We took the Mud Bath trip last Thursday (with Seaside Tours) and the first stop was the Diamond Centre in Dalyan.
As usual they offer to clean your jewelery whilst you 'browse' the diamonds. Then they pounce on you!
We ended up looking at a diamond ring which was, according to the salesman, a VVSI 0.9ct ring - for those that do not understand diamonds a VVSI is a very very good diamond with 'Very Very Slight Inclusions' which can only be detected by the very trained eye at 10 times magnification. The next best diamond is almost a flawless one!
Well - I asked for the magnifying glass and proceeded to check the stone. I could see a rather large black inclusion very easily (so too did Maggie and our friends). I mentioned this and said it was a poor diamond and not a VVSI. The reply was that it was a VVSI and I could check on their chart which they brought in for me to look at.
Indeed on their chart it did resemble a VVSI however I continued to tell them I knew a bit about diamonds and that I was convinced it was not a VVSI. Suddenly they stopped trying to sell me anything and turned their attention to our friends.
I've checked again just now and I can only conclude that they have made up their own Diamond Chart which is a total fabrication - so I would be very careful when buying anything of value from these people.
If anyone is interested or intends to spend a lot of money on a diamond ring - I recommend checking out the many sites available on the quality of diamonds - this one will do for starters:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000062973Be careful out there and remember the lights in the shops are designed to make them sparkle!
They wanted £1800 for a dodgy diamond ring which looked great in the light and to the naked eye!