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Are diamonds really more valuable than gemstones?

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jlim

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Just a Friday off-topic subject to ponder. Let''s face it. I''m a guy. I could care less about a piece of carbon. But I know women love them. Thus I would buy a diamond ring for my gf. because I love her.

With that aside, I saw a segment on one of those primetime shows (20/20, Primetime etc. don''t remember which) maybe 4-5 years ago. They had reporters posting as consumers going to various jewelry store and seeing if they get scammed (switching of diamond, offering incorrect info etc.). But that''s not what interests me. What was interesting to me that I got from the show was diamonds are not rare. They are abundant of diamonds but because they are a girl''s best friend, the diamond conglomerate decides to stash all the very good quality diamonds in a warehouse that will never see the light of day and only sell diamonds which we see in the market today, compromising on carat or clarity/color or cut. But of course, there are limited amount of the best of the 4c available to the millionaires and actors/actresses etc.

Of course it is in their best interest to do so. Otherwise, the market will be flooded with everyone sporting 1, 2 or 3 carat. There won''t be money to be made anymore.

In fact in the same show, good quality colored gems like sapphire, emerald etc. are even rarer than diamonds. So, if you truly want the most precious stone on earth, it ain''t diamonds.

The show also show a walk through of a warehouse in Russia I believe with bags and bags of diamonds. An undisclose location of course. Diamonds that will never see the light of day.

They also talked about conflict diamonds etc.

Anyone who saw this segment, care to share what your thoughts are?
 

TheDiamondangel

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Didn't see the segment, but I do know that carat for carat a high quality natural ruby is the most expensive gemstone.
 

Heyjud

Shiny_Rock
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Feb 26, 2003
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A ruby may be valuable
Other gems and jewels are too
But a diamond will forever win
The lady's heart for you!
 

DiamondExpert

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I would guess that, on a price paid per ct. basis, diamonds are the most valuable - fancy colored diamonds that is - e.g., red - which have gone for close to $1M/ct. - It's all related to rarity.

Prices of the colorless (D-Z colors) stones, as you are aware, are dictated by market forces designed to maintain stability with a slight appreciation of value built in, and are not based strictly on rarity but more on a "timed release" basis.
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Hest88

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Didn't see the segment, but it's rather common knowledge.

Diamonds throughout history have been valued for their hardness and incomparable beauty. However, modern mining has produced so many gem-quality stones that they are not really scarce. I still think they're incomparably beautiful, though.
 

jlim

Shiny_Rock
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Is there an official place whereby one can check the current market value of diamonds? Like gold for example?

A gram of gold is worth this much today based on the gold exchange prices.

Any such thing exist for diamonds? This is kinda related to appraisal of the diamond. When a diamond is set w/ the ring and goes to an appraiser for insurance purposes, where does the appraiser look up, so to speak, the current market value of the diamond?

Thanks.
 

Iceman

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If your talking rare gemstones you must put diamond on top with the reds .

But if your talking general everyday what's available to the public then it is subject to
comparison. A low quality diamond , can not compare to the price of a fine quality
emerald or an untouchable price on an Alexanderite . Depending on the comparison
it could go any which way.
 

shelbyscout

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On 5/8/2003 3:11:42 PM jlim wrote:

Is there an official place whereby one can check the current market value of diamonds? Like gold for example?

No.
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*snip*

Any such thing exist for diamonds? This is kinda related to appraisal of the diamond. When a diamond is set w/ the ring and goes to an appraiser for insurance purposes, where does the appraiser look up, so to speak, the current market value of the diamond?

Thanks.
----------------

The closest thing to what you're talking about is the Rappaport report which is not for use by consumers and should be taken very carefully.
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Essentially, a diamond is "worth" what someone will pay for it. For example, you can get a beautiful industrial cut 1 carat I color I2 clarity from Zales for a mere $2500 (
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) or you can get an I color I1 (hey, you went up a grade!) clarity on the internet for $1782 (also one carat). Does that make the Zales diamond more valuable? Obviously not
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.

Diamonds are too individual to get a "x per carat" generic price. Diamond traders and buyers take cut into account (and I'm not talking superideal cut, but cut quality nonetheless) far more than consumers realize. Also remember that there's a wide range of colors and clarities for diamonds with really incremental differences between them (one lab's "G" is another lab's "I" for example). Gold is just gold. It's either pure or it isn't. It's easy to tell if it's pure. Diamond pricing is much more sophisticated than that. You have to have a separate price for each grade (D IF, D VS1, D Vs2, D SI1, DSI2, D SI3, D I1, DI2, D I3) 9 separate prices for one color grade. That's 45 separate prices for the colorless grades alone, and remember that it's VERY common for people and labs to disagree on color and clarity. Now add in D IF fine cut, D IF good cut, D IF poor cut--well you do the math.

Appraisers have different methods but most go by replacement value--what would it cost the insurance company to replace this stone if it got lost or stolen. Of course, the insurance company replaces from their own sources at a steep discount, but that's a whole other topic.

Shelby
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Colored Gemstone Nut

Ideal_Rock
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On 5/9/2003 7:23:55 AM Iceman wrote:
If your talking rare gemstones you must put diamond on top with the reds .

Here's a good example of what ice is referring to. The following pictue is of a 2.17 carat Natural Untreated Ruby from Myanmar (Mogok). It has been graded by a lab as being natural and falls under the GIA grading definition of R6/6 Red, medium to medium-dark tone, very strong saturation. Clarit is VS. Price listed is $36000.00 dollars and price per carat is listed as $16,574.59 per carat. Right up there with some very fine diamonds which are D in color. Again searching out a natural stone and having it lab graded as being a natural can take some doing and finding a vendor or broker which deals in these stones and has credentials can be a difficult task if your not in the trade or inexperienced with knowing what is being made available to the general public. I am not saying it is hard, but you don't see many people advertising selling gems of fine top quality versus the more dominant vendors which sell ideal cut diamonds. Just my take but just wanted to post an example of a top quality gem with papers along with the price so people can get an idea that top quality rare gems can be priced right up there with diamonds.

-Josh Rioux
Sitka, Alaska
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