Last night ABC’s show The Lookout aired an investigative piece on the most emotional purchase a man will likely ever make, purchasing that little diamond engagement ring. Marketing companies have worked effortlessly to get you to spend a good chunk of money, and the options are mind boggling.

Cut, Clarity, Color, Carats? Settings. Metals. With so many options, purchasing a diamond ring can be stressful. However, what I was not aware of was that jewelers often take imperfect diamonds that are filled with cracks and pump them full of high lead glass. The process is known as diamond enhancement.

Diamonds with enhancement sell for fractions less than what a real natural diamond will demand.

The real kicker of the investigative piece was whether jewelers explain to the customer what exactly a diamond enhancement is, and what type of future care they require. Enhanced diamonds can not be treated with high heat during repair services, since the glass can melt out of the diamond.

Upon watching the investigation, they said most people may not even be aware that they bought an enhanced diamond.

So during the commercial break, I freaked out and ran up to the safe to pull out our International Gemmological Information Appraisal Report on my wife’s ring. Fortunately, no where on the report were the words enhanced diamond or anything similar. Whew! Crisis averted.

Do you know if the diamond you own is diamond enhanced? The difference can mean thousands of dollars in value.

Cake Enhancement

Also on The Lookout was a comparison on wedding cake quality. They compared a high end maker, the Safeway budget cake, and a Betty Crocker homemade cake. After four (4) separate taste tests, the Betty Crocker cake won all four of the tastes. Quite remarkable to see how much we are willing to pay for the sake of beauty…in a cake.

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Source: ABC’s The Lookout