Most popular diamond grade

[turismo]

I''m wondering what the most popular diamond grades sold are? Ie, where are the bulk of the sales made (say, for round brilliants)? Maybe SI1 or VS2? Color H? What do people think? Does anyone know of actual stats on this?

-T

 

[Regular Guy]

VS1 H?

feedback.

 

[valeria101]

I don't know about stats. F/G and VS2/SI1 (i.e. any combination of those) have been randomly mentioned as 'sweet spot' grades.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 1/3/2006 12:31:38 AM
Author:turismo

I''m wondering what the most popular diamond grades sold are? Ie, where are the bulk of the sales made (say, for round brilliants)? Maybe SI1 or VS2? Color H? What do people think? Does anyone know of actual stats on this?

-T

i like G-H VS2-SI1.

 

[Mara]

IMO the PS''ers here are not the same as the regular buying public. So many times you go into maul stores or similar and the diamonds they carry can be typically something like I/J SI3 or similar. We have had alot of stories like that from people who found PS. Walmart sells I/J SI3 and I1/I2 stones typically. Then there are the ones who shop in HW or Tiff or Cartier where they usually don''t go below a color or clarity, so you won''t find people buying J SI3''s in there. Or SI''s at all probably.

But here on PS....we see a huge range of color and clarity purchases. SI''s and near-colorless stones seem to be gaining in popularity as the diamond prices increase, because people are having to consider stones they may not have originally before the price hikes...which I personally love to see because it somewhat breaks out of the mold of ''colorless and IF'' being the most desirable thing.

So most popular in a regular maul store vs a brick and mortar family jeweler vs online PS''ers vs the brand names Cartier/Tiff/HW etc are all going to be different birds IMO. I don''t know that you could just point and say that one grade fits all!

 

[oldminer]

Well informed consumers with sufficient money for a reasonable purchase would probably prefer to buy F/G VS2 diamonds regarldess of any other factors. Some of these other factors could be carat size requirements or a cultural desire for IF or VVS type stones.

In terms of sheer volume of sales, I / I1 probably is the most commonly purchased engagement ring diamond because mass marketers have found them the best value for promotion. Most people do need to keep to a budget or a monthly payment amount and they get what seems the biggest bang for their dollar in a quality just a "few" grades below what informed consumers choose when they are financially able to do so.

I tell people to buy what they like and not worry so much over the letter of the alphabet. Grades are artificial, not absolute. There are wonderful Q/R, VVS stones and miserable D/IF stones. Cutting is a huge issue and we don''t usually speak beyond color and clarity when we talk what is "most popular".

 

[Bman143]

Date: 1/3/2006 8:40:16 AM
Author: oldminer

I tell people to buy what they like and not worry so much over the letter of the alphabet. Grades are artificial, not absolute. There are wonderful Q/R, VVS stones and miserable D/IF stones. Cutting is a huge issue and we don''t usually speak beyond color and clarity when we talk what is ''most popular''.

I could not agree more. People buy what speaks to them, and what gives them goose-bumps when they see it for the first time, as funny as that may sound. I''m just a newbie, but this is what I have learned.

Brandon.

 

[strmrdr]

depends on the market
localy:
I/Ix at the malls.
h/si1 at the independents
With a couple upscale places where the average is f/g vs.

 

[Lorelei]

I think here in England the most popular are the I and J i1, I2's and I3's found in the local catalogue store

and cut quality is never taken into consideration

A diamond is a diamond is a diamond......

To turn the other side of the coin, decent jewellers probably sell more VS goods and IMO I think again cut quality isn't a concern. It is a shame because a beautifully cut properly graded I1 regardless of colour can be an incredible deal and a gorgeous diamond, it is a shame Brits don't set a lot of store on education beyond the basic 4 C's. I wonder what my pals Minnie and Bloddie have to say and whether they agree?

 

[strmrdr]

I got to thinking about this and the correct answer by sheer number and weight is probably light brown color/if-i3 used for melee in low end stuff.

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 1/3/2006 9:37:05 AM
Author: strmrdr
I got to thinking about this and the correct answer by sheer number and weight is probably light brown color/if-i3 used for melee in low end stuff.

IF-I3. That certainly does narrow it down.

Popularity is a funny thing to describe. The best selling diamonds are the industrial grit used in drill bits and machine tools after all but this probably wouldn''t qualify them as popular for most people.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[MiniMouse]

Date: 1/3/2006 8:56:46 AM
Author: Lorelei
I think here in England the most popular are the I and J i1, I2''s and I3''s found in the local catalogue store

and cut quality is never taken into consideration

A diamond is a diamond is a diamond......

To turn the other side of the coin, decent jewellers probably sell more VS goods and IMO I think again cut quality isn''t a concern. It is a shame because a beautifully cut properly graded I1 regardless of colour can be an incredible deal and a gorgeous diamond, it is a shame Brits don''t set a lot of store on education beyond the basic 4 C''s. I wonder what my pals Minnie and Bloddie have to say and whether they agree?

Lorelei, you are so right. In the main, people in the UK seem to think a diamond is a diamond is a diamond. I did tend to gravitate towards VS while I lived there. I knew nothing about cut or anything else , but no one seemed to think it did matter, never mind about the cut, which was never a topic of conversation when buying a diamond! It''s only since being in Saudi Arabia and having no vendors around, that I had to investigate through the Internet and THANK GOODNESS I found Pricescope. It''s been a saviour and only because of Pricescope have I got a fab diamond.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 1/3/2006 9:54:55 AM
Author: denverappraiser

Date: 1/3/2006 9:37:05 AM

Author: strmrdr

I got to thinking about this and the correct answer by sheer number and weight is probably light brown color/if-i3 used for melee in low end stuff.

