Perhaps the best piece of advice we can give you for diamond shopping is to know with  whom you’re dealing. Mall jewelers, big-box stores and online resellers may have a lot of  diamonds, but they’re not experts with a 100-year-old reputation to jealously guard like we do. Nor do they have a tradition of personalized, award-winning customer service to  uphold.

There are many pitfalls and inconsistencies to look out for when comparing diamonds from different dealers. After all, not  everybody can live up to the Mervis standard. Here are some common mistakes people make when comparing diamonds — and the Mervis safeguards against them.

1. Your warning bells should ring if a dealer goes on and on about color, clarity and carat weight but avoids talking about cut. Chances are this means the cut is inferior, which means an inferior diamond. Remember, poorly cut stones lack beauty and brilliance because they leak light.

What’s worse, a poorly cut stone is often too small for its weight. This may sound strange, but there’s a reason: The diamond may have a thick girdle, the area where it begins to taper toward the bottom, or a heavy belly , making it deep instead of wide. Superfluous, incorrectly positioned weight means a diamond’s diameter becomes smaller than it should be. This means you’re paying for weight in the wrong place — and losing brilliance.

Confusing? Think about it this way: A poor cut can make a diamond  appear much smaller than it should because the weight is in the wrong place — at its bottom. In essence, the diamond is lopsided or bottom-heavy. In this case, you’re actually paying for something you’re not getting. Even if the price seems right, the “bargain” is false, since the diamond is too small for its weight.

Also, a certificate does not erase these concerns. It’s helpful, but it’s not a cure, because even poorly cut diamonds may be certified. Unless you know how to evaluate a diamond’s proportions — or have a trustworthy person to do it for you — you could very well be deceived into overspending for an under-performing diamond.
 
The Mervis Safeguard: We guarantee superior proportions because all Mervis diamonds are painstakingly cut and polished to the highest standard.

2. Misgrading - Diamonds are occasionally represented as being of a higher grade than they really are.

The Mervis Safeguard: All of our diamonds are carefully graded using strict guidelines. Every client receives an official appraisal and our quality guarantee. Most of our diamonds have a certificate from the top three labs (GIA, EGL, and AGS). These certifications provide an objective, third-party analysis of the diamond’s quality and characteristics. And, of course, our diamond consultants will walk you through the 4 C's of every stone you look at, carefully and clearly explaining its properties.

3. Treated Diamonds -  Everybody would like to be treated to diamonds. But nobody wants a treated diamond, one that’s been tampered with to temporarily enhance its clarity.

The Mervis Safeguard: We do not sell any diamond has that been artificially altered. Fracture-filling, laser-drilling and other deceptive treatments have no place in the Mervis inventory. We hand-select all our diamonds right at the source. There’s no middleman, no hijinks. Only the finest diamonds with the finest provenance meet the Mervis standard.