In January I wrote the article “Insider’s Tips to Diamond Shopping”. This was designed to help potential buyers from making painful mistakes in their purchases. The following is a personal commentary of the consequences of not knowing what is needed to assure a problem free experience when purchasing a diamond. We are very thankful and appreciative to the couple that was willing to share their agonizing experience in the hopes that others do not find themselves in the same predicament.

My fiancé and I just started planning our wedding when we saw an announcement for a bridal expo earlier this year.  We went to check out options for a wedding ceremony & reception ideas but noticed there were a few jewelry booths as well.  We had been looking at diamond engagement rings for almost a year and had a pretty good idea of what we wanted and how much we wanted to spend.  We looked at one vendor, saw a potential buy, then checked with another vendor to compare. We asked to see certified loose stones and were invited to sit down with a salesperson.  She proceeded to find out what we wanted to spend, what size, clarity, color & cut of diamond we were looking for.

In retrospect, it seems whatever we asked for; she had an answer to downplay our request.  When I told her we wanted a certified stone she spoke of how certification was really an individual thing, one person having a bad day could affect the difference and which company, EGL or GIA.  Still, with each stone she showed us, if we found them interesting, I always asked if they were certified.  At another point, I asked if she had any ideal cut stones (just to compare) and she pulled out an unattractive and smaller “K” color stone, remarking on how cut wasn’t as important as the overall look.  She showed us a few loose stones ranging in different size and clarity/colors until we found one that most closely matched our initial request, but continued to look for a particular stone she’d seen earlier & thought we would love.   After retrieving it from her boss, she said that while it was more than we were looking to spend, it was really a great deal.  She showed it to us, stating that it was a VS2 1.54ct H color diamond, and when I asked if this stone was also certified, she said it was.  I later questioned this again, as I noticed the other diamonds had cardboard jackets stating color/clarity & dimensions but this one did not,  to which she had an excuse (the owner had been carrying it in his pocket).   She also went on at length to tell us the owner “stands by his diamonds” and we could always come in and get full credit toward an upgrade, although with this diamond we probably wouldn’t want to upgrade, and how they did business with a local television celebrity family.

My fiancé, who had never used a jeweler’s loupe prior to this, was looking at the 1.54 ct diamond and asked about a line which he saw in the diamond.  The salesperson feigned surprise at seeing this, and declared it to be a feather.  The owner came over and said except for the feather, this was an incredible diamond and what a great deal and he would knock $500.00 off the purchase price, and eventually threw in the setting also.  When the salesperson was writing up the sales receipt it simply said 1.54 RD DIAMOND  so when I asked about this description she said she was writing it on the financing contract which she wrote as 1.54 RD VS H.  I was given the 2 pieces of paper along with a receipt to size the ring, so I asked what about the rest of the paperwork (the certificate and the insurance information) and was told they would take care of it at the shop.  As we were at the bridal expo, it never occurred to me that they should have a copy of it there.  They constantly reassured us so I had no reason to doubt what they said.   When we got to the shop the next day they gave us the diamond already set in the ring and when I asked for the paperwork, was told it would be mailed to us.   I called the store the next week to find out where the paperwork was and was told it was being mailed.  As my fiancé wouldn’t let me wear the ring till we got it insured we were in a hurry to get the paperwork, so we went down to the store 5 days after the expo to find out what the hold up was with the insurance and certification.  It was then that we were told by the owner that the diamond was not certified.  We told him that we asked only to see certified stones and verified with the salesperson that this stone was certified, to which he responded not to worry, he  would send it away to a gal he knew. It would come back with all the information and the plotting, and would have her GIA seal on it, that he could have it done in a day.  We left the ring, got a receipt for it and were told it would take about a week.

Over the next 4 weeks, we would continue to wait for the promised documentation.  Instead, we received a store appraisal written by the salesperson with the original insurance packet.  The documents the owner promised us consisted of a faxed copy of the plotting (which did not accurately depict the diamond) and an appraisal which came back as 1 grade lower in clarity (SI1, H color).  The explanation of this was that “if the gal hadn’t been so good, it probably would’ve come back (appraised) even better”.   Five weeks after purchasing our diamond engagement ring, we finally had our ring back in our possession, only to find ourselves asking if there was any way to end this sale.

We took the diamond to a certified gemologist who did an appraisal/plotting and sent the loose diamond to the GIA for certification.  Five weeks later, he called us to say the GIA called with the verbal report that the stone was graded a SI2, I color.  This was 2 grades lower in clarity & 1 grade lower in color than they stated on the financing contract when we bought the diamond.  It was recommended that we file a complaint with the Office of Consumer Protection to see if we could get this issue resolved.

I told the owner we were disappointed that things weren’t what we were promised.  I explained the failure to meet the promises made at the time of sale had not been adequately addressed, as we find ourselves with an uncertified diamond which came back from his chosen appraiser as less in clarity than we were told we were buying.  It didn’t even faze him that his store sold us a diamond claiming it to be something he clearly knew it was not.  He said we didn’t have to be disappointed, that he would sell it on consignment for us.  I showed him the sales contract in which it specified the clarity & color and said this is not what we got.   He said he’d wasted too much time and money on this already, then put the ring on the counter and said it was ours (my fiancé and mine).  I told him that I spoke to a lawyer and he cut me off and said if I spoke to a lawyer that I should have my lawyer contact his lawyer, so I got the name of his lawyer and left the store as the lawyer advised me to do if the owner became unreasonable.

Being honest people, we expected honesty of this well advertised store.  We asked all the right questions and were constantly reassured by the store that everything was in order until our last contact with them.  What should have been an exciting and happy time in our lives became a nightmare!  We purchased a diamond engagement ring which was misrepresented and sold in such a deceptive manner that it should be illegal.  Instead, we find out this is status quo for this company and they will most likely get away with it because we don’t have the luxury of purchasing another ring before our wedding while we wait for this to go through the courts and have a refund enforced.  Buyer beware, indeed!

With all that being said, there were at least a couple of things that they could have done that should have prevented this situation:

1. Purchase a diamond with a legitimate (strict) third party grading report or certificate.
   Avoid diamonds that do not have an accompanying certificate.  Also avoid diamonds that only have paperwork from the seller to avoid conflict of interest.  Widely used international third party diamond grading laboratories include the International Gemological Laboratory (IGI), European Gemological Laboratories (EGL), Hoge Raad Voor Diamant (HRD), Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and American Gem Society (AGS).  The AGS report tends to be the most strict and has the most information about the proportions of the described diamond.  This is followed by the GIA report.  In our opinion the other reports should be generally avoided.
2. If you purchase a diamond that has a laboratory report then make sure that (1) you receive at least a photocopy of the report before you walk out of the store and (2) that the name of the laboratory and the report number are both written on your invoice.
   Having a copy of the diamond grading report will clearly identify the diamond you are paying for. Having the laboratory and report number written on the invoice is a legal warranty that the seller must live up to. Some seller have falsely sold stones as “GIA certified” (or  AGS, EGL, etc.) and failed to ever provide the GIA Diamond Grading Report.

Trusting the seller’s word was probably the buyer’s biggest mistake. Follow the recommendations in the “Insider’s Tips to Diamond Shopping” and make sure that all documentation and identification is in order before paying for any diamond. This will definitely prevent an undesirable consequence. Have your blessed event begin on a happy note.