I found the ring now what?

[razorcloud]

First of all I would like to thank everybody here at PS for all the helpful info that I have been reading for the past 2-3 months. I am shopping for an E-ring and I am glad to have stumbled upon this site.

Now for my problem, after a 3 month search and research, I finally found the stone that I am looking for. I have contacted the vendor about this and have all the specs for the stone. The vendor gave me a good price for the stone. However, I would have to wire transfer the money to the vendor before the stone can get shipped. How safe is wire transfer? Is there a ay to get my money back in case there is a problem with the stone?

Also, should I have the vendor ship the stone to an independent appraiser instead of having the stone sent directly to me? If so, do you have a link for independent appraisers in my area (ZIP:10462).

As for the stone, I wanted to have it set on a 4-prong tiffany setting, who would you recommend? Who can make the best 4-prong Tiffany setting? If you have pictures of a 4-prong Tiffany set E-ring from the sides that would be great. I want to get a feel as to how the prongs should look (height, size, style, ,etc).

One last thing, beside the GIA certificate what other documents/certs should I ask the vendor to prove that the stone is legit? Since I am buying the stone without ever seeing it first, I am very reluctant. The only thing I have is this vendor''s reputation.

Thanks in advance.

Razor

 

[CdnBlingGal]

First off, welcome to PS!

If your vendor is one of the highly recommended vendors here on PS, I personally wouldn't have a problem doing a wire transfer to them. If your concerned about their money back policy, you should either call them or email them to verify their policy for return.
I think most PS'ers will get the vendor to ship the diamond to an independant appraiser prior to purchasing the stone (you will have to pay for the s/h of the diamond) unless you purchase it (PS'ers, correct me if I'm way off base, please)

The GIA certificate is usually the only thing that you get with your diamond purchase. As for other doc./cert, I guess you can ask for the sarin, idealscope images etc...


Good Luck!

 

[robyn]

I don''t know much about diamonds - but I do know about money

(I''m a retired lawyer). Once you wire the money - it is gone - kaput. There is - for all intents and purposes - no way to get it back (short of a lawsuit). I would never ever buy a consumer product using a wire transfer absent *very* unusual circumstances (e.g., if I were dealing with someone like a bankruptcy court trustee who was liquidating the estate of a bankrupt and I was making the payment into a court supervised account).

You can use an escrow agent for a sale - but that is a cumbersome process - and not necessarily foolproof. There have even been reports of fraudulent escrow agents who were involved in Ebay sales. Robyn

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 2/22/2006 5:27:49 PM
Author: robyn
I don''t know much about diamonds - but I do know about money

(I''m a retired lawyer). Once you wire the money - it is gone - kaput. There is - for all intents and purposes - no way to get it back (short of a lawsuit). I would never ever buy a consumer product using a wire transfer absent *very* unusual circumstances (e.g., if I were dealing with someone like a bankruptcy court trustee who was liquidating the estate of a bankrupt and I was making the payment into a court supervised account).

You can use an escrow agent for a sale - but that is a cumbersome process - and not necessarily foolproof. There have even been reports of fraudulent escrow agents who were involved in Ebay sales. Robyn

robyn
geez...calm down.nobody is going to rip him off.

 

[robyn]

I''m sure not everyone in this situation gets ripped off - but some people do. Call me conservative - but when I buy things that are worth a fair amount of money - I want recourse if something in the transaction goes wrong (merchandise never received - merchandise not as represented - merchandise damaged - etc.). Usually this means paying for things with a credit card I use a lot. So I can put charges in dispute if necessary. Robyn

 

[ChooChoo]

If we''re talking about one of the vendors on this site, wire transfer is fine. If we''re talking about an E-bay seller, don''t do it! It all depends on reputation.

 

[XChick03]

Agreed. A trusted PS vendor? Sure, go with the wire transfer. Anyone else? Depends on how much you know about them. Being a law student, I tend to side with Robyn, especially with the whole eBay saga going on in another thread.

 

[ChooChoo]

XChick, I''m a law student too! What year are you? (Sorry about the thread hijack)

 

[sslkrissi]

XChic and ChooChoo,
I was a law student too!!! I just graduated in December and just got back from taking the Bar exam this wednesday. Don''t worry, its not impossible, but make sure you start studying as soon as possible. If I could do it again, I probably would have started studying before I graduated or immediately after. Good luck to you both in finishing law school.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 2/24/2006 4:26:19 PM
Author: robyn
I''m sure not everyone in this situation gets ripped off - but some people do. Call me conservative - but when I buy things that are worth a fair amount of money - I want recourse if something in the transaction goes wrong (merchandise never received - merchandise not as represented - merchandise damaged - etc.). Usually this means paying for things with a credit card I use a lot. So I can put charges in dispute if necessary. Robyn

if he is buying from one of the PS vendors,he don''t need to wire any money,just ask the vendor to ship the stone to one of the independent appraisers for his approval.

 

[razorcloud]

Thanks for the info guys. I''ll see if I can get the stone sent to David Atlas for appraisal. I''ll keep my fingers crossed. Thanks again!