

Baken diamond mine is located along the lower Orange River in South Africa.  It is owned and operated by Trans Hex.  The average size stone for 2004 was 1.29 carats. In 2004, this mine produced a 78.9 carat D color flawless diamond that sold for more than 1.8 million dollars (US), as well as a 27.67 pink diamond that was sold for over 1 million US dollars.

Merlin is the second of only two diamond mines in Australia.  No longer operating it was owned by Rio Tinto and sold to Striker Resources, who has explored the possibilities of reopening the mine.  

Orapa is the world’s largest diamond mine. It us located 240 Km west of Francistown.  The mine is owned by “Debswana” which is a partnership between DeBeers and the government of Botswana. This mine operates 7 days a week.  It maintains pre primary and primary schools for its employee’s children.  There is also a 100 bed hospital and game park.  This mine began production in 1971 and is the oldest mine owned by the Debswana Company.

The Premier mine located in Cullinan, South Africa produced the largest gem diamond ever in 1905. The Cullinan Diamond weighed 3,106.75 carats.  This mine also produced the Golden Jubilee diamond which weighed 545.67 carats.  This mine is owned by the De Beers Company and was renamed The Cullinan Diamond Mine in 2003 in celebration of its centennial.

Are Diamonds really rare?

When you walk into a jewelry store and see all the diamonds in all the various setting that are sale, it is difficult to realize that diamonds are indeed rare. Most people don't even stop to consider how that diamond came to be sitting in that jeweler's case! There is quite a bit of work that is done before a diamond is ready to sell to generic public.

For every one million diamonds that are mined, only one will be found that is a quality one caret diamonds. In order to find a two caret diamond. In order to find a two caret diamond, about five million diamonds  must be mined. More than two hundred tons  of ore must be mined to find one small  diamond, and even then,    more than 80%  of the diamonds that are mined are only good for industrial use, such as diamond drill bits.

So, the next time you visit your local jewelry store, ask to see the one carat diamonds. You should look at this diamond with new  appreciation – knowing that it truly is one  in a million!

All About the Clarity of Diamonds

Clarity is an important aspect of a diamond, and it is important to know how to grade the clarity of a diamond before you buy one. It is actually quite easy to learn how to grade the clarity of a diamond. There are basically two things that you must understand: Diamonds with visual inclusions and blemishes, and those that are ‘eye clean’ meaning that there are no inclusions or blemishes that can be seen with the naked eye. From there, the clarity of a diamond is further broken down into subcategories.

Many people mistakenly think that diamond clarity refers to how clear it is. This isn’t so. Clarity actually refers to the internal and external imperfections of the diamond. The best diamonds, of course get a grade of FL or IF – Flawless or Internally Flawless – meaning that it is perfect. A grade of I-1, I-2 or I-3 means that the diamond is imperfect, with a grade of I-3 being the worst.

Other grades are (VVS = Very Very slightly inclusion (VVS1 and VVS2), VVS1 and VVS2, which means that the diamond is very, very slightly imperfect; VS1 and VS2, meaning the  diamond is very slightly imperfect; SI-1 and SI-2, which means that the diamond is  slightly imperfect.

About Diamond Weights

Diamonds are measured in Carat Weight. One carat weighs 200 milligrams. If a diamond is referred to as four grains, this also means that it is a one carat diamond. The word Carat comes from the word carob. A carob is a bean that grows on a tree in the Mediterranean. In times past, if a diamond weighed the same as a carob bean, it was one carob, or one carat.

However, in the far east, where Carob trees do not grow, rice was used to measure the weight of a diamond. If a diamond weighed as much as four grains of rice, it was four grains – or one carat as we know it to be now. The majority of diamond purchases are for diamonds that are 1/3 of a carat.

Beware when shopping for diamonds that are already set or mounted. If more than one diamond is used in the piece, the tag on the jewelry will give the CTW or Carat Total Weight – it does not tell you the carat weight of each stone in the piece. You need to ask the jeweler for the total carat weight of the largest diamond in the piece to truly understand what you are buying.