Help choosing a LG diamond, sight-unseen, from Australia... best source? Takara vs other diamonds?

[ls18]

Hi everyone,

I used Pricescope 8 years ago when I got married and we ended up buying a beautiful engagement ring and wedding ring from Michael Herman New York. We live in Australia. It was a cushion-cut diamond on a micropave band, with a matching micropave ring. All the research I did on Pricescope was invaluable and I really trust you all!

6 weeks ago I lost my beloved rings at the gym. We had them insured, but only for AU$10,000. The insurer will only pay an Australian jeweller. For that budget we can't buy an engagement ring and wedding ring to my taste, so instead, my plan is to use the $10,000 at an Australian jeweller to buy a nice diamond band, and maybe some earrings (I've seen some beautiful ones that I love at Holloway Diamonds), then I could buy a lab-grown diamond engagement ring from a US retailer online.

I would love a 1.5ct (approx) round diamond in a Tiffany-style 6 prong solitaire setting, to wear with the diamond band.

I have read the threads in this forum and looked at lots of online retailers. I seem to have narrowed it down to Takara diamonds from Better than Diamond, Brilliant Earth, Good Old Gold, August Vintage Diamonds, Nu Mined, and D.HEA diamonds. However, they vary so much in price... does anyone know why? I won't be able to see the stone before I buy it and from reading Pricescope I know that the cut of a stone is so important.

The Takara diamonds are cheaper than the diamonds from Brilliant Earth. When buying a LG diamond, are they all created equal? Does anyone have any tips for me?

Thank you so much!!!

 

[OoohShiny]

Hi everyone,

I used Pricescope 8 years ago when I got married and we ended up buying a beautiful engagement ring and wedding ring from Michael Herman New York. We live in Australia. It was a cushion-cut diamond on a micropave band, with a matching micropave ring. All the research I did on Pricescope was invaluable and I really trust you all!

6 weeks ago I lost my beloved rings at the gym. We had them insured, but only for AU$10,000. The insurer will only pay an Australian jeweller. For that budget we can't buy an engagement ring and wedding ring to my taste, so instead, my plan is to use the $10,000 at an Australian jeweller to buy a nice diamond band, and maybe some earrings (I've seen some beautiful ones that I love at Holloway Diamonds), then I could buy a lab-grown diamond engagement ring from a US retailer online.

I would love a 1.5ct (approx) round diamond in a Tiffany-style 6 prong solitaire setting, to wear with the diamond band.

I have read the threads in this forum and looked at lots of online retailers. I seem to have narrowed it down to Takara diamonds from Better than Diamond, Brilliant Earth, Good Old Gold, August Vintage Diamonds, Nu Mined, and D.HEA diamonds. However, they vary so much in price... does anyone know why? I won't be able to see the stone before I buy it and from reading Pricescope I know that the cut of a stone is so important.

The Takara diamonds are cheaper than the diamonds from Brilliant Earth. When buying a LG diamond, are they all created equal? Does anyone have any tips for me?

Thank you so much!!!

Your first post - in nine years! That is a long time lol

I am sorry to hear you lost your rings and that you are having issues with insurance coverage.


May I ask what budget you might have available for an MMD?

And if you have any preferences with regards to colour and clarity?


As you have noticed, prices are varying widely across different platforms, so it is hard to know what is 'good value', what is 'cheap for a reason', and what is just overpriced!


I believe that Takara are quite good in terms of quality and cut, and that they do 'Ideal' cuts (which are more expensive).

There have been some discussions recently about whether HPHT or CVD+HPHT are better than CVD-alone stones, in that CVD can have 'layering'/Stria issues, where the growth has created a sort of layering in the material like tree-rings do in a tree, which appears to reduce 'crispness' of faceting and light performance.

 

[ls18]

Thanks, that's great to know. @oohshiny do you own any LG diamonds? Have you compared the HPHT and CVD diamonds? I'll ask each retailer how they manufacture the diamonds especially if HPHT stones seem better.

The Takara ones are all super ideal H&A, which appeals to me. I'm not sure why they have so little stock though, and it made me wonder whether the larger retailers are "better." I'm still not sure what the difference is between all these different LG stones and what a Takara diamond is exactly compared to other LG diamonds.

I don't have much preference for colour or clarity... I just want the most beautiful diamond possible. I haven't quite worked out a budget. The Australian dollar is very weak right now: AU$1 is only US$0.68. I'm thinking US$2000. If I need to spend more to get a better stone I will, but I'll save up for it and delay the purchase.

I saw some stones on Brilliant Earth for around $8,000 for 1.5ct and on other sites the same size is around $2,000, adding to my confusion!

 

[OoohShiny]

Thanks, that's great to know. @oohshiny do you own any LG diamonds? Have you compared the HPHT and CVD diamonds? I'll ask each retailer how they manufacture the diamonds especially if HPHT stones seem better.

The Takara ones are all super ideal H&A, which appeals to me. I'm not sure why they have so little stock though, and it made me wonder whether the larger retailers are "better." I'm still not sure what the difference is between all these different LG stones and what a Takara diamond is exactly compared to other LG diamonds.

I don't have much preference for colour or clarity... I just want the most beautiful diamond possible. I haven't quite worked out a budget. The Australian dollar is very weak right now: AU$1 is only US$0.68. I'm thinking US$2000. If I need to spend more to get a better stone I will, but I'll save up for it and delay the purchase.

