A little frustrated

[carotene]

So i''ve been on a wild online hunt for the perfect stone for the perfect price. Milling over endless tables of search results. I''ve found that most sites are pretty close on pricing for the premium cut stones... except for one. Abazias seems to have some considerably lower priced GIA cert diamonds they claim are their Ideal cut. I''ve pasted a few examples below. I have my eye on a WF ACA which is smaller in weight and more expensive. What is so frustrating is that Abazias does not post the certifications online. I must request each doc, one by one to see if the cuts compare. Am I wasting my time? The saying, "if it''s too good to be true..." Is the ACA so superior that one of these cheaper stones most certainly will not compare in terms of cut? FWIW, the first couple stones that i''ve received certs on from Abazias have been inferior to the ACA, but I may not be requesting info on the right stones. I feel like i''m surfing a homogeneous sea of the 4 C''s with no compass!

1.20
G
SI1
Ideal
GIA
$6,516.43

1.20
G
SI1
Ideal
GIA
$6,599.98

1.20
G
SI1
Ideal
GIA
$6,599.98

 

[Skippy123]

Try to get the GIA cert number so we can find out the following below and it is a little easier to compare price wise to other vendors. ACA diamonds are in house. Are those diamonds you listed in house?

Table %
Crown
Angle %
Pavilion
Angle %
Culet*

 

[Regular Guy]

The advantage of WF over Abazias is generally that WF does have an in-houuse set of options, with lots of data like the one you found. But...you can still take advantage of the same virtual pool Abazias has reference to, find your best deal, and ask WF to compare your virtual option to the in-house option. They won''t care to much which one you buy from them...and you may get a bargain in the process.

BTW...I am glad Abazias did clean up an out of date appraiser listing recently; I''m sure they''re nice guys.

Regards,

 

[stebbo]

Date: 10/8/2007 11:28:30 PM
Author: Regular Guy

I'm sure they're nice guys.

Regards,

Yeah, I'm sure they're nice guys too, but as you know, there are many other vendors with similar markups who cater for the type that visit Pricescope's forums. Those vendors put angles and scans up at the minimum, so why not reward them for their effort.

It's just not worth the time to request certs to find out days later that the stone is sold or on memo. I went through that saga once--had to postpone an proposal in the end because of the delays.

And their in-house cut grading being based on "the Standard American Cut Grade Charts" - I've never even heard of such charts, has anyone else?

 

[carotene]

Despite the short comings of their online site, they have been nothing but helpful over the phone. Definitely nice guys (and gals). They could save so much time for their staff if they just put the info online though.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 10/9/2007 10:31:40 AM
Author: carotene
Despite the short comings of their online site, they have been nothing but helpful over the phone. Definitely nice guys (and gals). They could save so much time for their staff if they just put the info online though.

Yes, but they are betting on most folks not even requesting that information.

And, if they did place all that data online (which would be a huge labor expense they don''t incur now), I''m sure you''d see their pricing look more like the others who do.

You get what you pay for. If you want to invest a ton of your time searching through the haystack, you might find a good needle at a lesser price.

To those whose personal time is more valuable, it''s easily worth it to pay the higher price to get the full service (info, etc.).

 

[johngalt2004]

I''m glad you posted this Carotene.

I''m looking at it from a different angle. A broker sold me a beautiful stone at what I thought was a reasonable price. Then I found the same stone later on a virtual list for considerably less. considerably. way.

Now at first I felt very ripped off. But then I realized, I could not find the good keeper stone on that huge virtual list by myself. I would have had to request cert after cert (there must be thousands of candidates in any ideal color/clarity/price range). Now the scanned certs you cannot see the inclusion map too well so I''d have had to "buy" some to look at closely within the return window... maybe I''d have hit a bullseye first try, but perhaps I would have had to return 1,2,3,5,10 stones before I found one to my liking.

How would I evaluate those stones I bought? Either a wild uneducated amateur guess, or pay an expert to let me know what I had.

I have seen SI1''s in some PS vendor inventories that I would not want for myself. So how many SI1''s on the virtual list would be rejected when I saw them in person?

