Here is a quick comp of two diamonds for my Buddayyy.
notice face up size difference, color matching, diameter difference and general over all face up characteristics.

The window of opportunity to take advantage of outrageous deals on second hand diamonds, jewelry and scrap precious metals is narrowing. The myriad of conditions contributing to this unusual diamond buying environment are coming to a head. The relative strength of the dollar is waning, once again. Banks are beginning to ease a bit on restrictions for business loans and the market demand for full cut gem quality diamonds, while not what it was two years ago, is beginning to resurrect… a touch. This coupled with the albeit reluctant but nonetheless growing sense of financial stability among the public is lessening the quantity and frequency of second hand diamond and jewelry pawning and sales.
Our network of diamond and jewelry trading professionals in Boston and throughout New England realize this trend and are aggressively buying up everything they can, both from a sense of business shrewdness as well as compassion for and sense of duty to our greater Boston clientele… many of who desperately need an avenue to liquidate diamond and jewelry assets. So as the need continues, and prices are where they are, we and our partners will continue to buy from the public and hope to turn these purchases into great return in months to come… as long as the cash lasts, that is.
This video is of a clients ring… he wasn’t too thrilled with its market value in these current economic conditions, so opted to have us refurbish for resale on his behalf; A bit like consignment. If you have questions about selling your jewelry, learning about deals on second hand diamonds or what options you might have for consignment sale or pawn, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are eager to assist and direct.

For most men, buying an engagement ring is one of the most confusing and expensive purchases you are going to make. Many of us have zero idea of what goes into making an engagement ring other than the fact that it traditionally has a diamond, some metal preference and it costs an arm and a leg.
But the truth is, there is plenty to know about the engagement ring buying process that can help you, make you more comfortable about the ordeal and in some cases, even make the process of buying an engagement ring enjoyable.

The amount of money you spend on your engagement ring is a good place to start. Traditional engagement ring budgets were two or three months salary. I encourage my clients to take a slightly different approach. It’s pretty tough to know what to spend when you don’t know what you can get for your money. So start with wholesale diamond values. Ask the jeweler to show/tell you what today’s wholesale diamond price sheet values diamonds of different shapes, carat weight, color and clarity. Yep… the 4C’s. But there’s a lot more to diamond value than the 4C’s, so we’re just going to use the 4C’s as a start.

Now incorporate any inside info you may have about your future bride’s engagement ring expectations, such as diamond shape and ring design. In other words has she commented on a girlfriend’s engagement ring? If so, what did she notice? This type of information can be a very useful spring-board into the engagement ring buying process. Was there a diamond shape she mentioned liking? Did a ring have characteristics she admired, like accent stones or shank width or antiquing?

Next we need to get a handle on how diamond characteristics translate visually. This is why it is so very important to buy your diamond engagement ring in person. There are many nuances to a given diamond that are difficult and sometimes impossible to locate by viewing specs or photos. We need to see what different carat weights look like, how color affects the appearance of a stone, light return, et al and then ultimately how these diamond characteristics impact your wallet. And this is the good part guys, b/c your engagement ring budget is yours…. And when you understand fair market value of diamonds and why this diamond costs this much and that one costs that much, you can make an educated decision on what you personally feel like spending money on.

Next, we need to take the “budget-range” into account. By “budget-range” I mean #1, that amount of money you’d prefer to spend on your engagement ring (given your new general understanding of diamond value), and #2 the absolute outer limits of what you can spend but you’d really really prefer not to. With this range and with your general diamond spec preferences being known, we can go about searching for all the diamond options available to you that fall within that range. For convenience sake, I personally work with the client to pick the 2-4 best options from the list and then schedule a time for in person hands on viewing to scrutinize stones and pick the winner. This method of shopping for an engagement ring is very deliberate , and while perhaps a different way of going about things than other diamond and jewelry businesses, we feel that it is the only way to ensure the client truly gets the engagement ring he wants and in an open and full disclosure type of environment.

Interesting times in the diamond industry. After placing half a dozen calls to trusted manufacturing houses to fill a client’s need today, I was pained—but not surprised—to hear that 2 of the six were closing their doors, and another two are holding onto their operations by the skin of their teeth.

While consumers have benefited these past six months from deflated diamond values, dealers and manufacturers have really taken it on the chin. Forced to liquidate diamond inventory to pay bills, and now struggling to close the funding necessary to replace inventory, wholesale diamond dealers and manufacturers are being forced to merge, sell or in some cases close their doors.

Unfortunately, I think this industry wide struggle is only going to get worse. The decline in diamond prices, as we’ve argued before, was due predominantly to the rapid inflation and then sudden deflation of the US dollar. Now that the dollar is showing some signs of weakening again, common sense says diamond prices will come up.

The Boston Diamond Exchange and New England Jewelry Exchange network has today received word from reliable sources just back from Israel that wholesale diamond values are primed to spike. This news is no surprise to many of us since we’ve expected the new US administration ‘s strategy of flooding the economy with dollars coupled with the diamond industry’s halt in gem quality diamond manufacturing to drive prices up, and in short order.

The Rap sheets have yet to change… that is as of 6pm on Tuesday. But don’t be surprised if you see several consecutive price hikes in the coming weeks. For consumers in shop mode, we strongly recommend you to move prudently but quickly to take advantage of these diamond prices. We don’t expect them to stay this low for much longer. If you have questions about diamonds, the industry or how to go about getting your hands on a diamond for an engagement ring or finished piece of jewelry, please don’t hesitate to contact us by phone or through one of the form fills on the web site.

