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AGS stone pricing help?

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mynawally

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
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A local jeweler showed us a 1.13 carat, I color, VS1 clarity, ideal cut (all three 0's) AGS stone. He said it was hearts and arrows and it was an excellent cut. The price quoted is $7,800. What are your thoughts on this? Is it well priced? It looked great to me, but I'm far from experienced! The jeweler spoke a lot of the hearts and arrows, is that really something special? Would we be better looking for a slightly less clarity to get a bigger size in our price range?

Thank you so much for your help!
 
It does sound like a fair price given the specs. I'm a newbie too. I'm sure some more seasoned members will chime in but I think it's worth you doing a little footwork so you feel more comfortable with the resources and tools PS provides. As the pp said, do a quick search yourself on the PS page to compare, it's definitely in-line within range. I did see a WF ACA that's about the same at that price point for just over a carat. I've heard the ACA are absolutely gorgeous and are very high performing diamonds and certainly meet H&A optical symmetry parameters (if that's truly important to you). Although, I don't want to dissuade you from working with a local jeweler (cause I believe in supporting small business owners & you can see what you're getting before purchase) there are a lot of good options on-line. You could probably get a bigger stone though for that amount, definitely over 7mm instead of 6.5mm if you tweek your specs a bit.
 
Caveat, I am an Internet vendor and I have not checked the pricing on this gem so that I can give you my opinion without bias.

A couple of our normal responders have told you that it is a fair price, so I will make the assumption that they have checked the pricing.

With that assumption in pricing.

It appears that you have found a local retailer who understands the current reality of pricing of diamonds. This being the case you might well have the best of both worlds, the ability to actually see the diamond that you are considering, and the knowledge that you have a local jeweler who can help you with the setting and ultimately more importantly, with the cleaning and maintenance of your ring.

In my opinion, this is actually worth paying a few dollars more for as it adds to the comfort of your purchase.

Just my thoughts.

Wink
 
Thank you all!

I did some more research and now I am happy pricing-wise, I didn't feel I had enough experience to make the first purchase online, and our local jeweler has been a wealth of information.

I guess now my only concern is the whole hearts and arrows thing. For the same price could I find a stone that wasn't hearts and arrows but still an excellent cut, and noticeably bigger in size? Is the H&A truly worth it? We did take the stone out into sunlight and it sure did sparkle, but I guess my question is, would one that isn't hearts and arrows sparkle as much as well?
 
mynawally|1397141793|3651152 said:
Thank you all!

I did some more research and now I am happy pricing-wise, I didn't feel I had enough experience to make the first purchase online, and our local jeweler has been a wealth of information.

I guess now my only concern is the whole hearts and arrows thing. For the same price could I find a stone that wasn't hearts and arrows but still an excellent cut, and noticeably bigger in size? Is the H&A truly worth it? We did take the stone out into sunlight and it sure did sparkle, but I guess my question is, would one that isn't hearts and arrows sparkle as much as well?
Click to expand...

Maybe.

Maybe not.

It depends.

Not possible to give you blanket answer.

Answer me this. When is good enough, good enough?

The preciseness of a well cut H&A cut diamond will quite often result in it being picked in blind taste tests when shown side by side with non H&A cut diamonds. HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even within H&A cuts there are those that SPARKLE and those that sparkle.

Paper can not tell you that. Only seeing the diamonds can tell you that. How many diamonds are you willing to pay to have shipped in by your jeweler?

In the opinion of hundreds of my clients the SPARKLE factor of the incredibly precisely cut diamonds that I represent was worth the extra money. To many, it was not and they bought cheaper diamonds. These are choices that we can not make for YOU. My guess is that unless you are incredibly lucky, you will not find a cheaper diamond that looks as good sitting side by side as the one that you are looking at, but only you can tell, and you can only do that by actually seeing them side by side.

Wink
 
I too like to work with local jewelers for all the reasons Wink points out. Sometimes though, the selection can be limiting so that's why I mentioned the on-line option. But, as long as you give your local jeweler the chance to find a stone that meets your adjusted specs, that seems fair. From what I'm hearing from you, maybe you want a bigger size for the money? Maybe consider an eye clean Si1/si2 and I/J color while still keeping an excellent cut (HCA under 2, AGA cut class, IS Aset images if possible). You don't have to have a true H&A branded stone to have a sparkly diamond. But, if you want a short cut to the best cut stones, maybe stay with the branded H&A, the other route may take more time and education on this site than you are willing to put in (for your comfort level in having confidence you bought a really great stone without the branding). I've read so many times in other threads, in diamonds you really get what you pay for. So, for the same price, if you're trying to go up in size you will have to loosen other specs. There's no "cheating" the system, only refocusing it to your preferred parameters. In a way, that's reassuring as a consumer :)
 
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