PAID ADVERTISEMENT HOW TO BUY DIAMONDS WITH CONFIDENCE AND KNOWLEDGE By John Tavlln President Nebraska Diamond For the average consumer buying a diamond can be one of the most confus ing and frustrating experiences imagin able The consumer is often confronted with a barrage of conflicting claims from various jewelers intent on selling their product If the oonsumer is not armed with adequate product knowledge he stands little chanoe for success in the jewelry marketplace A UNIFORM SYSTEM OF DIAMOND GRADING Serious shopping for diamonds be gins with an understanding of the Gemo logical Institute of America (GIA) and its diamond grading system. The GIA is a non-profit organization dedicated primar ily to the pursuit of gemological educa tion. It owns and operates the most pres tigious trade laboratory for the identifica tion and classification of gem stones in this oountry. The GIA Is considered by the diamond industry to be the final and most authoritative word on diamond grading standards in the United States and its diamond grading system is, by far, the dominant grading system useo by diamond cutting firms and jewelry manu facturers in this country today Knowledge of the GIA diamond grad ing system is a pre-requisite for informed buying of diamonds, and knowledge of that system without an actual "hands on" demonstration is virtually impossible The accompanying chart shows a total of 240 separate and distinct combinations of GIA grades and there is a separate and distinct price list for each grade within each size category At Nebraska Dia mond we give all customers a thorough explanation and demonstration of the GIA diamond grading system under labo ratory conditions using actual examples, so that the customer can see with his or her own eyes the characteristics and appearance the various grades As a result, Nebraska Diamond customers can identify the various GIA grades by themselves and do not need to helplessly relv on the jeweler's rnnrnsentatinns The two principal reasons why custom ers need this special instruction and knowledge to survive in the jewelry mar ketplace are: 1. Many jewelers invent their own personal grading system because by doing so they make it difficult or impos sible for the consumer to comparison shop The GIA system is a uniform sys tem of diamond grading and gives the consumer a standard of comparison 2 Jewelers who do represent dia monds to customers in GIA terms often take liberties with the GIA system and just "puff" the grade up to whatever level is necessary to make the sale, believing that the customer will not be able to iden tify the deception A diamond which is as signed a GIA grade by one of these jew elers may actually be significantly inferior to a diamond offered, with a seemingly lower GIA grade, by a jeweler who ad heres to the strict grading standards we use at Nebraska Diamond Unless the consumer has adequate product knowl edge, he risks being duped into purchas ing a low quality diamond In our opinion, fraudulent misrepresentation of diamond grades is one of the most serious and widespread problems in the jewelry in dustry today Your only real protection as a consumer is to educate yourself about the product. At Nebraska Diamond we provide our customers with an education that makes them the best informed dia mond buyers in the market You do not get the Nebraska Diamond consumer education program at any other jewelry store THE RELATIONSHIP OF COLOR, CLARITY, CUT AND CARAT WEIGHT Color, clarity, cut and carat weight all have an important impact on the ultimate value of your diamond In "The Complete Guide to Buying Gems" (Copyright 1984, Crown Publishers, Inc, New York), dia mond authorities Antoinette Leonard Matlinsand Antonio C. Bonanno, F.G.A., P G. state, "If we were to identify the fac tors that determine the value of a dia mond in order of their importance, we would list them as follows: 1. Body Color (color grade) 2. Degree of flawlessness (clarity grade) 3 Cut and proportion (often referred to as the make) 4. Carat weight" Color refers to the hue present in the body of the diamond Color is observed by placing the diamond upside down in a white color grading trough and viewing through the side of the gem Among color, clarity, cut and carat weight, color is the characteristic most easily noticed by the human eye and it has the most impact on the appearance of the gem, hence, color carries the most value Clarity refers to a measurement of the internal flaws and surface blemishes present in or on a diamond Sometimes internal flaws and surface blemishes can be seen only under magnification To magnify a diamond a jeweler's loupe or a microscope is used The microscope is often used more as a sales tool than as a gem instrument because its "laboratory" appearance can be impressive to consum ers The microscope, however, is a cumber some piece of equipment and is less flexible than the loupe for examination of diamonds. For these reasons, among others, the loupe is by far the dominant grading instrument used by diamond dealers At Nebraska Diamond you may view your diamond under