ENGAGEMENT RING SCAMS

We have compiled a few things you should keep in mind when shopping around for your engagement ring. Be prepared to stumble upon a merchant that may employ one or more of the following tricks that may make you spend more on an engagement than you initially planned to. Although this list just serves as a basic overview, it is helpful in educating you about what pitfalls exist when buying an engagement ring. The basic rule to obey is: Verify, verify, verify. Never believe in what the jeweler claims to be the truth without having done research on your own. We will expose a few diamond scamming tactics. So what are the most common engagement ring scams being applied upon innocent customers?

The Loupe Scam

Typically, diamonds are being inspected with a loupe in order to magnify all inclusions and to evaluate the clarity of a diamond. The common standard being applied is to use at least a loupe that magnifies by a factor of 10. In case you utilize a less powerful one, minor or major issues with the diamond may not be seen and that is exactly what some shady jewelers bank on. They provide you with a weak loupe for evaluation purposes – Always check whether the magnifying instrument is a clean loupe with a factor of at least 10. If this loupe is not provided, ask for one.

Classy Diamond or Piece of Glass?

How to check whether it is a diamond or a piece of glass? Once you use a magnifying loupe, you can easily see the bubbly structure of glass at a magnification level of 10. This structure stems from the air contained within the glass and makes it easy to distinguish a real diamond from a piece of glass.

How to evaluate whether a gem is a diamond rather than a piece of cubic zirconia? Although this scam will rarely take place at a jeweler, you might be tricked by a street vendor to believe that a gem being presented to you is a real diamond. One of the easiest way to distinguish a diamond from cubic zirconia is to put a newspaper below the diamond. In case it is a real diamond, you will not be able to see through it. If you hold cubic zirconia in your hand, the letters will appear clear to you indicating a false diamond.

Fiat Lux! Or: How light bulbs can affect your judgement

One of the classic tricks being employed by shady jewelers is to play around with the lighting. You may know it from your local supermarket: Some of the products receive their lighting from special bulbs that make them appear more delicious, healthier and desirable. The same trick works with jewelry. If the jeweler uses bulbs that emit a certain wavelength of light, yellowish tones of a diamond will appear whiter to the innocent eye. One of the ways to avoid being scammed this way is to ask for proper paperwork by an independent diamond grading agency or to have a look at the diamond in regular light.