All,
First let me say hello to everyone...I''m new. For the record after about one hour of reading the articles on Pricescope I really did feel like Neo being unplugged from the Matrix!
There really is so much B.S./deception/salesmanship/insert your word here in the world of diamonds that I often wonder if used car dealer employees and jewelry clerks have part-time jobs at each others locations.
It really is a breath of fresh air to find a website that honestly talks about an important topic like diamonds, cars, real estate etc.
Thank you for being that site for diamonds!!!
Anyway...I''m sure I''ll have more ?''s to follow, but let me tell you my situation and see if anyone has some suggestions.
My knowledgebase includes purchasing one engagement ring 10 years ago at a mall
and having it not appraise for what I''d paid for it at 2-3 different jewelry stores. This led to my first coup in the world of diamonds. A local jewelry store made me the same ring for $700 less and with obviously better colored stones (the new ring was done before I''d returned the old one so I got a side-by-side viewing). That ring passed it''s appraisal no problem...too bad the engagement itself failed.
Since then nothing except a couple department store counters lately (just for ideas) and two trips to the Philadelphia diamond district in recent weeks. One to Safian and Rudolph Jewelers and the other to a wholesaler/lapidary that a woman I know does business with.
The first place felt salesy..not too bad though, but he referred to the price on the little envelopes the diamonds came in as not being the price...that he could do better...needed to find out the "true cost" on them if/when I''d picked one. No idealscopes...no great lighting...no mention of how important cut is. He did have an extention arm flourescent light on the counter though. And when it''s own weight wasn''t causing it to slowly fall onto the counter it actually threw some rather dismal lighting onto the stones.
Sad.
The lapidary was better. He truly is a "wholesaler"...he does not have a storefront...you need to go into the building and up an elevator to his place. He has no finished jewelry on display. I liked his stones better overall.
He showed me this stone and I was going to buy it until I found this site.
E.G.L. cert dated 4/29/2001 (already a problem right?)
1.51 carats
7.48-7.53 x 4.52mm
I color - SI2 clarity (looked mostly eye-clean)
total depth 60.2%
table width 61%
crown height 12%
pavillion depth 45%
girdle medium/faceted
polish good to very good
symmetry very good
culet none
Price??? $6,000...no tax if cash.
Now correct me if I''m wrong, but that''s NOT a great price for this stone...right?
The HCA sure doesn''t like it too much...well other than the spread of course.
Still to the untrained eye...me...a decent stone. That 7.5x mm spread is impressive!
Even the HCA gave it a 5.X and said buy it if $$$ is the major concern.
Well isn''t it usually?
Now the lil woman wants a 1-1.5 and leans towards the 1.5 for it''s size, but decided that a 2.0 is just too big for her hands...praise Jesus.
After learning ALOT from this site and the sites that are linked off of here I realize how important cut is.
I THANK all of you for that. I''d just assumed over the years that all rounds has the same shape...round!!!
So now I''m leaning towards something like a:
Whiteflash''s H&A''s ACA (mainly because it assures that the cut is excellent)
1-1.25 carats
color...hmmm...I feel I can go lower because the idea seems to be that with superior cuts they face up whiter by a letter grade or two.
Let''s say down to J (equal to a "normal" H or I)
SI1-or SI2 (if just right)
If I browse Whiteflash I seem to find stones in the 1.0 to 1.20 carat range that fit this bill...for around 5-6k.
I could live with that.
So can anyone suggest another "brand" to look at besides Whiteflashes H&A''s ACA? They seem to really care about getting you a high quality H&A...does any other internet seller do the same with H&A''s...or any other cutting style?
Do most of you think H&A''s really are the way to go to ensure symmetry? Is there another acronym that I should research?
I''m looking to still further my knowledge a bit, but my reading so far has convinced me that cut is king...and that well-done H&A fit''s into that class....but is there anything I''m missing?
Will a J really look better than I expect? Can a H&A''s light return make an SI1 or SI2''s inclusions harder to spot?
I''m very impressed...and nearly sold on Whiteflash''s website design and quality especially the way you can pull up all of the reports and that 40x pic of the stones is great. But since I''m a newbie I don''t want to just call them and blurt out my cc #. I''ll be glad to once I really know what I''m doing.
