A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want...

[Trekkie]

...or is it...?

I have the opportunity to buy a 1.5ct grey/brown diamond for a very good price.

I love the size. The clarity is ok. I'm not too knowledgable about cut, but it seems ok. I'm not wild about the colour but the size... 1.5ct! And the price is excellent. Actually, the price is the only reason I'm even considering this.

The price is excellent, but it's still a considerable chunk of money.

What would you do? Would you buy it even though the colour isn't great? Buy it, enjoy the size and then upgrade to better colour at a later stage?

WWYD?

 

[tyty333]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

Is there a way you can make it more favorable in your eyes for not too much money? Are you missing a piece of jewelry that it might
work for? Necklace/pendant? Do you think you can enjoy it for a while then maybe sell it later and not lose too much money?

Hard to say whether it's worth it or not to you but I thought I'd give you some things that I would be considering.

 

[Trekkie]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

Is there a way you can make it more favorable in your eyes for not too much money? Are you missing a piece of jewelry that it might
work for? Necklace/pendant? Do you think you can enjoy it for a while then maybe sell it later and not lose too much money?

Hard to say whether it's worth it or not to you but I thought I'd give you some things that I would be considering.

Thanks for your response!

I'd probably wear it exactly as it is, as a ring. I currently have a .51, so it would be one hell of a jump in size! But my .51 is a G, so it would also be a massive change in terms of colour. I also have a .57 J, and I actually quite like the colour. What gives me pause here is the fact that the overtone is grey/brown. It's not something I'm used to and I haven't seen it in person, so I don't know if it would bother me.

I honestly don't know, and (for me) it's a lot of money to spend on a gamble.

The size though...

 

[thecat]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

Do you think you can get back this amount that you paid were you to sell? If yes, then go for it.

 

[Scandinavian]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

Personally, I would not buy it if I didn't love it. But perhaps a nice halo in champagne diamonds or something could bring out the colour in a beautiful way that you would love? (and make it look even bigger..?) Hope you find a solution you like!

 

[Jambalaya]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

I think that the diamond is real pretty! I wouldn't have picked up on the color if you hadn't said anything. It looks much nicer than you describe, and I think the cut looks good as far as you can tell from a picture. The only thing that makes me hesitate is that you haven't seen it in person.

But maybe it will look even better in person since you can't see sparkle in a photograph.

On the Diamonds by Lauren website there are plenty of champagne diamonds in white halos which looks beautiful and springlike, IMO. I think any shade of yellow/brown/champagne is set off very prettily in white-diamond halos. So you could always re-set it down the road.

If you receive it and really don't like it, can you return it?

ETA: I hear you on the size. I'd love a 1.5 too but in the higher colors (above J) they are proportionately so expensive as they get bigger, and when I think what can be done with that money...

Something I did to get a ring with presence (a pear halo) was to go down to I1 clarity. My ring is so included it's probably more like I3....but the inclusions are white. So the casual observer would never know. If you want size and you want to stay at J and above, that's another route you could consider. I dont know how acceptable low clarity is to you, but the white-inclusion route is one way of maxing on size while keeping cost down and also not having to compromise on color too much.

 

[nala]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

I don't have an answer to your question but I will share with you my last impulsive purchase. I bought a .85 round 14 k gold pendant for 500 dollars! At the time, I knew I was compromising on color and clarity. It is probably a j color and i3 clarity but boy does it sparkle!!! It is not dull at all and the only thing I see BC it's on my neck is the size! Would I be able to sell it and recoup my money? Idk BC I have no plans to BC I would not come across another deal like that. Bottom line, I'm not interested in spending more on a pendant that I can't stare at all day. Hope this helps.

 

[kenny]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

I have the opportunity to buy a 1.5ct grey/brown diamond for a very good price.

Depends on the price.
You call it 'very good'.

How good the price really is depends on what comparable diamonds sell for, new or used, from the public or at a store, etc. etc.
Finding comps may be difficult though.

I don't want a grey/brown diamond.
Few people do.
Grey/brown makes me think of an industrial diamond, which belongs on a drill bit not on a finger IMO.
Had you already bought it and posted it in SMTB I'd not say that ... but you are here asking for our opinions.

I have done no research on what it's worth, but just know a gut feeling of what it's worth to me.
It would have to be well under $1000 for me to consider it.
To me a 'very good' price would be under $500.

