新东方网校2011年英语六级听力：快奔向裸钻

　　Diamond rings are considered by many a must for a wedding proposal and engagement. However the extremely high price of diamonds often make the purchase a burden for young couples. Nowadays, some people are turning their eyes from diamond rings to loose diamonds: same carat, same quality, but half the price.

　　Ms. Chen plans to buy a diamond ring, although she has looked in many shopping malls in Beijing, she still couldn't find an ideal one. She says in the malls a 0.5 carat diamond ring costs at least 10,000 yuan. She can hardly afford it.

　　But recently she heard about loose diamonds, which is an unset polished diamond. It is said to be much cheaper compared to a completed diamond ring.

　　Ms. Chen decides to get a loose diamond. She says a loose diamond plus a tailor-made setting is much cheaper than a finished product.

　　"I spent only about 5,000 yuan altogether for the loose diamond and the setting. But when I selected a diamond ring in those shopping malls, I found the diamonds of the same carat are priced at more than 10,000 yuan. Therefore loose diamonds look much cheaper."

　　Why is the price of diamond rings of the same carat and quality different? What's the reason behind such a large price gap? Some insiders say the prices that customers pay for a diamond ring is usually triple the factory price.

　　Wan Zihong is the head of a diamond store in Beijing.

　　"As the traditional way of selling diamond, 42 percent of the price goes to dealers between manufactures and stores, and 33 percent for manufacturers, and retailers, 25 percent."

　　Wan says some dealers would add five-times the the factory price. However, in loose diamond selling, the price composition is not as complicated.

　　The price of loose diamond only includes 33 percent for the factory and 8 percent for the retailer. And if retailers purchase a certain amount of diamonds from international wholesalers, the retailers will get a higher commission from wholesalers. Therefore, retailers can still make a profit from lower selling price. Moreover, they can also make money from processing diamond settings.

　　In a loose diamond shop, a sales person is showing his customer the Rapaport Diamond Report, which is the diamond price list used by dealers worldwide. It keeps them up to date with the changing market prices.

　　The report provides jewelers, diamond dealers and manufacturers worldwide with the prices of diamonds of different carat, color, clarity and cut. Customers can download the weekly updated report from the internet as a reference when selecting a loose diamond.

　　Some customers say they get to know what their money buys when choosing a loose diamond, but if you buy a finished diamond ring, you hardly know how much you have paid for each part of your ring.