How do you know if you are looking at a real diamond versus a fake?

To begin with, there are a few common sense factors about genuine diamonds.

The Price of a Genuine Diamond:
A low priced stone with no visible flaws should raise an immediate red flag for you. Examine the stone with your naked eye, then use a magnifying glass or jewelers loupe. If you can't spot flaws under magnification and the color is a clean white, then you are looking at either a VS Clarity and D-F Color diamond, or a fake. Wholesale cost on a 1 carat diamond of VS Clarity and D-F Color is about $7500, and no dealer would charge considerably less than his cost.

You can also evaluate this principle from a price standpoint: a one carat diamond that sells for $1500 or less will be an I2-I3 Clarity grade and a J-L Color grade. If you are looking at a $1500 one carat diamond, you should see obvious flaws visible to the naked eye, and a noticeable yellow Color. Otherwise, it is suspect as a fake.


Gem Lab Certification:
Not all diamonds are certified, but when the stone is accompanied by a third-party certificate it adds an extra level of security to your purchase. The certificate should be signed by a graduate gemologist, and it should state that it is a genuine diamond. The certificate should also the Carat Weight, the Color Grade, the Clarity Grade and in some cases, the Cut Grade. A full certificate also includes the dimensions of the diamond. There are many reputable Gem Labs, but try an internet search of the lab name just to confirm it. The largest gem labs are AGS, GIA, IGI, EGL, and IGL.

Consider Who you are buying the Diamond From:
The retail diamond industry is based on trust, and it makes sense that a large retail chain store would not take the risk of ruining their reputation by selling even a single fake diamond. Most of the large retailers buy their diamonds directly from a DeBeers siteholder, and the quality control is very strict in this process. If you buy your diamond from a mall jewelry store you may not be getting the best quality at the best price, but you won't be buying a fake. If you buy your diamond from an independent jeweler, stay away from the downtown "wholesale districts" in large cities because there are many reports over the years of these guys cutting corners or misrepresenting their goods. The cream of the crop in independent jewelers are members of AGS, and they display it prominently.

If you buy your diamond on the internet, make sure it is from a well established website that specializes in jewelry and offers an ironclad return policy. It is true that you can save 35% or more when buying diamonds on the internet versus a walk in retail jewelry store because they can afford to work on lower margins. The smart internet customers use a credit card that features a buyer protection plan, and they also get their online diamond appraised locally within a few days of receiving it. We have received many letters from gracious customers that include copies of independent appraisals showing the retail replacement value of their diamond at substantially above what they paid for it. In fact, we encourage our customers to get their diamonds appraised and we display a list of certified independent appraisers throughout the country on this page.

There are a few websites that intentionally confuse customers with terms like "diamond cz" and "russian cut brilliants", but if you do your homework it is not hard to spot the cheaters. On the other hand, there are some very sophisticated scams perpetuated by individuals selling diamonds at online auction websites. We have seen repeated examples of diamonds with certificates from very reliable gem labs being sold at auction sites for prices that are way below wholesale cost. How do they do it? Anyone can send a high quality diamond to a gem lab for certification and then send it back to be certified a second time. Now you have two official certificates describing one good diamond and you can use the extra certificate to inflate the value of an inferior quality diamond. Even if the diamond is laser inscribed with a unique identification number on the girdle, anyone can buy a micro laser machine and the cost is relatively low compared to the profits one can make on this kind of scam. Simply stated, be very cautious when buying diamonds from an individual on an auction website.