How Do You Avoid Diamond Switching At The Jeweler?

Diamonds have a lengthy history, where they have always been close to humans.

Regardless of where you are in the world, you have undoubtedly heard at least a story or two about diamonds. At the bare minimum, you probably know that all diamonds are extremely expensive and precious stones.

Because of that, some people have a nasty tendency to try and steal them from others and try to sell the diamonds on the black market. And one of the most advanced forms of diamond scamming is the classic diamond switch scam.

All of this begs the question: How do you avoid diamond switching at the jeweler? Can you tell if you’ve got your diamond back?

There are several different things that can help you out with this problem. But if you wish to find what those methods are, you’ll need to keep reading.

When we decide to compare diamonds, is there a way to determine what makes our diamond unique? Can you use a magnifying glass to see any impurities that might define your diamond as unique? And why would you even bring your diamond to the jewelry shop in the first place?

Fear not – as long as you remain on this page, all of your questions will be answered. What are you waiting for, then? Start scrolling!

Keep Your Diamonds Safe At All Times!

The society that we live in differs from the one in the past in so many ways. But some things remained the same to this day – like the ever-present fascination with obtaining and possessing jewelry, regardless of its value.

When we discuss jewelry, the most common choice for most people is jewelry made from pure gold and embedded with diamonds. The more, the merrier.

Diamonds are, without question, the most popular precious stone in existence. And they are unrivaled when it comes to the ability to shine.

With that in mind, it’s crucial to take good care of diamonds if you have them.

Perhaps you prefer diamonds embedded in golden rings, necklaces, and earrings; many women opt for this type of jewelry. On the other hand, men seem more likely to opt for golden watches embedded with diamonds – and some tend to choose diamond necklaces.

Whatever you pick, it’s important to remember that all diamonds – regardless of their practical usage – are inevitably targeted by all kinds of robbery. They are extremely valuable in today’s market; even the cheapest diamonds can cost up to $2000.

We can all agree that, no matter how you look at it, that’s not a small amount of money – and the sheer value of diamonds makes them a pretty attractive target for many robbers.

Here’s a quick tip: Whenever you decide to go outside, try not to show off your jewelry too much – especially when it’s dark. That’s easily achievable by simply covering the jewelry with clothes.

Here’s another that is pretty important: Never place your diamond-embedded jewelry in a bag or backpack.

Theft is a crime committed during the night – when you’re alone and vulnerable – and your bag or backpack is usually the primary target.

Remember all of this when you decide to venture somewhere during the night while wearing expensive jewelry, especially if it’s embedded with diamonds!

Robbery isn’t the only scenario that deserves mention when we’re discussing ways to avoid any illegal activities related to diamonds. Most of them are so subtle that the average human wouldn’t even notice that their diamond is either missing or is replaced.

What do we mean by that?

There’s an illegal activity directly connected to diamonds that can occur only in the jewelry shop or in some rural marketplace, where you can find diamonds that are sold in the grey zone of the market.

That brings us to our next point: You should avoid buying diamonds outside the jewelry shops, as those diamonds are most commonly stolen or fake.

Most of those diamonds don’t even possess a certificate that legitimizes their existence on the market and proves they are genuine diamonds.

If you wish to buy jewelry embedded with diamonds, you should look for it in the jewelry shop. That’s the only place where you can find and buy legally approved diamonds.

Sometimes, people wish to bypass this rule. Because of that, they usually end up paying a lot of money for a fake or stolen diamond.

Diamonds are easily traceable and can be found regardless of their whereabouts. We should all pay close attention to illegal diamond trafficking!

So, are there any illegal activities that can occur when you’re in a jewelry shop?

Most of you probably aren’t aware of this. Still, malicious diamond trafficking is most commonly present in your average jewelry shop, where the jeweler commits something referred to as a switch scam.

What Is A Switch Scam?

When you decide to visit your local jewelry shop, you’ll probably have a solid reason to do so. People will usually visit their trusted jewelers when they need to buy jewelry. But there are other instances where you enter a jewelry shop to leave your precious jewelry for further inspection.

What does that mean?

Accidents occur every single day. Most of them are so minor and irrelevant that we don’t even notice that they happened.

But some accidents require our attention almost immediately. One example would be when you unintentionally damage your jewelry.

We can all agree that that’s a tragic occurrence, and we usually decide to act fast when that happens. When you damage your jewelry, the most logical thing to do is to go to your local jewelry shop and leave it there, right?

From there onward, a jeweler will take a quick look at your jewelry, tell you immediately what’s the problem – and how long it will take to fix it.

