Rushing for cheap diamonds
(CRIENGLISH)
Updated: 2005-08-25 10:35

It took him three weeks to make the final decision to buy the precious stone online.

More chinese couples are exchanging diamond jewelry instead of traditional gold jewelry at their weddings.

A 24k gold bracelet was considered a symbol of a good marriage in the past, but most new brides prefer a 1-carat glittering diamond ring.

Industry insiders estimated the market topped US$2 billion in the country and is growing at a double-digit rate each year.

The big discounts offered by online retailers have raised questions with some industry insiders.

"It's hard to offer a price cut of up to 70 percent on diamond jewelry considering the low profit margins in the industry," said Pan Bin, chairman of the Shanghai Diamond Association.

Xu rupeng, deputy director of the National Gold and Silver Quality Supervision Center in Shanghai, cautioned consumers to be careful when buying diamonds, whether they buy in shops or online.

Diamonds are rated on four aspects - color, clarity, weight and cut. The first three are easy to test, but it is more complicated to define the quality of the cut, Xu said.

Since it is hard for consumers to know the real meanings of complicated terms, cuts are defined as "very good," "good" and "normal" on certificates offered.

Close