Weight Vs Value

Several years ago I did something I have wanted to do for twenty years, I went to see the sail boat show in Annapolis. You are right it doesn't seem like such a big deal, Annapolis is only, by car,  a couple of hours away, but, you know the old excuses, for one reason or another something always seemed to come up and I postponed my visit again.

This year was different! I got up at six, loaded the two boys in the car and the three of us started on our road trip. The trip was wonderful, all the way up we listened to a book on tape. We followed the instructions we found in the newspaper and before we new it we were at the boat show!

The boys, one 16 and the other 11 wanted to board anything that would float. I directed their enthusiasm to boats 35 to 45 feet in length. (I fancied that someday it would be nice to sell the house and live on a boat.  This seemed to be an appropriate length and I wondered if I could really live in this little space.)  

They walked the decks, imagined themselves behind the wheel and selected their births. They were full of enthusiasm but new little of what they were inspected. Unfortunately , I was little better informed. I knew the hull design and rigging were of critical importance but with my untrained eye I wasn't sure I could differentiate between the exceptional, the average and the poor designs.

We are not talking about insignificant sums here. Boats in this size cost anywhere from the low $100,000's to well over twice that amount. So as I looked at all these boats I resigned myself to the fact that if I was ever in the market for a boat the first thing I would find would be an expert who's advice I could rely on. Simply selected a boat on length, price and my limited knowledge would only result in the purchase of the wrong boat.

And as this inspiration was yet knew I had to wonder why we as consumers continue to make purchase decisions based on limited or incorrect information. In my business, as a jeweler and an appraiser I continually see people making purchasing decision based on erroneous information.

Let me give you an example. A week doesn't go by without getting a call from someone who wants to know if he is getting a good deal. Usually the story goes something like this: he has a diamond he is considering purchasing, he won't tell me where because he is afraid it will bias my  response.  He wants to know what I would sell him the same stone for. The individual then proceeds to tell me the diamond weighs 1.00 carats is H in color and SI-1 in clarity. At this point, he reminds me of myself standing on the deck of one of those sail boats. Where is the best value?  Unfortunately this individual's knowledge of diamonds is as limited as my knowledge of boats. All 37 feet boats and all 1.00, H, SI-1 diamonds are not equal in value. I won't presume to tell you where the value is in a sailboat but I do know diamonds. All diamonds are not the same. A diamond's price is based on cut, color, clarity, and weight. Knowledge of any three of these four critical elements provides insufficient data on which to base a purchase. The manner in which the stone is cut, the care and precision in which the artisan fashions the diamond, will have a profound effect on the diamond's value.  The value of two diamonds of comparable color, clarity and carat weight can vary up to 40%.

If your are in the market for a diamond don't overlook this important feature.

 

Sapphire and diamond pendant