Diamonds.co.nz Blog

Everyone looking to buy a diamond has a budget to stick to. If your wanting to buy a diamond for your girlfriends engagement ring, a diamond for your right hand ring or any other piece of diamond jewellery you desire, setting a budget is a very large component of your shopping process. With everyone feeling the pinch from the economic down turn keeping to a budget is becoming more important than ever before.  The following are some guidelines and tips which will allow you to set your budget and give you hope that there is that special diamond out there no matter what your budget is.

First we suggest you set the budget in your mind, that way you can give your jeweller a guideline to work with and also by being honest with your jeweller about how much you want to spend they  won’t  disappoint you by showing you something which is totally out of your budget. By viewing diamonds/jewellery which fall within your budget you may be surprised by the variety of options available to you, and you won’t be disappointed thinking you wish you could have the one you can’t afford.

Once you have your budget in mind start doing some research by looking at different styles of rings to get an idea of what you might like. Popular styles  are; Solitaire, Three- Stone,  Cluster.  Spend time looking at different shapes that might suit your overall vision/look  like best Round Brilliant, Princess Cut, Marquise , Oval , or Emerald. Round Brilliant cuts are still the most popular shape today and that’s why they are generally more expensive all factors being the same. If big is your style, consider using smaller diamonds rather than one large diamond, you can often get a large look by using smaller diamonds which are less expensive than one large diamond.

If you have your heart set on a certain size like a half carat diamond or one carat diamonds consider looking for a diamond that is slightly under this weight. That way you will pay a lot less and still have something which is just as large as a true half carat or carat diamond.

Think about colour and clarity as this will also have an effect on the price of a diamond. Remember that diamonds are a natural creation and are made to have clarity characteristics this is what makes each diamond unique and one of a kind.

www.diamonds.co.nz has a large database of all different shapes and sizes. Search our database and see what size diamond will fall within your budget and explore the option of using a number of smaller diamonds to create an amazing look.

Christie’s auction house has sold the Wittelsbach Diamond at their Christie’s Jewels: The London sale. The diamond fetched NZ$45,870,169.00- a record price, according to the auction house. International jeweller Laurence Graff of Graff diamonds purchased the Wittlesbach Diamond, a seventeenth-century, cushioned-shaped, deep grayish-blue 35.56 carat VS2 stone, for an average price of NZ$1,289,937.00 per carat.

Francois Curiel, chairman of Christie’s Europe wrote in a statement: “In the midst of these challenging times, we were thrilled to achieve an historic price for an historic diamond. At $45.8 million, the 35.56 carat Wittelsbach blue diamond, dating to the seventeenth century, has become the most expensive diamond sold at auction, topping the previous record of $31 million for a 100-carat diamond in 1995 in Geneva. It was purchased by the leading international jeweller Laurence Graff, bidding against Aleks Paul of Essex Global Trading.

6/11/2008

Please take note of the following urgent matter. The following has come to the attention of the diamond and jewellery industry worldwide.

1.  Counterfeit GIA diamond reports offered with HPHT (high pressure high temperature) treated diamonds or diamonds of a different grade than described on the accompanying counterfeit GIA Report, have been discovered in the marketplace.

2.  Counterfeit GIA diamond reports with the exact GIA Report number and exact and or similar grading information and details are also being offered in the market place.

These counterfeit GIA diamond reports are accompanying HPHT diamonds or genuine diamonds of a different, though very similar grade.

We urge you to exercise utmost caution when purchasing a diamond online without having the diamond and the report verified as genuine by an independent diamond grading laboratory. To identify a diamond that has been treated by HPHT involves advanced laboratory testing.   

You can help protect yourself by using the following method recommended by the GIA.

GIA Report Check is a free online service that lets clients check the information contained in a GIA Diamond Report and GIA Diamond Dossier. Enter the diamond’s report number and carat weight, and Report Check returns the Grading information, including a cut grade when available, that was issued for that diamond. Report Check currently serves only those diamonds graded from January 1, 2000 to the present. To access Report Check, go to http://www.gia.edu/reportcheck/

Extreme care needs to be taken when purchasing a diamond online, even if the diamond is accompanied by a diamond grading report due the use of counterfeit GIA diamond reports.