So I have learned to live with it.. the soaking I took from the broker (it has not come easy, I did lose a fair amount of sleep over this). I in essence paid someone to sift through the drop-ship options, and I got to review some side-by-side and "choose". Probably worth half the extra premium I paid, not all of it. But then there was the chance to look through some setting choices in person, get custom in person sizing, a free instant trade-up when I got cold feet over choice A and asked him to swap in choice B.... there is some value there in all that. But anyway if I have any point it is that I would have been lost in the virtual list without this guy - much as I resent his markup.

If I was starting over, I would go straight to WF and GOG, examine those excellent H&A inventories on line, ask all the questions I wanted with assurance of a fast straight expert answer, and buy the one that was the better deal on color/clarity.

I can heartily recommend that you drop the "needle in a haystack" search through the virtual list and buy a top shelf H&A stone from a PS vendor. You will be mind-cleaner for it. I wish I had done it that way. It only costs about 10-15% more than the hunt/peck method through the virtual list, and you are assured perfect H&A to boot.

 

[carotene]

John, i think you hit the nail on the head on many points. FWIW, the rep at abazias did some searching for me and sent me a couple really good candidates. Candidates that would probably match up well against any stone for the price. In the end, i''ve decided to go with a WF ACA because of their trade-up policy, the guarantee of cut, the reputation, and the expertise WF provides. It really is unmatched. I''m starting another thread with opinions on the stone I chose. thanks y''all.

 

[Big Wrigs]

I ordered a stone last night from Abazias only to have them tell me today that the stone is sold. They did offer a comparable stone and she stressed it is bigger as well as same price. Back and forth all day as I wasn''t comfortable with the change. Please let me know if anyone can help me on whether the change is comparable. One thing that made me uncomfortable was that I could see the original stone online through the browser history or I could look at the GIA cert for the one they offered. I could not see them both on the same page, ie webpage on both or GIA on both. Thanks

Requested: All info is from the website
Round Cut
Carat Weight: 0.86
Color: E
Clarity: VS2
Depth: 61.8
Table: 55
Symmetry: V.good
Certificate: GIA
Polish: V.good
Girdle: N/A
Culet: None
Fluorescence: None
Measurements: 6.106.17X3.79
Cut Grade: Ideal (per the sales rep, this is not GIA cut grade)

Stone offered: All info is from the GIA Cert
Round Brilliant
Carat Weight: 0.90
Color: E
Clarity: VS2
Depth: 64.7
Table: 60
Symmetry: V.good
Certificate: GIA
Polish: V.good
Girdle: ?
Culet: None
Fluorescence: None
Measurements: 6.00 x 6.02 x 3.89
Cut Grade: Good (per the GIA Cert)

 

[stebbo]

Date: 10/9/2007 12:03:23 PM
Author: aljdewey

And, if they did place all that data online (which would be a huge labor expense they don't incur now), I'm sure you'd see their pricing look more like the others who do.

The third-party virtual listing networks that Abazias and others subscribe to supply links to the scanned certs for roughly 50% of the diamonds they represent. The vendors don't even have to host the images.

I feel it's just about wanting to get that customer to ring up--then sales technique can take over.

 

[nodomoto]

I had a positive experience w/ Abazias. For any virtual online store, there is a bit of leg work but the savings are worth it for me (ie: find the stone you want online, call & request the cert, get them to do a visual inspection on the stone, ship it out for your final examination, then initiate payment if you like the stone).

In the end, I think I found the best stone I could find at the best price possible. I looked all over during my search (WF, GOG, BN, Union, Excel, Abazias, ADOL, you name it). Abazias didn't have the best price on every stone, but the one I found it was a really good deal (AGS0) that the others couldn't match.

I did miss out on a couple of stones along the way (it happened 3 times with 3 different online stores where the stone was 'sold' by the time I called). I was starting to get a little discouraged until finally, I found one on Abazias that showed up in their database one night. So I called them immediately the next morning and had them email me the cert, followed by a visual inspection, then I had them ship it to me. Abazias has a 10-day return guarantee, so had it not been perfect for any reason, they would have taken it back no question asked.

