The Diamond Engagement Ring Puzzle
Well it’s almost been a year since I purchased the diamond engagement ring currently on my fiancee’s hand. I spent countless hours pondering that one. In the end I think I did great, as she’s extremely happy with it. It’s a 3 stone + small accents in platinum. The large center stone is a Nordic Fire diamond and supposedly mined in Canada. So I only supported revolutionaries and terrorists in Africa indirectly… It’s got a GIA report: excellent cut, SI2, G color, .84 carat. I purchased it from Descenza, an independent jeweler based out of the exchange building in downtown Boston.
This weekend one of my friends spilled the beans that he had purchased an engagement ring as well. Another friend and myself prodded him to make sure he knew what he was doing as he has only been dating the girl less than a year. He said that he had purchased the ring at Tiffany’s and that the 1.4 carat center stone alone had cost $11,000. We questioned why he did not go somewhere else, as one can easily find a high quality, ideal cut 1.4 carat stone for around $6,000. He said, “Because I’m not cheap.” I guess he likes $14 pancakes too. With that kind of bad attitude, I’ll let his consumerism continue to support the American economy.
You don’t have to look very hard to find evidence of Tiffany’s producing overpriced, yet well marketed jewelry. The evidence is even more compelling for diamonds since the market is largely controlled by DeBeers. A diamond is a diamond, it matters very little where you purchase a lab graded diamond, as the specs will match the lab report. One of the resources I used in learning about diamonds and how to pick a good one is pricescope.com. Pricescopes forums are particularly useful to get detailed information from experts and enthusiasts. They seem to share a universal distaste for Tiffany’s. You’ll notice they spend very little time talking about anything other than cut.
Cut is the most important determining factor in how a diamond will look to the human eye. A human eye is unlikely to notice any inclusions in an SI1 or SI2 stone. A human eye will not be able to differentiate G color from I color, although it may be able to see a difference between a G when placed side by side with J or K. Your eye will, however, be able to see a difference between an Ideal and Fair cut. In fact you’ll probably be able to notice the difference across the room (which coincidently, women love). An ideal cut stone will do a far superior job of reflecting light, which is what makes a diamond look like a diamond.
So if you are in the market for a diamond be sure to check out Pricescope and ignore Tiffany’s, you’ll be glad you did.
