Diamond Scams: What to Look For
Considering the amount of money that it takes to purchase a high-quality diamond, it is no wonder that the diamond industry is heavily infested with scam artists looking to take advantage of vulnerable shoppers who simply don’t know what makes a high-quality diamond a high-quality diamond. The scams themselves run the gamut from small, minor schemes to the larger, more complex scams. Ultimately, scams are only successful when a diamond purchaser simply hasn’t done their due-diligence and educated themselves on what they should be looking for.
Stop us if you’ve heard or read this one before, you are in luck because a jeweler has informed you that you happen to find a diamond that was “special” and “unique” because it contains a “rarely seen” characteristic known as a “blue white diamond”. What the jeweler will neglect to tell you is, not only is this blue white diamond not rare, but it is the result of a diamond which is actually quite low quality and nearly valueless. There are widely accepted diamond color scales that can help you to understand what a diamond should look like color wise and the value of each color as well.
Another simple trick that jewelers utilize (trick because it is not really a scam per se) is quite often you will be shown the diamond under an extremely bright light. This is done purely to maximize the fire and brilliance of the diamond and is not a true indicator of the diamonds real ability to sparkle. Make sure you inspect any and all diamonds under all different levels of lighting so that you can get a greater grasp on the clarity of the diamond and identify its ability to refract the light which enters it.
This is arguably the most commonly seen scam among jewelers and diamond wholesalers which is the appraisal scam. Unknowingly, a consumer will take their diamond to be appraised, from which the jeweler will regrettably inform you that the diamond you have brought in is not worth nearly the value in which you paid for it. Then playing the “good guy”, the jeweler will offer to buy the diamond off of you or offer a “better” option to take the place of your diamond. It is a simple and highly lucrative scheme for the scammers out there and as such it is essential that you take your diamond to multiple appraisers to fully understand the true value of the diamond in question.
Finally, another extremely easy scam for a shady jeweler to run is when unwitting customer leave their diamond for resizing or fitting, at which point a jeweler will replace your diamond with one which appears identical to the naked eye, but internally contains none of the valuable characteristics that your diamond contains. Never leave your diamond(s) with a jeweler you don’t know or trust implicitly, and while in the store, never let your diamonds out of your sight. If the jeweler asks to take them in back for whatever reason, they should be willing to allow you to accompany them to keep an eye on your valuable property. If not, then take your diamond and leave without looking back!
In the end, if something seems too good to be true, then like all things in life, it probably is. Get multiple appraisals when assessing the value of your diamond, and/or make sure you shop around and get a variety of options, opinions and price ranges when you are looking to purchase a diamond.
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