Avoiding the Rip-Off 

As buying this diamond will be among one of your biggest purchases of your life, you might have concerns about getting conned out of your hard-earned cash by paying for something other than a diamond.

If you have read it in its entirety you are in a great position to make a very informed decision. If you select your shortlist of merchants carefully, you will have probably eliminated any fraudulent operators. There are two final things that you must do to be completely assured that you are buying a legitimate diamond.

Only Purchase Diamonds with a Laboratory Report 

This is the number one rule to avoid getting ripped off when buying a diamond. I would only recommend breaking this one at your peril.

The laboratory certificate details the diamonds imperfections which can be an important method of distinguishing one diamond from another.

Getting an Appraisal 

Having the diamond appraised by an independent appraiser is the second measure you should take to completely reassure yourself that you are getting the real deal with your diamond.

Don’t take the recommendation of an appraiser from the jeweller, find your own instead. Many diamond merchants also offer an appraisal service, but this is hardly an objective method.

The National Association of Goldsmiths has a directory of registered valuers who can assist,

www.jewellers-online.org/pages/findrv.php

The UK Assay Office in Birmingham also provides a valuation service called SafeGuard,

www.safeguardvaluations.co.uk,

and a diamond certification service called AnchorCert

http://www.precious-stonelab.co.uk.

Digital photographs of the jewellery are taken, distinguishing
features noted, a full and accurate description recorded and a value
placed upon the item for insurance purposes.

The appraisal should cost about £40, but this is a small price to pay
to be assured that your purchase is a good one.

Common Scams 

The following is a list of the most common diamond scams.

These are:

• Using Poor Magnification to Examine the Diamond
• The Entire Ring Labelled In Carat Total Weight (CTW)
• "This Stone Will Be Gone In a Few Days"
• Viewing under Halogen Light
• Rounding Carat Size Up
• Cut-Price Sales
• Clarity Enhanced
• Fake or Altered Certificate
• Flaws Hidden By Setting
• Fake & Non-Natural Diamonds
• Real Switched For Fake

Using Poor Magnification to Examine the Diamond 

When viewing a diamond at magnification always use a 10x magnification loupe or a stronger one. Don’t let a jeweller use a 2x or a 5x loupe on your diamond, it just isn’t a high enough magnification to see smaller imperfections.

The Entire Ring Labelled In Carat Total Weight (CTW) 

If the engagement ring you are purchasing has more than one diamond, than the weight of all the diamonds in the ring is the CTW. The ring may be advertised by its CTW, but it is the weight of the major diamond that you are interested in, not the total weight.

An example to illustrate would be to compare a 1 carat solitaire diamond ring, with a 1 carat CTW diamond ring that has a main diamond of 0.4 carats and two smaller stones of 0.3 carats (with cut, clarity, colour and certification being the same). The 1 carat solitaire is worth £4,354 while the 3 diamond ring is worth significantly less at £1,555!

Viewing under Halogen Light

The best light to view a diamond under is natural light, on a sunny day, coming from the north. This is when the diamond will show its true beauty and a sparkle consistent with what your fiancée will see everyday once she is wearing it.

If viewing under natural light is not possible and you are in the jeweller’s store or office, make sure that you are viewing the diamonds under a lamp that has a “natural light” bulb. Don’t view a diamond under is a halogen bulb as it makes a diamond appear more sparkly than what it truly is under natural light.

"This Stone Will Be Gone In a Few Days" 

As discussed earlier in this e-Book, there are probably hundreds of diamonds that are almost identical to the diamond in question. Don’t accept this rushing tactic by the jeweller. You should not be hurried into a decision to purchase. 

Cut-Price Sales 

Beware of sales in the diamond industry. Any diamonds on sale probably have an artificially-inflated recommended retail price (RRP) price. The diamond is then reduced in price but only to a level that is the same as other diamonds at other stores that haven’t had their price inflated!

Rounding Carat Size Up 

If a stone has a carat of 0.995 then it may be rounded up by some jewellers to be 1 carat.

Always check the laboratory certificate for the true weight of the diamond, and it is also a good idea to get it weighed using calibrated electronic scales to confirm the weight.

Flaws Hidden By Setting

If you have taken a liking to a diamond that is already set, be sure that there are no hidden flaws under any of the prongs of the setting. Check the laboratory certificate for the imperfection map of the diamond which will illustrate where all of the flaws are.

Clarity Enhanced 

Some diamonds that have fractures or unsightly imperfections are improved using a process called clarity enhancing (C.E.). This is where the imperfection, fracture or chip is filled with a carbon substance or some other clear filler so as to appear that the diamond has no imperfections.