If you want it and consider it to be worth the price, buy it and enjoy it.
It doesn't matter what others think.

 

[marymm]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

Me, no, if I don't like the color, I wouldn't buy it no matter how well-priced it is.

If I don't like the color, I won't like it on my finger, and really the larger it is the more apparent the (dis)liked color would be to me.

A deal is only a deal if you get exaactly what you want...

 

[kenny]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

Buy it, enjoy the size and then upgrade to better colour at a later stage?

Sorry, buying something questionable with the intent to upgrade later is a bad idea and a sure way to make money go poof.

As a member of the public diamonds are hard enough to sell.
A grey/brown is going to be much harder for you or I to sell than one with specs in high demand, like a G VS1 with great cut and a GIA report.

 

[VRBeauty]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

I have several "great deals" sitting in my safe, unloved and unused.

I bought them pretty carefully - figured out that I could (probably) easily sell them for about what I paid for them if it turned out that I didn't love them as is... figured that I'd be getting a re-useable diamond/whatever plus setting for about or less than what I'd otherwise pay for the diamond alone.

Guess what? They're still sitting in my safe - rarely used, not re-set. It turns out that's the way I roll - or rather, that's the way I don't roll. I don't particularly like being on the selling end of things and I move at glacial speed on re-work projects. (In part because I'm a perfectionist, and in part because of the cost of most jewelry projects.) Plus I now have a RHR that I love, and it turns out that I really don't wear all that much jewelry!

So for me, a deal only if I get exactly what I want. I learned that lesson a long time ago for clothing purchases, and it seems I had to re-learn it, more recently, for jewelry.

But that's just me. You might be different. And personally, I'm fascinated by grey faceted stones, so...

 

[Jambalaya]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

I'm not sure that a deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want. There is such a thing as compromise. If the part that's being compromised is a part that you can live with, then I think that makes a deal.

To pt it another way, if the part that's being compromised won't affect your enjoyment of the piece, then it's still a deal, imo.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

I have a rule that I only buy what I love because that way you always make out. For example, I found a really pretty ring at an antique store once. It was definitely 14kt gold but I had no way of knowing if the diamonds were real but for $350 I decided to take a chance because I loved the ring and if it turned out to be cz I would still be happy. Turns out it was all real and appraised for $2,000. That was icing on the cake.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

I have a rule that I only buy what I love because that way you always make out. For example, I found a really pretty ring at an antique store once. It was definitely 14kt gold but I had no way of knowing if the diamonds were real but for $350 I decided to take a chance because I loved the ring and if it turned out to be cz I would still be happy. Turns out it was all real and appraised for $2,000. That was icing on the cake.

 

[rainwood]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

You don't sound excited enough to buy it. Your description of the diamond is mostly "okays" and other lukewarm references which tells me you are never going to love it. And there is no such thing as a good price on something you don't love - unless it's free.

 

[E B]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

You don't sound excited enough to buy it. Your description of the diamond is mostly "okays" and other lukewarm references which tells me you are never going to love it. And there is no such thing as a good price on something you don't love - unless it's free.

I agree. I wouldn't spend a considerable chunk of money on something you're just "okay" with on color, cut and clarity. That's three of the big four (five if you include shape) things about a diamond.

To answer the title, I do think a deal is a deal if you're getting almost exactly what you want. Sometimes I'm happy to compromise on small details of an item, but not when it comes to something $$$$$. (Except for my car, the color was my second choice. Got it for a really great price, though, so it was still very much a deal.)

 

[susief]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

Don't buy it.

I am a firm believer that money is wasted if you aren't getting exactly what you want.

Obviously this only applies to discretionary purchases - if you need a new washing machine but can't afford the absolute best, you still need to get one!

But with jewellery? Just don't. Put the money you would have spent on "meh", not-quite-right items to one side and wait. Set yourself a goal for what you really want and work towards that.

(Just my opinion of course)

 

[Trekkie]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

Thank you all for your opinions!

I think in this instance I will pass. I will probably end up regretting it, but oh, well.

Thank you all for helping me reach this decision!

 

[Polished]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

Probably a wise decision Trekki. But I understood the suddenly going up to 1.5 carats bit!

 

[dk168]

Re: A deal is only a deal if you get exactly what you want..

Not for me, as price alone will not sway me to make a significant purchase, jewellery or otherwise.

DK