Diamond clarity enhancement is a process to improve the clarity of a diamond by the use of a foreign material, normally a type of glass, being forced under pressure into open fissures, cracks and other surface reaching characteristics on the surface of a polished diamond. 

Diamonds listed on www.diamonds.co.nz are not clarity enhanced and we would never supply these diamonds to our clients.

Our main area of concern is that they are actually not what they appear as the process can improve the clarity and appearance of the diamond by a number of clarity grades. Yes, the majority of clarity enhanced diamonds are disclosed when initially sold but with any further sales this disclosure can get lost.

Also there is a considerable risk in damaging the diamond and returning it to its original clarity while under repair, as the majority of clarity enhanced diamonds cannot withstand the heat of a jeweller’s torch.

All diamonds are graded for Clarity; this is another component that makes up the 4C’s which determines each diamonds value (price). Clarity is a diamonds freedom from clarity characteristics, which are classified in two parts –Inclusions and Blemishes.

Inclusions are enclosed within a diamond, or they extend into the diamond from its surface. Blemishes are confined to the diamonds surface. Inclusions generally have more influence on a diamonds clarity grade than blemishes.

The clarity characteristics found in a diamond make it unique. It is very unlikely that two diamonds would have the same clarity characteristics in exactly the same position.  

When grading diamonds, a clarity grading scale is used. The scale provides a universal method for describing a diamonds clarity. The scale consists of 11 clarity grades.

Diamonds form under tremendous heat and pressure; it is extremely rare to find a diamond that does not contain any internal and external clarity characteristics. Clarity characteristics are caused by the diamonds formation and help Gemologists separate natural diamonds from synthetics and simulants, and identify individual stones.

All diamonds are graded for colour which is one component of the 4C’s that helps determine a diamonds value (price). Diamonds that range from colourless to light yellow and light brown fall within the normal colour range, this is also called the D-to-Z scale. A diamond that shows yellow or brown colour beyond the D-to-Z scale is classified as a fancy-coloured diamond, as well as any other colour i.e. pink.

The scale begins with D (Colourless) and continues through the alphabet to Z (light yellow). When all other value factors are the same, meaning a diamond has the same clarity, cut, and carat weight. Colourless diamonds are the most valuable.

The levels of the colour scale are divided into colourless D-E-F, near colourless G-H-I-J, faint yellow K-L-M-N, very light yellow N-R, light yellow S-Z.

The difference between one colour grade and another on the D-to-Z scale can have a big impact on value (price).

When purchasing a diamond the colour is not the only factor you should consider. You need to be aware of the 4C’s and make your decision based on all four factors. Just because a diamond has a colour grade of D-E-F doesn’t mean it is a perfect diamond. You need to consider the clarity (clarity is a gemstones relative freedom from inclusions and blemishes), cut (cut refers to a diamonds proportions and the quality of its finish), as well as the colour before you make the decision that this is the diamond you would like to purchase.

These days there is a lot of emphasis put on the diamond report that usually accompanies a diamond. There are a large number of diamond grading laboratories operating around the world. Many are country specific diamond grading labs such as www.gemlab.co.nz in New Zealand or international laboratories operating in the major diamond trading centers around the world. The major international labs include the Gemolgical Institute of America - GIA, the Diamond High Council – HRD in Antwerp and the International Gemological Instute – IGI which is actually the largest diamond grading laboratory in the world.

Diamonds listed by www.diamonds.co.nz above 0.50ct come with one of the above diamond grading reports. We purchase our diamonds from new production and then get them graded at these laboratories. Many diamond merchants and online diamond jewellery retailers promote for sale diamonds already with a diamond grading report. Therefore, we have our opinions on the grade of the diamond and if we do not agree with an international diamond grading report we will state our grading on our listing.

Our advice to consumers is to get an independent diamond grading report from a local diamond laboratory before purchasing any diamond with an international diamond grading report. This will give you piece of mind that you have verified that the diamond is the diamond that should be accompanying the report.

At the end of the day you are buying a diamond and not paper, so you should always pay a lot more attention to  the diamond and not the diamond grading report as this can be verified locally. This is why you should always view a diamond first before purchasing and not buy a diamond that you cannot view personally.