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In 2013, I wrote about the differences between white gold and platinum. Back then, 18kt white gold was still cheaper than platinum, however, for the past four years, platinum prices have been steadily falling and have come down to record lows compared with gold.
Last week I received brochures from both The Platinum Guild and World Gold Council, espousing the benefits of their respective metals. However, during the purchasing process many consumers take advice from a jewellery sales person and end up bereft of any useful facts on the subject.
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The early to mid-2000s proved to be the heyday for Australian diamond grading laboratories. At its peak, there were five major labs – ADGL, Auscert, Bauer Gem Labs, DCLA and GSL. Diamonds certified by these five labs dominated the Australian diamond industry – from chain stores to high end retailers. Nowadays, the popularity of these certificates have dramatically declined, at least one of the aforementioned labs has closed and no new labs have opened, including the much hyped, or some say maligned, EGL Australia.
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For nearly six years now, we have been analysing every single certified diamond we sell above 0.30ct. This analysis is designed to be complementary to GIA or AGS lab certificates, and includes a photo of the diamond, an Ideal-Scope or AGS ASET image, OGI Firetrace output, a hearts image and a couple of videos. All of this analysis can be seen for any one of our Crossfire or Signature Series diamonds.
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Last week, a furore erupted in the Australian jewellery industry over The JAA promoting Rapnet. Essentially, this promotion of Rapnet (which is a website which allows buyers and sellers from all around the world to trade diamonds) was seen by many as a way of bypassing local diamond wholesalers and giving business to diamond vendors overseas – certainly not what the JAA should want to promote?!
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A recent editorial in Jeweller Magazine calls for the banning of jewellery valuations on new jewellery, arguing that a piece of jewellery bought for $700 one day can then be mysteriously valued at $4000 the next day. The article then goes on to say that jewellery is the only everyday consumer product that valuations exist for, since TVs or furniture don’t have valuations.
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A fancy cut diamond, is defined as anything other than a standard round brilliant. The most popular include: Princess Cut, Emerald Cut, Asscher Cut, Cushion Cut, Pear Shape, Oval Shape, Radiant Cut, Heart Shape and Marquise Cut. However, many diamond buyers are still confused, especially when it comes to the cut quality of fancy shapes, as to what they should buy.
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Just like mobile phones have evolved over the past three decades, diamond cut grading has as well. Over the years, we’ve gone from assigning a cut grade by measuring a diamond’s table and depth to using advanced ray-tracing techniques to assign cut grades.
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With the collapse of Diamond Exchange this week, many people are doubting whether or not it is safe to buy diamonds online.
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In a recent article from The Israeli Diamond Portal, a diamond manufacturer states, when talking about a diamond’s “smile”:
“So it can be a big embarrassment for them when they see a certificate for a beautiful, lustrous diamond with a SI1 clarity grade compared to a certificate for a cloudy diamond with a higher clarity – VS1, for example.”
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