First the facts:

There is not just one perfect diamond…

When you buy from a diamond wholesaler he (or she) will have dozens of diamonds that look pretty much the same. They may want you to believe that yours is unique, and may only show you one or two before they magically find the perfect third, but 24 billion dollars worth of diamonds runs through the NYC diamond district every year. This means there are many, many, more just like it, “upstairs.” To put this in perspective, if the average price of a wholesale diamond is $5000, 4.80 million diamonds run through Jewelers Row in any given 12 month period.

The entire diamond game is founded on price manipulation…

DeBeers knew they could generate massive profit in the diamond market if they owned all the supply and then limited the output. This created the illusion that diamonds were scarce and that owning one was a privilege very few could afford. This shell game mentality permeated its way through the entire NY diamond industry causing something called 47^th Street Business Improvement District or BID. 47^th Street BID was an effort to clean up the street, its reputation and its safety and security. It has worked to some degree but many operators still believe they can charge as much as they can get away with if the customer is uneducated.

Know The Wholesale Diamond Price Before You Go. Visit:

JAMES ALLEN – Jewelers.NYC’s Online Discount Diamond Store of the Year – 2017 (~40% off)

Most Popular: Round>GIA>Ideal Cut>VS2 Clarity> G Color> One Click

1/2 Carat | 3/4 Carat | 1 Carat | 1-1/2 Carat | 2 Carat | 2-1/2 Carat | 3 Carat

Market pricing sheets are mainly to legitimize what comes next…

When a jeweler references this week’s pricing sheet to know what price to charge you, an astute buyer might ask themselves: “wouldn’t these experts know everything about a diamond’s price without having to look it up? Of course… That sheet is to show you “what a great deal you’re getting.” When yielding to a higher power (the pricing sheet), the diamond dealer is taking all responsibility out of their hands for the price you are being charged. Yes diamond prices do move, but a volatile month might be 1.5%. If the diamond dealer is using the pricing sheets for anything more than fine-tuning, then you should be suspect.

71% of a diamond’s price is markup…

If you look at our chart below, you will see the 5 stages that a diamond progresses through before it finds its way to a retail buyer. Most industries have one middleman-the diamond industry has three! This means if you eliminate two of the three you get a “wholesale diamond price.” That is the entire secret to getting a good price on NYC Jewelers Row.

Diamond Grading Reports are really important…

Diamond dealers will “poo-poo” a diamond grading lab report. They “know better value than the diamond lab.” The problem is that if you can’t personally tell the difference between a G and an H color diamond, between a VS1 and a VS2 clarity stone and/or an ideal cut and a very good cut, then you could get picked off in the diamond district. Diamond grading labs are there for those who are not trained in the business. And when you buy wholesale diamonds you are dealing with people that can eyeball a diamond and within a few seconds know all 4C’s without looking at the report – i.e. the opposite of you! Also, specific diamond-grading labs are important. Stick with the Gemological Institute of America (“GIA”) and you’ll be fine. Yes there are other good ones, but if you’re going to do price due diligence at an wholesale online diamond store (discussed below) then consistency across the 4Cs AND the diamond lab is important. If you choose a one carat VS1, H color, ideal cut round diamond graded by GIA online from James Allen then try to compare that to a one carat VS1, H color, ideal cut round diamond graded by EGL, you’ll be convinced that the EGL diamond is a better value. The reality is that diamond grades are an opinion, not an irrefutable fact. So if EGL grades their diamond more loosely that GIA, what would pass for a great diamond by EGL standards could very well be average at GIA. Stick with GIA, they are the most consistent, online or on foot

Your loose diamond search…

Before you ever meet with your diamond wholesaler you need to have done two things:

• Decided your shape (i.e. round, pear, etc.), and the color, cut, clarity and carat weight of your diamond, and
• Determined what a fair wholesale price actually is.

Enter James Allen

James Allen is the internet’s most well respected diamonds wholesaler (in our humble opinion). They are A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau, have a massive selection of loose diamonds, wholesale to you and me. And when you buy from them you get extreme price and quality transparency. They even tell you which lab the certificate comes from and they let you read a digital copy right there on the webpage. They also offer a 3D HD view of the actual diamond you’re buying – enlarged up to 20X – twice as large as a jeweler’s loupe. Most importantly they are consistently about 40% less than retail. 40% off is a great price outcome for anyone who wants to buy wholesale diamonds in a brick and mortar store in jeweler’s row, so this a good starting point. Click here to play with their loose diamond web-tool – no sign in or registration required.

