Suit Your Fancy
The Natural Fancy Color Diamond Association has launched a new website to help educate consumers about the rare gems. Five buying tips on the site are: 1) Color is more important than size, 2) Learn about fancy diamonds on ncdia.com, 3) Request a report from a major laboratory, 4) Know your budget, and 5) Purchase from a knowledgeable jeweler. The site refers consumers to retailers who are members of the association. Want to be listed? To join the NCDIA, retailers must sell and promote natural color diamonds or at least want to. AGS members are automatically eligible but other retailers need a reference from a current NCDIA member (most fancy colored diamond suppliers belong). Other member benefits include a holiday selling guide by Diane-Warga Arias that will be available in the trade area of the site next week and a full sales training program planned for next spring. Membership fees range from $5,000 for chains to $500 for independents. To feast on more about fancies, check out our It’s all in the Mix story on the trend for mixed color fancy colored diamond jewelry and Defying Gravity story on the high-flying prices for these gems. Both ran in Modern Jeweler’s September 2006 issue.
