Procedures in shopping for a ring

[chagall]

Let me see if I can get the procedure down for shopping for a ring:

1. Figure out what you want (cut, clarity, caret, color, shape, etc).
2. Search through the database for the stones.
3. Plug in the stones into HCA and eliminate those that are not from 0-2.
4. For those that pass, check the Idealscope for light leakage.
5. Order stone and have it shipped to the appraiser. Ideally, the appraiser should be local so you can go and look at it, too.
6. If appraisal is good, have appraiser ship stone to the jeweler to be set. If appraisal is bad, have appraiser ship gem back.

Does this sound right to you? I am unclear on #5-6. I saw in another post that you should ship it to an appraiser directly because your home owners is unlikely to handle loose stones and you may have difficulty insuring using Fedex or UPS.

 

[Hest88]

Depends. IMO, a very important step is finding a jeweler whose "eye" you trust. That way you can utilize their professional judgement without going through a lot of hassle and wasting a lot of time. My favorite method is:

#1 Determining my parameters, including price range
#2 Contacting trusted jeweler and giving said parameters
#3 Have them provide me with recommended stone, including IS image and other tokens of the stone''s superior performance
#4 Hand over credit card

 

[belle]

everyone has different levels of comfort in what they *need* when buying a diamond. if your list is one you need to go through, then do it. there is no absolute guideline to shopping. fwiw..my list would be the same as hests''.

 

[chagall]

Keep in mind that I am new at this and have no existing relationship with any jeweler. I am trying to see if there are flaws in the way I do things or if there is a better way.

Paul

 

[belle]

1. determine your criteria (cut, carat, color, clarity)
2. search by cut quality (hca results are automatically displayed)
3. check idealscope image
4. order diamond

unless you are dealing with a vendor who has an unknown or questionable track record, or if you just have to have the extra assurance, i wouldn''t worry about sending the stone to an appraiser.

 

[indecisive]

Belle - If you were buying from a vendor you weren''t very familiar with but the stone came with a GIA cert would you send it to an appraiser or trust the cert?

 

[Hest88]

Date: 1/23/2006 5:32:35 PM
Author: indecisive
Belle - If you were buying from a vendor you weren''t very familiar with but the stone came with a GIA cert would you send it to an appraiser or trust the cert?

I''m not Belle, but there''s no way I''d just trust any cert. I''d expect some more evaluations to back it up.

 

[belle]

i wouldn''t buy from a vendor i wasn''t familiar with

but, yes, as stated above i would suggest getting a stone appraised if you are not familiar with the vendor.

 

[Regular Guy]

Hi, Chagall,

I think you, Belle, and Hest have come forward with some pretty good ideas. See my take on this at the link below my signature, which recognizes your ideas. Also, since I originally set that protocol down, three additional ideas came forward (and I have tried to integrate them into that link below) to add a bit of perspective, and enrich the options:

1) If you find the options in the search by cut database, as Belle wisely points out, are still a bit pricey, the Price Stats database gives you a chance to use some of the diamond's other known parameters to get closer to a good quality pick.

2) On the other end of the spectrum, it is possible all bets can be off using these different strategies, and you could consider trying to simply either a) pick any AGS diamond that has the newer cert (I had to shuffle through something like 10 AGS stones on databases here until I saw my first one) from virtually any vendor...local or internet, that you can find, and b) failing that, wonder why the diamond you selected wasn't submitted for the opportunity to win this cert that grades for light performance.

3) Regardless, from the point of view that only seeing is believing, and appreciating that a handful of vendors posting on this board carry the best of the best, you might just decide to leave the mail alone, fly to your vendor of choice (unless you happen to be lucky enough to have one near enough by that you can drive there), and go see for your self "wassup."

Good luck in your search!