Hi guys, we've just finished sending everything (including the specials) out yesterday. Thank you for participating in the Mystery Sale!
We're updating the online database (your order may still say "in progress" instead of "shipped"). It's kind of a long and arduous manual process. Sigh.
I do listen to feedback, and will try to adjust product selection for the next Mystery Sale as to maximize everyone's satisfaction :)
@Oliver: As a former diamond grader, I can say with confidence that no imitation or even lab grown diamonds can fool an expert with equipment. A gem scope, and a tool or two, and I can spot any fake.
That's no longer the case with diamonds "grown" by chemical vapor deposition. It's basically growing diamonds atom by atom.
De Beers spent a lot of money into its Gem Defensive Programme, looking into how to tell synthetic diamonds apart from natural diamonds (you need a Raman photoluminescence spectroscope - but even this was disputed by experts).
Re: investment grade diamond priced above $100,000 - There's an interesting story about Stanley Rifkin, who embezzled a lot of money from Security Pacific National Bank in Los Angeles back in the late 70s. He wired $10 million to an overseas account, bought diamonds with the money, then smuggled them back to the US. Rifkin then tried to sell his diamonds, and was caught.
The bank got back its $10 million, but in the form of diamonds. No problem, the bank manager thought, he'll just sell them. Turns out, no one would buy the diamond from him - no one. Edward Jay Epstein has the story:
Walter S. Fisher, the vice-president of Security Pacific, was charged with the responsibility of selling the 115000 diamonds. He realized that diamonds were not a standardized, or fungible commodity, as were gold, silver and platinum. Different appraisals of the same diamonds varied widely dependent on what the prospective buyer thought he could sell them for. And, though all the bank's diamonds were commercial stones for the mass market, Fisher found that it was extraordinarily difficult to find a buyer. None of the dealers in the United States were willing to buy such a large consignment of diamonds. Fisher found it necessary to deal through De Beers' main broker in London, I. Hennig. Finally and accept the terms dictated by the buyer, if he wanted to sell the diamonds. He then had to deliver the diamonds to an unknown corporation in Liechtenstein, G. S. G. Investments, without receiving any money for them for eighteen months. These were terms that the bank probably would not have accepted in selling any other commodity. With a flourish of understatement, the banker concluded, "Selling diamonds is far more difficult than I had anticipated." (Source)
We're updating the online database (your order may still say "in progress" instead of "shipped"). It's kind of a long and arduous manual process. Sigh.
I do listen to feedback, and will try to adjust product selection for the next Mystery Sale as to maximize everyone's satisfaction :)
That's no longer the case with diamonds "grown" by chemical vapor deposition. It's basically growing diamonds atom by atom.
De Beers spent a lot of money into its Gem Defensive Programme, looking into how to tell synthetic diamonds apart from natural diamonds (you need a Raman photoluminescence spectroscope - but even this was disputed by experts).
The bank got back its $10 million, but in the form of diamonds. No problem, the bank manager thought, he'll just sell them. Turns out, no one would buy the diamond from him - no one. Edward Jay Epstein has the story:
Walter S. Fisher, the vice-president of Security Pacific, was charged with the responsibility of selling the 115000 diamonds. He realized that diamonds were not a standardized, or fungible commodity, as were gold, silver and platinum. Different appraisals of the same diamonds varied widely dependent on what the prospective buyer thought he could sell them for. And, though all the bank's diamonds were commercial stones for the mass market, Fisher found that it was extraordinarily difficult to find a buyer. None of the dealers in the United States were willing to buy such a large consignment of diamonds. Fisher found it necessary to deal through De Beers' main broker in London, I. Hennig. Finally and accept the terms dictated by the buyer, if he wanted to sell the diamonds. He then had to deliver the diamonds to an unknown corporation in Liechtenstein, G. S. G. Investments, without receiving any money for them for eighteen months. These were terms that the bank probably would not have accepted in selling any other commodity. With a flourish of understatement, the banker concluded, "Selling diamonds is far more difficult than I had anticipated." (Source)