Hearts on Fire Diamonds, Better Quality or Just Better Marketing?

Fortune Magazine examines the rise of Hearts on Fire as a rapidly rising diamond brand. The brand, which sells their stones for as much as 15% to 20% more than a comparable stone from Tiffany (and Tiffany itself packs quite a premium) has steadily earned a greater and greater reputation with consumers. The stones are "ideal cut" a method designed by Marcel Tolkowsky to deliver the most brilliance and fire. The Hearts on Fire stones have a hearts and arrows patter in the cut. If you look at the stone through the bottom using a jeweler's loupe you see eight hearts. From the top you see eights bursts of fire.

Some diamond dealers says that the Hearts on Fire brand is just another ideal-cut diamond and that the hype is mainly marketing. Marketing that was turned up recently with the new ad campaign that says that a Hearts on Fire stone is "Monogamy to the 100th power." Not as catchy as "a diamond is forever" the phrase used by De Beers which helped enshrine the diamond as the stone that stands for love and commitment. The new slogan also may not be as helpful in showing of Hearts on Fire's growing range of products including right hand rings, bracelets and earrings.

Hearts on Fire is far from being the only branded stone. Kay Jewelers for example, sells the Leo diamond. But devotees of the Hearts of Fire diamond seem most convinced of its superior qualities, in specific its ability to produce brilliant flashes of color. Earlier this year, Diamond Vues was host to a spirited debate on the subject. What seems to be most important to consumers, especially those who are unsure about the diamond world, is the idea of perceived worth Just as TIffany made the robin's egg blue box have immediate value for the consumer, Hearts on Fire has managed to convince buyers that their diamonds are worth more than nameless stones.