TUTORIALS GIA Reports-General Info GIA Reports-Colored Diamonds Diamond Color Grading- Colorless Diamonds Buying Diamonds Online Diamond Clarity Grading
You may have wondered how they have thousands and thousands of diamonds.
They don't actually "have" them. This is the way most of the online dealers
sell diamonds. (We don't)
Buying Diamonds Online-
What You Should Know
Nowadays, more and more purchases are being made online. Let's look at the way most vendors sell diamonds and the concerns regarding these methods. Just for the record, we don't drop ship diamonds.
How is it that so many businesses can afford to stock 50,000 diamonds?They don't. Most of the diamond selling web sites start with a url and a site design template. The site is set up with the ability to accept credit cards and present a database full of diamonds.
But most of the web sites out there do not have the loose diamond inventory it looks like they have. Basically they compile lists of diamonds from manufacturers (the cutters) and diamond wholesalers in the form of a data feed.
When they do it this way, they don't have to actually invest in the diamonds. As a result, they never actually see the diamonds they are selling. It's called "drop shipping". Drop shipping is a great idea for something mass produced like a toaster. But a diamond is a product of nature. No two are alike.
Most sites offering thousands and thousands of diamonds generally operate just as I've outlined above. The internet seller presents sample or representative photos for the shapes. No actual photos. Oftentimes, they present a copy of the GIA Report. Once they get an order and payment, they send the order to the actual owner of the diamond. They ship it wherever the internet seller tells them. It all sounds very efficient.
You Get to See a GIA Report. Does this Mean You Know What You're Getting?
Selling diamonds the drop-ship way is not against the law. But what you gain in efficiency you loose in true selectivity--distinguishing the finer points of one diamond from the next. The "Diamond selling by list" system is based on the assumption that all diamonds of any particular grade are equal. They're not.
Our diamonds are handpicked. We took only the
4.03ct out of this group.
Say two diamonds have valid GIA lab reports identifying their grading. Let's say the grades are identical, the measurements are identical- or very close. One diamond can still be much nicer than the other. This is particularly true with Fancy Shape diamonds. So you really can't tell what you're getting from staring at a list of numbers on a diamond grading lab report even if it is the GIA.
How can you find out if the seller actually has the diamond?
Ask them directly, "Do you have this diamond in your possession?" If they do have the diamond on hand, ask for a photo. This is very important. Many sellers are nice enough to label their "sample photos" or "representative photos", others do not. Make sure to ask.Ask their opinion of the diamond as an expert if they do have it. If they don't have the diamond, you are taking a gamble on what it may look like.
What the diamond looks like is crucial when buying
a fancy shape. The outline of the shape alone is
reason enough to find a dealer who sends photos.
The Pitfalls of Buying from a List of 50,000 DiamondsTo begin with, neither the seller nor you has any idea what it looks like. This is absolutely crucial in buying fancy shapes and fancy colored diamonds.
There is also the possibility of buying a diamond off a list which is actually already sold. The "lists" are supposedly updated frequently, yet there are stories of people buying and paying for a diamond, only to learn it was sold. The kicker is that the seller then tells the customer that a similar diamond of that grade will be 20% or more that the previously listed price. So comparison between another dealer's price and a price you may locate on a list is not always valid because the prices are often outdated.