The worst way to buy a diamond is by focusing on the grade.
And today we're going to explain why.
Okay, we're going to do a little role play, okay?
Okay.
You're a client.
Sure. Hi.
Hi. What brings you in the store today?
I'm here for I need a ring.
Awesome. Do you know what you want?
Exactly. I am looking for one Carat, G color VS1 clarity.
Stop right there. Okay. This is wrong.
The reason why it's wrong is because grading is not scientific, okay?
Yeah. So before we even go, if you guys haven't seen it already,
we suggest to look at the watch series on hacking the 4 C's.
It'll kind of fill in some of the gaps. But assuming that is being done,
we're going to dive into some of the other things.
So why is focusing on the grade the worst way to buy a diamond?
First off, most people that fix it on the grading,
and when I say the grading, the 4 C's aspects of a diamond
don't really understand how diamonds are graded to begin with.
They often think that it's scientific, which it is not.
They don't realize that diamonds are graded by people.
And it's by people's eyesight. And we are-
Their opinions.
Their opinions. It's personal perspective.
Grading diamonds is more like grading an English paper
than a math test because it is so subjective.
One of the ironies that a lot of people are not aware of is that
ever since E-commerce came onto the scene,
people have fixated on these grades more than ever.
And one of the ironies is that the more people have fixated on the grading,
it has actually made it less reliable.
And the simple reason is they've had to basically
hire a lot more people to be able to meet the demand.
And as a result, you have a lot more opinions.
So the consistency and the grading, it's just not there anymore.
And so, again, another additional reason why you do not want to shop around
looking for a diamond based just on the grade.
I want to do a little live demonstration,
and I'd love it if you'd participate with us.
So check out these five diamonds side by side.
One of these diamonds does not sparkle like the other.
Can you identify which one?
Yes. It could be the far one on the right.
They're all a G color, VS1 clarity, triple excellent cut.
However, Number Five is not sparkling the way that it should.
It falls short of the grade.
Well, how about these stones?
You're going to see they are obviously very different in size.
But look at this. They are all 1 Carat. They're not the same size.
Or how about this example? Take a look at these stones.
Do you see a difference in their color?
They're both a G color. And yet you can see that one
is more yellow than the other. Again, not scientific.
As you can clearly see the grade does not define
what you can expect to see in the actual stone itself.
And we're going to break down why.
Why has there been such an emphasis on grading?
Why have people become so fixated on the grade?
And the answer is one simple word. It's e-commerce.
Online companies when they were trying to sell diamonds online,
one of the big things that they've done is they've made a lot of us believe,
and they put a lot of materials out
to make people believe that diamond grading is scientific.
And it's mainly because they want us to feel comfortable to buy a diamond
based on what you might see on a certificate,
maybe coupled with a video or a picture.
They want you to feel comfortable to buy a diamond based on its specifications.
They want you to feel comfortable to buy
a diamond completely blind, completely sight unseen.
But this is not diapers. This is not wipes.
You can't just order this on the internet
and expect to get the same quality that you're expecting.
We talked about the worst way to buy a diamond,
and we'll flip it around and we'll say, "What's the best way to buy a diamond?"
The best way to buy a diamond
is really just looking at them side by side,
comparing them for yourself, and really assessing
what are the characteristics that are most important for you.
Yeah. Really important to understand, even if you know nothing about diamonds.
Our brain is an incredible machine where if you put things side by side,
your brain will go into the super comparative mode,
where it's just going to compare things.
So take a look at this stone. You see it by itself.
If you look at it by itself, it's going to look fantastic.
But look at this.
If you put it in a row and then a line up against four other diamonds.
All of a sudden with that same stone, you're going to notice
it doesn't glitter like the other four, right?
And that's what our brain is able to do.
The only difference, I tell my clients,
between someone that knows nothing about diamonds
and someone like us is we've seen so many stones
that I can recognize the stone without having to see it side by side.
We can recognize that there's something off, but you don't need to be an expert.
Look at it side by side for yourself, and you can see for yourself,
is there something off in there?
The best way to buy a diamond is work with people you trust, okay?
Yeah. That's a big one.
Jewelry is a profession, just like any other service industry.
If you find a mechanic or if you find a lawyer,
or if you find anyone that you're having to rely on their expertise
or their professional services, you need to have that trust factor.
The way that we look at it is that we want to make sure the diamond
is true to the grade or higher,
because as the grade goes up, you're going to pay a bigger premium.
So if the diamond falls short of the grade,
that means you just overpaid for that stone.
Don't be fooled. Don't be fooled by it's in a high definition video
or photos of diamonds. A lot of times, people think
they're getting a really good look at the stone.
What they don't realize is you are not seeing them side by side
in the same environment, in real time,
you're seeing recordings, and they're all done separately,
and because of that, you have nothing to compare it against.
So just to summarize,
we're going to tell you, our clients; hold the grade loosely,
work with someone that you trust, and look at them side by side
and see for yourself what makes sense.