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How to Buy or Sell a Diamond Without Losing Money
by Joel Bleurocque
http://www.fivecdiamond.com
Diamonds are a girl's best friend. Well, they're also a
jewelers best friend, because these little stones are the
most valuable minerals in the world. Valuable, yet
everyone has trouble when buying a diamond because it's
so hard to get a good estimate of what a fair price would
be. If that's you, then I'm here to tell you that judging
the value of a diamond is actually as easy as looking for
4 easy characteristics.
What are they? They're called the 4 C's, and they are Cut
(the shape of the diamond), Clarity (the lack of spots,
cracks and flaws in a diamond), Color (less color means
more value) and Carat, which of course is the weight of
the diamond.
Judging a Diamond's Cut is probably easiest; all you
look for is whether the diamond is not odd shaped. When
your diamond is perfectly round, and about as wide as it
is tall, than that's called a perfect cut. Any damage,
odd shapes like oval diamonds or "stretched", long
diamonds will hurt the value of the diamond. That's
not to say it's not as beautiful, just less valuable.
Clarity is a bit harder to judge because you can't always
see it with the naked eye. However, it's possible to get a
very close estimate simply by holding your diamond against
a lot of light. Do you see any spots, marks of flaws in it?
If it looks as clear as water, your diamond is very
valuable. If it looks polluted and has spots, cracks or
flaws in it, value decreases.
The third is color, and in diamonds, color is a bad thing.
The more colorless a diamond is, the more valuable it
becomes. However, if you have a natural black diamond,
you can expect a price almost as high. This is because
certain colors are very rare, and they quickly add to
the price if you're after one.
And the last, most sought after characteristic, is
of course carat. The higher the carat value, the higher
the price will be. Most diamonds will be around 0,1 and
0,5 carat. 95% of women will never own a diamond over
1 carat.
So when you hit the stores, the traders or the pawn shops,
always remember to pay close attention the 4 C's of cut,
clarity, color and carat.
All that's left to judge is whether it's real or not.
If a deal looks too good to be true, it usually is. When
you see the words CZ, Labcreated or simulated in the
shop, then you should know that even the best
labcreated diamonds are hardly worth anything compared
to the real thing.
If you're buying an engagement or wedding ring, your best
bet is to go with a natural and just get a fair deal. You
don't have to be an expert in diamonds to avoid overpaying
hundreds of dollars for your diamond: all it takes is
knowing enough to know when someone's taking you for
a ride.
Happy shopping!
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