Ring guarantee vs. internet diamond

[rwill35]

I am considering purchasing a leo from the dreaded mall chain store.
But, as a novice buyer trying to make his girlfriend of 5 years happy, I am willing to spend 6 grand on a ring.
I know I can get a better deal on the internet, than a .98 ct SI1 F in color with very good symmetry and good pollish.

but internet diamonds don''t have a guarantee on the ring itself do they?

I can''t afford to buy a nice diamond only to have it fall out 6 months later.

I am really liking the idea that Kay jewelers will replace the diamond with equal or greater value diamond
if anything should happen to the ring.
I have read all of the threads on the leo diamond, and I know I am paying more for a "Name Brand", but the one I am looking at does appear to have more brilliance.

I guess my main questions are: Is it worth it to pay the mark up price on a mall diamond simply for the guarantee?

and Is it worth it to pay 1200$ more for a leo diamond, or should I put that 1200 toward a larger brilliant round diamond of equal quality?

 

[laney]

Are you going to insure the ring? Or is Zales offering you personal property insurance. If you were to loose the stone, I don''t think they''d automatically replace it? Or if they do - that''s a great deal.

Typically you would insure your ring separate from where you purchased it from. As a stand alone policy or as a part of renters or homeowners insurance.

I wouldn''t base your purchase on damage or loss based on the vendor you buy from..

 

[mrmedoes]

It sounds like you''re talking about insurance, not really the quality of the setting. Usually a standalone insurance policy is 2-4% the cost of what you''re insuring. I would look into that.

No one can tell you where to buy a diamond as the real answer to that is where you feel comfortable. I know that in my case, my diamond is being set by the company that manufactuers the setting itself, and I think most designer settings are that way. I''m not particularly worried about it "falling out" as much as I would be damage or theft, and that doesn''t matter where you buy it. That''s what insurance is for though.

Personally, I would talk to a few other vendors and see if I felt comfortable with what they offer. Then I would either pocket the money, get a nicer setting, or a larger diamond. Then again, that''s me and everyone''s different. Heck, if I felt it was a good deal and as good, I''d buy surgery through the internet

 

[Lynn B]

I don''t know a THING about Kay''s "replacement" policy... so I don''t have too much to add. Like Laney suggested, find out exactly what is covered... be sure to read the fine print and ask lots of questions! I would have to think that there is probably some kind of a "catch"... but maybe not?

Most of us here on PS have our jewelry separately insured... it costs about $10 per $1000 of coverage, annually (that is a VERY rough estimate - some insurance policies are even pricier, some may be a little less) That does add up, year after year after year.

My personal bias is definitely towards internet buying... by and large, the stones here from our PS vendors are second to none. And generally (MUCH!) less expensive than the mall stones. It''s a no-brainer for me!

Lynn

 

[MissAva]

There was a post awhile ago about all the thing required for the insurence to apply, but the jist was this. They are not worth the paper they are written on. As for the leo diamond perhaps our experts could chime in here.
How much are you planning on spending on the setting?
Whiteflash has an excellt reputation on these boards and has the H&A diamond below for sale via the PS Diamond Cut Quality search for 5944$

 

[denverappraiser]

The guarantee is fundamentally insurance and should be shopped as such. Kays guarantees that if you have the ring examined in their store every 6 months and if you have all recommended repairs performed by the store at whatever price they choose to charge that they will replace the stone in cases of breakage or loss from the setting.

Most customers find that they also want insurance that covers loss or theft of the entire piece as well as coverage for other potential risks. Most people end up buying an additional polity to cover these contingencies. This type policies are offered by most of the same companies that offer homeowners or renters policies as well as a few others. For the most part, these policies also cover all of the risks covered by the store guarantees without that inspection requirement or the insistence that you use their jewelers at any price. The result is double coverage. Talk to your insurance company and see what they will cover and how much they are going to charge you for it. If you find that you’re going to buy a separate jewelry policy anyway, the store guarantee is not going to gain you very much.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[Regular Guy]

Cranky,

I take it you were commenting on Matatora''s methods, which -- to include text from WF''s site in this thread -- may be out of the norm...but are not in substance different than what I do all the time, providing links to one vendor''s or another''s site.

rwill35...what Neil said...I think your vendor presented to you an idea that sounded like they had just invented sliced bread, and somehow it was particularly effective. The feature described is what one routinely gets insurance for, usually a stand-alone policy, whether in association with a home-owner''s policy, or purely stand alone, and the cost of that, while variable, is I typically .8 to 3 % annually of the purchase cost of the item (my cost was about 1.25%). I''m not sure why I''d let this one feature sway your decision significantly.

Regards,

 

[jennalyns]

My original setting was from Kay's. The white gold turned yellow in 6 months. I contacted them about this, and they said it's normal- but no one told my fiance BEFORE the sale. The center stone on my ring (while not a Leo) is pretty, but it has eye visible inclusions (that my fiance didn't see because he didn't know what he was looking for, and I have eagle eyes). They told him it was an SI1- it appraised as an I1.

Their "lifetime guarantee" is dependent on your getting inspections done in their store every six months, and if you miss or are late for even one, their guarantee is void. If you so much as get the ring resized anywhere else, the guarantee is also void. I think they're overpriced, and their guarantee doesn't justify their prices being that high.

If the setting you get is high quality the stone shouldn't fall out. You should have it inspected every year anyway, and a good insurance policy is better than Kay's replacement policy, IMHO. I'm not sure their policy even covers if you accidentally damage the stone, and I know it doesn't cover theft or loss.

We ended up having the ring remade in platinum because I adore the style, but I didn't like the yellowing of the white gold. Kay's wouldn't do a special order in platinum, so I had an internet vendor do it (it's not an exact copy, but very similar), and we also upgraded the quality of the stones. If I could do it again we wouldn't have bought from them, I felt like they took advantage of the fact that my fiance didn't know much about diamonds at the time.

Edited to add- for 6 grand I think you can get an INCREDIBLE diamond online!!!! you can definitely get a better cut than the Leo, IMHO.

 

[pricescope]

Date: 7/13/2005 9:57:16 PM
Author: crankydave
I''ve been informed by Pricescope, it''s perfectly acceptable to post advertisements, if you''re a consumer. Perhaps there are other consumers who wish to assist the original poster, rwill35, by posting an advertisement that would help them in their quest. Please feel free to copy and paste anything you wish provided it''s in an effort to assist the original poster and you''re a consumer.

Dave

Here''s what was written in reality.

Complaint Leonid, I understand this is simply a consumer trying to be helpful, but, pulling and pasting the information I believe to be a bit excessive and sets a dangerous precedent. I, for one, would not like to see the threads become billboards or advertisements for anybody. Dave crankydave https://www.pricescope.com/idealbb/dview.asp?pageNo=1&num=30&mtype=reply&postID=292301

And here is our response

Hi Dave
As long as it''s a consumer trying to help i don''t see any problem.
But thank you anyway.

As you can see we do not encourage posting advertising (as Dave put it) but it has always been OK when a consumer (especially a long time member) is trying to help a newbie.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time David is breaching the forum rules. Dave is obviously unhappy about forum policies and moderation.

We decided to terminate Dave''s membership on this forum.