Few if any of the laboratories will certify clarity enhanced diamonds, and if they do, the clarity enhancement should be clearly noted on the laboratory report.

C.E. diamonds definitely cost less than their non-enhanced counterparts. However, C.E. diamonds have been known to chip, split and fracture over time, as the substance that they are filled with is either not as strong as the diamond (carbon) itself or if carbon is used, then it does not bond strongly with the diamond.

Fake or Altered Certificate

If you have any doubt as to the authenticity of your laboratory certificate, then contact the laboratory that issued the certificate and ask them to confirm the specifications of the diamond that is referenced on that certificate.
The certificates also have tamper-proof seals over the types information in order to make alteration difficult.

Fake & Non-Natural Diamonds 

There are a few combinations of substances that can be used either legitimately as a diamond substitute or illegitimately to defraud an unsuspecting buyer.

The only way to know for sure is to get a trained gemmologist to examine the diamond in question through high-powered magnification and to perform various tests on its hardness, density etc.

The most common diamond substitutes are:

1. Cubic Zirconia
Cubic zirconium (CZ) is a type of man-made gem made of zirconium oxide. It is a very good imitation of diamond and can even fool a t rained gemmologist.

However, CZ is about 75% heavier than the same volume of natural diamond. So, compared to a diamond of 1 carat, the same volume of CZ will weigh 1.75 carats. CZ is also flawless and usually colourless. Diamonds such as these are exceedingly rare.

Some of the brand names for various types of CZ are Russian Brilliants, Diamonique, Van Graff, Diamonelle, Asha, and Zirconite.

2. Moissanite
Moissanite is the name for a man-made gem that is made from silicon carbide. It has gained notoriety of late as some types of electronic diamond testing equipment are unable to distinguish it from true naturally produced diamond.

However, Moissanite is lighter than the same volume of natural diamond and is also doubly refractive, meaning that a ray of light is split in two once it enters the Moissanite stone.

www.howstuffworks.com/moissanite.htm

3. CVD Diamond
CVD stands for Chemical Vapour Deposition and is the name of the process used to produce CVD diamonds, which like natural diamond is made of 3-dimensional carbon crystals.

Currently the manufacturing process produces yellow diamonds, due to nitrogen contamination during the processing. However, the companies producing CVD diamonds are working on producing colourless CVD diamonds which will be almost impossible to distinguish from the naturally occurring ones. Presently there are two ways in which these amazing substitutes are being made to differ from naturally occurring diamonds:

1. They are manufactured with very minute trace impurities that enable detailed testing to distinguish them from naturally occurring diamond and
2. They are being laser-inscribed with a minute hallmark around the girdle of the diamond.

However, it is only a matter of time before the technology to produce CVD diamonds becomes more sophisticated and colourless diamonds can be produced. Once the technology becomes widespread some of these anti-fraud measures are sure to be forgotten about. De Beers is very worried about this kind of
technology.

One company producing CVD diamonds is www.apollodiamond.com

A great article about man-made diamonds is http://wiredvig.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html

Real Switched For Fake 

This is the tactic of swapping a diamond for a lesser quality diamond or even a fake diamond. Potential times that this could happen is in the period between the time the diamond was last inspected under a loupe until the time it is set into a ring, or when the ring is getting repaired or cleaned.

The best way to mitigate the risk of this ever happening is:

• Establish a trusting relationship with a jeweller.
• Have a good knowledge of the identifying characteristics of your diamond, such as the location of any internal or external flaws and know the exact carat.
• Take some high quality close up photographs of the diamond.
• Make your jeweller aware that you have taken all of these precautions.

After writing the above and doing some research about CVD diamonds, I found these great pages and would highly recommend reading both of them.

• http://www.diamondsourceva.com/ShoppingAdvice/diamonds-fraud.asp
• http://www.diamondsourceva.com/ShoppingAdvice/diamonds-tricks-traps.asp

Avoiding Online Fraud 

The Consumer Direct website

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/general/internet/index.shtml

has some really good advice on how to avoid online fraud.

Here are some things to ask or check for on the diamond merchant’s website to help satisfy yourself that they are a reputable diamond seller.

Trade Association Membership 

There are several diamond or jewellery industry associations in the UK. Should the merchant that you are deciding to purchase from be a member then this gives you further assurance of the reputability of that merchant. Some of the most prominent associations are:

BJA www.bja.org.uk
The BJA is the British Jewellery Association. It is possible to search for a jeweller through the BJA website although the search function isn’t particularly robust. Alternatively you can call them to confirm the membership of the company.

