The 15 Most Important Questions to Ask Jewelers When Buying Diamonds

Purchasing a diamond is a crucial investment and finding the right one can be stressful and overwhelming. What are good questions to ask about diamonds to make sure you tackle diamond purchasing like a professional?

With the amount of money, you will be spending on a diamond, you shouldn’t be second-guessing your decision. You should be sure that you are making the right choice from all the options that are presented before you. Know about the questions to ask when buying diamonds and get real answers.

1. Where Can I Buy a Real Diamond?

There is so much to consider from what store to shop for, online or in a physical retail store. Or if you have totally no idea where to start and have zero prior knowledge on anything related to getting real diamond engagement rings it is best if you consult somebody and hiring a diamond expert is the thing for you.

Online

The best way in order to find the most options is to look online first as you want to browse through different styles and designs as well as pick out what diamond cut you like and canvas out different prices in order to give you an idea of the price range of the diamond that you prefer.

Physical Location

While going to the physical stores in your area is also ideal as after you have an idea of what ring you prefer, you can visit a real store and look and touch the diamond in order to solidify your decision.

Browsing and seeing the diamond for yourself is great as you also can be recommended and advised on other diamond designs and information, such as cut, clarity, and color for you to quickly find the engagement ring of your dreams.

Wholesale

Buying wholesale diamonds and having them set is a cheaper option when buying and having a diamond engagement ring. Generally, the concept of “wholesale” is when wholesalers, and/or merchants sell their products and goods to retailers in large quantities at discounted prices.

The Rapaport Diamond Report, also known as the “Rap Report” has a universal standard pricing reference for wholesale diamonds. This is the price that diamond retailers follow when they buy large quantities of polished diamonds at a discounted rate.

Diamond retailers get access to these prices when they prove that they are a genuine diamond trading business. You can buy wholesale diamonds from these genuine diamond retailers at a competitive price.

2. Where is the Best Place to Buy a Diamond?

There are so many online and physical stores that will present you with many options on diamonds that you can buy. The best place to buy a diamond is the place where a jeweler should offer a diamond that passes these criteria:

GIA Certified

When looking for a real diamond, how do you know that the carat, cut, color, and clarity of the diamond are what was advertised by the jeweler? You need to check if their diamonds are GIA certified. GIA stands for Gemological Institute of America (GIA) which they are a universally trusted source of authority in the diamond industry.

Engagement rings with diamonds that are GIA certified have a greater chance of being resold in the future as the certification proves its genuineness.

GIA suggested this question to ask when buying a diamond: “Can you tell me how the diamond grades against the 4Cs?” In addition, they emphasized that your jeweler should have no problem explaining the 4Cs to you in more detail. You can also ask your jeweler to show you diamonds that provide the best example of a certain characteristic.

Trusted and Reliable

The first thing to look for is to check for the background of the jewelry store you are thinking of buying from. Do your research and go to their business page or check for their google reviews, great sites include Yelp or Amazon if they are an online businesses.

You can also read up on past customer feedback after their purchase with the business if they are satisfied and the store delivered on what was promised.

Related: Should You Only Buy GIA Diamonds?

3. Does the Diamond Have a Grading Report?

When you buy a diamond from any jeweler, it should come with a grading report. The grading report should come from an independent, accredited gemological laboratory, such as GIA.

The independently generated report that ensures the diamond’s value, quality, and authenticity should contain the following information about the diamond:

The 4Cs of diamond quality: are color, cut, clarity, and carat weight. The grades on the report represent a range of each “C”.
The stones characteristics: shape, proportions, finish
Any known treatments
Light performance: measuring the brilliance, fire, and scintillation of the stone
Diagram of inclusions that can affect how light is displayed in a diamond. When considering diamond inclusions, it is important to take note that truly flawless diamonds are extremely rare, representing less than 1% of all finished diamonds.

4. What Are the Ways to Take Care of a Diamond?

Your jeweler should be able to provide you with information about care and cleaning tips to keep your diamond strong and beautiful.

They should be able to answer these questions about caring for your diamond:

Do you provide jewelry repair services and will you perform repairs in-store or send them out?
Is the jeweler or technician repairing my engagement ring Bench Certified?
Do you offer a lifetime warranty?
Do you offer an upgrade program?

5. Can You Tell Me More About Your Diamond Quality?

Jewelers should be knowledgeable enough and know the differences in the qualities of a diamond. They could show you a chart prepared by the GIA that shows the different characteristics of a diamond and educate you on the 4C’s(cut, carat, clarity, and color).

6. Are Your Diamonds Certified?

One of the most important aspects you should know before you buy a diamond is if it is certified. You should only buy GIA-certified diamonds that have a certificate. Remember that GIA has the highest standards for grading diamonds.

7. Are Your Diamonds Natural or Synthetic?

You should be assured that the diamonds you are buying are authentic and not man-made. One way to check this is the price. Natural diamonds cost twice as much as synthetic diamonds.

8. Can I Get a Diamond Within My Budget Without Compromising Good Quality?

A trusted jeweler has good quality diamonds in their collection that is within your budget.
You should not feel uncomfortable talking about this with your jeweler. The best quality diamonds with the best value are diamonds with G or H color.

9. Do You Have a Return Policy?

You should understand if your jeweler follows return policies if it is required per state law where they are located.

It will be wise to know if they will allow you to try out the jewelry first before you commit to buying it. This will give you the opportunity to check out the jewelry and be sure if it will be worth your investment.

10. Do You Repair Jewelry?

There might be a need for adjustment on the jewelry that you are planning to purchase. A good jeweler should be able to offer even simple repair services. They would usually have a jewelry technician on their team to handle issues with jewelry that can be repaired.

11. Do You Include Details on the Quality of Diamonds and Metal Used on Your Final Invoice?

A trusted jeweler will be able to provide details on the cut, color, clarity, and carat weight of the diamond jewelry you are going to buy on the final invoice.

The type of metal used and its purity should also be included. Having these details on the final invoice sends a message that your jeweler is being transparent and honest with you.

12. Do You Offer Cash or Check Discounts?

Some jewelers can be empathetic when it comes to diamond pricing, which can really be expensive. So, they can offer a 1%-2% cash/check discount to help lessen the burden of paying sales tax.

They can pass the savings to you for fees that they pay to the credit card company if you pay by credit card.

13. Do You Have a Social Mission?

It will be nice to purchase a diamond from a diamond dealer that supports a social cause because you will know that part of your money will be going to their mission to help improve other people’s lives, in whatever way.

14. May I See a Selection of Diamonds to Compare?

To make sure that you make a perfect choice, your jeweler should be willing to show you their vast collection of diamond jewelry that you can choose from.

They should understand how important the investment is that you are going to make, so you should be able to explore all options before they decide to buy.

15. How Can I Protect My Investment?

Your jeweler should be able to help you understand how you can secure your diamond purchase.

They should be able to explain diamond appraisal and insurance which will help you protect your valuable investment.

Getting the best quality for your budget when you purchase diamonds can be assured when you know these questions to ask about diamonds. When you get solid answers, you are well on your way to getting your diamond purchase right.

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Shira Diamonds is the only TRUE diamond wholesaler open to the public. We have all types of loose diamonds, diamond studs, and custom diamond engagement rings for sale.

Visit our wholesale diamond store in Dallas or contact us today for more information!