Investment 
					Diamonds?
					By Mark I. Sikand
					
					    
					Really? Well, today, more and more companies are advertising 
					on Social media, the radio, TV and the Internet. But who is buying 
					"Investment Diamonds", what is an "Investment Diamond" and 
					how much should a person, an Investor, pay for such a 
					diamond.? Answer, "retail Customers and they are paying top 
					dollar.        
					 
					     
					For me, and many others, an "Investment Diamond" is any 
					diamond that you can buy and then sell and make a profit. 
					The more in demand that diamond is, the easier and faster 
					you will be able to liquidate it and make a profit, as long 
					as you did not over pay for it. Remember, it is not always 
					about just the price. Some diamonds are just not in demand.
					 
					      
					Buying "Investment Diamonds" is not like buying shares of 
					stock or a commodity that has a set price. When it comes to 
					buying Investment diamonds there is no pricing structure and 
					many, but not all, consumers are going to get ripped off big 
					time and be very disappointed when they try to resell.  
					     
					Most of the companies selling Investment Diamonds have great 
					material to send you, great websites and highly skilled and 
					trained sales people who will contact you. The hype and the 
					promises of a 15% - 20% annual return on your investment are 
					very impressive. However, when push comes to shove and you 
					read the fine print, it usually indicates that you have 
					little to no hope of making a profit at all when you sell.
					 
					     
					Selling your Investment diamond, when you need the cash, can 
					be a real problem and nightmare. Simply put, a diamond is 
					not very liquid at all. Even worse,  if you over paid 
					for it and you need the cash now, you will realize a huge 
					financial loss.  
					       
					On a more positive note, if you buy the right diamonds and 
					you pay the right price, you will most likely do well and 
					turn a profit. The problem is, how do you know? What should 
					you buy and how much should you pay?  There are a lot 
					of dishonest and misleading companies out there so be 
					careful.  
					        
					Here are a few ideas for you. 1) Ask the company if they 
					will buy the diamond back from you. If they say "yes" or "we 
					will work with you to help you sell it", Ask for at least 10 
					current references. If they say that that information is 
					confidential, then you need to walk away. 2) Find out which 
					company certifies the quality of the Investment Diamond, 
					make sure that it is either the GIA or the AGS. If it is NOT 
					then you need to walk away. 3) Find out the specific size 
					and quality of the diamond and do some competitive price 
					shopping. If they refuse to tell you it's because they are 
					overcharging you. Do not let them pressure you into make an 
					instant decision or giving them a deposit. 
					       
					There is a lot of information about Investment Diamonds 
					available to you on the Internet. Make sure that you do your 
					research before you make any decision. 
					MAKE SURE THAT YOU USE 
					TheBuyReport.com to check diamond prices. Try the 10 day 
					FREE trial.   
					Buying Diamonds Off The 
					Street  
					Retail jewelers, diamond dealers and 
					private independent diamond buyers have a NEW wholesale 
					source for buying diamonds - The Public.  
					    
					Are you or is your company advertising that you  
					buy diamonds from the public? Why NOT? Are you afraid 
					because you don't know how?  Or is it because business 
					is so bad that you don't have the working capital and you 
					are embarrassed ? Well, need to keep reading. 
					     
					As a means for survival, additional revenue and huge 
					profits, successful and smart jewelers have learned how 
					important it is become sharp professional diamond buyers and 
					be better that their competitors. Why? Because they want and 
					need to make the purchase..... MONEY and PROFIT. And they 
					don't want the customer to walk and lose the opportunity to 
					buy the diamond at a fraction of the actual wholesale price. 
					If that customer walks, you know that they are never coming 
					back. And if you have insulted the customer with your "Buy 
					Presentation" or your  "Buy Offer", you know that they 
					are going to tell their friends and family what a rip-off 
					and idiot you are. We have all been there and it hurts 
					because  we know that we will lose a lot of future 
					customers, opportunity and profits.  
					      
					Just as there is and art, talent and skill to SELLING 
					diamond to retail customers, there is an art, talent and 
					skill to BUYING diamonds off the street from private 
					consumers who want to liquidate.  
					     
