by Fred Cuellar

isbn: 1570713928
subject: Nonfiction
finished: 11/15/2000

Diamonds are pretty, but buying them is difficult and annoying because they're expensive and it's not easy for the non-expert to discern the subtle criteria that can strongly affect the cost of a stone. So the reason to read a book like How to Buy a Diamond isn't to learn how to evaluate a diamond, it's to learn how to evaluate what a diamond salesperson or certification lab tells you about a diamond, how to figure out what grade and style of diamond to look for, and how to avoid some of the more common ways that inexperienced diamond buyers get shafted. Having recently bought a diamond, I found the information in Cuellar's book to be very helpful: he provides a detailed, straightforward, and easy to read collection of what is probably the minimal amount of information that one should have before spending thousands of dollars on one of these tiny objects. Recommended.