Top 5 Myths About Diamonds

Mark: Hi it’s Mark from Top Local Lead Generation and we’re here with Sheetal Gupta of Maharani Jewels in Vancouver. How’re you today Sheetal?

Sheetal: I’m doing really well, thank you so much Mark.

Mark: So we’re going to talk about myths about diamonds. What are the top 5 myths about diamonds?

Sheetal: That’s a great question, thanks so much for asking Mark. Let’s start with the first one. The first one is that a guy needs to spend three months salary on an engagement ring. That’s a question that I get asked all the time and the answer to that is that it’s just an opinion. It was a campaign that was run several years ago by De Beers which stated that guys had to spend three months salary on an engagement ring and that’s, it is just a myth, it’s an opinion, you can spend as much on a ring as would make sense to you. So that’s the first one.

The second one is that diamonds of the same size cost the same. So here I’m referring to white diamonds and lets say we’re looking at a one carat diamond, so that all one carat white diamonds cost the same. That is the second myth. You could have a one carat white diamond cost $1,000 you can have a one carat white diamond cost $40,000 and the difference is quality. So in quality we spoke about this before, it’s the colour, it’s the clarity and it’s the cut, carat is just an additional factor but not the only factor that determines value.

The third myth is that diamonds are a terrible investment. This is an important myth to clarify because it’s not true. Diamonds hold more value per milligram than any other traded commodity or element in the world and it’s the smallest, lightest and the most concentrated form of wealth that’s traded in the world today and on average in the last 50 years, diamond values actually increased between 10 to 14 percent and is continuing to increase. If you look at and follow the famous Sotheby’s and Christie’s auctions, you will see how diamonds consistently and continuously over the past decade have been bought for well above their asking values. The other thing is that if we look at diamonds as a luxury item, comparable luxury items are luxury cars, luxury handbags, luxury shoes and none of those hold or increase in value the way a diamond does, and particularly certain types of diamonds, such as colour diamonds or high quality diamonds. It is important however, to understand quality and to be able to purchase the diamond  from a reliable source. So the price transparency and the quality assurance is important in looking at investing in diamonds.

The next myth about diamonds is that all diamonds come from Africa. That is actually false because 90% of diamonds come from a combination of Africa, Canada and Russia. Canada and Russia actually combined account for over 40% of the diamonds that are produced in the world. So Africa definitely produces a large number of them but Canada and Russia are huge producers and with a new mine that is actually being opened up in Canada, the production from Canada will increase significantly. So we are going to see larger volumes of diamonds coming out of Canada in the coming years.

And I think that covers all 5, have I covered all 5? I think have - oh actually I have the last one. The fifth myth is that 50% of the diamonds in the world are blood diamonds and that is 100% false. I know that a lot of people watched the film Blood Diamond and the film portrayed that idea that every other diamond that you buy in North America is a blood diamond, but as a result of the United Nations working together creating the Kimberly Process, less than 1% of the diamonds worldwide today are conflict diamonds. So that’s it, there you have it, those are the 5 myths about diamonds.

Mark: So if you’re looking for a diamond and you want an expert to guide you in the process, Sheetal is the person to call in Vancouver - give her a call at 604-727-0149 - you must book ahead to be able to go to her boutique or check out her website maharanijewels.com. Thank you Sheetal.

Sheetal: Thank you so much Mark.