Best Options for Buying Diamonds Online

Buying diamonds online can be a safe and pleasant expereince if you know what you are doing and shop with a trusted vendor. Markups online on Loose GIA certified Diamonds is as low as 8-10% compare to local retailers. We have seen markups go as high as 150+ locally. A total riffoff in our opinion.

We recommend two options for sourcing a diamond:

Option 1) We strongly recommend James Allen as our favorite online retailer for loose diamonds and engagement rings. James Allen is one of the largest privately-owned diamond companies in the world and has the best customer service in the industry. The company is credited for transforming the diamond industry. Moreover, they will also match prices with any other vendor. Please follow this link to shop at James Allen.

Option 2) If you are looking for an Ideal Cut AGSL Graded Diamond, we recommend Brian Gavin Diamonds. Brian Gavin is a well-known name in the diamond industry and is credited for his contribution to the cut of round shape diamonds. He is the person behind the concept of Hearts & Arrows diamond. Brian is a 5th generation diamond cutter as his family has been involved in the trade for 5 generations. Please follow this link to shop at Brian Gavin Diamonds.

Sharif, Owner of Petra Gems, has over a decade of experience in the wholesale diamond industry and has traded millions of dollars worth diamonds. If you want a dedicated diamond consultant to work with you, please follow this link to consult with Sharif.

The Internet & GIA Transformed the Diamond Trade

The diamond industry has evolved and changed significantly over the last two decades, mainly due to technological developments. While traditional brick mortar retailers are not happy about how the trade has evolved, the change is significantly in favor of ‘consumers” or end users. How? Because online competition and standardization of the diamond grading system have brought more transparency into the industry. In old days, as an end user, you were at the mercy of a local dealer for both price and quality. Now to compare prices, all you have to do is to review prices on three to four websites and you will get a fairly good idea of what a competitive price is for say a 1 carat round diamond that is F color and VS1 clarity and excellent cut with no fluorescence. As far as grading is concerned, as long as your stone is grading or “certified” by GIA (the Gemological Institute of America), you do not have to worry if the stone is actually what you thought it would because GIA is the most consistent grading lab in the world. Moreover, in the old days, there was no standard for grading diamonds, now there is one language and grading system for how diamonds are graded.

Factor 1: Diamond Shape

Shape is how the diamond looks, cut refers to the quality of the craftsmanship in which it was cut for a particular shape such as a round shape or an oval shape. The shape of a diamond affects the price because certain shapes needs bigger rough stones than others. For example, a round shape stone is 20-30% more expensive than a princess or cushion shape stone because it would takes (as a guess) a 2 carat rough to make a perfect 1 carat round brilliant cut shaped stone as opposed to a 1.5 carat rough to make a cushion modified brilliant cut diamond (a round 1ct. is 6.5mm in diameter, and a 1ct. princess is roughly 5.5mm in diameter). Because of this reason, round shaped diamonds tend to be higher in price than any other shape diamonds.

Factor 2: Diamond Carat Weight

Once you determine what shape diamond you want, the next step is determine how big you want the diamond to be; diamonds are weighed in carats, and each carat is 200 milligram or 0.2 gram. The price of a diamond tends to jump as soon as it reaches a full carat, and the bigger the stone, the higher its price by multiple times because larger stones are rare (more scarce). For example, all other factors being equal, a 2 carat diamond would cost you three to four times the price of a 1ct. and not just double the price of a 1ct because a 2ct is more scarce to mine than a 1ct. (scarcity plays a major role in how the prices of diamonds are determined). As a tip, if you want to save some money, buying say a 1.9ct. might be much cheaper than a full 2ct. because the price jumps significantly once the diamond reach a full carat range.

Factor 3: Diamond Cut

The cut of a diamond is absolutely critical, and it is the only C the outcome of which is determined by human beings and the quality of their craftsmanship. There is so much details involved in assessing the cut of a diamond. GIA assigns a cut grade to round diamonds, but they do not have a standard yet for fancy cut stones such as an oval cut diamond, and therefore, do not assign cut grades to them. The good news is that we have published detailed articles about each shape diamond and how you should assess their cut. Please refer to these articles for assessing the cut of a stone you are considering. Three important points to be taken into consideration about the cut are 1) even in GIA excellent cut round diamonds, there is a way to differentiate between an excellent cut diamond and what we refer to as a “super ideal cut” diamond, and the only you can tell the difference is if you are able read their proportions and determine what ideal proportions are (read our proportions article); 2) in both round and fancy cut stones, the depth and table are the most important factors while determining the quality of a cut followed by the size of the girdle, culet, crown angle, and pavilion. Length to width ratios are also important in fancy cut stones; and 3) dealers tend to cut stones deep in order to save the rough stones, so avoid a stone that has high depth. In the manner, a diamond that has a big table is also not recommended because it won’t have optimal fire and brilliance.

Factor 4: Diamond Color

Color is the second most important C after cut as it affects the whole diamond, not a particular spot which is often the case with clarity. Color refers to the presence of yellowish color in a white diamond, and is graded from grade D (colorless) to grade Z (light yellow). D-F grades are considered colorless, G-J are near colorless (however, there is a big difference between G and J color), K to M grades are Faint Yellow, N to R are very light yellow, and S to Z grades are light yellow. Our recommendations would be to go for E-F for investment purposes, G is an excellent color for both investment purposes as well as for maximizing your budget, and H/I are good budget options with J being the lowest we would recommend unless you like some yellowish tint in your diamond in which case go for a very high clarity and K-N color grade diamond.

Factor 5: Diamond Clarity

The clarity of a diamond is important because it has a direct effect on the brilliance of the stone. If a stone is full of inclusions, the stone won’t sparkle and will luck luster, fire, and scintillation. The diamond industry has developed a very sophisticated system for grading the clarity of a diamond; it ranges from Flawless (FL) as the highest and Included 3 (I3) as the lowest clarity grade. FL and IF (Internally Flawless) are flawless grades. Very Very Slightly Included 1 (VVS1) and VVS2 are almost flawless clarity grades. Very Slightly Included 1 (VS1) and VS2 are after VVS2 and are also often considered as eye clean diamonds. Slightly Included (SI1) and SI2 are at the lower end of high quality diamonds and are often eye clean in under 1ct. diamonds. In above, 1 carat, the inclusions have to be white non-crystal type inclusions and spread out across the diamond in order for the diamond to be considered an eye clean in SI1 grade. Included 1 (I1) to I3 are the lowest clarity grade diamonds. In our opinion, VVS/VS1 are excellent investment grade diamonds, VS2 is excellent from both an investment and budget perspective, and SI1/SI2 needs great due diligence in above 1 carat diamond in order to ensure that the inclusions do not affect the diamond’s brilliance and the stone is eye clean.

Factor 6: Diamond Fluorescence

Fluorescence is an invisible glow that a diamond emits under Ultraviolet rays. It ranges from None to Very Strong blue with Faint, Medium Blue, and Strong Blue in the middle. According a study by GIA, the appearance of under 10% diamonds only was affected among all diamonds that had fluorescence. Fluorescence can affect the price of a diamond for up to 25%, and understanding it is important. For details, refer to our article on fluorescence. In summary, it is important to note that fluorescence can be a great alley for people on budget as it can make H or above color diamonds look whiter than they actually are since fluorescence is blue and blue is a complementary color to yellow. We believe fluorescence is often a plus in H and above color grades, but in lower grades D-G, we prefer no fluorescence; faint is also often a safe grade. If go with fluorescence in D-G colors, make sure you have a handy return policy in case the diamond is among those 10% percent stones in which fluorescence do affect the appearance of the diamond!