Never purchase a diamond without learning what to look for. You will only lose money and in most cases quite a bit of it. After all you don't purchase a car without research do you??
First of all always remember that diamond grades and clarity are based on opinions of the grader nothing more.
You have no recourse if someone tells you different at a later time.
Appraisals or certificates are very little comfort also. Depending on the grading service valuations and grades can vary wildly and all be perfectly legal. These days not even the much sanctified GIA is without scandal and grading abuse
So what to do??
Don't look for a bargain, its a fantasy. A bargain diamond is seldom that, usually it is overgraded and overpriced, or on occasion stolen.
First set a realistic limit on what you can afford. Contrary to what the industry would have you believe diamonds are NOT a investment(jewelry grades anyway) and I would never spend 3 months salary on a bauble EVER!
   Remember that diamond pricing is largely controlled by the DeBeers Inc, as they control a vast amount of the diamonds being mined today and can and do manipulate the realse price of these stones<P>This is not a bad thing or a good thing, just be aware that in most cases a diamond purchase is a loser if you ever need to sell it in the future for cash.
    Why?? Diamonds are very common. Any jeweler on any given day can purchase his needs on the open market without stocking much in the way of direct inventory.<P> The only way he wil purchase from you is if the price is worth his while to hold it in stock<P> Pawn shops are even worse. The price you receive is so low, that the diamond is resold to a wholesaler, that remounts it into a new ring then sells it to the jeweler or retailer! With all these fingers in the pie, there is one loser~YOU!  So never let anyone tell you a diamond is a investment. Stocks, bonds, savings accounts are investments, NOT DIAMONDS!!!

    With that said, women love diamonds!!! Stay within your budget and you can have a wonderful item to pass down through the generations  Purchase a diamond on its looks alone, not price, not grade not hype
A diamond that you think is beautiful is all that matters in the end, all of the other things are designed to part you and your hard earned cash. Bigger is not better, a one carat highly flawed diamond is no where near as stunning a a 1/2 carat clean bright diamond even though they cost about the same.
 There is no such thing as a brilliant clean one carat diamond for $600.00 on eBay or anywhere else. If you find one let me know, I would like to purchase a few hundred of them!


This guide, while not technical was designed to allow the uniformed diamond buyer someplace to start.

 There are many guides that get into the meat of grading, pricing, certificates etc.<P> this is intended for the consumer that simply wants to go out and avoid common pitfalls when purchasing a diamond A diamond purchase need not be a earthshaking event, purchase what you can afford, make someone happy and sleep well at night knowing you did the right thing.
And as a last rant, PLEASE check the feedback of the seller you are considering, if he has a history of unhappy customers, no reason to believe your transaction is going to be different. The minimum feedback I think is acceptable is 90% and only if the seller normally sells diamonds.