Man Made Diamonds - Save Big Money And Avoid Mined Diamond Scams
High quality man made diamonds are a bargain at about $80 per
carat, and they do not increase in price exponentially as carat
weight increases. For example, a one-carat synthetic diamond
costs about $80; a three-carat man made diamond would then sell
for $240. A one-carat mined diamond that sells for $3000 would
go for $45,000 in a three-carat size, all things being equal,
which with mined diamonds is never the case. Perplexing
comparative evaluations, exponential price growth, consumer
confusion, and the reality of diamond industry antics is why the
mined diamond business is awash in dirty tricks. Here are
descriptions of the most sneaky and pervasive mined diamond
scams:
THE BLUE-WHITE SCAM: A jeweler tells you, "This is a blue-white
diamond." This is a very old term. The dealer will probably tell
you that it is a better diamond, but actually it is just the
opposite. Blue-white refers to the fluorescence that results in
natural light, which contains ultraviolet wavelengths. This blue
fluorescence actually makes a colorless diamond look a little
oily or milky in sunlight and decreases its value.
THE LIGHT MAKES WHITE SCAM: Bright lights make every mined
diamond look better. Of course, every jeweler wants to show his
or her diamonds in the best light, but there are some lighting
tricks you should avoid. Some bulbs have a strong blue
component, which makes yellow stones look whiter. Special bulbs
are often used with strong ultraviolet wavelengths, which make
most diamonds fluoresce blue. This also has a whitening effect
for stones in the lower color ranges.
THE GRADE BUMPING SCAM: A jeweler exaggerates the grade. The FTC
says that a jeweler must be accurate within one grade of color
and one grade of clarity on a diamond. So many jewelers bump the
color and clarity just one grade. Unfortunately, this can mean a
great deal of money if you are talking about a fine-quality,
1-carat diamond. For instance, you might find a stone that the
jeweler quotes as a 1.00 carat F color / VS1 clarity for $6,500.
However, if you sent it to a reputable gem lab like GIA, it
would come back as a G color / VS2 clarity, which is only worth
about $5,500. This means you lose (and they profit) about $1,000.
THE FRACTION SCAM: The tag says 3/4 carat, and the FTC allows
jewelers to round off diamond weights. So a diamond labeled as
3/4 carat in weight might actually weigh anywhere between .69
and .81 carat. This could mean a significant amount of money,
since diamond prices leap at certain popular sizes. In this
example, you might be buying a .69 carat round G/VS2 worth about
$2,100... but paying for what you thought was a 0.75 carat worth
$3,000. You lose $900.
THE LASER DRILLING SCAM: Dealers drill holes to burn out black
carbon spots. About 1 in 3 diamonds in the United States is
laser drilled. Dealers use lasers to drill a tiny hole into the
depths of a diamond to burn and evaporate large black inclusions
to make them disappear. The trouble with this little trick is
that laser drilling can make the diamond a little more fragile
to breaking with a good knock. Most dealers trade laser-drilled
stones for much less.
THE HIDING THE FLAWS SCAM: Every jeweler hides flaws under the
prongs if he can. In many cases, this can make an I1 clarity
appear like a VS2 if you look at it in a ring setting.
Structural flaws like feathers and cleavages can be damaged by
the high pressure exerted by the prong on the diamond to hold it
snug in the ring.
THE FRACTURE FILLING SCAM: New treatments to make flaws
invisible. There is a new process patented a few years ago that
melts a kind of crystal into surface-breaking fractures in a
diamond. This technique will slide by consumers unnoticed. The
treatment is considered slightly fragile because it can be
damaging under the extreme heat of a torch when the diamond is
set into a ring. Fracture-filled diamonds should trade for much
less than diamonds without this treatment, but in reality they
often sell for as much or more because they look like a higher,
more expensive clarity grade.
THE CHEMICAL COLOR COATINGS SCAM: A little paint goes a long
way. This very deceptive practice involves a little point of
blue or purple paint on the lowest tip of the diamond, called
the culet. This is small enough that you might not detect it,
but the location spreads the color throughout the stone. This
counters the yellow tint in lower color grades, making a diamond
look like a more expensive, colorless grade.
Man made diamonds or synthetic diamonds are manufactured in a
laboratory under controlled conditions. If anything about
synthetic diamonds is called into question it is that they are
too perfect. And since all mined diamonds have inclusions,
flaws, and birthmarks, under magnification a trained jeweler can
tell the difference. Considering that man made diamonds cannot
be distinguished with the naked eye, lab-created diamonds have
aesthetic beauty matching