Diamonds are Forever. Their Value Not So Much

Besides being a girl’s best friend (am I allowed to say the word girls without consequences these days?), diamonds can also be a gentleman’s bane, for a whole slew of reasons; one is the trouble, the never-ending choices, and most importantly, the cost. It’s no secret diamonds are expensive, and if they were not expensive, well then you settled for dark, dull, lifeless carbon. Just like everything in life, you get what you pay for.

I sold my first diamond in 1968 at the age of fourteen, a memorable transaction that involved several things. First of all, my nervousness and using a faulty pair of diamond tweezers that sent a loose diamond airborne with the perfect landing in the customer’s cleavage. (Retrieval of the catapulted diamond was more than just awkward; I’ll never forget the look on my uncle’s face when I tried to explain why she went off to the ladies' room to search for the missing diamond in her brassiere). The color and quality of the flying one-carat round diamond was outstanding, and I sold it for a whopping $1,950… a lot of money in those days. (For those of you who don’t know or can’t remember, an average cost for a hardtop Ford Mustang was $2,600 and a normal house back then was around $23,000!)

Back in the good ole days, diamonds, like most things compared to today’s standards, were reasonably priced for excellent quality diamonds and heavy gold jewelry (understandable, gold was only $40 an ounce back then compared to today’s $ 4,500 at this writing); carrying low quality was not even an option unless you were a big box store like Service Merchandise or similar discount establishments.

Back to the diamond buying gentleman’s plight, the majority of guys are really into the whole process of buying his significant other a nice piece of diamond jewelry or that special rock. Then there is the other percentage that compares buying a diamond(s) to a root canal procedure.

So many scenarios are involved in buying a diamond(s); it’s not always just an engagement ring. It can be a major upgrade of the smaller original engagement ring; that small diamond was all he could afford decades ago, even then any sized diamond was a significant purchase. Several anniversaries later, they now want a larger diamond. My favorite diamond purchases are the “just because” or the significant other ignored all hints she dropped for a particular diamond gift to no avail…So the wife or girlfriend will come in alone and purchase the item themselves. I may have mentioned the story about a woman all dressed in black who came in on a Saturday afternoon while I was in the process of closing. She promised she would be quick and knew just what she wanted. She then picked out the largest pair of diamond stud earrings I had in stock. While paying, she told me, “No need for a box; I'll just wear them!” I asked if it was for a special occasion. She told me she had just laid her husband to rest here at the island cemetery and while he was alive, he refused to buy her these earrings, something she always wanted; now I’m going back to the cemetery to thank him!

Don’t be that guy.

Buy a diamond today? Let the drama begin. Some folks have some inkling to the current cost of a fine two-carat diamond. Most don’t. I always watch the guy’s facial expression when I answer the question “how much?” (In this business, it’s always about the money). $19,000 to $30,000 is my estimated answer. Some reactions are complacent; others require an oxygen mask or smelling salts, or it turns into some kind of DEFCON FIVE full-blown drama performed by the couple before me.

Some advice to the young, soon-to-be engaged gentlemen… You do not bring your future mother-in-law “shopping for diamonds” for your beloved; it is a recipe for disaster when she finds out your budget isn’t in the same realm as her expectations for her baby girl. It can be embarrassing for you and all involved.

Just before our vacation, an older gentleman came in saying his current girlfriend wanted a four-carat diamond. I could tell by his inquiry he hadn’t a clue what a four-carat diamond would cost. First and foremost, less than 0.1% of the U.S. population owns a four-carat diamond. With this being Marco Island, I learned years ago that one never judges a book by its cover and I politely asked if he had a budgeted amount he wanted to spend? He asked, “Why, what could it cost?” The reason I mentioned it was because a really nice quality four-carat diamond is approximately $65,000, and a not-so-nice quality can still be $25,000. By the look on his face, my original assumption was correct; it had been a few decades since his last diamond purchase. I then mentioned a four-carat lab diamond would be more in reach at around $4,000. He said that’s more like it; he would run it by his new lady friend. (In reality, six to 10 years ago that four carat would cost closer to $100,000 + but current times, since the creation and popularity of lab-created diamonds, prices of natural diamonds have taken a serious tumble). I stopped doing appraisals a year before my retirement due to not only being the bearer of bad news - folks were not only disappointed with the new re-evaluation - some got downright angry with me and of course I must certainly be mistaken. I would then hear the same worn-out story that they were told years ago by “their jeweler up north” that their diamond would only go up in value over the years. They soon find out after they get a second opinion that a diamond may be forever, just not the cost.

Never in my 50+ year career as a jeweler have I ever told a customer that diamonds are a good investment, gold or silver bullion, and pork bellies… yes!

I am fortunate to have a majority of less dramatic clients who honestly want to buy a really nice diamond and they want to know what their options are for achieving that goal. Presently, with the choice of lab-created diamonds, it’s a case of don’t ask, don’t tell, because it is impossible to tell the difference between lab and natural diamonds without special equipment. If a laboratory-created diamond is not your thing, and you insist on natural diamonds, the best way to achieve saving some money is by lowering the scale of color and the clarity or even the size. A diamond with passable color (D-G color is considered fine white; D being the finest there is. H-J is still white... “J” will have a slightly yellow tinge…K-Z color will not be so white; therefore not desirable). Then there is clarity (clarity is the internal cleanliness of the diamond). A flawless diamond, regardless of the color, will be more expensive. Very very slight (VVS) or very slight (VS) clarity also makes the diamond more expensive. Slightly included (SI 1) or (SI 2) will have minute imperfections or flaws very hard to see with the naked eye. Another cost cutter is by reducing the size slightly; for example, a 1.95 carat diamond will cost significantly less than a 2.00 carat diamond because the price per carat increases at the 2.00 carat level, and the size looks identical; the same goes for a .95/100 carat vs. a 1.00 carat. Implement these three factors when choosing a round cut diamond and you will save a considerable amount of money.

Another way for that big look without shelling out big money is by using the “halo style” mounting to significantly enhance the look of your current diamond. Just imply surround your original diamond with smaller diamonds; the difference is amazing and makes your center diamond look larger. We do them for lots of ladies here in Southwest Florida, plus the cost of a new halo ring mounting will be much less than purchasing a larger diamond.

The reasons can be endless to own a fine diamond and the same can be true not to own one; the new millennium seems to reject wearing natural diamonds and inquire about synthetic or lab-created “diamonds” after they have spent hours online researching the pros and cons of natural diamond ownership. Lab-created diamonds? For years I did not carry lab diamonds; my daughter Lindsay (The Jeweler’s Daughter) convinced me that they are now “A Thing,” so I did something unusual; I listened! Believe you me, I never imagined that for two Christmases in a row our lab-created diamond jewelry has been more popular than natural diamonds by a large margin.

The endless reasons for the giving of a diamond or diamonds can be for engagement, weddings, birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, or birth of a child, to name a few. The recent nearly extinct reason to buy diamonds brought joy and happiness for a lovely sixteen-year-old; the grandparents presented to their granddaughter a stunning pair of simple three-prong diamond stud earrings for her “sweet sixteen birthday.” She was so proud of those earrings. Many old traditions such as presentations of sweet sixteen jewelry have pretty much gone by the wayside, like a hope chest or a fedora hat, and that’s sad.

Diamonds may not be the best investment monetarily, but as a token of love and cherished memories for that sixteen-year-old, those diamond earrings will always bring back the wonderful times she shared with her grandparents. And that is priceless!