Advise: Pricing of this round brillant diamond

[andy_t]

Hi Guys,
I am new here (as well a rookie when it comes to diamonds). After reading this, and a bunch of other forums, I am still confused. After browsing through few online jewelers such as costco.com (they have some good ones in there), jamesallen, diamonds.com, blue nile I finally see something I like and want to buy for a loved one. Would highly appreciate any comment on the price (meaning can I find something cheaper of the same quality somewhere else, fairly priced, change some criteria, etc). The only thing I dont like about this is that the Polish/Symmetry is Very good and not Excellent that I was hoping. Is that a big deal. Should I gobble this up now or keep looking or look at another retailer.

Thanks for any help.

http://www.bluenile.com/build-your-own-diamond-ring?&pid=LD02359744&builder=BYOR&forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP#DIAMONDS_STEP|LD02359744

Price: $13,701
Bank wire price: $13,496
Price per carat: $11,230
Carat weight: 1.22
Cut: Ideal
Color: F
Clarity: VVS2
Depth %: 62.5%
Table %: 57%
Polish: Very Good
Symmetry: Very Good
Girdle: Medium to Slightly Thick
Culet: None
Fluorescence: None
Measurements: 6.84 x 6.73 x 4.24 mm

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Welcome, Andy! May I ask how you came up with F VVS2? We see very few people coming here wanting such high clarity although sometimes it is a cultural thing. If you just want a very clean stone, VS1 will drop the price and it is very clean even with a loupe. Also, you can pretty safely go down to G color unless you just have a strong preference for colorless. Is 1.22 the size you are aiming for or would you want a larger stone if we dropped the color or clarity? I can look for other stones for you if I know what your preferences are.

That stone has a couple of things that I don't like. The diameter has a pretty big variation at 6.73x6.84 and the depth is a little over what we normally recommend which is 60-62.3%. This ideal cut 1.22 stone faces up at around 6.9mm for example:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2684400.htm

 

[andy_t]

Thanks DiamondSeeker!. The reason I chose that is because when I ran a search on one of the sites I listed above they came with few diamonds that looked good. I am not that hung up on VVS2 if the VS1 is eye and loupe clean. Same goes for Color as I can drop a notch down to G. Being a rookie I can do comparison only on the known things not on the other items you mentioned below .

I was hoping to get a good quality diamond around 1.2-1.4 carat for about $10K-$12K range.

Thanks Very much for your help. Highly appreciate it.
Andy

Welcome, Andy! May I ask how you came up with F VVS2? We see very few people coming here wanting such high clarity although sometimes it is a cultural thing. If you just want a very clean stone, VS1 will drop the price and it is very clean even with a loupe. Also, you can pretty safely go down to G color unless you just have a strong preference for colorless. Is 1.22 the size you are aiming for or would you want a larger stone if we dropped the color or clarity? I can look for other stones for you if I know what your preferences are.

That stone has a couple of things that I don't like. The diameter has a pretty big variation at 6.73x6.84 and the depth is a little over what we normally recommend which is 60-62.3%. This ideal cut 1.22 stone faces up at around 6.9mm for example:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2684400.htm

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Andy, prices are very high now, and cut is the number one factor in getting a beautiful diamond. My diamonds are mostly G VS1, so I will say that I think that is a good combination for a higher color/clarity stone without jumping into the really high price categories. We can probably find you an ideal cut 1.2 in your price range, but it will be harder to reach 1.4. I'll take a look and be back!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Here is a beautiful ideal cut diamond ($11,507 with pricescope/wire discount):

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2424951.htm

Another at $11,100 w/pricescope discount:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-VS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1454081.asp

(The advantage to WF is that if the person ever wanted to trade up to a larger stone, they would get 100% of the purchase price toward the new stone with any price above the old stone. I think JA requires the new stone to be double the price.)

 

[tcb4ep]

Hi,

You say prices are very high right now, is it expected to persist, is it seasonal, or completely unknown?

 

[andy_t]

Thanks DiamondSeeker!. They look awesome. I am wondering if you could find me something on bluenile.com. I am more comfortable buying there and have done that few times in the past. How does bluenile prices compares to WF and JA?.

Also, what do you think of this one? (The first one is a little above my range but struck me as outstanding).
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11676567&whse=BC&Ne=5000000+4000000&eCat=BC|108|28447|55926&N=4041850%204294967119%205000038&Mo=45&pos=0&No=28&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10573-Cat28447&topnav=
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11667183&whse=BC&Ne=5000000+4000000&eCat=BC|108|28447|55926&N=4041850%204294967119%205000038&Mo=45&pos=0&No=45&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10573-Cat28447&topnav=

Thanks a bunch.
Andy

Here is a beautiful ideal cut diamond ($11,507 with pricescope/wire discount):

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2424951.htm

Another at $11,100 w/pricescope discount:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-VS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1454081.asp

(The advantage to WF is that if the person ever wanted to trade up to a larger stone, they would get 100% of the purchase price toward the new stone with any price above the old stone. I think JA requires the new stone to be double the price.)