Assay Office www.theassayoffice.co.uk
The Assay Office is the government body responsible for assessing (assaying) and hallmarking (stamping
into the metal) proof that jewellery is actually made of the precious metal that is claimed. They confirm the
authenticity of gold, silver and platinum jewellery in the UK. The logo can be seen in Figure 22. They also have diamond-related services.

The National Association of Goldsmiths
www.jewellers-online.org
This association assists the jewellery industry in the UK to promote high professional and ethical standards.

Consumer Protection & Authentication Services

There a number of companies that provide a means of reassuring online consumers that a particular website is safe to purchase from online.

The three most common types of consumer reassurance are:

• Consumer Protection Accreditation
• Credit Card Verification Service
• Website Verification Service

Consumer Protection Accreditation (CPA)
This is an accreditation service whereby a retailer submits an application to join the accrediting body, which then audits that retailer for ethical and best practice online retailing. If the retailer is successful then they are permitted membership and a unique membership number is provided to be placed on the retailer’s website. This number can then be crosschecked back to the issuing accreditation body to ensure that the retailer is in fact a member, giving confidence to the consumer that an online purchase is somewhat safer.

Credit Card Verification (CCV) Service
The CCV service is an added protection for when an online or phone purchase is being performed. Since the retailer doesn't actually see your card in these situations then it's harder to be sure that the person using the card number is actually the card holder (rather than someone who just happens to know the debit or credit
card number). To address this problem, debit/credit card providers put a three or four digit number on the card (usually on the back of the card, on the signature strip) that is not embossed (raised). This number doesn't get printed on POS receipts. So someone trying to use your card number fraudulently is much less likely to know this number. This type of checking device really reinforces the importance of notifying your credit card provider promptly if you ever lose your debit/credit card.

Website Verification Service (WVS)
These services give Internet users information on the security and trustworthiness of websites. They check whether a website address really is authentic or whether it has been hijacked by hackers. Before exchanging sensitive information, such as providing a credit card number, personal identification information or other confidential data, these services typically allow you to check that the site has been verified by a trusted third party and is using appropriate safeguarding measures against hackers.

Physical Address 

The physical address of the business should be prominently displayed somewhere on the website. It should give the full street address and postcode. A PO Box is not acceptable. Do a search on the full address in Google and make sure there are some other results that include the name of the business along with that
address to check that this physical address is not a fake one.

Landline Phone Number Active & Manned 

Ring the landline number given and make sure that either a salesperson or the proprietor of the business answers and is helpful and polite. Being able to talk with someone from the business can be a big reassurance.

Testimonials Available For Inspection 

All businesses should have records of customer testimonials. Ask if a few of these can be emailed or faxed through to you for your inspection.

Company Number 

Is the business registered with Company House and does it display its Company Registration number? You can take this number and do a check of the registered business details at this website:
http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/WebCHeck/fastrack/

If it is not this may indicate the business is being run as a sole
proprietorship or it may indicate that the business is not legitimate. If it is registered this gives you some reassurance that it is a legitimate business.

VAT Number

Is the business registered for VAT and is the number displayed on the website? If it is this is another sign that the business is a legitimate and profitable one.

Key Staff Named With Photos 

If there are names and photos of key staff, this is another reassurance factor that the business is a legitimate one. A fraudster is hardly going to put their photo on a website. They might however, put someone else’s. Be aware!

Appraisal by Independent Appraiser 

One extra measure you can take when buying a diamond over the internet is to get the merchant to send your stone to an independent appraiser of your choice as discussed in section/article Getting an Appraisal. The appraiser ccan then make sure that the diamond matches its Laboratory Certificate. The appraiser will confirm the authenticity to you and then you can arrange payment to the merchant. Once payment is
confirmed, the appraiser can then send the diamond on to you.

You could also get an insurance appraisal done by that appraiser and kill two birds with one stone.

Secure Socket Layer 

When making a purchase over the Internet make sure that the order page URL starts with https:// and that there is a small padlock symbol like or in the bottom right hand corner of the browser window. This means that the data you enter on the page will be secure from any hackers and your credit/debit card information will not be in jeopardy.

Escrow Service 

As an extra precaution an escrow service such as http://www.payok.com could be used. This is a great method for purchasing expensive items over the internet that can’t be physically touched before delivery.

An escrow is effectively an independent third party who receives payment from the buyer, escrow confirms receipt of payment to seller, seller then sends goods to buyer, buyer confirms receipt to escrow, and finally the escrow sends payment to seller. The escrow service usually charges a small percentage of the purchase cost as a fee.