Diamond Switching

Some people will tell you this never happens. I'm here to tell you it does happen because it happened to me, and at a jeweler I trusted and everyone in the area told me could be trusted.

The diamond switch can be done very fast by someone with a lot of practice. Don't believe anyone who tells you a minute or two "isn't enough time."

What happens is you take your diamond for cleaning or to have the prongs adjusted - or something. Maybe you browse the showcases while it's being done. Whatever you're doing, you aren't watching the bench jeweler who is doing the work on your jewelry. It doesn't take them long to switch your diamond for a similar-size CZ.

The reason this works so well is because they have complete deniability by the time you realize a switch has been made. In most cases, a good-quality CZ will fool you for months, possibly even years (the brilliance of CZs fades over time - eventually you will notice the difference). The more time that passes between the switch and its discovery, the more deniability they have. Quite simply - you can't prove anything unless you discover the switch while you're standing in the store.

How do you prevent this?

1. Never let your diamond out of your sight. When you take it for a cleaning or a prong adjustment, let them know that you insist on watching the entire time. If the jeweler protests, go to another jeweler. No reputable jeweler will refuse this request.
2. If you must leave it for more extensive work, go over the anatomy of the diamond with the jeweler before you leave it. Let them know you're familiar with your diamond and how it looks. If you don't have a certificate, go over the qualities of the diamond with them and map any inclusions. If you have a certificate, that's even better - take it with you and show it to them, go over the inclusions and make sure both of you agree that the diamond you are leaving matches the certificate. The whole idea of this exercise is to let the jeweler know that you know what your diamond looks like. When you pick it up, repeat the process to make sure you are getting the same diamond back.

Many jewelers have a device that "pings" the stone and beeps to let them know it's a diamond and not a CZ. Don't trust this process. The device may not be accurate or it may be rigged. The only way you can tell you are leaving the store with the same diamond you brought is by following one of the steps above.

My Story

I've had a lot of people ask me "how could you not know?" My diamond was a very high-quality, GIA-certified diamond. One of the remarkable things about it was it had a lot of flash. On the theory that it's hard to lose something you wear all the time, I rarely took my ring off, even to wash my hands. I used a toothbrush to clean the diamond and a couple times a year took it in to the jeweler for cleaning. Because I wore the ring all the time, the band frequently needed adjustments - I'd gain weight, lose weight or the band would become misshapen. The jewelry store was one of the few places I took off the ring.

I did notice something different about the diamond but it never occurred to me that a jewelery I had gone to for years couldn't be trusted and at that time, I didn't even know that switching is a very common scam. I had hit the ring very hard on a metal door frame and one of the prongs was loose. At the particular store I went to, they used the device that beeps if it's a diamond. However, they didn't do this if you weren't leaving the stone - so for cleaning or just tightening a prong, there was no check of the stone. I believe the stone was switched when I took it in to have the prong tightened.

Over the next few months, I noticed the diamond looked different, but I attributed it to a need for a good cleaning. Approximately a year after the prong adjustment, I took the ring in to the jeweler's to have the band adjusted. Because that required me to leave it, they "pinged" the stone - and told me it was not a diamond. I was shocked. I told the owner that was impossible - the only place I removed the ring was in her store. She insisted that I must have taken it somewhere else and forgotten. It was my word against hers.

Still, I had difficulty believing that this had actually happened. I did not leave the ring with her that day. I took it and went with the certificate to a forensic jeweler in the area, who removed the stone from the ring and weighed it. CZs weigh more than diamonds and that is the fastest way to determine the difference. Indeed, the stone weighed over 3 carats, when it should have weighed 1.01 carats. I was a victim of one of the oldest jewelry thefts in the business.

It wasn't just the loss of a high-quality, expensive diamond that upset me. That diamond was the first gift my husband gave me. It was my engagement diamond and represented over 18 years of marriage and our commitment to each other. It had a lot of sentimental value. A replacement might look the same, but it would never be the same.

You can report the theft to the police, but there won't be anything they can do about it. The only reason for filing a police report is so they can see if there's a pattern established with that particular jewelry store.

