this may sound crazy,but i can''t upgrade b/c....

[Dancing Fire]

i bought the stone 4.5 yrs ago when diamond prices were a lot cheaper.

think about this....if i traded in my stone today i will only get credit for what i paid 4.5 yrs ago,but i will have to pay today's higher price for the new upgrade stone. in other words....my stone haven't gone up in value during the pass 4.5 yrs.

 

[lovegem]

no, your stone didn''t go up in value. If you want to sale, you can''t sale for what you paid then. Yet, if you want to trade in for another stone of the same carat, same cut, and same color/clarity, you will have to pay the higher the difference (what you paid then and what you will have to pay now). Of course, probably no one is going to exchange for some thing very similar. You are only better off if you want the same thing 10 years ago and 10 years later. Yet, even that, you aren''t that much better off, because the money you put in to buy your diamond can earn you interest or used for other investment. So what I am trying to say is... diamonds are totally luxury items that are only good for the eyes and souls.

 

[bgray]

if you have the money it may soon be a great time to trade in--if prices fall.


See below:

Rapaport TradeWire - Friday, October 3, 2008
NEWS: Diamond prices coming under increasing pressure as global
economic situation worsens. Sellers are trying to maintain price
levels as trading volume fall and liquidity concerns mount. ABN AMRO’s
diamond division is up for sale with few takers. Everyone is worried
or should be. Indian polished trade weakens and rough demand slows as
outlook for holiday season dims. De Beers DTC Sept. sight estimated at
$600 mil. Collectors Universe posts $13 million loss for 4Q. Cartier
opens flagship store in Seoul. Bulgari opens in Paris. Vasant Mehta
elected chair of India’s GJEPC. Rapaport offices will be closed on
Thursday Oct. 9 due to Yom Kippur. We wish everyone a happy, healthy,
peaceful and prosperous Jewish New Year.

RETAIL QUOTE:

“Recession in the major retail diamond markets will ripple back to the
cutting centers and will almost certainly lead to weaker prices for
rough and polished diamonds…The party is over for diamonds, at least
for the next two years.”

---Des Kilalea, RBC Capital Markets

WORLD NEWS:

---U.S. Aug. Consumer Spending Flat

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that consumer spending in August
was unchanged from July. Personal spending accounts for roughly 70
percent of economic activity. While nondurable goods and services
sales fell, motor vehicle and parts rose to offset the difference.
Consumer spending was the weakest since February. Personal incomes,
adjusted to remove price changes, fell 0.9 percent in August, compared
with a decrease of 1.5 percent in July.

---RBC Forecasts Weaker Diamond Prices, Consumer Demand
RBC Capital Markets expects polished and rough diamond prices to
weaken as the economic slowdown in the United States and Europe
impacts jewelry demand. RBC said demand for diamonds by the jewelry
trade was starting to slow as the U.S., Europe, and Japan, where
consumer disposable income was being squeezed and jobs have been lost.
RBC found that U.S. consumer confidence fell more than 50 percent
January 2006 and June 2008 due to growing uncertainty in financial
markets.

---Fortis Plans Sale of ABN Amro Diamond Unit
Fortis Bank is planning to sell its ABN Amro Diamond Bank subsidiary.
Fortis announced on Monday that the governments of Belgium, the
Netherlands and Luxembourg had agreed to invest EUR 11.2 billion in a
bailout deal to prevent a run on the bank. Fortis provides an
estimated $3 billion of credit to the diamond industry through its ABN
Amro subsidiary, according to RBC Capital Markets, which said
widespread bank debt in the cutting centers may result in liquidity
drying up.

 

[Dancing Fire]

i agree. this world recession will lead to lower diamond prices and all other commodities.