					Consumers who are selling an important diamond are smart, 
					they have done research, they know the approximate wholesale 
					price and they know what they paid for it (retail price). 
					Most likely they have already received offers from other 
					professional diamond buyers. If you are their first stop for 
					a price quote, don't expect them to just sell to you at your 
					lowball offer, they will not. The price that you quote for 
					the diamond needs to be a sharp fair market cash liquidation 
					price.  
					     
					You NEED to know what you are doing. You need to know how to 
					work the customer, your presentation needs to be 
					professional and you need to know what price to offer your 
					customer. You NEED to invest the few dollars and take the On 
					Line training program
					
					
					"How To 
					Buy Diamonds Off The Street" and if you have employees 
					they need to take it also. As for what price to offer for 
					the diamond, use the  "Cash Liquidation Price Chart" 
					offered here on
					
					
					TheBuyReport.com. , the subscription price is not 
					expensive or you can try the FREE TRIAL OFFER.    
					     
					 
					      
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					Have You Ever 
					Tried To Sell Your Diamond?
					By Edward Jay 
					Epstein
					     
					The diamond invention—the creation of the idea that diamonds 
					are rare and valuable, and are essential signs of esteem—is 
					a relatively recent development in the history of the 
					diamond trade. Until the late nineteenth century, diamonds 
					were found only in a few riverbeds in India and in the 
					jungles of Brazil, and the entire world production of gem 
					diamonds amounted to a few pounds a year. In 1870, however, 
					huge diamond mines were discovered near the Orange River, in 
					South Africa, where diamonds were soon being scooped out by 
					the ton. Suddenly, the market was deluged with diamonds. The 
					British financiers who had organized the South African mines 
					quickly realized that their investment was endangered; 
					diamonds had little intrinsic value—and their price depended 
					almost entirely on their scarcity. The financiers feared 
					that when new mines were developed in South Africa, diamonds 
					would become at best only semiprecious gems. 
					     
					The major investors in the diamond mines realized that they 
					had no alternative but to merge their interests into a 
					single entity that would be powerful enough to control 
					production and perpetuate the illusion of scarcity of 
					diamonds. The instrument they created, in 1888, was called 
					De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., incorporated in South 
					Africa. As De Beers took control of all aspects of the world 
					diamond trade, it assumed many forms. In London, it operated 
					under the innocuous name of the Diamond Trading Company. In 
					Israel, it was known as "The Syndicate." In Europe, it was 
					called the "C.S.O." -- initials referring to the Central 
					Selling Organization, which was an arm of the Diamond 
					Trading Company. And in black Africa, it disguised its South 
					African origins under subsidiaries with names like Diamond 
					Development Corporation and Mining Services, Inc. At its 
					height -- for most of this century -- it not only either 
					directly owned or controlled all the diamond mines in 
					southern Africa but also owned diamond trading companies in 
					England, Portugal, Israel, Belgium, Holland, and 
					Switzerland. 
					     
					De Beers proved to be the most successful cartel arrangement 
					in the annals of modern commerce. While other commodities, 
					such as gold, silver, copper, rubber, and grains, fluctuated 
					wildly in response to economic conditions, diamonds have 
					continued, with few exceptions, to advance upward in price 
					every year since the Depression. Indeed, the cartel seemed 
					so superbly in control of prices -- and unassailable -- 
					that, in the late 1970s, even speculators began buying 
					diamonds as a guard against the vagaries of inflation and 
					recession. 
					     
