Hi Everyone,
First let me just say that this is a really fantastic community and the posts I''ve read here have been extremely helpful. This is my first post (and first diamond purchase) and would really appreciate your informed opinions.
Here''s the situation: I live and work in NYC and, when I decided to start shopping for an engagement ring a close friend who recently went through the process recommended a friend of his who works for a diamond wholesaler in the diamond district. He bought his engagement ring from this same person a few months prior. The logic was that purchasing from the wholesalers "upstairs" in the district allows for cheaper prices than buying from the retailers on the ground level.
I''ve now looked at four stones with this person. The one stone I''m really interested in has the following stats:
Round Brilliant 1.26 ct
6.95 x 6.99 x 4.16
Color F
Clarity SI1
Cut VG
Polish VG
Symmetry EX
Flourescense None
Table 61%
Depth 59.7%
She quoted me a price of $7800 for the stone. I said I''d have to think about it and later asked if she could do anything on price and she said that was as low as it could go and was already heavily reduced because I was a friend of a friend.
Then, I started poking around and found this:
http://www.engagementringsdirect.com/diamonds/14205783
It looks like the exact same stone (down to the slightest measurement) for $1200 less. That''s a 15% difference, which seems pretty meaningful, especially since I''m supposed to be getting a rock bottom price from her. This online retailer appears to be based in the diamond district in NY as well, so they seem legitimate. There are a half dozen other sites with near-identical stones anywhere from $6500-$7000.
Do you think my friend''s jeweler is trying to take advantage of me? Or is it possible the websites I''m seeing are not legitimate? Are there other factors I''m not thinking of?
Also, how would you advise I go back to my friend''s jeweler without basically accusing them of trying to rip me off?
Thanks so much in advance.
First let me just say that this is a really fantastic community and the posts I''ve read here have been extremely helpful. This is my first post (and first diamond purchase) and would really appreciate your informed opinions.
Here''s the situation: I live and work in NYC and, when I decided to start shopping for an engagement ring a close friend who recently went through the process recommended a friend of his who works for a diamond wholesaler in the diamond district. He bought his engagement ring from this same person a few months prior. The logic was that purchasing from the wholesalers "upstairs" in the district allows for cheaper prices than buying from the retailers on the ground level.
I''ve now looked at four stones with this person. The one stone I''m really interested in has the following stats:
Round Brilliant 1.26 ct
6.95 x 6.99 x 4.16
Color F
Clarity SI1
Cut VG
Polish VG
Symmetry EX
Flourescense None
Table 61%
Depth 59.7%
She quoted me a price of $7800 for the stone. I said I''d have to think about it and later asked if she could do anything on price and she said that was as low as it could go and was already heavily reduced because I was a friend of a friend.
Then, I started poking around and found this:
http://www.engagementringsdirect.com/diamonds/14205783
It looks like the exact same stone (down to the slightest measurement) for $1200 less. That''s a 15% difference, which seems pretty meaningful, especially since I''m supposed to be getting a rock bottom price from her. This online retailer appears to be based in the diamond district in NY as well, so they seem legitimate. There are a half dozen other sites with near-identical stones anywhere from $6500-$7000.
Do you think my friend''s jeweler is trying to take advantage of me? Or is it possible the websites I''m seeing are not legitimate? Are there other factors I''m not thinking of?
Also, how would you advise I go back to my friend''s jeweler without basically accusing them of trying to rip me off?
Thanks so much in advance.