Ask An Expert: The Truth About Diamonds

Today we have a treat for all of The Heart Bandits fans.  A big portion of our readers are interested in purchasing engagement rings or anniversary gifts.  So we interviewed Ira Weissman, the go-to expert on diamonds and founder of Truth About Diamonds to find out some invaluable information.  We asked him about engagement ring budgeting, what to look for when buying a diamond, and much more.  Read our interview below.

 I worked for 7 years for one of the world’s largest diamond polishing firms, Leo Schachter Diamonds. They sell approximately $500 million dollars a year in rough and polished diamonds.  I was trained by them in their exhaustive 9 month in-house training program which included spending time actually learning how to polish diamonds, apprenticing with senior salesmen, and apprenticing with diamond buyers on trips to Antwerp and Mumbai.  I eventually worked my way up the ranks to division manager in their New York office where I oversaw a $20 million business that was responsible for small round diamonds (1/2ct and lower).

 In 2008, I launched TruthAboutDiamonds.com which has quickly become the premier site for diamond education online.  When we began, our traffic was about 5,000 visits per month.  Today, we have surpassed 100,000 visits per month.

This is a very difficult question to answer, since this depends so heavily on the proposer’s budget and the proposee’s expectations!  If I had to generalize an answer suitable for everyone, I would say this: people should spend the least amount possible that still gets them a diamond that looks great to the naked eye and fulfills their loved one’s expectations.

This is a disastrous thing to do.  If someone writes me on my website and tells me that they’re going into debt in order to buy a ring, I will try my utmost to convince them of the folly of their ways.    I’m married with five children and I can tell you with absolute certainty that the last thing in life for which you should be going into debt is an over-priced finger decoration!

Here’s my one sentence guide to diamond buying: After you limit yourself to only “Excellent Cut” diamonds, then search for the lowest color grade that still looks white, and the lowest clarity grade that is still clean to the naked eye.  You’ll save bucket loads this way, and your stone won’t look any worse.  (as a refresher, diamond color goes from D, the whitest, to Z, most yellow and clarity goes from Flawless, to VVS, to VS, to SI, to I1) So for example, an H SI2 (that’s been confirmed to be eye clean) with an excellent cut will look identical to the naked eye to an F color flawless diamond.  But the F Flawless will literally cost more than double the price of the H SI2.

I’ve heard different tricks, like grabbing one of her rings she doesn’t wear often and going to get it measured at a jewelry store.  Just make sure you buy the ring from a place that will offer you a free re-sizing.  All of the stores I refer people to from my site offer this service.

Buy online.  Profit margins online these days on diamonds are around 13-15%.  In bricks & mortar jewelry stores, the margins are much much higher.  In the past, there was a real benefit to buying local – and that, obviously, was the ability to inspect a diamond with your own eyes before you bought, whereas online, you were always buying blind.  Things have changed, though, as several of the online shops I refer people to now offer magnified high resolution photographs of their diamonds.  These photos are enough for me (with my experience of seeing millions of diamonds both with and without magnification) to determine whether or not a stone will be clean to the naked eye and whether the cut is optimal or not.

For more great engagement ring advice, contact Ira at Truth About Diamonds.