Hypnotic diamonds

SHRADHA PAL

KATHMANDU: Remember the story of king Midas? The greedy king who wanted lots of gold, wealth to be precise? He was so blinded by his greed that he paid the price by turning his daughter into a gold statue. Everyone knows the moral of the story, which is well received, but everyone at some point of time can relate to that ‘greed’, it’s human after all. And if you haven’t had this humanly experience then diamond jewelleries will do the trick.

The lustre of those gleaming devils will tempt you to get everything available at the store. But it doesn’t take long for the reality to strike. Depending on your budget you will end up buying something or walk out empty hand. Or perhaps be determined to save some cash to purchase one piece in the future. Keeping the enticement factor aside for a while, think about buying diamonds as an investment! After all spending such a huge amount should have some returns.

Keep in mind

That brings us to the 4c’s — colour, clarity, cut and carat (it has to be in this order). “Whiter the diamond, the better is the clarity and more valuable is the diamond,” explains Kavindra Modi, CEO at DeZiner, Damas Jewellery Pvt Ltd, Durbar Marg. However, here the myth is the larger the size of the diamond, the more valuable it is. The truth is “carat is important but it the least important out of 4c’s,” says Amir Maharjan, executive director at Classic Diamond Jewelleries,

Pulchowk.

Colour being the first in the slot is classified from D to Z where D,E and F are the best ones, “which is not available here because it’s too costly,” says Modi. The best available in the market is G that is the white diamond. Moreover, affordable with good quality are G and H.

Maharjan on the same point adds that they have G, H, I and J, “which are near colourless diamonds”.

Coming to clarity, lesser the inclusion in a diamond, clearer it is with a whopping price tag. But a layman cannot see the flaws. “We use 10X to look into the flaws and if it’s clear then the diamond is perfect, but if a higher magnifying glass is used the flaws can be visible,” mentions Maharjan.

The cut of the diamond is another aspect where the perfect cut gives the best lustre. Good proportion or the ideal cut has the best brilliance. But do not confuse it with shape, which is the outer portion like round brilliant, oval, princess cut, marquise, pear shaped et cetera. Out of these the most popular ones in Nepal is “round brilliant,” as per Maharjan and Modi.

Carat in simple terms is weight of the diamond. With all the above factors plus the size makes the diamond rare and very expensive. If there are two diamonds with same carat, the price may not be same, because it depends on the colour, clarity and cut. Also a smaller diamond does not have to be cheaper than bigger one, again for the same reason. Apart from 4c’s make sure to get the certificate after you purchase the diamond. This assures whatever the quality is promised is given in written. “We provide the certificate for this,” Maharjan and Modi guarantee. Whereas at Shree Ganapati Jewellers, New Road, “we don’t give certificate, but we have no problem providing it on request,” says Shakti Kumar Begani, owner of the showroom.

Products and

services

Diamonds at these stores are brought from different places. “We get most of our diamonds from India and others are from Belgium and Israel. Also we assure there won’t be even a carat’s difference in our jewellery,” says Maharjan. At DeZiner, all the products are designed and manufactured in Surat, India “because 80 per cent of the world’s best diamond is from here”. Moreover, every piece here is unique and the designs are updated every three months. “If the old stock is still left then we dismantle it and make new designs out of it.”

As per Begani, the products are brought from Mumbai and Surat, India, “but it is manufactured in Nepal. Also we have two designers for jewellery one from Mumbai and the other from the UK.”

They also have 24X7 customer care service.

Investment

Some say it is good to invest in diamond while others disagree. So putting it to rest both Maharjan and Modi advise, “It is good investing in diamond, given you get the best quality diamond with 4c’s or else it’s not worth it.” Modi further adds that it has tremendous growth, more than gold.

Besides Maharjan informs for the customer’s benefit “we provide 100 per cent return guarantee that is exchange policy without

deduction”.

However, Modi warns that 100 per cent buy back guarantee is a misconception, because it’s on in voice value. Simply putting, if you are selling your diamond and do not get profit out of it then “you are being cheated”.