reliability of online vendors

[Fuzzdawg]

hello. i recentyle purchased the perfectest diamond ever. i bought it from whiteflash. here''s the spec''s

.27 carats
D color
VVS1 clarity
"A Cut Above" Hearts and Arrows Cut.

i punched the numbers on the pricescope diamond calculator and it came up all excellents, with one "very good." i paid $865 for this stone (after much price shopping here in town). when you purchase an "A cut above" stone from whiteflash it comes with tweezers, and a cloth, and a loupe, a H&A viewer, a certificate, and and "indepentent appraisal" of the stone(valuing mine at worth about $1700).

the stone come''s and it''s just beautiful. just beautiful. i''ve never seen a whiter stone.

but how do you KNOW? how do you REALLY KNOW? i mean i still feel the urge to go and get it appraised. but i can''t really afford it. is a AGS certificate and an independent appraisal enough to be able to trust an online vendor? i mean, online, you never know... what do you guys think?

anyone ever deal with whiteflash before?

ps: nothing against whiteflash. i found the whole transaction very enjoyable, and i got the stone the FRIGGIN NEXT DAY!!!!! their customer service was great. the chick had this awesome accent!

 

[valeria101]

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On 3/30/2004 2:38:27 AM Fuzzdawg wrote:




[...] but how do you KNOW? how do you REALLY KNOW?

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How about this demonstration

....

In theory there is one way: knowing more than the seller

This may require that you #1 go through serious, hans on training for gem identification and grading OR, #2 get to know the business and people you deal with (meaning understanding the market down to the seller's incentives and details of the transaction). The first kind of knowledge goes with a degree in gemology and second with an advanced degree in business and/or economics. Both provide dead on 100% certainty!

There are sub-optimal solutions in the form of contracts (relatively binding obligations subject to complex failure risk)

and forums such as this which provide relatively credible endorsement

.

Now, joke aside, would such exaggeration be worth it? No. So diamond sellers would not have appeared as a species if buyers had to spend more on checking sellers' honesty than on the merchandise itself. Same for off-line jewelers: immagine you'd be on the other side of the counter with a faceted stone in hand, a bunch of papers and the same question

 

[niceice]

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On 3/30/2004 2:38:27 AM Fuzzdawg wrote:


but how do you KNOW? how do you REALLY KNOW? i mean i still feel the urge to go and get it appraised. but i can't really afford it.anyone ever deal with whiteflash before?

----------------

As a direct competitor of White Flash, one who clearly has "nothing" to gain by assisting in the promotion of their name or client base, we would like to say that we recognize them as a reputable and honorable company that represents an excellent product similar to ourselves and Jonathan at GoodOldGold.com who is another honored competitor.

Every reputable dealer who we know of urges their customers to obtain an appraisal from an independent GIA Graduate Gemologist for the simple reason that we want our clients to KNOW that they received the exact diamond they intended to purchase and that the product IS as represented by us. It is not that we feel that it is necessary for the client to have the diamond appraised to ensure that we sent the product we were supposed to, most of us are so extremely careful about the selection of the diamonds we inventory (inventory, not virtual list!) that we are quite confident that we are representing EXACTLY what has been represented on the lab report... But rather, we don't want our clients falling out of their Lazy Boy chairs some night five or six years from now when 20/20 or some other Prime Time "news" show decides to shock the public with some sensational story about disreputable diamond dealers on the internet or something like they tried to do with the story on 47th street a few years ago... When that story is aired, we want our clients to be sitting back in their chairs chuckling to themselves about how glad they are that they had their diamond evaluated by an independent appraiser at the time they purchased it so that they don't have to be second guessing their purchase five years after the actual purchase... That is essentially the only reason that we push the independent appraisal concept, we already KNOW that the diamonds we sell match the characteristics stated on the lab report, we already KNOW that the diamonds we sell are fabulous and we already KNOW that the price is exceptional for the quality of the diamonds being represented... It's all for your peace of mind and nothing more, so do us all a favor and find somebody local to look at the diamond and look at the lab report to tell you "Yep, that's the diamond" so that five years from now the good people at White Flash won't have to calm you down after that news story aires with a focus on the "very few" disreputable dealers who are floating about out there in cyber space

 

[PMR]

I just recently purchased a 2 ct from White Flash and had it appraised. It was everything plus more than what I was told. I was very happy with White Flash. If you don't want to get the diamond appraised, I do feel very confident that it is the stone that they sold you, however, it is still recommended that you get the stone appraised. White Flash wants to keep their customers happy. It only means more business for them in the future!

