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| Traditionally, each wedding
anniversary is celebrated by giving a gift made from a different
material. The first anniversary ... Click
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|  | | Birthdays are special for the celebrant
because it is the one day of the year where they are the only guest of
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| | The steps to follow when you want to buy a
diamond ring: establish your budget, learn about diamonds and settings,
make choices...Click
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| | With an estimated 82% of all women
recieving a diamond engagement ring, it is difficult for most men to
avoid buying...Click
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| Engagement Rings - How
to Choose an Engagment Ring
|
With an estimated 82% of all women recieving a diamond engagement ring,
it is difficult for most men to avoid buying at least one in their
lives. For many, this can seem like an undue burden.
Afterall, a diamond is valued for its beauty alone and not for any
practical or profitably applicationit might serve. With the
traditional price of a diamond engagement ring totalling two full monthsof the suitor's salary, it's no wonder that many men resent the custom!
Like anything else, however, there are deals to be had in the diamond market as well, you just have to know how to go about it.
The
first thing to remember, unfortunately, is that however much you SAVE
on a diamond, it should neverbe exactly CHEAP. If the old addage
"you get what you pay for" ever applied to a market, it is the diamond
market. Snatching up the best deal you can find is liable to give
you a second-rate productwhile lining the pockets of an unscrupulous
dealer! But that being said, there are ways to minimize your
losses on a good purchase.
Perhaps the most guaranteed way to
get a good price on a stone is to haggle with the dealer directly.Like
all luxury items, "standard" prices for diamonds are not set in stone
(no pun intended!). Dealerscan usually afford to come down a bit
in price, but they will not do this for simply anyone. They
needto know that you either are or will be a return customer, in which
case the loss on profit margin istaken a token of good intentions, a
sealing of a good business relationship. So a good tip if youare
buying an engagement ring is to assure the dealer that you will come
back to him or her for the wedding ring as well. Under such
circumstances, most dealers will either offer or agree to a sizeable
discount. If they don't, the market is large enough that you can take
your business elsewhere.
Another good tip is not
to obsess over fine gradations in categories of diamond quality.
Keep in mind that the purpose of the purchase is not so much so that
your lover can flash the pricetag as it is so that she (or he) can
flash the diamond itself. Experts themselves have difficulty,
even using the tools of their trade, in grading diamonds accurately, so
it is unlikely that the members of your social circle will notice if
you "cheat" a bit. That being said, it IS important to do this
intelligently. For example, in the area of clarity (that is, the
physical integrity of the stone), some inclusions (flaws) are more
serious than others. Generally speaking,flaws near the bottom of
the stone are not as detrimental to overall brilliance as flaws at the
top, as they are hidden and their effects dampened by the mount.
Likewise, less-than-ideal colorratings can be deemphasized by the
choice of mount. If you diamond is a bit on the yellowside,
mounting it in gold will serve to make this less noticable. Also,
it's important to keep in mind that bigger is not necessarily
better. In fact, larger diamonds tend to be
disproportionatelyexpensive, and since poor cuts are easier to detect
on them, the money is not always worth it. In fact, however, one area
that you should NOT compromise on is the cut. More than anything
else, a good cut serves to emphasize the beauty of the stone and
enhance its enchanting brilliance.
In this day and age of
internet purchases directly from the merchants are the norm, diamonds
are, of course, no exception. An internet buy can greatly reduce
your costs, but you have to be VERY careful whom you buy from.
The money you save is proportional to the risk you take, so be sureto
thoroughly check on a dealer's credentials before commiting to anything.
Finally,
if you're going to buy a diamond sight-unseen, the best advice anyone
can probably give youis to be sure that you understand the 4Cs and that
the rating of your stone in each of the four categories is roughly
equal! It is never a good idea to pick a single category (say,
cut) and chaseit to the exclusion of all others. Such "lopsided"
diamonds are generally unimpressive in someimportant way.
Buying
diamonds is not meant to be easy. If it were, it would not have
the effect on your beloved that it does! But by keeping these
simple tips in mind, there's no reason why it has to be excessively
difficult either...
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