My name is Mark and I warmly welcome you to GetMeDiamond.com. This website is all about empowering consumers to research and find better deals when buying jewelry.in today’s market. GetMeDiamond.com was born out of necessity because of emerging technologies like the Internet and lifestyle changes that the consumers had undergone through the past 20 years.

We hope to educate shoppers so that you get make an informed decision when making a once in a lifetime purchase! This week’s featured article talks about the disruptive e-commerce technology that is sweeping across the industry. Check it out below…

Online Diamond Vendors – A New Wrinkle in Jewelry Retail?

Buying diamonds online wasn’t even someone’s wildest dream when I first started out in the jewelry business back in the 1970’s. Today, technology is so advanced that a person can sit down at a computer and actually go shopping without leaving his/her house!

While e-commerce is pretty common nowadays, many key events had to occur in order to make buying diamonds online even possible.

First, a little background….

The idea of going to a central marketplace with stores that specialize in certain items goes back thousands of years. However, the idea of a company offering their products to customers who live far from the company’s shop or showroom did not start with the Internet!

Shopping on the Internet is just a slight variation on a form of shopping that goes back hundreds of years! Having a customer order an item (without touching and seeing the actual item!), and then having that item shipped to the customer’s home is not really a new idea.

The best example of this type of retailing is the Sears catalog. It is really amazing of how R.W.Sears took the idea of the mail order catalog and built an empire out of it! A lot of Sears success is attributed to his exciting marketing concepts and also had a lot to do with new technologies coming together at the same time.

The completion of the transcontinental railroad, the explosion of American farms, the growth and improvement of telegraph system, improvements in the mail delivery systems, and the inefficiency of the traditional retail distribution systems were all factors and problems that Sears solved.

This is a prime example of how a company and consumers can benefit by “cutting out the middle man” and making the system of bringing goods and services to a higher level of efficiency. In a way, many of the jewelry e-commerce stores work on the same principles.

What’s So Special About Buying Diamonds Online?

So what made buying diamonds online really take off?

There are a few things that came together at the same time….

Cable TV shopping went a long way to introduce alternate ways to buy jewelry, gems, etc.

The Internet became faster more accessible at home and at work.

Friends and coworkers started buying diamonds online and it worked out well.

More and more people became used to purchasing items online as Internet shopping became more trusted.

Diamond grading reports became more commonplace because of the increased number of Gemological Labs and Gemologists in the marketplace. This had the affect of “commoditizing” diamonds.

Even though the Internet has matured and has become a more mainstream element of everyone’s lives, it can still be a pretty wild place…. this is especially true when it comes to buying diamonds online. However, with a little research and diligence, you can save some money on a big purchase!

On the Internet you will be able find a ton of information on just about any topic however a good percentage of that information will be mis-information. Shopping online has allowed companies to sell products to customers around the world but it has also allowed some people to do some bad things to other people.

Buying diamonds online does require a basic understanding of the diamond grading systems in order to make an informed decision. Each diamond is slightly different, so it is not like buying a Canon camera online. Shopping online for that Canon camera is really pretty easy because every single camera of that particular model is exactly the same.

Since the mid 90’s I have seen the growth of online diamond retailers and in my previous position as the Head Gemologist for an online jewelry retailer I did end up working with all of the large online diamond retailers.

This is why I can wholeheartedly encourage anyone who is considering buying diamonds online to take a look at JamesAllen.com. Not only are their prices generally the lowest, but they are the only online diamond retailer with real pictures of the diamonds they sell.

This means you will be able see the actual diamonds that they have to offer and best of all, you can always contact me for my opinion of the diamond that you are considering, before buying it. I might be able to give some suggestions about some different diamonds to consider.

Hope you enjoyed this article! Feel free to browse around the website and if you like what you see, make sure you bookmark it!

Mark