Which stores to visit for the best wholesale diamond inventory…

How do you find the right store? One that is both safe and has wholesale diamond prices? We’ve done that for you too! Read Jewelers.NYC’s article:

“Top 10 NYC Jewelers of the Diamond District”

This will take you 10 minutes and will narrow 1348 wholesale jewelers down to 10 very reputable operators. A few even have inventory on their website so that you can price compare right then and there (we highlight which ones offer this in the article). Then call them and tell them you would like to compare their prices to others that you have researched (we recommend not disclosing your source).

This should give you everything you need to begin your loose diamond search! Walking in you’ll know the maximum price of your diamond before you sit down. Also, if you find what you like at James Allen, and want to learn more about them, read our Online Diamond Store Review to see why they are our #1 rated online discount diamond store for 2017!

Have fun!

Know The Wholesale Diamond Price Before You Go. Visit:

JAMES ALLEN – Jewelers.NYC’s Online Discount Diamond Store of the Year – 2017 (~40% off)

Most Popular: Round>GIA>Ideal Cut>VS2 Clarity> G Color> One Click

1/2 Carat | 3/4 Carat | 1 Carat | 1-1/2 Carat | 2 Carat | 2-1/2 Carat | 3 Carat

Signal and signal hard.

Here’s how to avoid the diamond trap in Diamond District NYC.

First, understand that most diamond dealers in Jewelers Row are just hard working folks that are trying to make a living. Most don’t own yachts, have mansions or summer in the Hamptons. Some may be millionaires, but earned it one small diamond deal at a time, not by taking big licks out of every customer that walks in, then disappearing into the night. Here are the warning signals that you should pay attention to:

1. The diamond dealer says, “Diamond certificates are unimportant.” To say a diamond certificate is unimportant is a bit like saying a wine ranking by Wine Spectator is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is a certificate from GIA (our #1 recommended diamond certifier) lends a lot of credibility to the story that you are hearing.
2. They say a diamond certificate grades the diamond lower than the actual quality. A novice won’t be able to tell the difference between the fine lines of quality of the 4Cs. Trust the certificate.
3. The NYC diamond dealer does not have a money back return policy. Restocking fees are okay, but if you take it home and she says no thanks, you want to return it and get your money back. If they say, “we’ll work something out,” walk out – immediately.
4. YELP has a lot of negative ratings on the store. Self explanatory
5. The Better Business Bureau does not rate the diamond district jeweler. This is a funny one, because most stores in the NYC Diamond District are not rated by the BBB; but 36 carry an A+ rating (click here for the complete list of BBB A+ rated stores – as of September 30, 2016).
6. They beckon you over as you walk past their counter. Once a store gets a following, they have a large number of referrals and don’t have the desire to beckon. Beckoning is hard work and high in the rejection factor so it’s actually quite painful to the diamond district jeweler, so if they are doing it there is a reason.
7. After 20-30 minutes of careful observation (i.e. circling), there is still no one at their counter, yet the other counters are busy.
8. Their store goes by several different names – i.e. no “branding”
9. You ask them one question and they answer another. This is deception, and is used by people who don’t want to technically lie, but have something to hide.
10. You ask for referrals and they won’t give them to you. And the most important one of all:
11. You are confused about what you are buying and don’t know why.

There are others of course, but these are the obvious ones that tell you to avoid that store. If you’re still unsure, read our Top 10 Jewelers of Diamond District NYC article. This will give you a head start, and at the same time it will allow you to focus on other issues like locating the right diamond, not the right store.

Have fun!
 

Whether you’ve just discovered that you can buy great diamonds online, or you’ve known it for several years and are now ready to commit (in more ways that one :)), when you find the best store, buying a diamond online can save you a lot of money. The problem is finding the best online diamond dealer, and then purchasing the stone that will be “spot on” the first time.

Don’t worry, Jewelers.NYC is here to help.

