One morning a telephone call produced a very anxious client wanting to get their recent diamond purchase looked at for reality of purchase and hopefully a dream bargain. Since I did not have appointment time that day, I told them I'd be happy to verify only if they had diamond or not and in their presence. I also told them would have to make an appointment for a serious hands-on evaluation, also in their presence.

Later that week, I was able to take a serious look. The 2.65 carat diamond originally purchased turned out to be 2.03 carat diamond and the valuation was in the neighborhood of their purchase price. Needless to say, the client was disappointed that their bargain turned out to be a much smaller diamond. So I prepared them the necessary papers to allow them to have knowledgeable references when they conversed with their 'Alaskan dealer'. The client passed on to me information that the dealer was nice over the phone, was sorry and promised to make it right. The client believed him and sent him their ring for exchange. The end result was the dealer did make it right in the eyes of the client and they wound up with a similar quality diamond to the 2.03 but larger. Thank goodness for a story that has good news . . . or does it?

Why did the dealer originally switch the diamond that was purchased? Did the dealer replace the diamond equivalent to the 2.65 carat original purchase? or did the switch allow them to replace on a different level? How many times has this dealer gotten away with this same situation?

The role of this appraiser is to call it like it is. Stay independent and not try to take the sale away, but to be an advisor to the client.

To future purchasers in far away places: Never purchase in dollars any more than you are willing to throw away. Exception being having a good relationship through previous purchases (you will know this more after having your purchases check out). Do purchase an inexpensive souvenir of your trip. Distance makes it more difficult to make any changes. In this case the client was happy, but in many other cases, disappoint occurs.

What if the buyer never checked it out?