Gemological Institute of America

260 Pages·2019·13.246 MB·English

Diamond
Essentials
1. Diamonds and Diamond Value
2. Clarity and Value
3. Color and Value
4. Cut and Value
5. Carat Weight and Value
6. The Daily Retail Business
7. Presenting Diamond Jewelry
Diamond Essentials Cut Supplement
6/2019

Diamond Essentials
Assignment 1 Diamonds and Diamond Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Assignment 2 Clarity and Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Assignment 3 Color and Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Assignment 4 Cut and Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Assignment 5 Carat Weight and Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Assignment 6 The Daily Retail Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Assignment 7 Presenting Diamond Jewelry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Diamond Essentials Cut Supplement . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
For Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
©©2019 The Gemological Institute of America
All rights reserved: Protected under the Berne Convention.
No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, transferred, or
transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without the
express written permission of GIA.
Printed in the United States.
Welcome to Diamond Essentials! This course is your introduction to the
wonderful world of diamonds. With the knowledge you gain from this
course, you’ll be able to:
• Demonstrate a solid foundation of diamond product knowledge and the
skills you need to present diamonds effectively
• Explain diamond clarity, cut, color, and carat weight to customers and help
them understand how these factors relate to the diamond’s value
• Discuss how gemological laboratories measure diamonds and grade them
for color, clarity, and cut
• Present the basics of recognizing and disclosing treated, laboratory-grown,
Cover photos
and imitation diamonds
(top to bottom):
Sylvia Bissonette/
J. Grahl Design • Advise customers about diamond durability, care, and cleaning
Valerie Power/GIA
• Demonstrate awareness of basic procedures for jewelry store security
Ashton Mining Limited
Martial Trezzini/Keystone/
AP Wide World Photos • Use product knowledge along with features and benefits to present
Eric Welch/GIA diamonds ethically with full disclosure
Robert Weldon/GIA
EyeWire/Getty Images
Diamonds and Diamond Value 1
Diamonds, Value, and the Four Cs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
What is a Diamond?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Meet the Four Cs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Clarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Cut. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Carat Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Why Diamonds are Forever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Hardness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Toughness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Learning from this Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Checking Your Progress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
The Final Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Help Isn’t Far Away. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
What’s to Come . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Key Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Key Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Questions for Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
1
Welcome to Diamond EssentialsAssignment 1. With the knowledge you gain
from this assignment, you’ll be able to:
• Understand and explain the Four Cs and how they relate to diamond rarity
and value.
• Define basic diamond clarity factors.
• Understand the relationship between diamond and color.
• Identify the major parts of a polished diamond.
• Explain how diamonds are weighed.
• Explain the three components of diamond durability.
2
Diamonds and Diamond Value
Rene Macura/AP Wide World Photos
Diamond jewelry can range from simple, traditional engagement rings to elaborate pieces like these.
Diamonds and Diamond Value
The staff at Sutton Jewelers was having its weekly sales meeting. Sutton
is a medium-sized store, part of a three-store chain, all in the same state.
The assembled sales associates were discussing some of their successful
sales of the past month. Just as important, they were also talking about
the ones that weren’t so successful.
“That sale I lost last Monday reminded me how important it is to use just
the right combination of product information and sales technique,” said
Adam Stone. Adam has worked at Sutton for 10 years, and is one of the
store’s top sales associates. His story was proof that even the best associate
can lose a sale.
“I knew the customer had shopped at other stores, and that he’d seen a
ring he liked somewhere else,” Adam continued. “I don’t know if it was
price or quality—I couldn’t pin him down. If he’d told me more about
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Diamond Essentials 1
Joel Beeson/GIA
Staff meetings allow sales associates to share their experiences and listen to others. This helps everyone
improve sales success.
what he’d seen, I could have focused on something specific. But he just
kept saying he’d seen something he liked better, and wouldn’t tell me any
more than that.”
“That’s frustrating,” said Janet Lee. Janet manages the store, and she
regularly holds meetings like this with the staff. “What did you do?”
“I started out right—I explained the quality of our diamonds,” Adam
replied. “But by the end, I was just hammering away about clarity grades
and color, and I forgot to sell. I’m afraid I was lecturing the poor guy. He
almost ran out of the store just to get away from me.”
“What do you think you could have done to save the sale?” Janet asked.
“I should have been more careful about the quantity of information I gave
him. And I should have asked specific questions to make him feel better
about telling me what he’d seen in the other store. Then I would have had
something to work with. I could have compared our diamonds’ qualities
to what he’d seen elsewhere.”
“What was he shopping for?” asked Carol James. Carol, who has worked
at the store for a couple of years, is also one of the store’s best sales
associates.
“An engagement ring,” Adam replied.
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Diamonds and Diamond Value
Sylvia Bissonette/J. Grahl Design
Bridal jewelry—engagement rings and wedding bands—is the type that’s most often
sold in retail jewelry stores.
“Then maybe it would have helped to talk about romance a little,” Carol
said.
“Probably,” replied Adam. “I started pushing so hard for the sale that I
missed the basics.”
“I asked because I had a similar situation last week,” said Carol. “There
was a couple shopping for a wedding set. They seemed to like what I
showed them, but wouldn’t commit to the sale. I finally figured out that
they had shopped around. When I asked, they admitted they had, and
they’d seen a set of rings they liked. They couldn’t remember any details
about it—just the fact that it cost a little less than the sets I’d been showing
them.”
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Diamond Essentials 1
KEY
CONCEPTS
Romance is an important factor in
diamond jewelry sales.
Devan Muir/iStockphoto
Diamonds have come to symbolize love. You can use romance, along with an explanation
of diamond quality, to present diamond jewelry with enthusiasm and confidence.
“I heard your presentation,” Janet said. “It was brilliant. Tell us what you
did.”
“I just did what Adam taught me when I first started working here,” said
Carol. “I needed to get them to relax a little, so I started asking about their
wedding plans—where they planned to honeymoon, that sort of thing. I
wanted them to loosen up and start talking about themselves.
“After they got more comfortable, I pointed out that the prices between
the two stores weren’t very far apart. I showed them how the quality of
our rings justified the price—that they were getting good value for their
money.
“I finally said that their love for each other was obvious, and that their
commitment deserved special rings, and while I didn’t know the quality
of the diamonds they’d seen in the other store, I could assure them that
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