Product Description

Newly revised, and completely updated, How to Buy a Diamond is the only book on the market to include wholesalers' secret pricing charts that you, the public, never get to see! The charts are broken down by carat, clarity and color-including the various grades of color, for the first time ever.

This valuable resource gives the information you need to get a stone that won't leave you feeling cheated.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #319816 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Library Journal
Buying guides for gems and jewelry appear on the market with some regularity, and these two are similar in scope and content to their predecessors. Cuellar, founder and president of Diamond Cutters International, covers the standard topics of the four Cs (carat, clarity, color, cut), as well as the fifth C, cost. Various chapters focus on everything from ring settings to insurance, investment, and selling diamonds; other tidbits include carat size charts and even a list of 101 ways to be romantic. This serious yet lighthearted guide is geared to anyone looking for inside information on purchasing a diamond. Matlins's (Jewelry and Gems, LJ 5/1/94) work is equally informative yet more serious in nature. Each of the seven parts focuses on a variety of topics from the historical significance of pearls to pearl types and quality, from selection to caring for and wearing pearls. The two most important sections deal with insider tips and advice from the experts and what to ask when purchasing pearls. Other features include price guides, special charts, and a special color photograph section. Both of these books are suitable for public libraries.?Stephen Allan Patrick, East Tennessee State Univ. Lib., Johnson City
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Educate yourself before you make the big purchase." -- Money's Worth

"He's what people are talking about." -- USA Today

"Inside informtion on purchasing a diamond." -- Library Journal

"The book helps make dreams come true." -- Houston Chronicle, March 27,1997

"Whenever anybody asks me about buying a diamond, I give them this book. It's filled with a lot of common sense, practical advice. Diamond buying can be difficult, this book can help." -- Rob Bates, Editor, National Jeweler magazine

About the Author
Fred Cuellar, the founder and president of Diamond Cutters International, is one of the world's top diamond experts. His clients include the Saudi Royal Family and hundreds of professional athletes. Mr. Cuellar is certified in diamonds by the Gemological Institute of America and is ranked as one of the top diamond experts in America by National Jeweler. Fred Cuellar lives in Houston, Texas.

Customer Reviews

Very Helpful
This book is excellent. Information is first rate and very clear. The dimensional data on diamonds is helpful to decide how to buy an excellent diamond over the internet or at a jeweler.
The book helped me get a really nice diamond at a decent price.

There really are lots of scumbags in the diamond industry ready to screw you so be prepared with this book.
Seriously, after reading this book you will know more about diamonds then half the "jewelers" out there.

Detailed and Practical
Very comprehensive and detailed. The OEM price list is of great help. This book is a must for anyone who's looking at buying diamond.

How to Get What You Pay For. But the Advice Comes from a Salesman.
Fred Cuellar -jeweler, prolific diamond advisor, and creator of novelty gem pieces for pro sports teams and corporations- brings his enthusiasm for diamonds to "How to Buy a Diamond", his popular guide to getting your money's worth in carbon, now in its 5th edition. "How to Buy a Diamond" discusses buying diamond engagement rings, but since it assumes you will be shopping for a loose stone, the information is equally applicable to any diamond: rings, earrings, pendants, stones for investment, etc. This book places more emphasis on the process of purchasing the diamond than most diamond guides. Only the first 2 chapters are concerned with the stones themselves.

Chapter 1 addresses the obligatory "4 Cs": carat weight, clarity, color, and cut. In addition to basic information, Cuellar explains the expanded color typing produced by a Colorimeter, shows how color and clarity grades should correspond unless you want an oddball stone with poor resale value, and he comments on GIA's new, looser cut grading system. Chapter 2 is dedicated to "Cost", including price lists for 1/3 -5 carat diamonds, price lists for "buying shy" or buying just under the desired carat weight, and charts for calculating prices of 6-10 carat stones. Cuellar explains why it is difficult to determine what a diamond of a certain color, clarity, and carat should cost without a lot of other information.

There are questionnaires to aid in finding a qualified jeweler and picking a suitable stone. The author highly recommends "bonded" diamonds, warns against the limitations of lab grading reports and buying on the internet, describes enhancement treatments to look out for, and introduces us to synthetic diamonds. Chapter 5, "Tricks of the Trade", details some common ploys that jewelers use to deceive customers as well as some that customers use to scam jewelers or unjustly accuse them of theft. Presenting the dangers of the diamond business from the jeweler's point of view provides interesting insight.

A "Will You Marry Me?" chapter gives trepidatious men advice on how to pop the question -and when not to. This seemed to me like a lot of self-righteous advice on finding Miss or Mr. Right. Fred Cuellar is unquestionably a romantic and a talented salesman. He likes the idea of "true love" and the idea of a diamond as an expression of such. The book has 11 chapters. Those that I did not mention are shorter and perhaps less essential: ring settings, common myths about diamonds, tips on cleaning, advice on trade-ins and selling your diamond. Carat size charts, a glossary, Q&A, and more are found in the Appendixes.

"How to Buy a Diamond" offers some helpful advice that I have not seen in other consumer diamond guides. On the other hand, no retailer will ace the jeweler questionnaire, no one recognizes color typing, and you will not find diamonds with the kind of "bonded" warranty that the book describes. Fred Cuellar is not a disinterested party. He sells (bonded) diamonds, and he hopes you will buy from him. I found "How to Buy a Diamond" a mixed bag: useful insight, strong opinion, and thinly veiled sales pitch. I liked enough to recommend the book, but sometimes it must be taken with a grain of salt. "How to Buy a Diamond" does not have photos, but its companion web site does. If you would like more detail about diamond cuts, enhancements, and how to detect a fake, including how to examine a diamond though a loupe, "Diamonds: The Antoinette Matlins Buying Guide" is more hands-on and impartial.