Integrity is an important consideration in any business and we try very hard to uphold it in our industry, by educating our customers and disclosing all pertinent information on any jewelry piece.

From this perspective it is appalling to see what some jewelers in our industry do.

Matt’s girlfriend had just purchased a pair of diamond hoop earrings from a downtown jewelry store and he was interested to know the quality of the diamonds so he brought it to us.

We  counted 34 diamonds in each hoop earring, each a 3 point diamond by measurement. This would make it a total of approximately 2.04 carats. The color grade looked to be about a J or K and through the microscope the clarity grade was in the I1-2 category.

Matt said that the diamond earrings were sold as 3 carats total weight, G color and SI clarity grade. This would have made it 1 carat more in weight 3-4 color grades off and 2-3 grades off in clarity.

They had paid $2500 for the earrings thinking it was 3 carats total weight, which would have been a reasonable price if the information was accurate. As a 2 carat total weight and lower color and clarity than represented, a reasonable price should have been $1500. They had over-paid by a $1000.

Unfortunately most consumers would assume that the seller is telling the truth and never get a second opinion. They may never know that they paid much more than they should. Nor that they did not even get the grade they thought they paid for.

We do not know how much of this goes on. The consumer without knowledge of jewelry quality is vulnerable to unscrupulous jewelers.

It may be best to gain at least a rudimentary knowledge of jewelry quality, get second opinions or just find a jeweler you can trust.

Russell Oshita, the diamonddude

The Diamond Specialists Inc.

Diamonds Hawaii