The deal of the week....

Diamond Deal of the Week:

Round Brilliant Cut,

IGI Certified,

Carat : 70 cents

Color: J

Clarity: VS1

Cut: Very Good

Polish: Very Good

Symmetry: Very Good

Fluoroscence: Slight

Price : Rs. 45,500.

To view the certificate of the diamond : One click

Offer Expires on August'14'2010.

Good time to buy/invest in gold.

Last 2 days have been hectic so i am stealing the time this morning to post this. Gold prices hitting 18,100 for 24k and 17,300 for 22k has definitely brought cheer to the consumers and jewellers alike.

Jewellery buying is becoming cyclical with wedding season and festivities driving the sales. And July month end sees nothing of these two.

Consumers and jewellers have been booking gold for the upcoming festive season and you shouldn't miss out too. Over the past many years this pattern has repeated itself umpteen number of times. And you dont need to be a rocket scientist to guess this time around. Prices will rise when we near the diwali/christmas 2010.

Cheers and happy shopping :)

P.S. Get in touch with us about our "Gold Bonanza Offer" where your investment in gold can earn you 4% interest per annum.

Poem on "Diamond Deal"

Up and Down, High and Low,
Through a longgggg list I go...
Looking for that one perfect piece,
The price of which will please,

And while I did this boring task,
That lasted me over 5 hours,
I thought a few moments I should steal,
To write this horrible poem on the "diamond deal"....

hahaha, thank you for reading through this master piece. The rains and strains have just brought out the poet in me.

Engagement Rings: The NEW Collection

3- Fingered Ring



The Queen Bee



Classic Solitaire



Touch



Diamond Band

Beyond the 4Cs.....

We all know about the 4Cs used to describe a diamond namely: Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat. 4Cs are but a starting point to describe the characteristic of a diamond and hence its value. Its not the complete picture.

This post will talk about the price differences you see in 2 or more diamonds having the exact same 4Cs. Its best we take an example.

If you do a quick search for a
Round shape,
I color,
SI1 clarity,
1 carat,
Excellent Cut.

You will get more than half a dozen diamonds ( this at the time of writing the post..you might get a higher or lower number depending on when you try this search). They have prices ranging from 1,66,000 to 2,19,000. Even though the 4Cs of all these diamonds match there is a huge price difference.

What explains this?

"Other Details"

The answer lies in the oft not discussed/not well understood 'other' characteristics. Besides the 4Cs there are a dozen more parameters described in reports. Keywords like polish, symmetry, fluorescence, Girdle thickness, Measurements,table as a percentage of the diamond diameter, depth as a percentage of the diamond diameter. Online reports will delve into more detailed parameter listing like star length, crown angle, pavillion angle etc. This makes every diamond unique and hence the price differentiation which is calculated using a software which accounts for all the pieces of information mentioned above.

Insist on the Report

Things like location of the impurity whether its on the table or pavillion or near the girdle, similarly feather characteristics are present in the crown or pavillion or near the girdle. Thats why insisting on an electronic format report before buying a diamond is a must. You can clearly see them on the plottings section of the report.

Beyond the Report

Even Things not mentioned on the report also affects the value of a stone like yellow or brown shade(tinge). Diamonds show a tinge of yellow or brown right uptil E color( D being colorless) and hence that affects their brilliance. Yellow tinge is more desirable as compared to brown tinge and thus higher priced.

Summary

So how do we make an informed choice? Go beyond the obvious 4Cs. Most of the online retailers have around 12-14 characteristics mentioned. Besides insist on the Electronic format report( which comes in PDF). Talk to diamond experts and then put your money down.

Signature Collection 2010.

Pink Pendent. Must Have. Great for a night out.

Stands out in itself. Give your neck pieces some rest.

Peacock Inspired.Interesting interplay of Rosecut diamonds with meena gives it the "Mor pankhi" look.

If only the world were oval. For an elegant pair of danglers whose time has come.

Absolutely stunning! The flower swivels in the circular enclosing. Rosecut diamonds form the petals of the flower. Truly Contemporary

Very Delicately interwoven strands of diamond. What a bangle pair!!! Here in Black and white.

Simple, Elegant, unpretentious, fun loving.

HOT Diamond Deal of The Week

GIA Certified Round Brilliant Cut.

Carat Weight: 70 Cents
Color: H
Clarity: SI1
Cut: Very Good
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Very Good
Flouroscence: None

Price until July'25'2010: Rs. 77,400 or $1654 (USD)
Price After July'25'2010: Rs. 83,200 or $1778 (USD)

1% VAT Extra. International Shipping Charges Extra.

Kaleidoscope July 2010: New jewellery designs in store.

A few of the gold and diamond jewellery designs to hit the store this summer. We had fun shooting them. The results are bordering between amateur and professional photogrpahers. Hope you like them.

Wantonly lying interplay of some diamond rings at the store.

A majestic set of Diamond Bangle pairs.