I saw some stones on Brilliant Earth for around $8,000 for 1.5ct and on other sites the same size is around $2,000, adding to my confusion!

Sadly I don't own any diamonds myself, MMD or Mined but I did purchase a CBI stone for my good lady

I have plans to buy something at some point, but a lot depends on a lot of things! lol


Some stones are CVD-only, some stones are CVD-grown then 'treated' with HPHT, and some stones are purely HPHT. I think CVD+HPHT should be fine in terms of not having layering/stria, and HPHT should definitely be safe. (I am not an expert, though!) There have been a few threads on the potential issues recently - if you do a search for 'stria' they should come up

I am not sure what Takara stones are - it would be great if they can tell you They do seem to only have very few stones but I think the Ideal cut versions could be worth looking at. I don't know how they perform in the HCA tool but I would imagine (hope!) that they do well.


The massive price differences between similar spec stones are driving me slightly crazy too. $2k vs $8k? That is mad. I know @John Pollard has previously mentioned about the potential for PS to have an MMD search engine, which could help bring the industry towards more consistent pricing, but I know there are a lot of considerations to take on board before any decision could be made either way. For now, we must do a lot of the searching and assessing work ourselves!

I will try to have a look for some potential stones later tonight, but I am a bit busy at the moment so my apologies if I can't get to it!

 

[alene]

I’m sorry about the loss of your ring, OP, what a bummer! I have no LG diamonds at this point, but I’be been looking into possibly getting a pair for studs and Takara stones sound really intriguing. According to their site, they’re all HPHT grown and all cut to AGS000 proportions. Their prices seem reasonable too. Of course their inventory is tiny and seems to be mainly around 1ct size. They’re supposed to be restocking around the 15th though and should have a 1.53 ct stone. You may want to contact them about that:
https://betterthandiamond.com/pages/Takara-lab-diamond-Restocking-schedule.html

 

[ls18]

Hi everyone! So I have now contacted a multitude of retailers, asking for their best value (price-performance) round LG diamonds around 1.5ct, and they vary wildly in price.

In Australia, diamonds are extremely expensive. Almost all consumer goods are so much more expensive than in the US/Europe, even taking currency into account. You can't buy a decent 1ct (minded) round stone here for under $15,000 - and it wouldn't be a really amazing one, just a decent one.

Anyway this stage I'm leaning towards the Takara diamonds because they are cheaper than Brilliant Earth etc, and they're all super ideal H&A cut. The quotes from most of the big LG diamond retailers were all US$5-10,000 and not all of them were ideal cut.

I found more information about the Takara diamonds and what they are on the Better Than Diamond webpage forums. They are HPHT (thank you for alerting me to the difference @OoohShiny!)

I thought some of you would be interested to read this too: https://talk.jewelry/threads/takara-super-ideal-lab-diamonds-blog-the-road-to-3cts.55538/

 

[monipod]

Hi. Another Aussie here and I feel your pain! Sorry to hear you lost your rings, and yes, sorry that you're trying to buy a diamond with our weak Aussie dollar.

Ironically, in spite of the exchange rate, I was able to buy a gorgeous 1ct mined diamond through James Allen for way less than anywhere in Australia ($4K versus $6/7K), including pawn shops!

I've been curious about lab diamonds and hope to buy one one day. This article by HPD was really good to read: https://www.hpdiamonds.com/en-us/extra/172/laboratory-grown-diamonds

I would suggest that the cheaper lab diamonds are CVD only. It takes a while but if you read the 'About' section of the vendors, they do eventually explain what process they use. If CVD diamonds are physically different to natural/HPHT I can't help but think they will perform differently. Since it's hard to see these diamonds in real life from Australia (and it's a nightmare sending things back for refunds/exchange) I'd be inclined to go with a vendor with good feedback. Takara seems to have good feedback and are priced well.

Please post pics if you go this route

 

[Tekate]

just as an fyi, August Vintage has lab grown diamonds and Jon has been a well respected PS vendor for years.

https://www.augustvintageinc.net/collections/laboratory-grown-diamonds

 

[monipod]

just as an fyi, August Vintage has lab grown diamonds and Jon has been a well respected PS vendor for years.

https://www.augustvintageinc.net/collections/laboratory-grown-diamonds

Yes! I have been eyeing off the mined and lab beauties on AV The prices are pretty reasonable and as I'm hunting a low colour stone, I should be able to find a reasonable stone there. Thanks!

 

[starrynight]

Hi everyone! So I have now contacted a multitude of retailers, asking for their best value (price-performance) round LG diamonds around 1.5ct, and they vary wildly in price.

In Australia, diamonds are extremely expensive. Almost all consumer goods are so much more expensive than in the US/Europe, even taking currency into account. You can't buy a decent 1ct (minded) round stone here for under $15,000 - and it wouldn't be a really amazing one, just a decent one.

Anyway this stage I'm leaning towards the Takara diamonds because they are cheaper than Brilliant Earth etc, and they're all super ideal H&A cut. The quotes from most of the big LG diamond retailers were all US$5-10,000 and not all of them were ideal cut.

I found more information about the Takara diamonds and what they are on the Better Than Diamond webpage forums. They are HPHT (thank you for alerting me to the difference @OoohShiny!)

I thought some of you would be interested to read this too: https://talk.jewelry/threads/takara-super-ideal-lab-diamonds-blog-the-road-to-3cts.55538/

Please do update with what you end up with! I've been eyeing the takara lab diamonds also looks like augustvintage is working with takara now (he has a bunch up on his website).