There are only two steps to get right

First, you need to know the characteristics of the diamond that you want. This is not just the 4Cs, but also its polish and symmetry as well. Excellent polish and symmetry don’t cost a lot, because in today’s high tech world polishing a diamond to excellent standards is reasonably easy and cutting a diamond to exact proportions is the same. Therefore you should demand both, no matter what you ultimately decide on the 4Cs of your diamond.

Then you need to select an online diamond store. There are literally dozens out there, so you need to remember the GIGO rule: Garbage In Garbage Out. You will never get a great diamond online if you start with a store that is not top tier. If you’ve read our Online Diamond Store Review (or our book, Buying a Diamond Online is Easy) the clear winner among the online store diamond store titans is James Allen (Also Jewelers.NYC’s #1 rated online diamond store, 2016).

What we like about James Allen:

• Their selection of GIA graded diamonds is excellent. GIA is the only grading lab that you should ever use unless you have a really compelling reason to choose another. They are viewed by the market as the best: the most conservative, the most consistent and the most well respected. Each of which is vitally important in order to get the “advertised stone,” that you are expecting.
• They have a 30-day “no questions asked” money-back
• They are rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau.
• They display the actual stone that you will be buying in 360 degree 3D, with a 20X zoom magnification, which means far fewer regrets or mistakes.
• Their prices are excellent – circa 40% less than retail and tied with Blue Nile, the lowest priced online diamond store in the market.
• Their selection is outstanding. Most searches on their site yield 25-50 diamonds for you to choose from.

Know The Wholesale Diamond Price Before You Go. Visit:

James Allen – Jewelers.NYC’s Online Discount Diamond Store of the Year – 2016 (~40% off)

Most Popular: Round>GIA>Ideal Cut>SI1 Clarity> G Color> One Click

1 Carat | 1-1/2 Carat | 2 Carat | 2-1/2 Carat | 3 Carat

We like two other stores too, Brian Gavin and Zoara. Both have many of the attributes above. If you’d like to learn more about all three please read our Online Diamond Store Review. We believe this is the best of its kind on the web.

In either case we recommend that you start your research with James Allen. They will be the benchmark that others are measured by.

Best of luck on your Journey and don’t forget to come back and rate your online jeweler (just go to our homepage – they will be there waiting 🙂 )!

JW

Pink diamond engagement rings are one of the most sought after, because of the mystery around the diamond itself. All other colored diamonds (called fancy diamonds) can be traced to chemical impurities imbedded in the stone that absorb light, such as nitrogen, (yellow diamonds), or boron (blue diamonds) as examples. Indeed it should be relatively simple, in this day and age, using something called a “mass spectrometer” to find out what makes a pink diamond pink. No such luck…

This leads to speculation by scientists that the color is not caused by chemicals at all, but rather by a different development process during the hundreds of millions of years it took the diamond to form 100 miles below the Earth’s surface.

“Its rather romantic,” says Beatrice Wydell, owner of One Twenty One Diamonds, near the diamond district in NYC. “If you offer her one of the rarest stones on the planet, then her heart will drop.”

“Less than 1% of diamonds are colored and less than 1% of those are pink, so she will truly get a one of a kind diamond.” Beatrice concluded.

So what’s the price tag for a pink diamond?

Better hold on to your checkbook because rarity costs money. At least twice as much as far as we can tell. If you go over to online diamond titan James Allen, (the winner of our 2016 Online Diamonds Store Review) they offer a good selection of pink diamonds at price that is about as good as you’re going to find.

What does a pink diamond symbolize?

It seems like everything involving love, or romance has a hidden meaning. Pink diamond engagement rings are no different. The diamond symbolizes creativity, love and romance. For reference, yellow diamonds symbolize happiness, joy and friendship and orange diamonds symbolize energy and enthusiasm.

We’ll stick with creativity, love and romance for an engagement ring…

Where do pink diamonds come from?

There is only one mine in the world that produces them in significant quantity, and that is the Argyle Mine in Australia. This mine, owned by Rio Tinto, has a rich vein of pink diamonds, but this still only represents 0.1% of that mine’s total output. Further, the Argyle Mine is responsible for a staggering 90% of the world’s pink diamonds.

Where to acquire the rare gem for your rare love? Not surprisingly, most people don’t want to pay twice as much for a pink diamond, so finding them is not the problem. It’s paying for them! Still, if you’re looking for an absolute expression of your love, pink diamond engagement rings can’t be beat, so try James Allen!