The C.W. Smith Difference

Seeing is Believing

With the wide range of quality (from very fine to very poor) of diamonds and jewelry being sold today, it has never been more true that SEEING IS BELIEVING. No diamond or piece of jewelry should ever be purchased based on a picture, description or certificate, no matter how beautiful they make the item appear. Anything can be made to sound good on paper or look good in a picture. It's easy for a vendor who sells low quality diamonds or jewelry to hide behind a beautiful picture or a nice looking certificate.

This is especially true with diamonds. Many jewelers and online diamond vendors would like you to believe that you can accurately evaluate and purchase a diamond from a lab certificate alone. They would like you to believe that “A beautiful certificate guarantees a beautiful diamond.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

We reject hundreds of diamonds each month that have “beautiful” certificates, but do not have that “beauty” when examined in person. The dimensions on the certificate may look ideal, but the diamond has minimal fire and scintillation. The clarity grade on the certificate may indicate a diamond with no visible inclusions, but we can see an inclusion as soon as we open the diamond paper. The symmetry on the certificate may read "excellent," but the diamond just doesn’t look right when placed on top of a mounting.

We hand select all of our diamonds to assure that only the finest are shown to our customers. We’ll take the time to educate you on what to look for and we'll show you several different diamonds, along with their certificates so that you can see them, compare them and choose the best diamond for you, without any guesswork.

Rings that look nice in a picture might be light weight with a hollow shank. Also, a lot of jewelry pictures are "sample" pictures. They don't even show you the actual item you're buying. The stones in the ring, especially colored stones, could have a totally different appearance in person than in a picture. Or the main stone may look great indoors, but may fade in appearance outdoors.

Jewelry is purchased for one reason - it's beauty to you or the wearer. It is meant to reflect a special moment in your life. You shortchange yourself if you let someone else make this important selection for you. This is exactly what you’re doing if you buy a diamond or jewelry sight-unseen – you are relying on someone else’s eye, opinion or millimeter gauge. No one can determine what is beautiful and satisfying to you except you. And the only way to do that is to see it, hold it, feel it, try it on and compare it side-by-side. SEEING TRULY IS BELIEVING.