How to Avoid Dodgy Diamonds

The diamond ring market is rife with enough knockoffs and fakes making it easy to be swindled, unless you know what constitutes a good stone. Avoiding bad ones is something everyone should have some expertise in, or get advice regarding. Your fiancé may buy you a diamond ring and it may look good when he proposes, but how would it look on your finger when you showed it off to friends and family?

Certification only mentions the technical aspects of a stone. It does not tell you, for instance, why when you look at two stones with the same grading across all the 4 C’s, one of them seems to be “off” in some way. This problem is compounded when you compare diamond grades by separate certifying labs, which would obviously follow different standards and systems.

Dodgy diamonds usually cost less, so this should be your first red flag to look for if you don’t have much prior knowledge about diamonds. Maybe getting a diamond that is relatively cheap for its grade seems a good idea now, but you may not realize the poor value and investment you’ve made until later down the line.