Diamonds mark an important event in our life due to various reasons. Diamonds are mostly purchased as gifts for our loved one or themselves. No matter what the reason is, it's important to be aware of the best diamond buying practices to keep yourself from falling into scams. Being an expensive and movable asset, a thoughtful consideration when buying diamonds remains crucial.
Uninformed buyers can fall into the traps of unethical jewellers. In this article, we will help you with the five most common tricks that jewellers use to trick buyers. Read on to never be a victim of fraud.
| Read More: Your Diamond Buying Tips And Guide
A fact that you as a buyer must understand is that if a seller is pushing you to buy diamonds that are not certified then they are sure to be unsellable and of low quality. Gem labs like GIA and AGS will not certify diamonds to be sellable that are of low clarity, poorly cut or low colour. So even if a store tells you to buy non-certified diamonds for an amazingly low price, please never fall for this.
Some jewellers can create altered certificates and trick buyers. There are some said security features to look closely in a certificate that is impossible to be found in an altered certificate. Some other jewellers can show you certificates from unknown labs and assert them to be as authentic as GIA and AGS. You must not take these assurances given by the diamond store and do your own research well
Buyers usually get enticed by the “half-off” or “discount on everything” advertisement by the jewellers. This may look like a great deal but it's not what you think. Most jewellers will artificially inflate the prices and use the marketing tactics to slash the prices with great discounts. They will mark up diamonds 200-400% and tag them with huge discounts which will look like a great deal. So, if you find diamonds with heavy discounts, then be sure that you are paying way more.
The very old bait and switch trick can happen in diamond buying as well. Jewellers can use this trick to lock your money for a lower price diamond and later have to buy the higher-priced one. Let’s explain to you with more clarity. Suppose you like a diamond, placed an order and paid the amount only to later realize that the diamond of your choice is no longer available. Now the retailer will show you another similar fashion diamond but a more expensive one, then that’s where you fall for their scam. So before getting your money locked with them, try to be very knowledgeable about buying diamonds.
Weight of a diamond is measured in carats such as ½ carat, 1, 1 ½, etc. If there exists any fraction of weight above and below the carat, then it is stated as decimals. For instance, 1.05 carat or 0.89 carats. If you are looking to buy a ¾ carat diamond but the actual diamond carat was 0.67, then this can put you in a scam. The 0.67 carats being labelled as ¾ can cost you to pay hundreds of extra dollars. So to stay away from such scam, ask the jeweller to give you the exact weight of the diamond. A certified diamond will have the weight written on its tag with exact decimal fractions.
At times, heat while enhancing the diamond jewellery can cause tiny fractures or fissures inside the diamonds. It is extremely difficult to spot these fissures from naked and unsavvy eyes. These fissures cause the stone to be weak and less of a value than the natural and unenhanced diamonds. The only way to keep yourself from falling into this scam is by asking for a certificate from third party gem labs. Gem labs mostly never issue certificates for such flawed stones but even if they do, then you can clearly find it stated as the stone enhancement has been done on the certificate.
We hope the above given common scams that diamond users use to trick the buyer is quite clear to you. We want you to be extremely aware of such gimmicks and buy certified and best-valued diamonds.
So, always be well prepared and enough educated when you are buying your diamond jewellery in India.
