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Diamond Education
MyGemologist - Sign up for FREE to get your own personal diamond expert from DCI. Diamond Articles - Entertaining and educational stories, secrets, and MUST HAVE information about buying diamonds. Photo Gallery - Soon we will be posting pictures of diamonds so you can see how to compare Cut, Clarity, Color, and Carat. FAQs - Get fast answers about buying diamonds, finding jewellers, fake diamonds and much more! Ask the Diamond Guy TM - If you still have questions after viewing the other Diamond Education sections ask Fred!

Diamond Articles

A wealth of information to help you become an informed buyer

Before you make that special purchase, there is much you need to know so that you get the best diamond you can for the most fair price. After reading these articles you will have begun your training as a “Diamond Jedi.” All are written by Fred Cuellar The Diamond Guy®, with many excerpts from his best-selling book, “How to Buy a Diamond.

The 4 C’s

How Much Is A 1Ct VS1, G?

This may seem like a reasonably easy question for someone in the jewelry industry to answer but it’s actually quite difficult if the quote is to be accurate...

How to Buy a Diamond: The 4 C’s

A quick look at Carat, Clarity, Color, and Cut

Carat Weight

Where did the “ideal size” of a 1 carat diamond come from?

Clarity Grading Scale

Reference information on how to spot the clarity of a diamond.

Color Grading Scale

How a diamond’s color grade affects its value.

Color Typing

See why two diamonds with similar specs vary widely in price.

Cuts

View the most popular diamond shapes.

True Weight

A 1 carat diamond is 1 carat, right? Not necessarily!

Clarity Spotting

Clarity grading for beginners.

Buying Diamonds

The Truth Behind BLING: Science or Gimmick?

What is the #1 requirement we have of a diamond? Hint: see title of article….

The Great Diamond Crash

If I had to take a guess, I would estimate that there are over one billion carats of diamonds in the hands of consumers.

Who's Your Jeweler? & How They Categorize You There are three categories of jewelers. Come check out who they are.

Bonded Jewelers

Why buying a bonded diamond is great.

Buying Diamonds on the Internet

Can you get a good deal on the web? Fred explains the pros and cons.

Buying Shy

Save some BIG money by getting almost the size you want.

Diamond Value Work Sheet

Ask Fred to appraise a diamond based on its specs!

Disposable Jewelry

How much jewelry sold is actually worth anything?

Fred’s Alphabet Rules

Five simple rules to remember when buying diamonds.

Fred’s B.E.S.T. Rules

Before you buy a diamond, use your B.E.S.T. judgement.

How to Sell a Diamond

What do you do when you have a diamond you no longer want?

Is it the Real Thing?

How do you tell if a diamond is real or fake?

The Imposters

Simulants and Synthetics

Imposters Too

Fred puts another round of C.Z.s to the test.

Imposters III

Fred evaluates two more C.Z. companies.

An Evening at Sothebys

The world's largest D color, internally flawless diamond ever brought to auction.

Who Will Help Me Now?

Once you buy a diamond, who should set it for you?

Outside the Box

Debating the Desire for a Diamond

Why do women want a diamond in the first place?

DeBeerios'Revolving Door - A Fairy Tale?

A long, long time ago (March 13, 1888) a man by the name of C.J. Streets discovered a land called DeBeerios. In this land he found many beautiful things...

Cell Mate or Soul Mate?

Picking Mr. or Miss Right.

Diamond Mysteries

Can you solve these 4 Whodunits?

Getting Into Shape

What a diamond’s shape tells about its wearer.

What Kind of Customer Are You?

Discover yourself and get the diamond that fits you.

Top Ten Signs

Trying to sleuth out whether or not he's going to propose? This article will help you on your quest.

Wedding Traditions

The answers to why we do what we do at weddings.

Reference

Prostituting Green

If you go to the "Going Green" website, you will find the following list of things to do to help the planet from A to Z.

Palladium VP (The New Palldium)

Readers will recall that when platinum prices started spiking a few years ago, that manufacturers were quick to tout alternative metals that could offer all the benefits of platinum (strength, durability, rarity, beauty) at an affordable price.

Palladium is not your Pal

Over 200 years ago a bloke by the name of William Hyde Wollaston was the first person to isolate Palladium. He also perfected the technique to obtain pure platinum.

Debeers Reaches $250mil Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- De Beers, the world's No. 1 diamond company, agreed to pay $250 million to settle lawsuits by U.S. consumers who alleged that the company fixed the price of gems from 1994 to 2005.

Platinum Doping

The platinum world is being turned upside down and I thought someone should let you know. Here is what I found.

