Afraid of Getting Duped While Buying a Diamond? Things to Know Before Buying a Diamond
Diamonds are special as these sparkling gemstones can make any occasion or moment special and memorable. Therefore, it comes as no wonder that those who love jewelry prefer to mark special moments with a piece of diamond jewelry, especially a diamond ring. Moreover, no matter the occasion or moment, diamonds are always expensive. Therefore it's best to ensure that you don't dupe when buying a diamond for yourself or your partner.
If you thought it's pretty easy to tell real and fake diamonds apart at a mere glance, we would like you to think again. There are many fake stones in the market that have the same shine like diamonds and are often mistaken for the same. The most common example would be zirconia, which looks and feels just like a diamond but isn't one. And what's worse is that it's pretty difficult to tell the two apart just by looks alone.
To make sure that you are buying a real diamond from a trusted source, you can follow a few simple steps. These include having a fundamental knowledge of diamonds, choosing the right seller, diamond certification, and more. Here is a list of things to do before buying a diamond to get your money's worth.
4cs of Diamonds
The first and foremost thing to do is to familiarize yourself with diamond talks. For this, you'll need to understand the 4Cs of diamonds – cut, clarity, color, and carat. The cut is the most important of the four Cs as it will determine how shiny the diamond will be. A well-cut diamond will shine more and look bigger than it is.
Next up is color, which is graded from D to Z when it comes to diamonds. The colorless diamonds graded D are the costliest and the price decreases as you move towards Z. The next C is for clarity, which is determined by tiny imperfections in it, also called inclusions. The higher the number of inclusions, the lower will be the clarity. It's quite obvious that the higher the clarity, the better the diamond will be and those with the highest clarity are called flawless diamonds. Lastly, carat refers to the weight of the diamond, which means the bigger the gemstone, the more the caratage and price.
Diamond Certification
When buying a diamond, always ask for the certificate of authenticity of the diamond you have picked. Reputed jewelers and online sellers will always provide you with a certificate of authenticity for the diamond that you choose. Diamonds are certified by grading laboratories of gemological institutes.
The certificate is important in the way that it will protect the buyer's investment in case the diamond turns out to be fake. Buy a diamond from a seller only if they show you the certificate of authenticity for the diamonds they have in stock.
Buy From Reputable Seller
The diamond industry is no longer a small-scale industry with a limited number of sellers. With a large number of offline and online sellers, there's no dearth of options. However, there are many scammers as well, which try to pass off fake diamonds to unsuspecting customers. Before buying a diamond from a new seller, check out their online profile for activity and reviews from old customers.
Additionally, ask them upfront whether they can provide the original certificate of authenticity of the diamond. Moreover, before buying the diamond go through their return and refund policy as well.
Many online sellers, such as the famous Leibish, not only offer a certificate of authenticity but also have a good return policy in place. Once you're satisfied that the seller is genuine and responsible, go ahead with your purchase.
How to Tell Real and Fake Diamonds Apart?
While there's no way to tell real and fake diamonds from each other, there are some tricks that can help you check if your diamond is legit or not. In case you're buying a diamond and want to quickly tell whether it's fake or not, here are the two common and tested methods to tell real and fake diamonds apart.
- Breath test: This is the easiest way to tell if the diamond you're about to purchase is real or fake. Remember that diamonds are an excellent heat-conducting material. Due to this, if you breathe on a diamond, the resulting fog should disappear instantly. However, fake diamonds like moissanite or zirconia don't conduct heat as well and take some time to clear up the fog.
- Sandpaper test: It's common knowledge that diamonds are the hardest material on the planet. Therefore, if you rub a diamond gently on sandpaper, it should remain unscratched, whereas a fake diamond will get scratched easily.
There you go, those were the basic things to keep in mind while purchasing a diamond from an offline or online seller. Picking the right seller will take away half of your worries, therefore do your due diligence and don't fall for offers that might be too good to be true.