					The diamond invention is far more than a monopoly for fixing 
					diamond prices; it is a mechanism for converting tiny 
					crystals of carbon into universally recognized tokens of 
					wealth, power, and romance. To achieve this goal, De Beers 
					had to control demand as well as supply. Both women and men 
					had to be made to perceive diamonds not as marketable 
					precious stones but as an inseparable part of courtship and 
					married life. To stabilize the market, De Beers had to endow 
					these stones with a sentiment that would inhibit the public 
					from ever reselling them. The illusion had to be created 
					that diamonds were forever -- "forever" in the sense that 
					they should never be resold.      
					continue -
					
					
					CLICK HERE    
					Professional Diamond 
					Buyer Training Fall 2012, MIS 
					     With today's economy 
					and competitive markets, PROFESSIONAL Diamond Buyer Training 
					may be more important than PROFESSIONAL Sales Training. On 
					the back end of our industry (buying off the street) there 
					is big money and profits to be made .... and today, with 
					soft retail sales, we need that back end money and profits 
					more than ever. We provide you, your employees and your 
					company with that necessary PROFESSIONAL Buyer Training. That's what we do. We know 
			how the top most successful Buyers and Companies operate, and they 
			are professional and good. No matter how much experience you have or 
			how good you think you are, our goal is to make you even better so 
			that you earn the customers trust and confidence and you win the 
			BUY. You need to be better. 
			  "How To Buy Diamonds Off The 
			Street", an exclusive industry training program,  will help you 
			make money and increase your revenues and profits. In today's 
			economy, big companies, small companies, existing jewelers and 
			private individuals have sharpened their professional buying skills 
			and are buying more and more diamonds and fine jewelry off the 
			street, and they are making big money. It will help you purchase 
			fine quality diamonds at approximately 1/5 - 1/2 of current 
			wholesale prices. Then, you can sell it retail and increase your 
			margin or you can flip it on the wholesale end and still make big 
			money.   
			     Professional Buyer Training, to buy,  
			is just as important as professional sales training, to sell.   
			Don't think for one minute that a consumer who has a GIA 
			certificated 1.04 carat G VS1 round diamond ex, ex, none is going to 
			just walk up to you and sell you the diamond for $2,000.00. In 
			today's economy it's just not going to happen. The consumer is going 
			to check prices on the Internet and then go to 3 - 5 professional 
			diamond buyers. Whoever makes the best and most professional 
			presentation and offers a fair cash liquidation price will end up 
			buying that diamond. And, they will make good money when they flip 
			it or retail it. They will most likely end up paying about 
			$2,800. - $3,500. Then, they will retail it and make a huge profit 
			margin or they will flip it on the wholesale end, a few days later, 
			and make $1,500 - $3,000 profit.   
			     For every 
			ten (10) customers who come to you to sell their diamonds, what is 
			your closing ratio or successful buying percentage. Most likely 1 - 
			2 out of 10 or 10% - 20%. Well, what if it were 40% - 60% OR MORE 
			and you paid a fair market cash liquidation price? How good would 
			that be? Big money, big profits!!!! 
					LEARN MORE -
					CLICK HERE    | 
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								Which Diamond Grading Certificate is Best? 
								Don’t Buy the Certificate!
								
								February 10th, 2010 by James L. Sweaney, 
								CGA, FGA. GG 
								
								
									We posted this about a 
									year ago–with the tough economy, this 
									insider information is more pertinent than 
									ever, so we’ve tweaked the original blog a 
									bit–here it is again.
									      
									In their quest for the best value, consumers 
									looking to buy a diamond often make the 
									mistake of giving equal weight to diamond 
									grading certificates. Diamond grading 
									certificates/reports are issued by various 
									laboratories for the purpose of identifying, 
									measuring and weighing, and grading a 
									particular diamond. These reports are
									not appraisals. 
									
									      
									One problem is that even though the various 
									labs all use the diamond grading 
									system/language developed in the 1950′s by 
									the Gemological Institue of America (GIA), 
									each lab has its own internal methods, 
									standards, experience and skill levels. 
									
									      
									Another issue is independence. The GIA 
									decided early on that their lab should be a 
									disinterested third party, independent of 
									the buying and selling of the gems. To this 
									day, GIA is very careful to maintain the 
									“arms length’ rule and does not participate 
									in buying, selling, or appraising diamonds 
									or colored gemstones in any way. However, 
									all labs, including GIA, do charge for their 
									expert grading services–the fees are usually 
									paid by the diamond merchants who own the 
									stones. 
									
