Buying a diamond is, for most of us, a necessary compromise between what we would love to own and what we can realistically afford. For example, a one carat, ideal cut, D colour, IF clarity diamond, with excellent polish and proportions, will cost, at a conservative estimate, around £13,000 (including VAT). By contrast you could probably find a one carat M colour, I1 stone with a thick girdle and a deep pavilion for around £1,000. Everything between these two extremes will be a compromise. There is no point in looking for a D/IF ideal cut diamond at a "bargain" price because you won't find one and you will waste a lot of time looking. The art of buying a diamond at the right price lies in knowing the intrinsic value of any given stone, and especially what factors give that stone its particular value. This involves fully understanding the concepts of carat weight, cut, clarity and colour, and how these factors interact to affect the overall beauty of a diamond and its ultimate value.
"Fancy Shape" Diamonds
Any diamond which is not round in shape is usually described as a "fancy shape". The most common fancy shapes are the princess cut and the emerald cut. Other fancy shapes include the heart cut, marquise cut, oval cut, radiant cut, pear cut and cushion cut. There are also several other variations on these cuts. Buying a fancy shape diamond is considerably more difficult than buying a round brilliant cut, because there are other factors to consider, such as width/length ratios and variations in the most desirable table and depth ratios, depending on the particular fancy shape under consideration.
All of this means that unless you have spent literally years studying diamonds, it is highly unlikely, if not to say impossible, that you will find the best diamond at the best price to suit your wishes and your budget. As diamond brokers with many years of experience in the gem trade, we at PeerlessGems are able to offer you the benefit of our expertise in finding just that very diamond on your behalf. All you need to do is send us an email with details of the diamond you would like us to find, and we will do the rest for you. We will send you full details of the best diamond we have found in the databases, and will tell you exactly how we have reached our conclusion.
For full information on How to Buy a Diamond, the Blue Nile website has a very user-friendly guide. Just click on "Education and Guidance" in the right-hand column.
Jo-Jo's Jewellery Beautifully hand crafted affordable costume jewellery from a wide variety of beads and findings in various different materials.
IMPORTANT MESSAGE
Webmasters: If you would like to support the Find Madeleine campaign, why not add a banner like this one to your website? For more information visit http://www.bringmadeleinehome.com/help/
