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ON BUYING A DIAMOND
If
a diamond should be other than the above explanation, it will be either
shallow (or fish eye), which would give the diamond a hollow
appearance. If it should be too thick, the diamond would appear
blackish.
The
next consideration is color. Diamonds sold for commercial use are of
the fine Blue White color down to shades of yellow or brown. A slight
shade in color has an effect on the value of a diamond. Here again,
having confidence in your first class jeweler, plays an important part.
It is difficult to "carry" color in your eye for comparative purposes.
It is equally difficult, if not impossible, to explain to the layman
what really constitutes a Blue White Diamond. For commercial purposes,
I would say that a blue white diamond should not have any trace of
color.
The
next consideration is perfection. Here is another reason why your first
class jeweler plays an important part. A diamond, to be perfect, must
be free from the minutest imperfection, such as a pin point or a very
slight line, and the perfect diamond is determined with the aid of a
ten-power loupe. It would be useless to say that a layman, in
purchasing a diamond, could determine the minutest imperfection even
with the aid of a ten-power loupe.
In
other words, says Mr. Kafka, (1) figure out whether you want quality or
quantity; (2) get a reliable jeweler; (3) don't delude yourself that
you can determine quality through a loupe unless you are trained to do
so; and 4, 5, 6— and all the way to 100) get a reliable jeweler!
The
latter reiteration may seem to be overemphasizing a piece of advice,
but it is all-important. The average diamond purchaser knows nothing
whatever about diamond values. He—or she—knows nothing e,ven about
sizes. During a recent nation-wide survey several thousand men and
women, including college students as well as elderly persons, were
asked to estimate the carat size of certain imitation diamonds
submitted to them. Only about half of them came even reasonably close
to the correct size. Taking a one-carat stone, 67 per cent couldn't
decide what carat it was,
(225)
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