Posted on April 09 2016
Mark: Hi, it’s Mark from Top Local Lead Generation and we’re here with Sheetal Gupta of Maharani Jewels, the Diamond Lady in Vancouver. How’re you doing today Sheetal?
Sheetal: I’m doing very well, thank you so much, Mark.
Mark: So, we’re going to talk about — maybe the underside, the dark belly of jewelry, which is, sometimes there’s scams that happen. I know you don’t think it happens that much, and I actually haven’t heard it that often either, but it’s happened to us. We’ve bought some jewelry in to have appraised that my wife got as a present from her mom when she graduated many years ago, and it turned out to be that they were fake. So how do we avoid being scammed this way, as jewelry purchasers?
Sheetal: That’s a really great question, Mark. I think that there’s a huge fear among a certain segment of clients that, when they take in their jewelry to be repaired or appraised, or when they take in their jewelry to have it even cleaned — is what if their jeweller switches their diamonds? So there are a couple of different scenarios: the first being that you are in the market for an engagement ring, and you decide to deal with a wholesale jeweller who sells you a loose diamond and who then later also sets your diamond into a setting, whether it’s a ring or another piece of jewelry. Oftentimes clients will say that the diamond that they purchased was not was not the diamond they had in the finished setting. So what happened in between? Why was the diamond not the same? Could of it been switched in between?
First and foremost, I do want to say that this does not happen very often. I think that jeweller’s really worry about their reputation and they don’t want their reputation to be jeopardized. So the number of times that this happens is extremely rare, but in the rare case that it does, it can happen in a case where you have left the diamond with the jeweller and it’s taken to the goldsmith, the goldsmith may switch it because they’re dishonest and they are unethical, or the jeweller themselves is dishonest and unethical and they think that maybe the client would not know the difference. The value of their diamond may be tens of thousands of dollars but the value of the stone they switch it with may just be a couple of dollars. They may switch it with a cubic zirconia which is virtually worthless but may look a lot like their diamond. So in order to avoid this, there are a couple precautions that I think that clients can follow to ensure that this does not ever happen to them. I think the first thing is that when you are making a valuable investment,
it’s to understand your product. Each diamond is unique in it’s own way. It has certain characteristics which we call clarity characteristics which are unique to each diamond. It’s important that when you purchase your diamond that you go look at that diamond under a microscope and you identify what those characteristics are so that when you leave that diamond with the jeweller, you are able to examine those characteristics and then when you go and pick up that diamond you’re able to verify those.
At Maharani, I deal with diamonds that are certified, GIA certified which have an inscription on the actual diamond which you are able to look at under the microscope at the time you drop off your diamond and then verify it at the time of pick up. So when you have these systems in place, then there really is no room for any error to occur. Again there can be mistakes that happen when stones are at the workshop, it could be that there are many other diamonds and somehow by mistakenly they get switched. This is something that can happen by mistake and that’s really an honest mistake but if the jeweller is being unethical, if the jeweller is being dishonest, then they must ensure that as a client, that they are really educated about their diamond before they leave their valuables with the jeweller.
The other scenario I think which I mentioned originally was when you take your diamond in just for a simple cleaning or for a repair or to have it appraised. The jeweller may need to keep it with them overnight. You really need to make sure that you follow these precautions during this scenario as well. It can take a jeweller a matter of minutes to switch a diamond and it’s incredibly important that you do your due diligence with whatever service that you are doing for your diamond. I think that for me, I feel that it’s important that jewellers are extremely transparent and open about their practises and I think it’s incredibly important that I educate my clients, especially because clients are aware of these things and I think it’s my responsibility to educate them. I think we all like to trust our jeweller, you know we like to trust people around us but when the right systems are in place, I think that leaves everyone happy overall.
So thank you so much for allowing me to talk about this topic. I think that diamonds being switched is incredibly serious and I would like for this notion of jewellers being unethical and dishonest to be completely eliminated by me just helping with education and having transparency in the business.
Mark: so if you want an ethical jeweller, if you want someone who only deals with GIA certified diamonds that you can verify exactly, the numbers are right on there, you will never have a problem with your diamond going missing. Go to Sheetal at Maharani Jewels - you can go to her website - www.maharanijewels.com or give her a call to book an appointment - you must book ahead - (604) 727-0149. Thanks Sheetal.
Sheetal: Thank you so much Mark.
Visit www.maharanijewels.com for diamond education and information on jewelry Vancouver.
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