Advice on Where to Buy Diamond - - HELP!!!

[JennyN]

Hi! I''m Jenny and this is my first time posting here.

My husband & I are going to be upgrading my original engagment diamond. We''ve been married 13 years, and the plan was originally to upgrade at 10 years!

I''m looking for a 1.25 to 1.5 carat princess cut diamond. Ideal cut, color H or better, clarity SI1 or better. I''m going to be visiting New York in the next month & was thinking of buying in the Diamond District. Several people have told me NO WAY - - that the people there are "professional thieves" and that it''s really easy to get swindled.

So my question is should I try to buy in the Diamon District, visit a local jeweler, or go with one of the internet vendors? I''ve seen some pretty good deals on the net, but I''m just nervous about not being able to see & compare with other diamonds.

Sorry to ramble so much. I''m just hoping to gather info from people who''ve already learned from experience. Thanks so much in advance!

Jenny

 

[niceice]

"Professional Thieves" is the best description of the Street Level (that's Street Level!) of 47th Avenue that we've ever heard!!!

Why not go see Jonathan at GoodOldGold.com in New Jersey while you're in NYC? Give hime some advance notice so that he can have some stones for you to look at, that's what we would do if we were you...

 

[anothernewbie]

Good Old Gold is actually on Long Island

 

[brody05]

Hi, I am also new to the internet buying diamond thing as well but I want to tell you off the extremely good service I had from gary dutton at duttons diamonds. He sourced a diamond for me from my specifications and price, did a sarin, sent photo's and a second appraisal for me. I found his price to be as good as the 'major' wholesalers but with a lot more service. The bigger wholesalers didn't have that personel touch, took a long time to respond to my emails (I pressume from being very busy) but if its service you want then give him a try, the only reason I am saying this is from the outstanding service I have had in regards to my purchase, and I'm buying from little old New Zealand.
Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[DavidEmslie]

The best thing to do is to make a freind in the business, it does not matter who you are anyone just comming in off the street for either a store or online ect...a cold purchase is going to get you a higher price. And yes, if you take interent stones too your local jeweler I can tell you as someone who sells both online and out of a B&M the thought is...why are my services not good enough to consider first?

There seems to be this myth that all small or local jewelers are going to be high priced...and only good for setting...yet they seem to be dissapearing becuase of this, rather sad.
For this issue it is a matter of adaptation. Any old school jeweler who is not well enough connected too the biz and does not have the sources obviously wont do well. The ones who are well connected are making out like bandits and can still beat online prices though the retail establishment...or at least meet the same price and still offer the local service. Quite often I pose the question too people...is it worth the $50 to $100 up or down to have the local back up if there is a problem, to have that local connection that will always be there. In my case about 80% of the time the answer is yes. Like anyone, people are people, there are some upstanding people, and some not so upstanding people, there are dinosaur jewelers and others on the cutting edge working for you and too your benifit becuase the way things are done are changeing.

The best advice I can give anyone when buying a diamond from either a store, big company or small, online vender or from a designer is this.

Go with what your comfortable with....trust your instincts...thats what they are there for, if you feel uncomfortable working with anyone...stay away, if you get a feel good vibe....give em the business and you will be happy.

 

[diamondsman]

I would think that your best bet is buying on line out of your state, A few reasons:

1)out of state vendors are not required to charge you the S/tax.
2)delivered to your home .
3)return policies if you don't like the stone.
4)some offer free appraisals.
5)lower prices
6)much bigger selection

If you measure all the benefits, I think it might be beneficial for you to shop on line .

good luck

 

[alexah]

I recently had a great experience buying from an on-line vendor who has an office in the diamond district.
I told him what I was looking for, he got me some stones that met my specs & invited me to his office to compare them.
I got the internet price but got to see the stones live which was ideal for me.
Mark is an easy-going, knowledgable guy with a bkgd in the GIA. No high-pressure sales tactics.
If you think you might be interested, you can check out his website & give him a call to set something up...
www.engagementringsdirect.com
Or you could do a pricescope search- he's one of the vendors.
I'm sure you'll get a few more recommendations from others so hopefully you'll be able to find the perfect stone - best of luck to you & congrats on your 13 years!

 

[JC]

Shop around. See what's out there. Try the online companies that you see advertised right here on Pricescope. I'm sure that we would all love to help. Good luck!

 

[Nicrez]

Jenny N, DO NOT go to the DIamond District unless you SERIOUSLY know diamonds. Why? THese guys are salesmen, not jewelers. The men who cut the stones and grade them are, but NOT the men on the floors of these stores. They ARE SHARKS in general, and I have met maybe 4 out of over 40 that actually were decent people to work with and didn't try to offload a sale on you, whatever you liked it or not. I work a block away, I spent all my lunch hours there for 3 months and met jewlers, graders, cutters, wholesalers, retailers, brokers, etc...TRUST NONE.




There is no making a contact that can help. They all just want to sell you what they have for the highest profit. If they have to order some other guy's stone, you can bet that loss of profit margin is extended to you! Why get rid of someone else's inventory and lose profit to help some poor Joe schmo?