									      
									Many of the other labs are profit making and 
									some are closely affiliated with the firms 
									for whom they grade diamonds–and this 
									relationship is not always apparent to the 
									ultimate consumer. The important thing to 
									remember is that even though diamond grading 
									reports/certificates may look very similar, 
									but the quality 
									of the information can vary 
									significantly. Our case history reported 
									below shows just how much this disparity can 
									mean in dollars. 
									   
							 
						 
					 
					
						
							
								
									
									      
									Consumers tend to shop by comparing prices 
									using the grades stated on grading 
									certificates as their basis of 
									comparison–the internet makes it very easy 
									to do this. The grading reports all look the 
									same and have what appears to be the same 
									information, so this seems like a fool proof 
									way to shop prices. 
									
									A stone 
									graded SI1 F by one grading laboratory sells 
									for 30% less than a stone of similar weight 
									graded SI1 F by another grading laboratory, 
									so you buy the less expensive stone. You’d 
									be stupid to spend more than you have to, 
									right? The grading paper says it’s the same 
									as these other stones, must be true, lots of 
									dollars, good deal, right? 
									
									Wrong! We 
									call this “Buying the Certificate.” The case 
									history of an insurance appraisal we did of 
									a 3-carat round diamond and ring shows just 
									how much a diamond grading certificate can 
									affect the price of a diamond. 
									
									During the 
									take-in procedure and before looking at the 
									grading report, I gave this particular stone 
									a preliminary grade of SI2 clarity, H or 
									possibly I color. The stone was nicely cut, 
									but the inclusions within were positioned so 
									that they reflected throughout the stone, 
									much like a kaleidoscope. In diamond 
									grading, we call this a “reflector” and 
									usually deduct 1/2 to 1 clarity grade 
									depending on the impact of the reflections. 
									And the stone had a somewhat darkish look 
									overall. 
									
									So I was 
									really surprised when the client disclosed 
									that he had purchased the stone as 
									“colorless” (the range of D-F) and that it 
									had a grading certificate from EGL showing 
									the clarity as SI1 and the color as F. Turns 
									out he had purchased the stone from a dealer 
									in downtown LA who assured him that it was a 
									really super deal at $35,000 for the ring 
									and who gave him a “feel good” appraisal for 
									$72,000. 
									
									My 
									research of comparable items actively being 
									marketed showed the current wholesale prices 
									for well cut 3 ct. round SI1 F diamonds
									graded by EGL labs 
									ranged from $7,950 to $10,100 per carat and 
									averaged about $9100 per carat. Multiply 3 
									cts x $9100, add 26% markup on the diamond, 
									about $2000 for the 18K ring and voila! —My 
									appraisal was for $36,500, within 4% of what 
									he said he paid 
									
									A survey 
									of well cut 3 ct round diamonds graded SI1 F
									by GIA averaged 
									about $13,600 per carat—almost 50% more. I 
									also checked prices for well-cut 3 ct rounds 
									graded by GIA as SI2 H color (my original 
									grading). What do you know – the price range 
									of the 39 SI2 H stones I checked was $7,350 
									to $10,080 per carat! Virtually the same 
									price range as the stones graded SI1 F by 
									EGL. 
									
									The lesson 
									is that the market knows the reality–diamonds 
									are what they are, regardless of what a 
									piece of paper says. My years as a 
									professional diamond grader and 
									diamond-grading supervisor at the 
									Gemological Institute of America (GIA) told 
									me that this stone should not be graded SI1 
									F. The marketplace confirmed what I knew to 
									be true. 
									
									As sellers 
									of diamonds, we at Mardon always recommend 
									diamonds graded by GIA or AGS because we 
									know the quality of their work. Their 
									grading is the most consistent and the most 
									conservative. These are the two labs most 
									respected in the marketplace, period. 
									Moral of 
									the story–When you buy a diamond, don’t 
									make the mistake of buying the certificate.
									Don’t just look for the lowest price. 
									Look at the stone, and if you can, compare 
									it with a similar stone side by side. Most 
									importantly, work with a diamond 
									professional, preferably an experienced 
									gemologist who can help you play the grading 
									certificate game and win!  
							 
						 
					 
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