both a jeweler's loupe and under a micro scope designed for professional diamond examination. Among color, clarity, cut and carat weight, clarity is the second most observable characteristic and has the sec ond most impact on the appearance of the gem, hence, clarity carries the second most value Cut refers to the proportions of the dia mond . A diamond can be cut to any one of an infinite number of proportions depending on the angles of the facets These angles can vary from diamond to diamond. As ex plained below, proportion analysis is ex tremely subjective and the effect of differing , proportions on the appearance and value of the diamond is often a matter of opinion Generally, however, except for the propor tion called the “heavy make" discussed below, cut is a less observable characteris tic than color or clarity from a quantitative standpoint and, hence, cut generally carries less value Carat weight refers to the weight of the diamond and not to its size. This is an impor tant distinction because two diamonds which weigh the same can appear drasti cally different in size and this may result in drastically different values even if color and clanty are the same in both gems. Some times customers forget that size is a dimen sional linear measurement expressed in millimeters. The term "Carat" is only a weight measurement. One carat is equal to 1/5 gram. If a diamond is cut with its weight concentrated in its depth, a proportion called the "heavy make", it will appear much smaller than a diamond of the exact same carat weight cut with its weight concentrated in its width The difference in value between these two diamonds can be substantial, of ten exceeding 40%. At Nebraska Diamond we avoid the "heavy make”, but we have observed that the "heavy make" is very prevalent in today's diamond market. There fore, it is extremely important that the con sumer know how to recognize the "heavy make". As discussed below, however, con sumers who do not have the consumer education we provide at Nebraska Diamond are at a tremendous disadvantage when it comes to recognizing the "heavy make" and they risk buying it unknowingly. CUT: THE MISUNDERSTOOD “C” Among the 4 ‘‘C’s" (Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat Weight) the subject of diamond proportioning (Cut) is easily the most misun derstood The GlA has subdivided propor tion analysis into four Classes based on table diameter, crown angle, pavilion depth, girdle thickness, finish and symmetry Each class contains wide parameters for proper proportioning and, therefore, provides an infinite variety of differing cutting proportions all of which are considered equally appropn ate within each Class The GlA proportion analysis format, thus, illustrates what every diamond expert in this business knows: that there are literally hundreds of different dia mond proportions available which create beautiful and highly desirable gems Because there are so many accepted types of proportioning in diamond cut, there is no agreement in the diamond industry on what constitutes the "best" cut This is be cause the main factors affected by cut (dis persion, scintillation and brilliance) cannot all be maximized in the same gem. "Dispersion" is sometimes referred to as "Fire". Dispersion means the ability of the diamond to break down light into the spectral colors (blues, reds, yellows, etc). "Scintillation" is sometimes referred to as "Sparkle". Scintillation refers to the play of light between and as reflected off the dia mond facets "Brilliance" refers to the ability of the dia mond to return colorless light to the viewer Tham i< nn eiirh Hi inn jc a Hi.imnnH nit to maximum dispersion and maximum scin tillation and maximum brilliance all at the same time. By cutting to maximize one of these factors the other two are compro mised, and since all three are of equal impor tance it is impossible to authoritatively clas sify one type of cut as the "best". In buying a diamond it has been our ex perience that the consumer desires the most beautiful gem his or her budget can afford Precisely how dispersion, scintilla tion and brilliance translate into beauty, however, is a matter of personal opinion. In their chapter on "The Importance of Cut and Proportion" the authors of "The Complete Guide to Buying Gems” state, with refer ence to the percentage measurements of various diamond cutting proportions, "No one has come to an agreement, however, on what the percentages should be, since some people prefer fire to brilliance and vice versa This is why there are several ac cepted types of proportioning found in dia mond cut, and "best" is a matter of personal preference." In actuality, the difference in dispersion, scintillation and brilliance be tween some differing diamond proportions is so slight that it is measurable only with sensitive laboratory instruments and is im possible to see with the naked eye. As discussed above, one area in which cut makes a big difference in the value of a " Nebraska Diamond 1 Shapes GIA GIA Carat Color Clarity Weight Brilliant Heart Shape T , * an* ha COLORLESS