Diamonds . . . what a confusing subject! And what a scary proposition it is to try to figure out what you need to know about diamonds and then to locate the perfect diamond! I don't envy the position of the person out trying to find a good diamond for a reasonable price. Too often I've seen sales people deliberately attempting to confuse and intimidate the customer. This is something you can guarantee I WON'T do. I have over twenty five years experience working with diamonds and other gems. I make a point of making certain that you understand what it is you're buying rather than adding to your confusion and frustration levels.

If you're looking at this page, there's a good chance you've already encountered piles of information regarding the methods of assessing qualities of loose diamonds. I've looked at quite a number of diamond related pages on the web and find most of them lacking and/or confusing. While I haven't yet published pages on my own website dealing with these issues, upon request I'll be happy to provide you some links to pages that I feel provide information that will be most helpful to you as you search for your diamond. Please feel free to contact me and I'll send you my recommendations.

Most sources selling diamonds tend to extract from you what your anticipated budget for a diamond is...and then they most typically attempt to talk you into spending more. This is a practice you'll never see from me. Once I establish either a rough or very specific budget for the diamond, I'll do my best to locate a selection of actual diamonds (for which I'll provide actual prices, rather than estimates) that best match the combination of the desired qualities of the diamonds as well as the anticipated budget. I make a practice of locating diamonds that will fit within your budget.

Regarding how I can best help you in locating and buying a diamond, this is what typically happens. I put out word to my diamond vendors that I'm looking for a stone that's roughly around a particular range of size and/or weight, color, cut, and clarity. Ideally I can additionally provide my vendors at least a rough idea of budget within which we're working. They will determine from their inventories the diamonds that best match the combination of specifications and budget. If need be, additional possibilities may be obtained by networking with colleagues from around the country. They are able to give me real prices for real stones, as opposed to my suggesting a general idea of what a diamond of roughly a particular weight and more or less meeting a general set of specifications might cost. Once I receive information regarding the specific suggested diamonds, I can then provide you the information for you to consider. Based on what you suggest to me, I can have one or more of the diamonds shipped to me at which point I can can assess each and visually compare them side by side, which is an opportunity that's difficult to find.

I ABSOLUTELY recommend examining two or more diamonds SEEN side by side to see which in actuality has the best appearance. While the use of the diamond grading criteria has certainly helped in gaining at least a general understanding regarding the quality of diamonds, it IS NOT an exact science and there remains quite a bit of subjectivity in grading stones. As much as most people selling diamonds would like for you to base your diamond buying decision purely on what the grade of the diamond is said to be, I would always insist on being able to view two or more stones placed side by side. Often enough, the results are not what one would expect. Largely because the diamonds I have shipped to me aren't mine, I'm not at liberty to deliver them to you. I know that it's a little strange buying something like a diamond, sight unseen. All I can say is that I am honest in what I do and sell and that everyone who I've located diamonds and/or other gems for has been most pleased.


Please let me make some additional points that may give you greater confidence in my locating a diamond for you.

I feel good knowing that a person is indeed getting a diamond exhibiting, at minimum, the qualities it's been represented as having. When getting diamonds from my well established and trusted vendors, you'll be guaranteed a diamond having at least the represented specifications.

Every customer who has had me locate and arrange for the purchase of a diamond or other gemstone has been most pleased.

Further describing the process by which I locate and acquire diamonds or other gems for a customer is the page at the location noted below.

http://artwork-inform.com/gettingstones.htm

I've occasionally encountered situations in which customers have opted to locate diamonds or other gems on their own. Often occurring in such instances...after receiving the diamond the person has purchased, it's sometimes quite apparent that one or more of the stone's qualities is not necessarily what it ought to have been....at least based on the stated specifications. Additionally apparent, more often than not I could have located a diamond of the essentially the same quality at less cost. This isn't always the case, but it's certainly not all that uncommon for the person not highly adept at grading diamonds to be misled or deceived when purchasing a stone.

One of the questions that often arises when speaking with customers interested in diamonds has to do with certification of the diamond. The uses of and need for such certificates can be validly argued both for and against. When looking at the credibility of one certificate against another, as I'm sure everyone selling diamonds does, I have those that I feel are more reliable than others and that I most highly recommend. Not all diamonds are certified. This doesn't mean in any way that the uncertified diamond isn't a really good one. Diamonds weighing much less than .50 carat seem more often than not to come without certification. And there is the occasional larger diamond that may not have been certified that can be found being sold. This again doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't accurately measure up to the specifications for which it's being sold.To have a diamond certified does add significantly to the price of the stone and you may want to factor this into your decision when weighing the purchase of one diamond against another. In that I've consistently conducted business with one diamond vendor for over twenty years the main vendor I have for diamonds, a person for whom I've grown a great trust, I feel totally confident that any uncertified diamond he has will very definitely meet or exceed the defined characteristics assigned to the particular diamond.

Regarding specific examples of rings and other jewelry I've made with diamonds, please click on the links below to visit pages providing a small sampling of the diamond rings and diamond jewelry I've made.