Advice on purchase of engagement diamond

[Amazonrock]

I was hoping to get some advice after doing my own research.
1) My goal was to get a 2.5-3C of reasonable quality within my range. It seems that I should buy an ideal cut first. Should I settle for a lower quality cut(i.e. very good) to get the size I want. 2) I am very price conscious and concerned about being ripped off. Originally, I was willing to fly around the world to find a diamond but the consensus is that US Consumer protection laws make the US the best place to buy a diamond. With the strong US dollar it seems like deals are to be had in countries with weaker currencies. I will definately be getting a good certificate either way. 3)She wants a platinum pave ring with a RB. Do I need to be concerned about color with a platinum ring instead of a gold ring. Will H look off color against platinum?
4)I am interested in learning about people''s experience in getting good deals. I am leaning towards a broker because they only take specific orders and do not have the overhead. Are they the best deal? I am curious to know what %''s against rappaport people are able to buy. Are pricescope and bluenile reflective of as good a deal as you can get? Assuming I get a top certificate and a great cut, confirmed at pricescope, is it possible to find a deal better than what I see on those websites?
AR

 

[DiamondShopr]

I probably don't have the answers to all of your questions, but after educationg myself thoroughly both over the internet and in jewelry stores, I tested the site out on this page for costs of diamonds:

http://www.diamondhelpers.com/fivesteps/diamond-price-form.shtml

It is supposed to calculate the lowest price range you should be able to find a good diamond with the specs you put in. In buying over the internet I mainly stayed with the 4 top sites this page reecommends for internet jewelers plus 4 that I read on another rating site. Both lists of 4 has blue nile and mondera. Some of the other 4 didn't show you a cert online or didn't give you table %-age, depth percentage, etc. I stayed with these sites and entered diamond after diamond. A diamond that I was shown at a mall for $22,000 came up on the calculater from 16500 to 17400, and I found one at mondera for $14000 and jumped on it. Also make sure you have a nice window to return it either way. #0 days at mondera and blue nile, enough time to get it appraised to make sure you didn't get ripped off, but from what I read neither of these 2 sites would rip you off, and in buying over the internet that meant more to me than finding the absolut best price. Plus blue nile's search engine is the coolest thing to play with. Good luck, I don't know enough about brokers and the like, but as far as cut try to go for a better cut and go back in color or clarity if you have to to reach your perfect diamond in your range.

 

[diamondsman]

Hi,
I think that if you are concerned with being ripped off,and you are right! why not "shop and compare" on line ,there are great advantages :
1)shopping from the comfort of your home
2)most sites offer return policies
3)comapre prices with out running all over the world
4)getting it delivered to your place
5)very competitive prices
bottom line

"shop and compare"

diamondsman

 

[aljdewey]

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My goal was to get a 2.5-3C of reasonable quality within my range; It seems that I should buy an ideal cut first. Should I settle for a lower quality cut(i.e. very good) to get the size I want. ----------------

Emphatically NO....do not settle for a lesser cut. The cut is the most important thing about a diamond and affects its performance the most. Also, well-cut diamonds typically appear larger than they are--they aren't carrying excess carat weight around the pavilion or girdle, so you're not paying for extra DEAD carat weight. If you're concerned with size, be more concerned with dimension (how many millimeters) the diamond is, not how many carats it is.

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On 1/31/2003 2:30:45 AM Amazonrock wrote:

I am very price conscious and concerned about being ripped off. Originally, I was willing to fly around the world to find a diamond but the consensus is that US Consumer protection laws make the US the best place to buy a diamond. With the strong US dollar it seems like deals are to be had in countries with weaker currencies. I will definately be getting a good certificate either way.

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If you take the time to educate yourself by comparing similar diamonds online, you're far less likely to get "ripped off" because you'll know what a diamond of your desire "should" cost. The U.S. is the best place to buy, largely because the certs here are historically more stringent than those provided abroad. Go to several of the online sites and enter the specs for the diamond you want; after looking at 4-5 of them, you should start to get a feel for what your specified diamond should cost.

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She wants a platinum pave ring with a RB; Do I need to be concerned about color with a platinum ring instead of a gold ring. Will H look off color against platinum?----------------
H is fine with platinum as far as most people are concerned, but I wouldn't go any lower. The best thing you can do is go to several B&M stores and view several G & several H stones next to each another in platinum. See if you can see the difference.....in fact, compare them side by side without knowing which is the G and which is the H. Try to determine in each instance which diamond is the G before the salesman identifies it to you. If you are consistently able to identify the G diamond, then you probably should stick with a G since the difference is discernable to you. For most people, though, it isn't, and H is fine.

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Are pricescope and bluenile reflective of as good a deal as you can get. Assuming I get a top certificate and a great cut, confirmed at pricescope; is it possible to find a deal better than what I see on those websites?
----------------

I haven't gone to bluenile lately, but common consensus on this forum is that their pricing is slightly inflated. Search through pricescope and through 4 or 5 of the other reputable and often-mentioned diamond sites (GOG, niceice, whiteflash, diamond brokers of FL, etc.), and you'll get a good sense for what your specified diamond should cost. As far as getting a better deal goes....it might be possible to find a better deal, but unlikely, especially for the amount of time it would take. The web prices are reasonable and give good value. There's always another "better deal" around the corner....I could probably find a stone for $10 less if I looked really hard, but on a purchase of this magnitude, is the $10 worth the grief to find it? Probably not.

I think the most important thing isn't so much to get absolutely the BEST possible deal, but to make sure that you know what you are getting value for the price you pay. If you pay a reasonable market price for a diamond and you get a great diamond, great service from the provider and a good return policy, that's a good deal to me.

Best of luck in your search!

 

[msmithmomx2]

Wow aljdewey, I used the website that you mentioned and put in the specs for the diamond that I just bought which is an unbranded hearts and arrows, ideal cut, G, VS2 stone and I bought it for $1500 less than the website's highest price. I knew that I got a good deal but now I feel even better!


Amazonrock,
I suggest that you contact diamondbrokersoffl.com. They are awesome, never pushy and the prices are the best that I have found anywhere online or off. I searched for three months before buying. They have a return policy, an upgrade policy and they have no problems if you want the diamond sent to a third party appraiser. They can also provide you with copies of the cert, a sarin report and a brilliancescope report. Send them an email from their website or give them a call. I doubt very seriously that you will be disappointed.

They also offer a number of name brand settings and if you don't see anything you like, let Jan know what you are looking for and she will do her absolute best to find it.

You can check their reputation out under the customer testimonials section at diamondtalk.com. This is how I found them!

Good Luck in your search!