Internet drives premium-cut diamond sales

From the GIA newsroom wrap up of the Tucson show:

Most of the panelists agreed that the Internet has been a major driver of premium-cut diamond sales. They said that measuring light performance of a diamond will become an important sales tool for store-based retailers because it can be easily demonstrated to consumers. Some noted that measuring light performance can also be applied to fancy shapes and proprietary cuts that are not yet graded for cut quality.

http://www.gia.edu/newsroom/issue/2798/2299/insider_newsletter_details.cfm#1

Diamond cut grades and the measurement of light performance in diamonds were the main topics at the Accredited Gemologists Association seminar Feb. 2 at the Marriott University Park, in Tucson.

The all-day program began with Al Gilbertson and Ilene Reinitz of GIA Research explaining how the Institute’s proposed diamond cut grading system was derived from a combination of computer modeling and visual observations. The grade takes into account seven components: fire, brightness, scintillation, weight ratio, durability, polish, and symmetry.

Peter Yantzer, director of the American Gem Society Laboratories, discussed the lab’s forthcoming princess cut grade and revised cut grade for round brilliants. The revised system will allow a much wider set of proportions for the top “0” grade than is currently permitted.

The second portion of the seminar featured a panel discussion on technology-based light-performance measuring systems. The members of the panel were Richard Drucker, president of Gemworld International Laboratories; Lalit Aggarwal, president of ImaGem; Don Palmieri, president of the Gem Certification and Appraisal Lab; Nicholas Del Re, manager of gemological services, EGL USA; Jean-Pierre Chalain, research director of the SSEF Swiss Gemmological Institute; and C. R. Beesley, president of the American Gemological Institute.

What will the jewelry stores use to measure light return???? That sounds like a long way off for most of them, regardless!!

Maxine there are many tools now http://www.ideal-scope.com/retail_sales_system.asp
Firescope
H&A''s viewers
Gemex BS
Gem Adviser and DiamCalc that work from a scan that can be done instore and opened with GA or DC.

Then there are the various types of grading reports including the new ones from AGS, Gemworld International Laboratories and ImaGem

Very interesting, it seems not being able to see stones in person forced a lot of us lay people to really do our due dilligence scouring information available through this forum and other websites. And now we end up with really beautiful diamonds! What could be better?

Garry,
Is this newly educated group of consumers lowering profit margins for diamond cutters? This may seem like an obvious question, but are they getting less from their rough because they have to cut to more stringent specs? Or are they just sending out different quality stones to their respective markets, meaning "quality" - on line, "lower quality" - mass stores?

The availability of more Ideal diamonds doesn''t necessarily equate to more lower quality diamonds being mass marketed. Maul stores were in business long before the boom of Ideal .com Vendors. IMHO, Ideals is a specialty market that has existed for quite some time its just regular folk didn''t have access to them. The Nice Ice''s and Good Old Gold''s were, and still are, few and far between. Cutters didn''t cut as many Ideals due to technology limitations. Ideals that were available went to high end markets. Cutting technology improved allowing cutters to produce better quality cuts with consistent reproduceabliity. Add to that .com businesses offering tons of information at the click of a mouse and the market for Ideals grows as well. Now Ideals aren''t just available in high end shops to "upper crust" clients or the occassional B&M creating a niche market locally. Anyone with a computer and internet access can find a .com Vendor who offers Ideal diamonds in nearly every price point, size, and taste (color/clarity combo) preference.

When you say that stores will measure light return, that''s great, but does that mean they will have to carry better quality? People who have posted here re: taking idealscope into stores have had quite mixed reactions....some don''t know what it is and others don''t seem to want that kind of scrutiny.......how do you think this will play out?

PQ has done an excellent summary Maxine.

Of course retailers who use cut grade toys instore must stock better stones to sell with them. They can still keep lower priced not so well cut stones - some people will always buy on price. But we are moving toward my goal of improving overall diamond cut quality.

Even my pet hate - 80% yeilding dead princess cuts are being held to ransom with AGS''s new standard.

I have said it before ....I would love for the day to come when well cut diamonds are the rule, rather than the exception!!! Then color and clarity would be the only other options...
But although some stores carry all cut qualities, other do not, because it would make their routine "fare" pale by comparison......(literally, and figuratively!!!! The well-cuts would OUTSHINE them , all the way around!!)