would you rather have an expensive, real diamond ring – or a really good stock?”
First off, I would never buy myself a diamond ring. Only my husband would ever buy one for me as a token of his love. And I’d take romance and love over money any day of the week. Plus if any romance of mine ever went bust, I could sell the diamond for a pretty penny – those things don’t depreciate. (Just kidding honey…) A stock sounds tempting. But the stock market is in such flux right now, that I couldn’t be certain of a sound return. What is a really good stock today, could be Enron or Borders tomorrow. Plus, diamonds are much sparklier than stocks!
Even with the markets the way they are, I’m going on the assumption that a really good stock will bounce back (eventually). I don’t really like wearing rings. For one thing, I lose them. They also catch on things. So I’d really only wear it when I needed to look particularly dressy. And if I’m not going to wear it much, then why have it? (If you can’t tell, jewelry isn’t a big priority with me.) With the proceeds from the eventual sale of the stock, however, I could buy a ring…or anything else I wanted. More realistically, though, I’d hang on to it until I really needed the money for something. If some disaster strikes and I needed money, it’d be much easier to sell the stock and realize a gain than it would be to sell the ring for its fair value.
DIAMONDS OF COURSE!
Diamonds are serious investment items! Diamonds hold their value and they are a lot more fun than stocks! One can’t wear a stock. Not only that, it’s boring reading the investment report everyday or checking the Dow Jones report to see whether I can be happy or need to start looking for a cliff to jump from because my investments went belly up.
Good diamonds never loose their value. The pivotal word here of course is Good. A diamond can be expensive and not be a good diamond. If seriously considering diamonds as an investment, take time to learn about the diamond industry. Nothing heavy duty, basic terminology and information. For instance which would you think is more important size or facets? Most people would probably say size, uh-uh. The more facets a diamond has, the more BLING! And we all love the bling. Ever go to a jewelry store and you see tiny diamonds, (well not soo tiny!), with amazing price tags. Because it’s not about the size, it’s about brilliance! BLING!
Talk to the jewelers, see what they’re about. Do they know their product or are they just trying to sell gems? A jeweler whose only comment is ‘this is a really good deal’, probably doesn’t have your interests at heart. A jeweler who takes time to talk to you, offers to show you various gems, including the good stuff in the back room, this person wants your business and your loyalty. He doesn’t want you to buy from him one time, but everytime. This jeweler will deal with you honestly. More importantly he will listen to you, understand what you’re looking for and deliver the goods to your delight everytime!
To buy quality diamonds you need to know and understand diamonds. Do your homework! Stock investors take time to research stocks before they make stock purchases. Do the same with your diamond investments. Find out where the diamonds your jeweler purchases come from. Are the gems from a reputable broker? Research the broker on the Internet. Find out their trade volume and their sales. Also see where the most sales occur, in the US or some other country.
Learn the lingo: facets, carots, iredescence, luminescence, brilliance, etc. To be a knowledgeable purchaser, you need to understand what jewelers are saying when they get excited and start speaking gemese! If they use a term you don’t understand ask them to explain, they’ll be glad to, because they know their best customer is a well informed one!
If you want to do diamonds as an investment, you want the best diamonds, which is not always synonymous with the most expensive. Diamonds can be expensive for a multitude of reasons. Make sure the diamonds you purchase as a investment are expensive for all the right reasons including: perfect size, lots of facets, to refract lots of light! bling, Bling, BLING!
Note: If you like diamonds but aren’t really into jewelry, you can always go for showcase pieces. There’s no law that says diamonds have to be mounted. You could have an unmounted iamond collection; featuring diamonds reclining leisurely on various demure colors of red, purle, blue velvet….,nestled safely in your vault. To be viewed by only your closest confididants, and at the occasional gala social gathering …..by invitation of course!