The stone arrived via UPS overnight and I took a quick trip to my appraiser who gave it a thumbs up. Overall, I was very happy with my online purchase experience from Abazias.

Btw, after I bought my stone, I saw that one of the earlier stones that I wanted showed up on the database as being available again. Just out of curiosity, I called and it turns out that stone was available again. The most likely scenario is that someone probably bought it or had the vendor put in on hold while they had it shipped out for inspection. But then afterwards, they returned it so it showed up in the database again. I wasn't too upset though, as the stone that I ended up with would have been my #1 choice given all the stones I considered.

 

[johngalt2004]

Date: 10/10/2007 7:36:27 PM
Author: Big Wrigs
I ordered a stone last night from Abazias only to have them tell me today that the stone is sold. They did offer a comparable stone and she stressed it is bigger as well as same price. Back and forth all day as I wasn''t comfortable with the change. Please let me know if anyone can help me on whether the change is comparable. One thing that made me uncomfortable was that I could see the original stone online through the browser history or I could look at the GIA cert for the one they offered. I could not see them both on the same page, ie webpage on both or GIA on both. Thanks

Requested: All info is from the website
Round Cut
Carat Weight: 0.86
Color: E
Clarity: VS2
Depth: 61.8
Table: 55
Symmetry: V.good
Certificate: GIA
Polish: V.good
Girdle: N/A
Culet: None
Fluorescence: None
Measurements: 6.106.17X3.79
Cut Grade: Ideal (per the sales rep, this is not GIA cut grade)

Stone offered: All info is from the GIA Cert
Round Brilliant
Carat Weight: 0.90
Color: E
Clarity: VS2
Depth: 64.7
Table: 60
Symmetry: V.good
Certificate: GIA
Polish: V.good
Girdle: ?
Culet: None
Fluorescence: None
Measurements: 6.00 x 6.02 x 3.89
Cut Grade: Good (per the GIA Cert)

Those don''t look comparable at all to me. I''d be done with them about now if I were in your shoes, it would offend my sensibilities if they offered that second stone as a substitute for the first. They just don''t seem to be of similar cut quality at all and the second one is smaller spread to boot. I''d feel bait & switched.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 10/10/2007 8:47:24 PM
Author: johngalt2004

Those don't look comparable at all to me. I'd be done with them about now if I were in your shoes, it would offend my sensibilities if they offered that second stone as a substitute for the first. They just don't seem to be of similar cut quality at all and the second one is smaller spread to boot. I'd feel bait & switched.

I would agree with most of this. While that second stone is a larger ct. weight, as John said, it's actually facing up (looking) smaller, due to the incredible depth. Also, you went from an ideal cut (which it can't be, as it's GIA, maybe Ex), to good.

Please pass, this is in NO way comperable.


Now, I've had a stone I'd reserved end up being sold, from a very reputable vendor, it does happen. So I'll give them the benefit of the doubt there. But if it were me, I'd look elsewhere for a stone, as this wouldn't/doesn't sit well with me.

If you'd like, we'd be happy to help you!

 

[belle]

Date: 10/11/2007 8:06:43 AM
Author: Ellen

Date: 10/10/2007 8:47:24 PM
Author: johngalt2004

Those don't look comparable at all to me. I'd be done with them about now if I were in your shoes, it would offend my sensibilities if they offered that second stone as a substitute for the first. They just don't seem to be of similar cut quality at all and the second one is smaller spread to boot. I'd feel bait & switched.

I would agree with most of this. While that second stone is a larger ct. weight, as John said, it's actually facing up (looking) smaller, due to the incredible depth. Also, you went from an ideal cut (which it can't be, as it's GIA, maybe Ex), to good.

Please pass, this is in NO way comperable.


Now, I've had a stone I'd reserved end up being sold, from a very reputable vendor, it does happen. So I'll give them the benefit of the doubt there. But if it were me, I'd look elsewhere for a stone, as this wouldn't/doesn't sit well with me.

If you'd like, we'd be happy to help you!

i agree with john and ellen. these aren't comparable. please start a new thread of your own and if you would like, we can help.

CONGRATS carotene!