Are Reports, Certificates, Diamond Grading Documents, and Now Colored Stone Briefs Taking the Romance Out of Selling Diamonds and Colored Stones?

I’m going to stick with colored stones today too. While being broken up into groups at the event I talked about in my last blog—I also learned about AGL’s Fast Track Program and wanted to know if any retailers have used it, familiar with it and not used it, or have been using it often and been successful?

Scenario:  You have a beautiful ruby, emerald, sapphire, aquamarine, tourmaline, or whatever stone it may be. Your customer loves the stone but is having trouble “pulling out his wallet” and taking it home because he/she isn’t familiar with colored stones and doesn’t understand how a colored stones characteristics affect its price.

With diamonds—most my customers won’t buy larger stones unless they accompany a report, certificate, or diamond grading document. Do you think customers will be willing to spend more if colored stones accompanied some sort of document…A Brief?

In Vegas, I learned of AGL’s new offering called the Fast Track Program, which allows retailers to send colored stones to the lab for basic grading and only costs $25. The turn around is one week and the card that comes back with the stone is called a Brief. For example, the sapphire you mail to AGL will come back with a card that would be titled Sapphire Brief and lists the following:

• Measurements
• Carat Weight
• Shape/Style
• Color
• Standard Enhancements
• Size
• Color
• Enhancement Stability

To push a colored stone and with only a week’s turnaround would you send a stone to be certified? Do you think these Briefs will enable retailers to sell more color? Are all these reports, certificates, diamond grading documents, and now colored stone briefs taking the romance out of selling diamonds and colored stones? If you have used this program…did they help to increase colored stone sales?