At Gem Source we take great pride in educating our customers on all aspects of engagement rings, such as how to select the perfect stone and learning about stone quality. We received the following question from a prospective customer….
When is the best time of the year (if any) to buy a diamond engagement ring and why?
How to buy a diamond is far more important than what month of the year. I expect people to be in the market on their schedule, especially for an engagement ring. Here are a few simple ideas to stay on the right path to not only purchase well, but to make it a pleasant and rewarding experience:
First, ignore the discount ads, % off sales, etc., jewelry sales companies who lead with price as their main focus are almost never offering high quality goods.
Educate yourself, not by taking a class, just by using facts that are readily available, Gem Institute of America offers a free app you can download, search “GIA 4Cs”, excellent short videos which explain the value factors of cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. You can also learn more about diamonds on our website via our Diamond Search.
These facts are pertinent regardless what size, shape, or price range diamond you’re seeking. This really helps generate questions that are focused on quality rather than price. Avoid the natural knee jerk question nearly everyone has, “how much?” as long as possible.
Once you’ve settled on which shape diamond will suit, look first and last at cut quality. Each shape has a set of proportion parameters that determine how well they disperse and reflect light. Cut is by far the most important beauty factor, clarity and color only affect beauty on the negative end of each scale; quality of cut is what makes one diamond scream with brilliance while another just looks so so.
Having an organized priority list of questions will help you stay focused on a useful "give and take" regarding information with sales people. It will also let you know very quickly if the person you are speaking with is an expert on diamonds who cares about their work, or just someone focused on closing a deal.