Q&A

In today’s blog post, we answer a reader’s question on why the same diamond (with the same exact GIA certificate) can sometimes be found listed on the websites of different vendors. Is there something shady going on?

Read on to find out…

Question from reader: When doing a search for my engagement ring, I realized that the same diamond appears on multiple sites with slightly different pricings. I came to the conclusion after reviewing both listings that show the same exact GIA certification with diamond dimensions/proportions being identical.

By the way, here are the links to the above mentioned stones:

– 1.00 – Carat Round Diamond F Color VS2 Clarity – Blue Nile
– GIA Certified 1.00 Carat F-VS2 Excellent Cut Round Diamond – Enchanted Diamonds

I’m pretty sure both these websites are selling the same diamond and it looks fishy to me.

How can a diamond exists concurrently in 2 locations or be owned by the different vendors at the same time? Imagine if I were to purchased it, how can I be assured that I will receive the actual diamond being listed? Could you shed some light on this?  (more…)

Today’s Q&A post comes from an observant reader who had some questions about the different colors seen in the center of ASET images.

Question: I was looking at several AGS ideal cut diamonds at WhiteFlash and noticed peculiar things about the AGSL Computer Generated Light Performance Maps.

In some grading reports, the ASET diagrams showed a full green circle in the middle of the diamond and on some others, I noticed they were completely red.

Green or red center in a round brilliant cut diamond? Which is better?

In all of the diamonds I looked at, AGS has graded all of them as triple 0s and that’s the best rating possible. Based on the articles I read on your website, my takeaway is that red is preferable and we want to see more areas in red.

Here are my questions:

1. Since the amount of reds would affect light return, shouldn’t the diamond with the green center be graded with a lower cut grade?
2. Given that the diamonds are all triple ideal, shouldn’t they look identical? If so, why do they apparently have different light performances.

(more…)

Halo diamond ring exhibiting fluorescence in UV lighting – Brian Gavin

A reader emailed us the following question: “Since young, we were taught in art classes that Blue + Yellow = Green when we mix colors. Is there a mistake you made on your website when you mentioned that blue fluorescence actually helps make a yellow diamond white?

Instead, shouldn’t it be making the stone look green instead? Even my local jeweler is telling me the same thing that having medium blue fluorescence in a H colored stone will actually help improve its color.

Did you make an error on your site and that the local jeweler is wrong? I would love to hear from you about what you think.”  (more…)

Wait a minute… Isn’t diamond the hardest material on Earth? If they are so hard, how can they be damaged or chipped? Here’s a common misconception people have. They think that diamonds are indestructible and cannot be broken.

From a scientific perspective, the hardness of a material actually relates to its ability to resist deformation (e.g. scratches). While a diamond may be hard, it isn’t a tough substance. In fact, its ability to resist fractures is pretty weak! And yes, diamonds can chip and they frequently do so… (more…)

I’ve recently received a question from a reader who asked: “Why are fancy cut diamonds so much cheaper than the round diamonds? I started doing some research and found that round cut diamond prices could be twice as expensive compared to fancy shapes like the pear or oval. Can you shed some light here?”

In this blog post, I’m going to explain why the prices of fancy shaped diamonds are much lower than round diamonds and reveal 1 simple tip that will help you save money when shopping for an engagement ring.

Let’s dive in… (more…)