Round Brilliance	Marquise	Pear	Heart

Oval	Emerald	Princess

Cut:

Carat Weight:

	0,05 2,5 1,5	0,10 3,0 1,8	0,20 3,8 2,3	0,25 4,1 2,5	0,30 4,5 2,7	0,40 4,8 3,0	0,50 5,2 3,1	0,70 5,8 3,5
	0,90 6,3 3,8	1,00 6,5 3,9	1,25 6,9 4,3	1,50 7,4 4,5	1,75 7,8 4,7	2,00 8,2 4,9	2,50 8,8 5,3	3,00 9,4 5,6

Color:

D(0+)-F(1+) Colorless	G(1)-J(4) Near Colorless	K(5)-M(7) Slightly Tinted	N(8)-R(12) Very Light Yellow	S(13)-Z(20) Light Yellow - Yellow

Clarity:

Internally Flawless	Very Very Slightly included	Very Slightly included
Free from internal blemishes visible under 10x magnification (small external details tolerated)	Inclusions and/or external blemishes very difficult to locate under 10x magnification.	Inclusions and external blemishes difficult to locate under 10x magnification.
Slightly included	Imperfect-1	Imperfect-2	Imperfect-3
Inclusions and external blemishes easy to locate under 10x magnification.	Inclusions and external blemishes very easy to locate under 10x magnification.	Inclusions and external blemishes easy to locate with naked eye.	Heavy inclusions located with naked eye.

Quality Guidelines(all three of these things must be considered to determine the quality of a diamond):

I. Clarity Grades
F	(Flawless in all respects)	Ultimate Quality
IF	(Internally Flawless)	Extremely High Quality
VVS-1	(Very, very, slight inclusion)	Extraordinarily High Quality
VVS-2	(Very, very, slight inclusion)	Extraordinarily High Quality
VS-1	(Very slight inclusion)	Very High Quality
VS-2	(Very slight inclusion)	High Quality
SI-1	(Slight inclusion) Not Visible	Good Quality
SI-2	(Slight inclusion) Not Visible	Satisfactory Quality
SI-3	(Slightly more included) probably not visible	Border Line Quality
I-1	(Imperfect) Barely Visible	Low Quality
I-2	(Imperfect) Easily Visible	Lower Quality
I-3	(Imperfect) Totally Visible	Lowest Quality

II. Color Grades
D, E, F	(Colorless)	Perfect Color
G, H, I, J	(Near Colorless)	High Quality Color
K	(Slightly Tinted)	Lesser Quality
L	(Yellow Tinted)	Lower Quality
M	(Heavily Tinted)	Lesser Quality
N & lower		Various shades

III. Quality of the Cut
Ultra Ideal	Ultimate Quality
Ideal	Extremely High Quality
Premium	Extraordinarily High Quality
Very, very Good	High Quality
Very Good	Above Normal Quality
Good	Satisfactory Quality
Fair	Borderline Quality
Poor	Low Quality
Very Poor	Still Lower Quality
Very, very poor	Lowest Quality
Flawed	Diamond cut to wrong proportions

It is impossible to do comparison shopping or price comparisons for the following reasons:

1. Two diamonds will never have all of the exact same features, so one can never compare like items;
2. According to a federal government study, retail sellers misrepresent the color, clarity, and quality of cut 90% of the time, so one really doesn't know what one is buying;
3. If purchasing a diamond "with papers", it is very common for papers to be switched from one diamond to another, resulting in misrepresentation of grade;
4. Approximately ten different labs produce papers on certified diamonds and each has different standards and each puts a different label on the same diamond thus making comparison impossible;
5. Finally, many people completely overlook the quality of the cut, and this one feature will affect price by 90% thus making comparisons meaningless, because something having a 90% impact on price has been ignored.

Comparing Apples to Apples:

When buying a diamond, the retail jeweler looks at the customer as a "one time" buyer. This creates a situation where the retail jeweler is not concerned about additional future business. As a result, the retail jeweler is inclined to tell the diamond buyer almost anything, because he is a one time buyer. The literature in this area says that as many as 80% of the diamond sales are misrepresented. Most commonly the retail jeweler will overstate the clarity or over state the color by one full grade. This practice makes it very difficult for the buyer to compare apples to apples. You may call our office and ask for a price on an SI-1 and after getting the price, you may tell me that you found a jeweler who will sell it for thousands less than this price. In reality what he is selling you is a lower quality diamond and a lower color diamond for a lesser amount.

