Ground Rules

1. Stay out of the mall. Mall jewelry stores are where you will typically find personnel that don’t know very much about diamonds at all. You will also find poor quality stones here at a higher price. Many are clarity enhanced and misrepresented. This is not the best place to shop.

2. Be wary of the mom and pop, strip center jewelry stores. Here you will get better educated people with tools of the trade and they’ll take time to educate you just enough to make you feel good about your purchase. Diamonds here will generally be better in quality and possibly even certified, but you’ll spend more money than you need to because of their high overhead.

3. Don’t worry about money. I know this sounds silly, but you have to understand the huge markup on diamonds. Many jewelers will ask what kind of budget you have to spend. While this is a legit question in the diamond business, they are also looking to maximize their profit. What a jewelry store will sell you for $5000 is something they probably bought for $2500. With a little knowledge, you may find a comparable diamond somewhere else for $3000. Don’t think that by spending more you are getting better quality; that doesn’t work with diamonds.

4. Do your homework. There are many characteristics to diamonds, and if you take an hour or two to educate yourself, you'll be in a lot better position to buy. With the Internet today, there’s no excuse to not learn a little.