I am a huge fan of diamonds but I have noticed that it's a nightmare trying to buy them on ebay as its a matter of spending hours scanning through all the rubbish to get to anything good.

Some people are spending £000's on them on here so how do you know what's good and what isnt?  Well no guide is fool proof especially when you are buying online but here are a few things that might help:

1.  Diamonique, diamonte and created diamonds are everywhere on here.  Although they might be pretty and appear cheap for diamonds - they are NOT natural mined diamonds.  They are created in a lab which means that they are not worth anywhere near the same amount of money that true diamonds are.  So if you come across a pair of "diamond" earrings selling for something daft like 99p - they are created or fake  - one of the two!  If you just want some sparkle without paying a fortune than you may be ok with these but if you want real quality then you want real ones.

2.  A seller may be selling a "genuine diamond" ring at a cheap price.  Always check how many points they are.  The higher the points the more they are worth.  I once asked a seller how many points a diamond was & he was extremely reluctant to say - in the end I did get it out of him - it was 1 point!!!  which is poor.  The gold was probably worth more than the stone.  Below are the weights of diamonds:

The weight of a diamond is what measures its carat size - NOT THE PHYSICAL SIZE.  There are 5 carats to a gram so each carat is 200mg.

There are 100 points in 1carat, 50 in 1/2 a carat and so on.

The larger in weight a diamond is, the more it is worth.  Very high carat diamonds are rare.

It is also helpful to know that the quantity of diamonds that make up the weight are a factor in value too.  For example, if you see a cluster ring (a ring with a lot of diamonds in it) that is say 50 points (1/2 carat) and compare it with a single stone diamond ring of the same weight you will see that there is a drastic price difference.  This is because the value is always more for a single diamond of a certain weight than a trio of cluster of diamonds.

FACT:  A higher quality diamond with a smaller carat is more brilliant than sacrificing quality for size.

3.  Diamonds also come in colour grades.  Here are the main ones:

D:  Colourless (the very best you can get - also very very expensive)

E:  Minute traces of colour.

F:  Slight colour

G-H:  Nearly colourless.

I-J:  Near colourless, there may be slight colour detectable.

It is best to stay above J (as the grades go right to Z but some J's can be slightly yellow so look carefully).

If a diamond is cloudy you dont want it.

Its hard to do that on ebay so ask the seller, if he doesnt know than you may be better leaving well alone.  Sometimes even well known dealers in the shops will try and sell cloudy diamonds - so online stick to the rule "if in doubt leave it out!"

4.  The cut.  The cut effects how light passes through the stone.  Each angle reflects light at a caertain angle until it reflects back out through the top and creates the sparkly effect we all love.

If a diamond isnt cut well or is shallow or too deep it will not sparkle well.

Always check these points with the seller if the ring is new especially.  If the seller sells a lot of rings and doesnt know about this stuff than stay clear.  If he does give you the quality check it out on a search engine e.t.c to make sure the quality reflects the price you are paying.  Usually, however, if a seller claims to have fantastic quality diamonds at realy cheap prices then you need to ask why and how he can possibly have got hold of them - chances are he's got them cheap because they are of poor quality.  I'm not saying its impossible to get a good diamond for cheaper but do your homework before bidding a fortune on something you know nothing about.

It may be best to buy straight from a jewelers if you want something really top quality - at least that way you can see it for yourself and know what your getting.  Better to pay out a hundred pounds more than lose five hundred on something that isnt really worth it.

On the other hand, its very easy to think that "if it's on ebay it'll be cheaper", again not always true.  Have you compared the item you are looking at with say argos (if they have one the same or similar).  If its the same price buy it from argos!  In some cases on ebay you could be paying £75 for a one pointed diamond - if so you might just be able to get one of better quality for £20 or £30 more from argos.  Do your sums and be sensible about it.  Its just too easy to rush in because you want some frosting on your finger.

You may think that if you check the sellers feedback and there are lots of positives then the diamonds will be as good as its made out to be - this is not a good thing to go by because not everyone knows exactly what they are on.  A buyer could have recieved something that isnt really that good and doesnt know it, or has left positive feedback before he really found out what actually was like.  You might say "if no one can tell if its good quality or not then what does it matter?"  well of course it matters - you are paying out hard earned money for diamonds so you want genuine quality.  If you want sparkle for cheap then go out and buy a cubic zircona!  Plus nothing feels better than a genuine good quality diamond.

I think diamonds are beautiful and I hate the thought of some one being ripped off in the search for one.  I really hope you have found this to be informative.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you find the perfect diamond!