A good quality diamond is like no other stone. There are synthetics that can imitate it, but it is rare to see anything that quite matches up to that certain something that makes a real diamond stand out from the rest.

Diamonds look good on just about everyone. A good, colorless or near colorless diamond means you don't have to worry about the stone clashing with skin tone.

There are some advantages to buying diamonds online, although there are some risks too. However, savvy shoppers can do quite well with online purchases.

The first thing you want to be aware of when shopping for diamonds online is the reputation of the seller. You want someone you can trust, not a company that will vanish after your purchase. This can be fairly easy online, where companies may be online extensions of real world stores, or have built up their reputations purely online.

It's fairly easy to research sellers. If you're buying off an eBay seller you can just check their reputation. If they've been around a good long while and have sold a lot of jewelry, they are probably legitimate. But be careful about newer sellers as the risk is greater.

For other stores, you can try the BBB website, Ripoff Report, or just type their name into a search engine and see what you get. People do talk online and if a company isn't what they claim to be people often talk about it quite freely.

Online stores can offer far more than most jewelry stores can. This is because they aren't catering to a local clientele. They can afford to have the more unique pieces, the ones that will really stand out. And if you're going to buy diamonds, you don't need to look like everyone else.

As websites cost far less to maintain than most storefronts, online sellers often have a much lower overhead and can generally offer better prices. Think about how many employees a jewelry store needs and how high most retail rents are. An online diamond store probably needs fewer employees (still some to handle customer service in most cases) and pays less in all kinds of overhead. No need for fancy cases and displays. That savings is generally passed on to the consumer.

And of course there is my own favorite convenience. You can shop whenever you want. No worry about store hours, traffic or crowds. If you want to shop from work, you can do that. Shop in the middle of the night, fine. Even on holidays. The simplicity of it all can be amazing.