ONE CARAT DIAMOND CHEAT

“Ah, you tricksy, tricksy jewelers!”

To make people think they’re buying a one carat diamond ring, when in fact, they’re buying a one carat total weight diamond ring…

Big difference!

I see this when customers come in to shop and compare rings they have seen elsewhere.

They say they want to see one carat diamond rings. They pull out a business card and read off the color and clarity “VS2, H” (nice quality, like these diamonds here).

No problem.

That is until I tell them the price is $5,800 for that one carat…

The customer says that our diamond is way too high. The store down the street is half the price.

So what’s going on here?

I ask to see their business card. The card has very little into to go by. It says:

VS2, H
SI1, I
14k W/G
1.00 CT
$2,999

That’s it.

BINGO!

Problem solved…

There is more than one diamond.

The sad fact is, the jeweler didn’t list the carat weight of either stone or stones. It just states that the ring is one carat.

This puts me and the customer in a very tough position. How can I compete against a carat weight I don’t even know?

I ask the customer if he knows what the carat weight is for the center stone. “They said it was one carat” is all he says.

Correction… “One carat total weight.“

Sigh!

The center stone could actually be only 1/4 carat with another 3/4 carat of smaller diamonds around it. But they have put it in his mind that he’s buying a one carat diamond and low and behold, that’s what he’s going to shop and compare… One carat.

Of course everywhere else is going to be higher in price (and they knew that). He’s comparing a multi-diamond ring to a single diamond solitaire. It’s quite a neat little trick.

Just a small detail to omit. Right?

But that small detail could double the price of the ring. Not cool.

My advice:

Get all the details and all the exact carat weights of anything you’re looking at. That’s the only way to know if you’re actually getting a good deal or not.

You could be getting ripped off and never know it because of this one small (huge) detail.

Know your carat weights, color, clarity and cuts.

Those are the things that you have to get when you’re shopping.

If the diamond ring has more than one stone, write it all down. Even the shape of the stone can play a huge factor in price.

Here’s an example:

Center round diamond, 58 points, VS1, E
24 side round diamonds, .50 ctw (carat total weight), SI1, E
14k white gold, prong set
Retail $4,999, sale $3495

If you get the right carat weights, you’ll see the prices are more in the same ball park. NOT DOUBLE THE PRICE!

Don’t let jewelers be sly or trick you when it comes to saying the ring is just “One carat“. If you see more than one stone, get the break down.

Is it one carat in the center, or one carat combined?

That’s the real question.

Cheers! :)