Diamonds • Precious Gemstones • Jewelry • Gemology

A drop-dead gorgeous blonde with a twinkle in her eye and just the right amount of cleavage showing admires the ring. A sultry voice murmurs, "Mmm, if you offered me a diamond like this I would say yes."

Scam? No way! She's the salesperson and it's a tactic - and a pretty darned good one sometimes.

Some common and some sophisticated diamond scams

Differentiating what is a scam and what isn't a scam in you own mind helps you prepare for the trenches .. the one-on-one with a diamond seller.

If you have shortlisted your acceptable diamond sellers and qualified them as ethical, then you only need to be wary of sales tactics.

A trip to the back room
.. to ask the boss for permission to lower the price of a diamond, may be a tactic. If the sales person took a $5,000 1 carat VS1 to the back room and returned with a 1 carat VS2 and said, "The manager authorized me to sell you this diamond for $4,000!", look very carefully.

It is a common tactic that may not be illegal, but in my opinion it is very unethical.

If you suspect that a salesperson might have done this, ask very bluntly, "Is this the same diamond I was looking at earlier and does it match this certificate?"

If you hear any answer besides an unqualified, "Yes!" .. walk away from that dealer. If you hear an unqualified, "Yes!" .. ask to have the gem reweighed and look carefully at the last digit of the carat weight. People do tell fibs.

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