Apart from the ton of research that awaits you in the area of diamonds, assuming you have not done it already, you would need to make a variety of choices based on myriad factors, and one of those choices would be whether to buy a diamond ring from a wholesaler or a retailer.   No one needs to be told that an item sold at a wholesale price would cost significantly less than if it were bought from a retailer. However, that is not the only difference between the two. A wholesale transaction is defined as a non-taxable purchase of any goods in bulk, intended for eventual resale. A retail sale, on the other hand, is a transaction that is subject to tax, and one that is made to an end-user otherwise called the consumer. The people involved in these transaction types are called wholesalers and  retailers, respectively. The former is able to acquire the goods for a lower price, owing to the fact that they deal directly with the manufacturer, who sells these goods directly to them. A retailer is only indirectly linked to the manufacturer and has to watch many things such as sales tax, advertising, employee salaries, etc.