faq watch out for ...

• Absolutely! First of all, any diamond as from 0.4Ct should be accompanied by one of the world's three leading certificates: either from the HRD or IGI in Antwerp or the USA based GIA.
  Other certification may be less accurate.
  And take care: many certificates presented online are dummies or fakes, this in particular at the online auctions and mass diamond suppliers on the internet!
• You should inform yourself about the priorities you set to your diamond's budget. Do you prefer color to clarity? Do you prefer size to color and clarity or will you go for the very top?
  In any case, and I cannot emphasize this enough, the cut should be perfect to near perfect! So look for VG (VeryGood) cuts.
  The reason is simple: cut is what you see!
  I would even go as far as to state that it is sometimes better to buy a lower quality (color/inclusion) diamond with a perfect cut than to buy a gem quality with a poor cut.
• The cut being the most important factor of the four c's to a sparkling diamond - and the hardest to judge - I would advise to refrain from buying a diamond without seeing it. Always ask to see the diamond first under 10x magnification BEFORE you make a purchase.
• I strongly recommend NOT to buy any carat weight that ends in .00 such as 1.00ct or 2.00ct.
  We, the diamond traders look at these stones with suspicion because most of the times the polisher has had instructions to do whatever necessary to keep the stone from becoming 0.99 or 1.99 ct.
  I have seen diamonds that still had a bit unpolished (rough) just to maintain the commercially interesting 2.00ct weight!
• Remember, not two natural diamonds can be the same, a diamond is a carbon crystal formed by nature; if a diamond is offered to you at a price that seems a bargain: get suspicious, most likely it is a poor cut or has poor proportions. Or its inclusions are poorly positioned. Or worse: a corner or the girdle is brittle thin or the diamond was treated, or bleached by high-pressure treatment which makes the diamond brittle too.
• Switching diamonds by the setter or the cleaner? Little risk this may happen, but why not just prevent it? At Diamond House we are happy to service you by laser-inscripting the reference number of the diamond certificate onto the diamond girdle. Invisible to the human eye without a 10x magnifying loupe, but always there for you to check when in doubt!