How to select a diamond?

There is only one way to select a diamond.

You have to see it in person and you have to be able to compare it to something else. Perception is key. I often say to clients if I was to ask you to think of a Blue BMW, what would you think of? What would your friends, family, partner, and colleagues think of?

Thinking about a diamond and seeing it is completely different.  It is unlikely you would ring up a BMW dealership and just say deliver me a blue BMW, the salesperson would be over the moon, and chances are you would be disappointed if what you are imagining and what is delivered turns out to be different.

I like to do this once we have worked out the shape of the diamond is going to be, I take clients through the following analogy (this is a simplified version).

Imagine an Excel Spreadsheet with tabs down the bottom and a macro algorithm. Each Tab represents one of the 4 x diamond C’s (based on for example a GIA certificate). Each cell on each tab is a price. If you went to the carat tab and selected 1.00 ct and a price of say $10,000 (PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING IS ALL JUST AN EXAMPLE FOR EXPLANATION PURPOSES), as you move to each of the other tabs, it will narrow down the available matching diamonds. So for example with your budget and diamond size, you may have a choice of an E colour Si2 or an H colour VS2.

We take that conversation and based on diamonds we have in inventory or are available locally to show you, we have them on hand (for security and insurance this would usually be at a second appointment after you’ve had time to consider what you would like and what fits within your budget) and we would present them to you in what I call a blind test. Generally, 3 diamonds, fit within the budget you have set, and the diamond characteristics you have chosen. Without knowing which diamond is which, you look at them and base your decision on what you can see and which diamond stands out for you. Once you have selected them in the order you like, we go through what each of them is.

It amazes me how many people come in certain that the diamond must be an impossibly high colour and clarity combination and who end up picking diamonds that they are surprised how good they are but are lower on the scale than they would have thought.

The difference is that you have the opportunity to look at the diamond and compare it to something else and that is key because all Jewellery and especially diamonds are visual. We buy them because they need to look good in real life, not sound good on a certificate that is filed and forgotten.

Now you have the confidence that you have chosen a great diamond that has stood out for you!