IF-I3. That certainly does narrow it down.

Popularity is a funny thing to describe. The best selling diamonds are the industrial grit used in drill bits and machine tools after all but this probably wouldn''t qualify them as popular for most people.


Neil Beaty

GG(GIA) ISA NAJA

Professional Appraisals in Denver

do they even bother clarity grading them?
agree on the industrial stuff.

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Date: 1/3/2006 12:31:38 AM
Author:turismo

I''m wondering what the most popular diamond grades sold are? Ie, where are the bulk of the sales made (say, for round brilliants)? Maybe SI1 or VS2? Color H? What do people think? Does anyone know of actual stats on this?

-T

Interesting question but difficult to quantify. In my experiences over the past two plus decades I can make the following observations: Mall stores sell alot of promotional imperfect diamonds (price points). A large chain pushes "colorless" diamonds but doesn''t talk about clarity. Another chain has girdles so thick that you could drive an 18 wheeler around the diamond. My biggest sore spot is range of sizes that these stores sell. Their range of 1.00 carat diamonds is 0.95-1.10 ct. It''s hard to imagine that mainstream America buys so many off color imperfect diamonds, but that is the real world. Many engagement rings that I see from 20 years ago are off color, imperfect and poorly cut....this was before cut was ever mentioned. How times have changed!

www.metrojewelryappraisers.com

 

[blodthecat]

Date: 1/3/2006 8:56:46 AM
Author: Lorelei
I think here in England the most popular are the I and J i1, I2's and I3's found in the local catalogue store

and cut quality is never taken into consideration

A diamond is a diamond is a diamond......

To turn the other side of the coin, decent jewellers probably sell more VS goods and IMO I think again cut quality isn't a concern. It is a shame because a beautifully cut properly graded I1 regardless of colour can be an incredible deal and a gorgeous diamond, it is a shame Brits don't set a lot of store on education beyond the basic 4 C's. I wonder what my pals Minnie and Bloddie have to say and whether they agree?

Yes, that's absolutely right. I think there are quite a lot of people in the UK who haven't even heard of the 4 C's, let alone what it means. For me personally, I started to learn about diamonds because it's always been a passion/obsession, for which there doesn't seem to be a cure! Apart from the higher end of the market, the ordinary retailer in this country doesn't have much to offer

 

[oldminer]

I just finished a quality control examination for a major chain where we look at a statistical sample of the items to judge their overall compliance with "standards". The diamonds are set into sterling silver bracelets, 1 carat total weight, 0.o2ct each stone with a quality range of I/J-I3. 13,000 bracelets total. Can you imagine? All those drill bits in one place. It was a very nice job and they even paid for lunch!!!! Can''t ever be too kind to quality inspectors, you know.

It is very difficult to miss such a low target. A few bracelets had defective metal and a few had a missing diamond. Not many had diamonds of lower clarity! You don''t have to be much of a gemologist to understand why they all pass on the clarity issue. We do reject broken stones. Some broken stones actually looked like I2''s.

Funny, not one of these many diamonds was an ideal cut.

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Date: 1/3/2006 8:25:36 PM
Author: oldminer
I just finished a quality control examination for a major chain where we look at a statistical sample of the items to judge their overall compliance with ''standards''. The diamonds are set into sterling silver bracelets, 1 carat total weight, 0.o2ct each stone with a quality range of I/J-I3. 13,000 bracelets total. Can you imagine? All those drill bits in one place. It was a very nice job and they even paid for lunch!!!! Can''t ever be too kind to quality inspectors, you know.

It is very difficult to miss such a low target. A few bracelets had defective metal and a few had a missing diamond. Not many had diamonds of lower clarity! You don''t have to be much of a gemologist to understand why they all pass on the clarity issue. We do reject broken stones. Some broken stones actually looked like I2''s.

Funny, not one of these many diamonds was an ideal cut.

So comforting to know that I3 was the lowest grade used! Were these stamped 925 but plated yellow gold? Those are my favorite chain/dept. store bracelets. Nice Job, Dave indeed.

www.metrojewelryappraisers.com

 

[glitterata]

What''s lower than I3?

Do they still look like diamonds?

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Date: 1/3/2006 9:50:36 PM
Author: glitterata
What''s lower than I3?

Do they still look like diamonds?

G.I.A. clarity grading chart ends at I3. A favorite description quoted to me by a G.I.A. instructor years ago was that these diamonds looked like "faceted SOS pads."
I still laugh whenever I think about it!

www.metrojewelryappraisers.com

 

[Nicrez]

I3 and below are commonly referred to as "bort".

Christie''s had an auction of a Bort necklace actually, which fetched a fair price... Interesting to see rough brown bort on a necklace and actually look NICE...

 

[valeria101]

Date: 1/4/2006 1:36:28 PM
Author: Nicrez


Christie''s had an auction of a Bort necklace actually, which fetched a fair price... Interesting to see rough brown bort on a necklace and actually look NICE...

Muah! and there is such thing as ''diamond pearls''... no comment. Why the Hell not (off to search the thing).