 

[Mara]

Hehe sounds like you talked to Lesley or Judy.




WF is a highly reputed company online...many have bought from them, including myself.




I would still get the stone confirmed in terms of making sure everything matches so you will have that peace of mind, maybe not a full blown appraisal, but a check. Some places do that for relatively little money. A local jeweler here does an internet verification (checking stone against paperwork, louping stone etc) for about $20-50. Surely you can afford that?




Congrats the stone sounds lovely. What will it be used for?

 

[aljdewey]

Fuzzdawg: I've purchased from Whiteflash, and their integrity is impeccable.




If you really have to "KNOW" that the stone sent is the right one, take it to a jeweler that has the microscope. Under that magnification, you'll be able to see the inscription on the girdle.




If you don't want a full appraisal, many places will charge only $35-40 to verify that the stone indeed matches the grading report (which won't be hard because ACA stones are inscribed with "A Cut Above" and the AGS number on the side.)




On a side note, you said "I've never seen a whiter stone"......gee, I hope not. There isn't a stone whiter than a D!

 

[Antique Radiant]

I just (yesterday) purchased a radiant from whiteflash - got it today

once i had spoken with them on the phone a number of times and gone through details etc, I had basically decided to buy the stone (pending opinions from learned people on this forum)

i then found from a local vendor he could undercut whiteflash/abizas by $5-700 for exactly the same stone

as whiteflash had demonstrated great service (and this other vendor was a bit flakey) I decided to take the personal hit and continue with whiteflash

i am a pretty demanding customer and whiteflash did nothing whatsoever to disappoint me

i spoke with Brian who was very patient with my relatively ignorant self and they get a big thuimbs up from me!

i did however get annoyed when i went to a local jeweler earlier today who told me my diamond has a retail value of 20% below what i paid for it when this is clearly NOT the case

 

[Nicrez]

Antique, I priced out stones within your cut range, your size and radiants. your stone is a STEAL! Tell that jeweler that if he'll sell you the SAME specs of a stone with the same Depth and table measurements for less, I'LL buy it! I hate when they do that!

 

[Antique Radiant]

Nicrez, thanks for confirming my thoughts!

after lurking on this site for a year my #1 criteria was cut and overall my expectations were exceeded

i looked at loads of stones at places like jared and local diamond exchanges and to be honest, most of them were rubbish in comparison

the only problem i have now is holding my tongue when people say things like:

'everybody loves how sparkly #### ring is because the clarity is so good....'

sorry for the thread hijack!!!

 

[Fuzzdawg]

yeah, i mean i went to about ten local dealers before i purchased this stone, trying to get an idea about what the four c's look like, now that i know all about what they mean because pricescope is such a great website. and there was barely anything comparable in all of modesto, and nothing for a competive price (against the internet). the closest was a .30 F VS1 "Love Diamond" H&A, for $1350. in otherwords, mine was 3 clicks smaller, but two steps better color, one step better clarity, and of comparable cut, for $500 less...

i was able to impress one clerk by acurrately guessing the color of a stone in a ring, so i have started picking up the knack for this stuff..


but HOW DO YOU KNOW?! how can i really be sure it's not just a really nice cz?

 

[Mara]

at the risk of sounding repetitive...




GET IT CHECKED OUT.




then you'll really know.

though if you have ever seen a really well cut CZ...it does not even compare to a H&A ACA.




my fiance's .38c ACA is amazing. breathtaking.

 

[Fuzzdawg]

here are some photos!!!

 

[Fuzzdawg]

i'm really sorry that turned out so big. here are my pics:

 

[Spartan]

Beautiful! The ring is very classic and elegant. And what a gorgeous stone!! I never get tired of seeing ACAs.

Congratulations on the occasion (I'm assuming it was a marriage proposal, but I'll stick with "occasion" since it's nice and neutral).

 

[fire&ice]

If you really need to know, then pony up the dough.

But, to a college kid, $40.00 is a bunch o money. If it's what you choose to spend the money on for piece of mind, then do it. If not, I wouldn't sweat it. 99.99 odds are it is what it is.

Personally, I wouldn't have it appraised. Sounds & looks (even from your blurry pics) beautiful & icey white.