Regular Guy
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2004
- Messages
- 5,962
Date: 11/17/2007 10:01:47 AM
Author: Regular Guy
Also, Garry...you didn''t ask...but consider a page zero...serving as an introduction.
You''ve got here in this tutorial a style resembling the re-ordering of the Encycopedia Britanica into two sets of info...the Macropedia (part I) and the Micropedia (part II). I''ve found landing into your first page on grading reports a bit odd...sort of like starting in the middle of some soup.
An intro page might again lead up to where you''re ending in part I...giving you some perspective that if you''d like to know what to buy...this is designed to give you some useful info towards that.
So...consider this ...an idea...for page...zero...
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So you’re looking to buy a diamond…
You’re in good company. Many will shop for an engagement ring that includes one..or more diamonds. The advantage of this tutorial…and this site, where others who have made such purchases before tend to roost and like to give advice through the forums…is that others have gone through this process before…and you can take advantage of that experience.
Two pieces of advice, and then a comment on some of what you’ll see in this tutorial:
A) Trust your senses. Diamonds are a favorite gem associated with marriage…almost certainly because both marriage and diamonds can be very beautiful! Also, of course…marriage can get very involved…and so can a study of diamonds. But…. don’t let your eyes off the prize. Since one is drawn to buying a diamond for its fire, it’s brilliance, its shimmer & beauty…as they say on the commercial…don’t leave home without it. Much of this tutorial is designed to assist you with tools to help you do this.
B) Also, however…trust…but verify. In most cases, the purchase of a diamond represents a significant expense. Consider that diamonds are sometimes known as “Ice.” In a sense…you’re buying an ICEburg…that is…a gem that should be beautiful…but has lots of associated qualities…many of which lie beneath the surface, like an iceburg…less easy for a person who is not an expert to personally witness all of its dimensions. It is based on many of these details that your cost may be established…so you are advised to verify beyond your personal experience of the diamond, the basis of the value of your purchase.
More about this iceburg like diamond purchase:
1) Note…unlike the way ships treat iceburgs…we’re going looking for this one. And…although they may have many unseen characteristics…we’re particularly interested in the seen ones. From the reports of other shoppers…we know of how they can have untold beauty…and the traits it will have when it is like this. These reports are from ship captains/shoppers from before us…who have laid down charts we can follow. For example…not only have these diamonds been charted…they’ve been certified, and many of them (the ones we think you should look for) described by agencies who know how to map them. So…since one can know what they look like with some accuracy based on these documents….it’s recommended that you look for diamonds with features you can see and understand. If they don’t have those features you can begin to understand right away from this tutorial…move on. Consistent this with, we note many local jewelers can help us with this search. Unfortunately…an even larger number can’t. The main thing is…whether you’re shopping locally or from an away vendor…don’t settle if you don’t have to. The diamonds you’re looking for are likely to have certain identifiable characteristics.
2) This Iceburg/diamond is sort of like a pyramid…pointy on the top…broad on the bottom. Don’t confuse the top from the bottom. Unfortunately…we think many do….confusing features (you’ll be reading about the 4 Cs here) that are most easily perceived and understood….with ones that are most valuable. In fact…the market for diamonds tends, unfortunately, to have gotten aspects of pricing upside down. You’ll read here that the way a diamond is cut…when it’s well cut…will provide the greatest value for the diamond buyer…and yet…the relative premium you will pay for this is smaller than you will have to pay for features like clarity and color…which will cost you more to get in more premium grades. But you will notice the premium that cut brings…and you will not as readily notice, for example, the optical advantage of most premium clarities. Likewise…with the pyramid being mostly submerged…though you will be paying for the actual qualities of color and clarity…the way to identify these critically is both tied to the cost of the diamond…yet difficult to confirm yourself. You’ll read here that diamonds certified by grading agencies can help you confirm these details, and further…that different certifications will be more strict with respect to those criteria than other agencies. Although the choice with respect to these certifications is personal…the pattern of higher quality diamonds being sent to the more critical agencies is unmistakable.
3) Later, in the advanced portion of the tutorial, you’ll understand that not only is pricing and value inverted with our pyramid/iceburg/diamond….you’ll be able to apply this same view to “getting hip” to finding a well cut diamond. For example…you’ll understand from conventional presentations about cut that an ideal make will have the light reflecting back to you. What’s less frequently defined is that this “ideal make” is based primarily on the angles in the pavilion and crown of the diamond. Especially in the case of the most commonly sought after shape…rounds…you’ll be able to understand with tools you’ll be presented with here that small variations in pavilion angles could be compensated for by a larger inverse variation in crown angle…and you’ll see that while attending to the categories used in certification of ideal to excellent to very good to good, fair & poor will be helpful…you can come into your own understanding of how these categories have been applied…and make some of what we think are frequently corrections to those designations…yourself.