A basic broad gold bangle pair

This necklace set has been quite popular with our customers. Interchangeable stone allows you to match with your dresses.
A beautiful diamond bracelet. Serious damage to your savings. Incredible fr self indulgence.
Fit for the Queen. Diamond bracelet with intricate and well balanced design.

Cosmos Basic cocktail ring. A good place to start experimenting with in-vogue party wear.

Why buy Certified Diamonds from Kathana Jewellers?

Since we launched our diamond module online we have had many mails, phone calls and walks in pour in with one specific question: "Why should we buy certified diamonds from you?". We decided that it would be a great idea to address this question in our blog here.

There are a multitude of reasons why you should buy from us, but here are the top 5 objective reasons why shopping for certified diamonds at Kathana is the best value for money:

1. We are based out of India: Around 90% of the raw diamonds are cut and polished in India. These diamonds are then certified from labs such as GIA, IGI etc. and then shipped world over. Since every time a diamond travels, over heads such as transportation, custom duties, taxes, insurance etc. add on, the price of the diamond goes up too. We save you money on all these over heads by selling the diamonds from India.

2. Inventory Less Model: We follow a unique inventory less business model. That is, apart from a few sample pieces we do not stock any diamonds with us. This means that a large chunk of the overheads that goes into maintaining an inventory (and trust us, that is a huge figure)is nullified. Lower overheads means that we can pass on the price benefit to you and thus provide you a diamond at the best prices.

3. We are present Offline : If you are skeptical about purchasing online, you are most welcome to visit us in our store. We are not a virtual store. We have a brick and mortar presence,and we have been in this business for half a decade now. And unlike virtual stores we give you the option to come and inspect your purchase before you make the final payment for it.


4. We offer the BEST prices: Our financial experts have worked really hard on our business model to make sure that our prices are unbeatable. Most of the time, they are. Most of the online stores that sell certified diamonds also share the certificate number for the diamond. We strongly encourage you to search our diamond data base using the certificate number (top right corner at http://www.kathana.in/classicDiamondSearch.php) of your shortlisted diamond and compare the prices. You will realize that we provide the exact diamond at lower prices.

5. Being Small is A Blessing: While we are striving hard to grow bigger, we realize that being a small store is a blessing too. The best advantage is that we work with our customers on 1-on-1 basis. This gives us the opportunity to practice the highest standards in customer service. In addition being a team of young and dynamic people we are much more flexible, transparent and approachable.

Photo Credit : Mrs_logic , Festivefrog , tambako , tambako , fotomaker

Certified Diamonds Are Value For Money

Contrary to the common misconception many people carry, certified diamond are actually more reasonable than non-certified diamonds. There is a slight complexity in understanding this, but let me try and explain as best as I can.

Let us say that you are out to buy a specific diamond: Round Brilliant Cut, 1 Carat, G Color, VS1 Clarity, Excellent Cut, Excellent Symmetry and Excellent Polish.

If you were to buy a GIA/IGI certified diamond you would be paying, say $7500 upwards. Now you go to your local jeweler and ask him to give you a non-certified diamond of exact specifications. He quotes you an unbelievable price of say $6500. That is a saving of $1000 and the perfect reason to go with the uncertified diamond. Right? Unfortunately not. Lets see why.

The first thing you should ask your self is "How can I be confident that the diamond meets up my specifications (1.0 Carat, G, VS1, Ex, Ex, Ex)?"

Usually, the gemologist expert in the store will convince you hard that the diamond is indeed what it is said to be, and diamonds and gold are bought on trust (something we have been hearing for a century now).Since many of us are not trained enough to judge a diamond we would go by what the "expert" has to say, and buy our diamond on trust. Now lets say that you make the purchase and at some point in future decide to get your diamond certified by one of the top labs like GIA or IGI. Most most likely the diamond will be under-graded by the lab, that is, it is going to be inferior in at-least one of the many criterions.

Lets assume that in our case the color of the diamond on the certification report turns out to be an H instead of a G. So now your diamond actually is a 1.0 Carat, H color, VS1 Clarity, Excellent Cut, Excellent Symmetry and Excellent Polish diamond. But what if you were to purchase a certified diamond of the same specifications? It would cost you in the vicinity of $6000.

So unfortunately the "deal" wasn't really a deal, you actually paid what you would pay for a certified diamond of that quality. And that is the point we are trying to make here: Certified diamonds at Kathana Jewellers are just as cheap if not cheaper than non-certified diamonds. Our unique business model allows us to keep over head charges to bare minimum and end up saving you anywhere from 25 to 40% on diamonds. In addition you have a complete peace of mind that your diamond is authentic and is judged by the industry experts.

Side Note: Always insist on certified diamonds. In case you decide to buy an uncertified diamonds insist on getting it certified from a TOP LAB like GIA/IGI. It just costs you a small fraction (Rs. 2000 or so) of your investment, and most jewellers can get it done if they want. And once you have the certification report compare your prices with certified diamonds of the same specifications.