No matter whether you are looking to buy diamonds online to have an engagement ring custom designed or for investment purposes, there are some sure-fire ways that you can make sure that your remote product meets all your in-person requirements. Let us take a look at these.
Manage Your Expectations
First of all, you may have heard stories about the wonderful bargains you can get by buying diamonds online, rather than from a high street jeweler, and while it is true that overheads are lower for online retailers, they do have to take into account postage and insurance costs with which they make sure that you get your goods or are compensated should something go astray.
Know Your Four Cs
Do enough research to know the importance of the Four Cs (clarity, color, cut, carat) and make sure you know which is more important when it comes to making a compromise in order to score a good price. For example, opting for a lower color will not make much difference to the sparkle and gleam of your diamond, whereas compromising on clarity and cut may mean that you end up with an inferior stone that does not have quite the rainbow fire and scintillation that you were hoping for.
Shop Around
The beauty of online shopping is that you can check out hundreds of similar products in a relatively short time! Compared to in person shopping, when visiting five or so premises can be exhausting, you can browse through many more offerings to make the ideal choice from the hundreds of options on offer. However, so much choice can be overwhelming, so perhaps winnow down possible retailers to five to eight, and then begin the serious business of comparing stones.
Check Reviews
You can easily make these choices by checking out the reviews of online traders, removing any with recent negative reviews, those who add in sneaky fees and so on: disgruntled customers will not hold back on describing poor service. Choosing a handful of those suppliers who have five-star reviews on independent verified review sites will give you a good range of choice without exhausting you, and peace of mind that you are buying from a reliable and reputable company.
Certification All the Way
And finally, always check the certification of the stone or stones that you are buying. GIA and AGS (the Gemological Institute of America and the American Gem Society respectively) are the two main authoritative bodies responsible for certifying the origins and ratings of all diamonds over half a carat that are sold in the USA. They do not deal with enhanced or laboratory-grown stones, so you can be sure that a stone with a certification from one of the above two establishments is a natural stone that meets the minute criteria detailed on the certificate. Any diamond offered for sale in the USA should come with a certificate and any that do not should be treated with the utmost caution.
And now you are armed with all you need to know to make confident choices when it comes to buying diamonds, joining the millions of happy customers who indulge their love of the beautiful gems every year.