Diamond shape can have a significant influence on the overall aesthetic of your engagement ring. While there are others, the most common options for diamond shape in engagement rings are the following: round or round brilliant, princess cut, asscher cut, emerald cut, cushion cut, radiant cut, pear, oval, marquise, and heart.

Contrary to belief, the wholesale pricing structure used by dealers to negotiate on diamond prices does not take into account diamond shape other than round or fancy. Round represents modern round brilliant cut diamonds. Fancy represents all non-round brilliant diamond shapes. There is a premium paid for round brilliant diamonds.
Diamond price example.
For example, if we assume we’re looking at two diamonds, each GIA certified, each weighing 1.50 carats, with F color and VS2 clarity and both with ideal makes, no fluorescence, et al, we’ll find out by examining diamond dealer wholesale lists that the stones will have different prices. The industry high cash asking value for the round brilliant diamond is $16,800 the non round brilliant diamond (say princess cut for argument sake) would be $12,600. Pretty substantial price difference all things considered.
Now market trends will also influence the type of discount you might receive on a given shape, but that influence is not due to different pricing structures. It’s just due to the consumer demand. Marquise shaped diamonds, pear shaped diamonds and heart shaped diamonds at or under the 1.50 carat mark are not hugely popular currently. This means that there is probably more room for discount on such stone from the wholesale list b/c dealers would rather exercise that type of inventory, turn it into cash, and stock something more likely to sell.
As mentioned earlier, diamond shape will have a substantial impact on the overall aesthetic of your engagement ring as well as how the ring “fits” on the hand that’s wearing it. Elongated diamonds, like ovals, marquise, emerald, traditional radiants and even some cushions fit well on longer fingers in many jewelers’ opinions. These elongated shaped diamonds will also impact components of your engagement ring, such as head type, shank width and complementing side stones. Mounting a step cut stone like and asscher or emerald as your showcase and flanking it with high faceted round brilliants or trillions of any moderate size can produce a look that might not be the most desirable. Mounting high faceted with high faceted accent stones, or step cut with step cut is usually more common b/c doing so will keep a uniform look and prevent that which is meant to compliment the showcase diamond from taking away.
These are just some aspects of diamond shape.

In this video, Boston diamond dealer spends some time explaining techniques used to evaluate loose certified diamonds. In this case GIA certified loose cushion cut diamonds. There are a number of different methods that diamond professionals will employ to examine and grade diamonds. Some of those techniques diamond dealers are willing to share with clients, others they are not. Here Doug runs through a diamond examination procedure he uses with many clients so they are more familiar with diamond characteristics, and more prepared to know what to look for when shopping for loose diamonds or diamonds for engagement rings. The loose diamonds used in this video are all cushion cut diamonds.

There is a very specific system that diamond professionals follow when evaluating diamond price and determine what they are willing to spend for a particular diamond or parcel of diamonds. Every full cut polished diamond will have traits that all diamonds have, and it is from these universal diamond characteristics and market trends related to them that diamond value for negotiations is formulated. Watch Doug quickly explain the process diamond dealers follow when determine diamond cost.

There are a number of techniques that diamond traders use to analyze and compare diamonds. Recently one of our customers needed to replace her showcase engagement ring diamond. Her busy schedule prohibited her from coming into our partner showroom, so we opted to go through the process of comparing diamonds remotely, taking HD video of her options and letting her pick. This video is a sample of what she used to determine which diamond she would pick as an upgrade to her engagement ring.

http://www.vimeo.com/3261882

Is it feasible to buy second hand or used diamonds safely? Insiders in the diamond trading industry are scrambling to figure out what diamond prices are going to do in the coming months and years. We’ve watched diamond prices skyrocket over the past few years as the value of the US dollar weakened.  The past 6 months have seen a decline in diamond value and a virtual halt to gem quality diamond production.  Furthermore, many second hand diamonds and used jewelry are being made available at tremendous discounts (relatively speaking) as consumers look for ways to get cash by selling into the market.
If the Obama administrations’ plan to flood the US economy with dollars triggers the type of inflation most economists expect, we expect diamond values to once again rise. If there is limited supply due to the lack of polished good production, this should also bring the price of diamonds higher. This will also make those second hand diamond purchases a tremendous investment for those who chose to buy such. The question for dealers is, how much cash are you willing to convert to inventory?

It’s a strange thing. The past few years have brought a new degree of genuine “commodity type” behavior for diamonds.  Declining value of the US dollar triggered large and consistent increases in the value of most stones, as it did with other commodities.  A weakening global economy and subsequent strengthening of US currency precipitated declines in diamond values.
Now we have banks calling notes so diamond manufacturers are forced to liquidate inventory just to stay solvent.  This desperate attempt to exercise inventory coupled with the publics’ scramble to pawn engagement rings for cash has brought about a bit of a glut in product… especially for certain shapes and sizes.

However, the freeze in capital has also halted manufacturers’ ability to produce new inventory.
My goal as a New England based B&M and national online discount retailer of full cut certified diamonds…  buy as much as possible at substantial discount of the bread and butter 1-3 carat goods, preferably certified, and hold until things turn around.

I hope we see things start to mend in 6-12 months, but this very well could be a 2-4 year  correction.  Whether the global markets genuinely heal or inflation hits, I figure we as a company will be primed to make great margin on what we bought “very right” now.