Diamonds are expensive, no matter what. You are never going to spend a little bit of money for a sparkling diamond. In general I would say that you are going to get what you pay for. But what you get and what you pay for it depends greatly on where you buy it.

We all want to get a good deal when we are shopping for a diamond. The first thing you need to do is educate yourself. Start by going to a store at the mall and see exactly how big a half carat or carat diamond is so you know what you are dealing with. Then you need to learn about quality. If you are buying an engagement ring then cut and color make a big difference. Take a look at this diamond color chart to see what the differences are. If you are buying something other than a ring then you might not care as much about the quality of the diamond.

Now on to the saving money part. You need to shop around but ultimately you need to go wholesale. Local jewelers are the best place to go. I won’t name names but the big name guys mark up their diamonds by 30% or more. I recently bought a diamond from IGS diamonds (I’m not affiliated with them in any way). Buying a diamond through them or someone like them will save you thousands of dollars.

So to save money on your diamond do the following. Educate yourself, shop around and be patient. It’s usually an exciting time but being patient is worth it if you can save $100s or even $1000s.