Buying a diamond often means you are getting ready to mark something big in your life. Unfortunately, for a lot of buyers, the joy they are supposed to feel gets overshadowed by less-than-positive emotions brought on by the purchase itself: confusions, intimidation, and sometimes even the sense that they paid too much for something they do not like that well. Following are some mistakes you should avoid in order to prevent feeling like you got the bad end of a bargain.

Not Getting GIA Certification

GIA, or the Gemological Institute of America, is a trusted gem laboratory that tests gems of all kinds, including diamonds. They can clearly and authoritatively assess the inherent qualities of any stone sold with jewelry, and their certificate holds great value. GIA diamond verification lets you know if a diamond is really as good as the jeweler says it is, as well as any peculiarities it may possess.

Not Doing Ample Research

Diamond buyers that rush into purchases, commonly find that they made a mistake that they cannot take back. Due diligence is the name of the game here; find out everything you can about diamonds in general, including GIA diamond grading, and then dig for further information, including that on your favorite styles.

Not Accounting for the Intangibles

The 4 C’s are hardly the only buying guidelines you need to go by. You need to pay attention to a variety of other stuff, such as the legitimacy of the certification, whether or not it is conflict-free, and the probably implications of picking a specific design out of a thousand.

Spending Three Months’ Salary

There was a time when everyone bought into that “rule”, but these days, people are smarter when it comes to buying stuff. While diamonds are a big deal, they are not important enough to jeopardize your financial stability over. If it takes an exorbitantly expensive stone to satisfy your girlfriend, then the two of your should probably share the expense.

Obsessing Over Colorless Diamonds

There is no denying that colorless diamonds are the ultimate classic. That said, you should not be too particular about that side of things, especially if something much better comes up as a purchase option. Truly colorless stones would set you back a lot more than one with slight hues; simple math says the latter are probably a better idea.