For now just trying to tell y''all where I''m at and see if any of you have some good ideas.
Thanks 1 million!
First let me say hello to everyone...I''m new. For the record after about one hour of reading the articles on Pricescope I really did feel like Neo being unplugged from the Matrix!
There really is so much B.S./deception/salesmanship/insert your word here in the world of diamonds that I often wonder if used car dealer employees and jewelry clerks have part-time jobs at each others locations.
It really is a breath of fresh air to find a website that honestly talks about an important topic like diamonds, cars, real estate etc.
Thank you for being that site for diamonds!!!
Anyway...I''m sure I''ll have more ?''s to follow, but let me tell you my situation and see if anyone has some suggestions.
My knowledgebase includes purchasing one engagement ring 10 years ago at a mall
Since then nothing except a couple department store counters lately (just for ideas) and two trips to the Philadelphia diamond district in recent weeks. One to Safian and Rudolph Jewelers and the other to a wholesaler/lapidary that a woman I know does business with.
The first place felt salesy..not too bad though, but he referred to the price on the little envelopes the diamonds came in as not being the price...that he could do better...needed to find out the "true cost" on them if/when I''d picked one. No idealscopes...no great lighting...no mention of how important cut is. He did have an extention arm flourescent light on the counter though. And when it''s own weight wasn''t causing it to slowly fall onto the counter it actually threw some rather dismal lighting onto the stones.
The lapidary was better. He truly is a "wholesaler"...he does not have a storefront...you need to go into the building and up an elevator to his place. He has no finished jewelry on display. I liked his stones better overall.
He showed me this stone and I was going to buy it until I found this site.
E.G.L. cert dated 4/29/2001 (already a problem right?)
1.51 carats
7.48-7.53 x 4.52mm
I color - SI2 clarity (looked mostly eye-clean)
total depth 60.2%
table width 61%
crown height 12%
pavillion depth 45%
girdle medium/faceted
polish good to very good
symmetry very good
culet none
Price??? $6,000...no tax if cash.
Now correct me if I''m wrong, but that''s NOT a great price for this stone...right?
The HCA sure doesn''t like it too much...well other than the spread of course.
Still to the untrained eye...me...a decent stone. That 7.5x mm spread is impressive!
Even the HCA gave it a 5.X and said buy it if $$$ is the major concern.
Well isn''t it usually?
Now the lil woman wants a 1-1.5 and leans towards the 1.5 for it''s size, but decided that a 2.0 is just too big for her hands...praise Jesus.
After learning ALOT from this site and the sites that are linked off of here I realize how important cut is.
I THANK all of you for that. I''d just assumed over the years that all rounds has the same shape...round!!!
So now I''m leaning towards something like a:
Whiteflash''s H&A''s ACA (mainly because it assures that the cut is excellent)
1-1.25 carats
color...hmmm...I feel I can go lower because the idea seems to be that with superior cuts they face up whiter by a letter grade or two.
Let''s say down to J (equal to a "normal" H or I)
SI1-or SI2 (if just right)
If I browse Whiteflash I seem to find stones in the 1.0 to 1.20 carat range that fit this bill...for around 5-6k.
I could live with that.
So can anyone suggest another "brand" to look at besides Whiteflashes H&A''s ACA? They seem to really care about getting you a high quality H&A...does any other internet seller do the same with H&A''s...or any other cutting style?
Do most of you think H&A''s really are the way to go to ensure symmetry? Is there another acronym that I should research?
I''m looking to still further my knowledge a bit, but my reading so far has convinced me that cut is king...and that well-done H&A fit''s into that class....but is there anything I''m missing?
Will a J really look better than I expect? Can a H&A''s light return make an SI1 or SI2''s inclusions harder to spot?
I''m very impressed...and nearly sold on Whiteflash''s website design and quality especially the way you can pull up all of the reports and that 40x pic of the stones is great. But since I''m a newbie I don''t want to just call them and blurt out my cc #. I''ll be glad to once I really know what I''m doing.
For now just trying to tell y''all where I''m at and see if any of you have some good ideas.
Thanks 1 million!
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