Fracture Filling
There is a clarity enhancement process where a glass-like material is introduced under heat and vacuum and pulled into any surface reaching fractures in a diamond. This technique went unnoticed for a short time, but now is better understood and more easily detected by most of the better jewelers, and all of the top three independent laboratories. The treatment is considered fragile because it can be damaged under the heat of a torch when the diamond is set into a ring. It is unethical for fracture-filled diamonds to be sold without full disclosure of this fact to the consumer, and disclosure is supported by GIA and the jewelry trade organizations, and required by the US Government (FTC).
Fracture-filled diamonds should sell for much less than diamonds without this treatment, but in reality, dishonest jewelers often sell enhanced diamonds for as much or more because they look like a higher, more expensive clarity grade. We do not recommend buying treated stones for engagement rings. In general, avoid stores that push these stones, because they are a bit fragile and will not be valued as much as time goes by.
Laser Drilling: Cutters drill holes to burn out black carbon spots.
Another clarity enhancement technique.
Dealers use lasers to drill a tiny hole into the depths of a diamond to burn and evaporate large black inclusions to make them disappear. The trouble with this little trick is that the opening of the hole can fill in with dark polishing compound during repairs, making it look like a small black spot in your diamond. Most jewelers sell laser-drilled stones for huge discounts, so don't be fooled. If a diamond deal seems too good to be true compared to other diamonds at the same store, it may very well be laser-drilled. We do not recommend treated stones at all for engagement rings.
Laser-drilled diamonds would sell at huge discounts from stones that are not treated (same as fracture-filled, or clarity-enhanced diamonds), so you need to be sure you are not buying a treated diamond. Any good gem lab certificate (AGS, GIA, EGL, or AGS) will note either treatment in the Comments section of the report.
Diamond District scams: not Just the one on 5th Ave and 47th Street; we all have them.
You may have heard that the major diamond district in the U.S. is located on 47th Street in New York. There are also diamond or jewelry centers in many other cities, and they are all pretty much the same in one regard.... the intense competition among jewelers often creates a strong incentive to mislead unknowing consumers in order to make a profit. They attract unscrupulous dealers as well as good ones, and for a consumer it is impossible to tell which is which.
Diamond districts can be a legitimate place to do business, but it is our opinion that your chances of unknowingly dealing with a dishonest jeweler is fairly high. Unfortunately, most of the honest trading at diamond districts takes place among members of the industry, hidden from the public, so you will not generally have access to the dealers with the integrity to ensure you a good deal. So it will be safer just to avoid these places. There are other ways to get great value so you are not losing anything.
Blue-White Diamond
A jeweler tells you, "This is a blue-white diamond."
This is a very old term that is now forbidden by the FTC because of misuse and scams in the past. The jeweler will probably tell you that it is a better diamond, but actually it might not be. The blue in "blue-white" refers to the fluorescence created by natural sunlight, or any light that contains ultraviolet waves. Extremely strong blue fluorescence actually makes a colorless diamond look a little oily or milky in sunlight, but only for high colors and only if the fluorescence is very strong or extremely strong. This decreases its value. We will talk more about the issues around fluorescence in our diamond proportions section. (Note: See our grading report section for more on fluorescence.) Our advice is to avoid anyone using the term "blue-white diamond" because they are violating the law and should know better. It is time to walk out.
Carat Total Weight (ctw): The tag only states the ctw
Many jewelry only list the "carat total weight" (ctw) of diamonds in a ring and do not list the center stone separately. This is especially prevalent with diamonds listed for auction on eBay. You cannot compare prices with another ring if you do not know the weight and quality of the main diamond, if the ring has one. This is crucial because one large diamond is worth much more than several smaller ones that total the same weight. For instance, if you have one diamond weighing 1.00 carat, it might be worth about $5,500. But 10 smaller diamonds each weighing 0.10 carat, and totaling 1.00 carat might only be worth about $2,000. A good jeweler should always know the details about a center diamond if it is over 1/3 carat or so. If they cannot tell you about the quality of any sizable stone in the store, it might be time to leave.
The "50% off" Diamond and Jewelry sale and Discount Diamonds overseas
If you see a diamond sale price in the newspaper, do not fall for it. Even with the discount or so-called "sale price," you will probably pay much more than the regular price charged by an honest diamond specialist that never has a "diamond sale." We know of a major store in Florida that marked gold chains up from $100 cost to $500 regular price, then marked them half-price during a sale. That means the customer paid $250, thinking it was a great price, while the store around the corner was selling the same thing for less than $200 every day. People flocked to the sale, while the honest jeweler around the corner lost a good deal of business. This same thing happens with diamonds on "sale." Liquidation and "going out of business" sales are often no different. We have seen one store in New York City that has been going out of business for 15 years!
Fake diamonds aren’t sold too often in the US, but when you take a cruise to the Caribbean, the laws protecting consumers are not well enforced. Some diamond lookalikes can fool you. You might come home from Mexico with a $2 cubic zirconia that cost you $2,000. In our opinion, you will not get any "deals" in Cozumel or Jamaica or anywhere else, and you might not receive a diamond at all. Diamonds are a world market and trade at essentially the same price everywhere. There is no such thing as a better place to buy diamonds. There are only better stores and better diamonds, so you need to careful anywhere.
Grade Bumping: When a jeweler exaggerates the grade even a little
The FTC says that a jeweler must be accurate within one grade of color and one grade of clarity on a diamond. So, many jewelers bump the color and clarity just one grade, to make their diamond sound as good as possible. Unfortunately, this can mean a great deal of money if you are talking about a fine-quality, 1-carat diamond. For instance, you might find a stone that the jeweler quotes as a 1.00 carat F color / VS1 clarity for $6,500 with an NGL certificate. However, if you sent it to a reputable gem lab like GIA, it would come back as a G color / VS2 clarity, which is only worth about $5,500. This means you lose (and they profit) about $1,000. This is the reason you must insist on a GIA, AGS, or EGL diamond certification.
The Fraction Scam: The tag says 3/4 carat
The FTC allows jewelers to round off diamond weights. So a diamond labeled as 3/4 carat in weight might actually weigh anywhere between .69 and .81 carat. This could mean a significant amount of money, since diamond prices leap at certain popular sizes. In this example, you might be buying a .69 carat round G/VS2 worth about $2,100... but paying for what you thought was a 0.75 carat worth $3,000. You lose $900. A good jeweler would never do that on a large diamond (only for a cluster with a lot of diamonds and not one larger one in the center.)
For more on diamond size, see our carat weight section.
Light Makes White
Bright lights make every diamond look better.
Of course, every jeweler wants to show his or her diamonds in the best light, but there are some lighting tricks you should avoid. Some bulbs have a strong blue component, which makes yellow stones look whiter. Other times, special bulbs are used with strong ultraviolet wavelengths. These make most diamonds fluoresce with a faint blue glow, which also has a whitening effect for stones in the lower color ranges.
We always recommend brining a cubic zirconium (CZ) with you!
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