Platinum Doping II

When does milk stop becoming milk?

Artificial Lighting

First Impressions on GIA's New Cut Grading System

Over the Rainbow

The ingredients that make up the colors of diamonds.

Certifiable

Lab grading reports. Are they just a piece of paper?

From Ziamond's Vault

Some Knock Your Socks Off Cubic Zirconias.

Bodyjewels

Last Christmas the top brass at Bodyjewels.com asked me to evaluate a few of their products...

A Platinum Primer

Questions and answers about this precious metal.

The New Synthetic Diamonds

Synthetics voyage into places no one has gone before.

Apollo Has Landed?

The continuing saga of synthetics...

The Flanders

A name rich in diamond history, but does this diamond deserve it?

12 Little Facts

Eye-opening statistics about diamond purchases.

61%

The magic number of table depth.

Diamond Slang

List of Slang terms that jewelers use.

Diamond Terms

Make sure you know these well before making your diamond purchase.

Exposé 1: The Rock Talks

Fred’s “Interview” sheds light on the history and popularity of the diamond.

GIA Classifications

How the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) grades diamonds.

GIA Goes to Court The following press release from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) details results of its internal investigation and action, following charges filed against GIA by Max Pincione.
GIA's Bribery Scandal Have diamond graders and/or supervisors been taking bribes to upgrade GIA diamond grading reports? How long has this been going on? When did it stop? How many graders and stones have been involved? Who are the bribers? What is the GIA doing to clean up its mess?

Myths About Diamonds 1

Don’t be fooled into believing these misconceptions.

Myths About Diamonds 2

More wives’ tales about diamonds.

Parts of the Stone

An up-close look at all the important parts of a diamond.

Dirty Diamonds

A dirty diamond knows no class!

Understanding the Diamond Trade

Building Noah’s Ark & Joining Lucy

When men began to increase in numbers on Earth and daughters were born onto them,2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of whom they chose.3

Blood Diamonds

Blood diamonds are synonymous with conflict diamonds. The term is designed to dramatically emphasize that behind the glamorous image of diamonds lies a web of corruption, influence peddling and brutality in some parts of the diamond-producing world.

*NEW* –Diamond futures may be on their way back as exchange-traded instruments, group says

If plans come together, diamonds may become a trader's best friend.

 

*NEW* – Miners unearth the world's biggest diamond

The 203 carat Millennium Star is the second biggest flawless diamond. The newly found stone could produce a stone even bigger.

State of the Union

As I have written recently the diamond industry is going through a dramatic evolution.

GIA’s Boyajian resigns, questions about grading lab scandal linger

William Boyajian, president of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), resigned on May 22, marking the latest casualty in a pay-for-upgrading scandal that has sullied the reputation of the educational organization and gem grading laboratory.

Potato Chips and Rough Diamonds?

I know you are asking yourself what on earth could these things have in common...

Most Wanted

The enemy of my enemy is my friend or is it the friend of my enemy is my enemy or there are no friends and just enemies?

Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?

Part 1 of the 3 part series, “Diamonds Are Not Forever” - De Beers' advertising slogan, "A Diamond Is Forever," embodied an essential concept of the diamond invention.
Caveat Emptor Part 2 of the 3 part series, “Diamonds Are Not Forever” - In 1977, in Los Angeles, a film producer, who had just closed his account with his stockbroker, received an unexpected call from a stranger with a distinct English accent. The caller, identifying himself as a representative of "De Beers Diamond Investments, Ltd...
Chapter Twenty-Two:
The Great Overhang
Part 3 of the 3 part series, “Diamonds Are Not Forever” - Except for those few stones that have been permanently lost, every diamond that has been found and cut into a gem since the beginning of time still exists today...

Fine Print

Are You Really Getting What You're Getting?

Fall of the Tablet of Truth

Fred’s fable about bonded diamonds.

Ice in Ice

More on the myth of the 'rarity' of diamonds.

High Definition Diamonds, Fact or Fiction?

Are they worth the cost?

Inscription Deception

Should you get your diamond laser inscribed?

Monarch Diamond

Watch out for this baked diamond, formerly known as the Pegasus Diamond.

Royal Asscher Diamond

See why Fred The Diamond Guy® likes this diamond so much.

See No Evil

Can the diamond industry regulate itself?

Tricks of the Trade

Don’t get duped by these tricks, gimmicks, and scams.

Warping

A crown and pavilion angle measurement trick.

What’s in a Name?

Is one brand of diamonds the best?

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Perfect Diamond. Perfect Price. Perfect, period.

 

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