You know what they say: diamonds are a girl’s best friend. And for Lourgie Hernandez, jewelry curator and diamond supplier, every girl should know her best friend/diamond too well first before being invested, metaphorically speaking.
Lourgie Hernandez is the founder of Lux Lourgie, a jewelry store that boasts of genuine, original diamonds. She supplies to a number of jewelry brands, and caters to a select elite few with discriminating tastes in the metro.
Lourgie shared that she gets most of her diamond supply from India, Hong Kong, Thailand and the USA. “All natural diamonds came from the earth, of course. But their monetary value is based on which diamond-certifying body they get their certificates from. And for me, GIA diamonds are the highest standard in the world. So I mostly sell GIA-certified diamonds.”
This diamond supplier is currently taking up a graduate course at Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the world’s most famous authority on diamonds, colored stones, and pearls that takes pride in its very high standards. In about a few months, Lourgie is poised to finish her course to become an official gemologist, with the technical expertise needed to grade, buy, and sell diamonds. She has been already providing her consultancy on diamond expertise to a few of her clientele though, with the guidance from a gemologist mentor from the famous Villarica clan.
Before she became the diamond supplier and jewelry curator that she is today, she first worked as a personal luxury shopper while being based in Singapore. She would buy designer bags as requested by some select clientele, which include Filipino celebrities like Isabel Oli and Andrea Brillantes. Now she is focused on her career as a diamond supplier and jewelry line owner, with the vision to provide the highest quality diamonds in the market.
In an exclusive interview with STYLISH, Lourgie shared 3 basic tips when diamond-shopping:
1. Make sure you are buying certified diamonds.
“Diamonds with certificates prove that you are investing in the real deal. There are a lot of diamond-certifying bodies in the world right now, and they are all good. But GIA is the most respected diamond authority, so it would be best if you’d invest in GIA-certified diamonds.”
2. Invest in natural diamonds.
“There are cultured diamonds in the market, or those called laboratory-made, which are aesthetically pleasing. But at the end of the day, they have no value. You cannot sell them. So you might as well invest in real, natural diamonds.”
So how do you know if your diamonds are natural?
“There are many testers that identify a lab-made diamond from a natural diamond. But the highest quality cut of a natural diamond, usually gives that ‘sparkle’ that once the light hits the diamond, the light bounces back.”
3. Choose diamonds with “excellent cuts” for better investment.
“When the light hits the diamond with an ‘excellent cut,’ the light will bounce back, which is just gorgeous, and it makes it more valuable. If your diamond has a ‘poor cut,’ the light will just pass through the stone. It is still a real diamond, of course, but it can have a lower value compared to those with ‘excellent cuts.’ Either is a great investment, anyway.”
To learn more about diamonds, you may message Lux Lourgie on Instagram @lourgie_ for personal shopping, diamond consultancy and jewelry curation.