1ct price range

[Caguilera]

What is a reasonably price for a good quality 1ct cushion and round brilliant stone? I've been ring shopping and it seems the prices are all above 8k for good quality. This could be due to the fact that I haven't visited many places. I have been to Zales, Tiffany's, Marisa Perry, and helzberg. Tiffany's is extremely expensive and I don't know of its completely worth it or if its just a mark up price. Marisa Perry works with you but I don't want to compromise complete quality for size. Any advice or are 1cts that expensive?

TIA

 

[kathness]

Hiya! In diamond from my understanding have different sets of prices from 1 carat to 1.49 carat, 1.5 carat to 1.99 carat and so on and so on. Each jump between the weight sizes carries a premium of anywhere between 25-35%

Let us take for example a 1.49 carat E VS1 is 11800 per carat. A 1.50 carat E VS1 stone is 16.400 per carat. so the calculations are as follows.

1.49 x 11,800 = 17,582 USD ( you can shop around using JA, WF, BG, IDJ, GOG) tiffany etc will have a higher price range
1.50 x 16,400 = 24,600 USD ( this is just from my understanding, perhaps the experts will provide more informatin)

The difference in the same color, same purity is a staggering $7,018 USD and the difference is just one tenth of carat. For this reason, companies like to put premiums on stones with ranges from 1.40-1.49 carat because they know the proximity between those sizes and a stone which is 1.50 carat and wanted to be compensated accordingly in my opinion. Again, i hope the experts will provide you more details!

Some of people tend to look for stones just a little bit under 1 carat for example sticking between 0.8-0.9 carat range to avoid the 25-35% increase.

Here are some sites which you can do some comparison;

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/
http://www.whiteflash.com/
https://www.idjewelryonline.com/
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamondSearch.php
http://www.jamesallen.com/

Or simply just use the pricescope diamond search functionality and it will search all the PS vendors.

I have recently bought a diamond form IDJ - Yekutiel and he has been very helpful!! I will definitely go back to them again.

I have also delt with Dave from Good old gold the customer service is exceptional too!

have fun shopping!!!

 

[SMC]

What is a reasonably price for a good quality 1ct cushion and round brilliant stone? I've been ring shopping and it seems the prices are all above 8k for good quality. This could be due to the fact that I haven't visited many places. I have been to Zales, Tiffany's, Marisa Perry, and helzberg. Tiffany's is extremely expensive and I don't know of its completely worth it or if its just a mark up price. Marisa Perry works with you but I don't want to compromise complete quality for size. Any advice or are 1cts that expensive?

TIA

If I were you, I'd go to a jeweler and ask them to show me GIA and AGS graded stones to get an understanding of my color sensitivity. Some people start seeing tint in H color and lower and some people are completely fine going with a J color diamond. If you want the cheapest stone, you can pick the lowest color you can tolerate and the lowest clarity while still being eye clean. Clarity-wise, you can easily find eye clean SI1 stones, and you can sometimes find eye clean SI2s as well.

Don't compromise on cut. You want a cut grade of GIA Excellent or an AGS 0. I would refrain from buying diamonds certified by other labs unless they're first vetted by experts here.

I looked on James Allen, and found the following (I only looked at GIA XXX stones that were 1 carat or more):
J SI1: $4200+
I SI1: $4900+
H SI1: $5500+
G SI1: $6000+
F SI1: $6500+
E SI1: $6800+
D SI1: $7500+

I'm pretty sure that the places you're looking at weren't showing you GIA XXX D-colored diamonds. Most stores place all the emphasis on color and clarity when cut is the most important in determining sparkle. I think that a nice 1 carat diamond should cost less than $8000. Most people are completely happy with a G or H diamond.