Buying Procedure

[Andy_w1978]

Just wanted to get some input from people who know this process a lot better than I do. I purchased a stone back home in Wisconsin. I have not been able to shop around extensively, but I am hoping I am not getting completely ripped off. Couple quick questions:
1.The ring and stone I bought have a 30 day return policy. I requested a full IGI report to go along with it. Should I request in writing an extension of the return so that I am covered in case anything looks fishy? The report that came with the diamond is the condensed version showing basic info.
2. What ballpark figures can you throw me for a value on a diamond. As I mentioned above, I do not have the detailed report yet, but I do have the following-
Emerald Cut
1.02 ct
E
SI1
Good/Good
No fluorescense
Sadly, that is about what I can remember off the top of my head.
3. Any body have any feedback on their experience with Jared jewelery stores? They seemed helpful and friendly. The one holdup is that the sales associate we worked with said they have diamonds marked at their lowest price so they don''t have to barter on price. Any thoughts on that?

Any info the reader may have will be very useful. I am hoping to get this ring and ready for a proposal this next weekend.
Thanks All!!!

 

[Mara]

Hi Andy--




First off, get an independent appraisal. These guys are experts and they don't work for anyone but you. They will be able to tell you what sort of 'cut quality' the stone is, something that is hard to gauge just by numbers with a fancy cut stone.




Not sure what price you paid, but online similar stones (1.02c E SI1 GD/GD) are running for around $3700-4700 depending on the vendor and the markup, etc. If you bought it offline, you may have paid more, due to B&M markups--one reason that people are looking into shopping online more and more. It's a huge range..so I'm not sure how remotely close you got. One options if you paid significantly more is to try to negotiate pricing with the B&M by saying you found similar stones online for $X and can they meet you somewhere in-between. Though the range above is large...I would estimate around $4k would be a good price for a stone with those parameters (not knowing anything about cut).




Also while you are requesting more information, request crown and pavilion angles and %'s on this stone. Then you can plug the #'s into the www.gemappraisers.com DIY cut grader and see what it gives you on it's idea of cut quality.




Good luck!

 

[Giangi]

Is the cert from IGI NY or Antwerp?
As for the price... About $4K on the net and $5K at a B&M. Give or take a few hundreds due to cert accuracy, fluorescence and cut.