That said, Weissbart concedes that he would be reluctant to turn away a wealthy customer who knew exactly what he wanted and was ready to pay hard cash christmas gift sale.
The divide between wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers is starting to blur, anyway. More manufacturers now sell diamond jewellery at discount prices over the internet. A growing number of US companies will also sell loose diamonds at discount prices. Try mondera.com, diasource.com, diamonds4u.com xmas gift , and nydex.com to get an idea of prices. Daimondring.com, which claims to be “the diamonds portal,” has links to many similar sites.
In the UK, the idea has yet to catch on. On of the pioneers is Simon Lewis, a Hatton Garden manufacturer who also runs thediamond shop.co.uk to sell stones direct to the public. He says his prices are as close as possible to wholesale. The company makes its money by turning the stones into individually-designed pieces of jewellery, though there is nothing to stop you going elsewhere for this service.
If buying loose stones sounds risky, bear in mind that cut and polished diamonds are commodity items that can be tested and graded by specialist laboratories. These issue certificates showing the stone’s weight in carats, as well as its clarity, colour and the dimensions of the cut cheap Links of london Charms .
The two main global certification schemes are run by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and the Antwerp-based Diamond High Council (HRD). Almost all of the stones on sale over the internet are certificated.
So, how much cheaper is it to buy online?
For the sake of argument, let us assume that I want to buy my nearest-and-dearest a pair of diamond stud earrings on a budget of about Pounds 10,000. I want round, brilliant cut stones (the most popular modern cut) with a colour grade of at least G to H (Links Charms ) and clarity of VS1 to VS2 (flawless, unless you examine them under a microscope).