In most cases, if the jeweler is considerate enough, they will give you a rough estimate on how much money you should prepare when it’s finished, too.

Hear us out: Repairing your damaged jewelry can get extremely costly, especially if you bring in an old piece that needs to be handled with care. The most expensive jewelry is usually the one that requires the highest levels of skill and knowledge to repair it.

Because of that, remember to set a bit of money aside if you need to repair an old jewelry piece, especially if it’s embedded with diamonds!

Whenever you need to take your damaged jewelry for restoration – our advice is that you bring it in the morning, as the jeweler might finish the job later that same day.

With all of this in mind, what usually happens when we leave our jewelry in the jewelry shop for restoration?

Although it doesn’t happen frequently, there’s always a slight chance that your diamond might get switched – which is commonly defined as a switch scam.

Here’s a scenario for you: One morning, you wake up early and notice that you’ve slept through several alarms; you are late for work. As you rush to get ready for work, you decide to take a quick shower.

At that last minute, you decide to put on your favorite diamond earrings, and as you’re about to put them on, your phone rings and startles you, causing you to drop one of your earrings on the tile floor.

Yup, it’s damaged; you’ll have to take it to your local jewelry shop.

What happens then, you ask?

Well, if you’re among the lucky ones, your earring will be fixed later that day, and you’ll be on your merry way.

And sure, in most cases, people that leave their jewelry in the jewelry shop won’t get scammed.

But there are some instances where their diamond-embedded jewelry is treated with malicious intent – jeweler takes your diamond that’s embedded in the earring and places a new, fake one inside.

When that happens, most people don’t even notice that their diamond is replaced with a fake one and just proceed to live with their phony diamond.

Luckily enough, there are several solutions to this problem, which you can implement starting today!

Learn How Your Diamond Looks From The Inside Out

Remember this:

There are no two of a kind diamonds in this world. All diamonds have a unique appearance that can’t be duplicated. Just by looking at two exceptionally similar diamonds under the magnifying glass, we can notice that there are some unique inclusions in the diamond.

What is inclusion?

In geology, the term inclusion is used to describe a stone located in another stone. Diamonds are primarily known for this, as they usually have other matter inside them, and that’s what will give all diamonds a unique look compared to other stones.

It’ll take a trained eye to notice that. But if you’re passionate about diamonds, you should learn this skill, as it’s beneficial whenever you need to leave your precious stones in the jewelry shop.

By knowing your diamonds from the inside out, you’ll be able to tell if the diamond that’s present to you after the restoration of your jewelry is yours or not.

Take A Picture Of Your Diamond

Before you hand your diamond to the jeweler, it’s wise to take a picture of it. You can even do that in front of the jeweler, which is what we usually recommend to people.

You might think that the jeweler could get annoyed by that – and maybe they will. But the safety of your diamond should come first, right?

As we’ve previously mentioned, diamonds are costly, and the lowest price for average-grade diamonds is $2000.

As soon as you get your diamond-embedded jewelry back, you should compare your diamond to the picture that you’ve taken before leaving it with the jeweler. Use your fingers to zoom in on the image and try to find a unique attribute that defines your diamond as a one-of-a-kind stone.

Leave Your Diamonds To A Trusted Jeweler

We don’t expect that everyone will have a friend or a member of your family that works with jewelry. But on the off chance that you do, play it safe and leave your diamond to someone you can trust, rather than a total stranger.

If you don’t have that kind of privilege, here’s a quick tip: Try to research more about the jewelry shop you wish to work with and read the reviews of their previous customers. If they are positive and you don’t see any problems, you could give them a shot.

Remember, diamond switching is extremely rare. But it can occur when you least expect it!

Final Words

Throughout our history, there were lots of documented cases where diamonds were targeted by all kinds of people. People that wished to possess diamonds, but didn’t have the money to buy them, usually resorted to stealing them.

As times changed, illegal diamond trafficking has evolved even further. These days, there are some cases where jewelers were caught switching diamonds.

So, how do you avoid diamond switching at the jeweler? Is there a way to prevent it?

Luckily, there are some safety measures that you should implement from now on if you possess diamond-embedded jewelry:

Before you take your diamonds to the jewelry shop, you should take a closer look at them and try to find something unique that can help you out later.

When you arrive at the jewelry shop, you should take a picture of the diamond in front of the jeweler to indirectly inform them that you’ll take a closer look at the diamond when they finish with the restoration of your jewelry.

While this is optional, you can research the jewelers online, too. Nonetheless, learn the unique characteristics of your precious stones, and you’ll never find yourself getting scammed!