When shopping at the retail level, never believe any rating or color grade unless you see and read the "GIA Grading Report". This will clearly state the grade and color. Forget what you are being told, simply read the grades and colors from the GIA Grading Report. This gives you the best chance to compare apples with apples. Without this clear information, you are attempting to compare prices on products that may not even be close to comparable. In the past few weeks, we have seen a retail jeweler falsely sell an I-1 grade diamond to a customer by telling her that it was an SI-1 grade. He misrepresented it by two or three grades.

Be sure that you get a copy of the GIA Grading Report so that you can do comparison shopping. One final caveat: In the past few weeks, we have found retail jewelers who were taking the GIA Grading Reports and switching them. For example, they would take a report with a higher rating and place it with a diamond of a lower rating. They can make $2,000, $5,000 or more by doing this switch and only a detailed study under magnification can catch this fraud. These practices are not isolated or rare. They are happening every day in every town all across the country.

Getting the most for your money:

1. Consider buying a Princess Cut because this cut will be about 15% less expensive than the other shapes as less diamond is lost in the cutting process;
2. Stay away from the even carat weights. Avoid 1 ct, 1.5 cts, 2.0 CTS, 2.5 CTS, 3.0 CTS, etc. Again you can save an additional 10% to 15% by getting the following sizes instead: .98 CT, 1.47 CT, 2.49 CT, 2.95 CT, etc. Avoid the round numbers where demand is the greatest and prices are the highest;
3. The Princess Cut offers another advantage. It has so many facets and reflects so much light that it is almost impossible to see what is going on inside of the diamond. Many people have taken advantage of this characteristic, and they order the Princess Cut in either an SI-2 clarity or an I-1 clarity, because even if there is some microscopic inconsistency, the many facets of the Princess Cut make it impossible to see any such minor variations. Absolute maximum savings and value will be obtained by ordering a Princess Cut diamond, in I-1 clarity, with H or I color, in a size that avoids the even weights.

Consider the following differences:

1. 1.5 CT diamond, round, IF clarity, D color, approximate price $18,000 wholesale, $25,000 retail
2. 1.48 CT diamond, Princess Cut, I-1 clarity, I color, approx price $ 3,900 wholesale $ 8,000 retail.

Both are beautiful diamonds to look at, but the second one will save you $11,000 on the purchase price and will continue to save you money each year through lower insurance costs.

Inexpensive Diamonds:

From time to time people will say that they found a certain diamond that is less than half the cost of our wholesale price. The reason for this and the answer to this question is usually one of the following:

A. Flawed Cut. A diamond can be the same size, and have the same color and the same clarity as another diamond and yet be less than half the price of the other diamond, because of problems with the cut. A diamond can have a cut that is either too shallow or too deep, and this error greatly reduces the brilliance of the diamond. This inappropriate cut also reduces the diamond's price by half or more.

B. Lab Altered Diamonds. A second reason that a diamond may be very inexpensive is because it has been altered, treated, or changed in a laboratory. Many diamonds are labeled as HT, HP, or CE diamonds. HT is high heat, HP is high pressure, and CE is Clarity Enhanced diamonds. The lab starts out with a defective diamond such as an I-2 or an I-3, and they drill holes in the diamond using a laser. Acid is then forced into these holes under high pressure and under high heat, and many of the imperfections can be removed. One can also take a yellow shaded diamond and expose it to high heat and cause it to turn a whiter color.

The market is now flooded with these lab altered diamonds. A close look at these diamonds reveals that the lab treatments have taken away much of the luster and brilliance of the diamonds, and they end up with a "glassy" appearance. Under magnification one can see that the brilliant whiteness has been replaced with a multi-colored rainbow appearance. This is because there is still oil contained in the small holes that were laser drilled.

Often these diamonds have the letters HT, HP, or CE etched on the surface using a laser. These labels are supposed to protect consumers. Unfortunately, the laser can also be used to easily remove this protective lettering and often you end up with no idea about what you are buying. You can easily pay $5,000 for a $1,500 diamond.

You will be pleased to learn that we at Southeastern do not deal in these lab altered diamonds. A few years ago the current fad was CZ (cubic zirconia). It was said that CZ would soon replace genuine diamonds. But instead the value of genuine diamonds has continued to rise, and the value of CZ is approaching zero. We do not consider these lab altered diamonds to be real, and we have serious concerns about their future value.

To learn how to recognize and guard against buying lab altered diamonds, click on www.niceice.com/treatments.htm.

Call ahead:

When buying loose diamonds, call ahead to check the supply and availability on that day. Since this is a wholesale supplier selling primarily to jewelry stores, the inventory turns over quickly with merchandise coming and going on a daily basis. When you call ahead, the item you desire will be set aside in your name so that you can remit payment. If the item you desire is not on hand, it will be promptly obtained for you.