Try Good Old Gold on LI. They are actually helpful and provide you with tests and comparisons that NOT ONE jeweler on 47th street even had or heard of! Seriously, it's like shopping at a flea market, versus going to a department store. My other suggestion is that you learn EVERYTHING you can from PS and THEN narrow your search to the size, color and clarity you want, get %s of depth and table down to an acceptable range, and WRITE it all down. Get prices from the internet dealers. THEN you can browse and ask to see SPECIFIC looking stones, and get their price. Tell them the internet prices, and trust me, before you do, the prices they will give you can be a few hundred $ more to several THOUSAND! KNOW YOUR STUFFdiv>



Use 47th street as a place to see them and determine the LOOK you want, but I don't suggest buying there unless you have a few weeks to search, see MANY stones, negotiate, etc... Good luck! Try GOG, they really know their stuff!

 

[Rand_alThor]

Stone# Carat Col Clar Dpt Tab Lab Gdl Cul Sym Pol Flr Measurements Price L W L/W Table Cut Depth Area
1 1.7 E VS2 66.9% 78.0% GIA NA N G N 6.77 6.58*4.4 $9,687 6.77 6.5 1.04 4A 2A 44.01


Ok I'll bite....






Here's a few things I would suggest doing prior to purchase.




a) Create a spreadsheet(sample shown above) with a list of all diamonds within your specs, their prices, cuts etc. Simply visit online stores and jot down the details from their inventories. Call the local B&M's & the ones in NY and get the details and fill it in.

I have left out one clomun (Vendor Name), At times you'll see the same stone listed with different vendors at different prices. This spreadsheet is meant to serve merely as a guideline as to what prices you would pay for the cuts/clarity/etc (including CUT quality).

2) Pick the stones you may potentially be interested in and call up the vendors and ask them to fax you a copy of their GIA certificates.

Here's the simple truth: If price is the sole determining factor in concluding your sale then goto most good B&M's or Online vendors and they will offer you great prices. Most forums members here can recommend the good B&M & Online vendors.

B&M: Some B&M vendors will chrage you to have the stone shipped from their wholesaler to their location.

Online Vendors: If you wish to see the stone they will ship it to a local appraiser. You will have to pay an appraiser fee to look at the stone.

Either way the inherent risk is that you lose money if you dont like the stone. If you do like the stone some vendors reduce the price of the stone by the amount paid for the shipping fee.

Finally, the cheapest prices are offered by the guys who actually cut the stones. Yes they "DO" sell to the public but locating them is hard and their quality of customer service and care may not be at par with the B&M's and the Online Vendors.

Good Luck

 

[alexah]

Hi Rand_alThor,

Just fyi, I purchased from an on-line vendor & didn't find that I had to have the stones I wanted to see shipped to an appraiser, nor would I have lost any money for a shipping fee... maybe with some on-line vendors but not with all of them.

The pricescope vendor I used has an office in the same bldg as the GIA & is glad to show a potential client stones if they go to his office...

 

[JennyN]

WOW! Thank you all so much for the information. I actually went to a B&M today to see some stones. That helped tremendously. Now I'm going to compare what I saw to prices online to decide exactly what I'm after.

Thanks again!!! I'll let you know what I end up with.

 

[Uncle Marty]

Hi Jenny et al,
Very Interesting all these expert answers to your quest.

Do you want to buy a Diamond or are your writing a book about buying Diamonds ?

We owned a B&M store in Freeport NY for over 32 years. My friends in Freeport bought many Diamond rings and gemstones both loose and mounted from me during those 32 years.

We sold our jewelry store 2 years ago due to sickness. I and my wife have Chronic Lyme Disease.
(if you know anyone who has LD and need assistance have them write to me)

I am digressing.... I continued to be in the gemstone business by buying rough overseas (colored stone material) with my partner. I cannot move around easily and cutting the rough either here in Tucson AZ or in the Orient. I sell primarily to big users of better natural gemstones who make quantities of Sapphire (all colors and sizes), Tanzanite all sizes, Arizona Peridot (same), etc.

The Diamond business has changed signicantly over these past few (10 years). I believe the movers and throwers are doing everything they can do to remove the little guys from the business by using the branding method and increasing the prices much the way the automobile manufacturers have done.
I bought a Peugeot (French) car in 1957. I paid $1500 for a 402 model. It had a sun roof and 4 forward gears, yes it was a stick shift. It was the very best car I ever owned. Wish i had it now.

Again digressing....Now I would imagine that car costing me maybe $30,000. How is that for an increase in price.

The only problem I forsee with branding is that no 2 Diamonds are the same,unlike models of cars and extras.

Now how can I enter the retail selling market using all my backup sources.
I no longer have any inventory to speak of, I no longer have the overhead the other sellers have on this worthy informative website, I just have the
70+ years of knowledge and contacts.

Let us try.......I will not sell you a ring or mounting. But I will recomend jewelers in your area to make your ring, I know over these past many years.
I will send your diamond to a qualified Graduate Gemologist Appraiser in your area for you to view it to see the grading report and have it explained to you if necessary. I will make a profit over my cost (is profit a naughty word) but your cost will be lower than most. Service ? what other service would you require. Those that guarantee Lifetime Guarantees never spell out just how long that guarantees. We never know when our time is up.
How can anyone place an indefinite guarantee.
Trade in, if I am still working I will take it back for what you paid for it against a bigger and/or better Diamond.

Sincerely,
Uncle Marty of course


Try me.
Uncle Marty of course