Offline
Tonight’s Marketplace should be a good one: “The Real Deal on Diamonds”. CBC investigates the retail diamond business, described as “Sending diamonds to a lab to find out if customers are getting deal, going under cover to see how far retailers will go to sell customers the sparkle.”
Purchasing a diamond differs from buying most items such as electronics, furniture, appliances, clothes etc where a person can see the item, read reviews, compare, and then choose. The intangible with precious gems is that there needs to be trust in the seller. Unless a person is a gemologist or mineralogist and has the expertise to examine the stones, the seller holds the sparkly upper hand. Plus there’s usually a hefty amount of emotional investment in this type of purchase. (Not so much with a fridge.) As well, diamonds can now be manufactured, in other words, they’re not all sourced from a mine.
If anyone is, or will be, in the market for a diamond, here’s a link to a basic explanation of diamond imperfections, or “inclusions.” It’s something most sellers would rather not acknowledge to potential buyers:
Ten years ago CBC investigated Spence Diamonds operating out West regarding warranty problems:
(I haven’t seen any indication that Spence is involved with tonight’s Marketplace.)
Offline
I am currently not in the market for a diamond purchase, nor will I be in the immediate future. However, it should be an interesting and informative Marketplace episode.
Offline
"Plus there’s usually a hefty amount of emotional investment in this type of purchase. (Not so much with a fridge.)"
I beg your pardon? I spend a great deal of emotional currency when purchasing large appliances. LOL
Last edited by DaCosta (February 17, 2023 2:55 pm)