You should also be aware that your homeowner's insurance policy won't cover this theft, as it doesn't take place in your home. If you have a rider on your policy to cover your diamond(s), make sure it covers all types of losses.

The 4 C’s

Buying a diamond (or any precious gem) doesn't have to be an overwhelming experience. Probably the most basic thing to know is what is known as "the 4 C's" - cut, color, clarity and carat.

Cut

The brilliance of a diamond depends heavily on the cut. The cut refers to the diamonds refractory qualities (or what makes a diamond sparkle), not the shape of the diamond (round, emerald, princess, etc.) The quality of the cut makes a big difference in how a diamond looks. A good cut gives the diamond its brilliance, the "flash and fire" that we want to see from the magnificent stones.

The above diagram shows the anatomy of a cut. Light enters the table and travels through the pavilion, where it is reflected from one side to the other before reflecting back out of the diamond through the table and to the observer's eye, producing the flashy, fiery effect that makes a diamond so alluring.

If the pavilion is too shallow or too deep, the light does not refract properly. It will reflect out the sides or the bottom instead and loses the flash and fire characteristics that are such an essential part of the diamond experience.

Variance in proportions can be difficult for an amateur to ascertain, even if you are well read on the subject. Buying a diamond that has been GIA certified takes a lot of the guesswork out of buying diamonds, but very few diamonds are certified by GIA or any other certifying agency.

The GIA has detailed information on diamond anatomy.

Color

Color refers to the presence or absence of color in white diamonds. There are colored diamonds but the grading scale refers to white diamonds. A colorless diamond, because it allows more light to pass through than a colored diamond, emits more sparkle and fire. The whiter a diamond's color, the greater its value.

Most diamonds found in jewelry stores run from colorless to near-colorless with slight hints of yellow or brown. Fancy color diamonds are the exception and run outside this range. This article is about white diamonds (fancy color diamonds and other colored stones will be covered in other articles).

The color grading scale beings with D, which represents a colorless white diamond, and travels down the alphabet to Z. Diamonds rated D through F are the most valuable and desirable because of their rarity. Diamonds rated G through I show virtually no color that is visible to the untrained eye and would be a perfectly acceptable choice.

Clarity

Clarity refers to the presence or absence of inclusions within or blemishes on a gemstone. For the purposes of grading, all flaws are called inclusions.

Inclusions include flaws such as air bubbles, cracks, and non-diamond minerals found in the diamond. Blemishes include scratches, pits, and chips. Diamonds with no or few inclusions and blemishes are more highly valued than those with less clarity because they are more rare. The clarity rating scale is as follows:

• F
  Flawless: No internal or external flaws. Extremely rare.
• IF
  Internally Flawless: no internal flaws, but some surface flaws. Very rare.
• VVS1-VVS2
  Very Very Slightly Included (two grades). Minute inclusions very difficult to detect under 10x magnification by a trained gemologist.
• VS1-VS2
  Very Slightly Included (two grades). Minute inclusions seen only with difficulty under 10x magnification.
• SI1-SI2
  Slightly Included (two grades). Minute inclusions more easily detected under 10x magnification.
• I1-I2-I3
  Included (three grades). Inclusions visible under 10x magnification AS WELL AS to the human eye. Buying a diamond with this grade of clarity isn't recommended.
  

For grades F through SI, the clarity grade affects a diamond's value, not the diamond's unmagnified appearance.

Diamonds in the VVS and VS range are excellent choices if you have the money to spend on the higher grade. However, on a budget, the SI grade is very acceptable, as the inclusions are not visible to the naked eye.

Carat Weight

A carat is a unit of measurement, it's the unit used to weigh a diamond. One carat is equal to 200 milligrams, or 0.2 grams. We all know that the larger the diamond, the higher the price.

Up to 1 carat weight, you will find diamonds reasonably affordable in all cuts, clarity and color ranges. The price rises dramatically at the 1-carat mark. If you are on a budget but really want a flashy, you may want to consider looking for a diamond that is just under (but close to) 1 carat in weight or go with less carat weight but a better grade of cut, clarity and color to ensure the flash and fire that make diamonds of any size a pleasure to look at.

This is just the short lesson on the 4 C's. We'll be going into more detail in additional articles, but this is enough to get you started on your journey!