It was reported a few days ago that the Gemological Institute of America fired four employees and shuffled its top brass when a former jewelry dealer claimed that the GIA and two diamond dealers conspired to increase the grade of two diamonds he sold to the Saudi royal family. All told the diamonds were sold for $15 million and when they were taken to an independent appraiser were rated lower and made them worth significantly less. When we’re talking about items that your average layperson has no ability to do, you wonder how often this sort of thing happens? Certainly most of us aren’t going around buying diamonds worth millions but who is to know if the diamond you just gave as a gift wasn’t just a little bit higher and so cost you a few thousand bucks more?
While I wouldn’t be too worried about this, it does make you wonder if you got your money’s worth.
