MindyaOwnbizniz
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2007
- Messages
- 3
Long-time lurker, first-time diamond purchaser, first-time poster. First off I want to thank the Pricescope community for providing invaluable knowledge, advice, and guidance on the diamond purchasing process. Buying a diamond engagement ring, which I had always envisioned as an opaque and intimidating process, turned out to be transparent, fun, and rewarding with the help of this site. I''m posting this message as a summary of my experience to help other first timers in the future.
I have to thank my fiance for giving me a big head start by telling me her preferences for shape, size, clarity range, color range, and the band/setting. I started my diamond education in late July when a coworker pointed me to this site. For the first few weeks I combined reading postings and tutorials on this site with visiting B&M''s around town in Northern Virginia. I feel lucky that I was looking for a round brilliant, since there are so many tools available for the consumer to evaluate quality of RBs (like the HCA tool). I didn''t study much about other cuts but my impression is that the process would not have been quite as transparent with a fancy cut.
After several weeks of studying I became confident that I knew as much (if not more) about RBs as most of the B&M sales people in the area. A typical scenario involved a helpful B&M sales person bringing in several diamonds for me to see, me finding the same stones online through pricescope searches, printing out the GIA reports and running the HCA scores, and going to the store knowing the quality and pricing details ahead of time. At this point (mid-late August) it became clear to me that buying the loose diamond from a quality online retailer was the way to go.
About those pricescope searches... I started out doing searches on GIA/AGS stones with a 2.85-2.99 carat range, F-H color, and VS1-SI1 clarity. After seeing some stones "live" in this size range I came to the conclusion that with larger sizes it was best (for my preferences) to stay away from H color and SI1 clarity. Also I found the supply of stones just under 3 carats to be pretty scarce, so I did expand the searches up to 3.10 carats. If I had added EGL stones to the mix I would not have gone less than F color and VS1 clarity, which was very rare in this size range and was not really an option. For a couple of weeks I noticed a JamesAllen 2.97 G/VS1/AGS0 priced right at the top of my budget range, and in late August I decided to pull the trigger on this stone. Here are the details:
JamesAllen.com
2.97 carat round brilliant (9.19-9.29mm spread)
color: G clarity: VS1
Jan 2007 AGS Diamond Quality Document
Light Performance: 0
Proportion Factors: 0
Finish: 0
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Table: 55.2%
Depth: 61.6%
Crown Angle: 34.7
Pavilion Angle: 40.7
Florescence: None
HCA Score: 1.1
I have to say that I''m very happy I got this stone when I did. A word about seasonality in diamond supply... while there were still a handful of 2.85-2.99ct stones available in mid-August, as Labor Day approached the supply began to dwindle, and by early September they were all but non-existent. Not sure if this had to do with the Jewish holidays arriving in September or some kind of backlog before the late-year holiday inventory build up, but my advice is that if you find yourself searching for stones that are in scarce supply you should be prepared to quickly pull the trigger if you find one you like.
Also a word about Ideal symmetry and Hearts & Arrows... as has been stated in H&A tutorials, Ideal symmetry does not guarantee a perfect H&A pattern. On our stone I would say 6 of the 8 hearts/arrows show very good / excellent symmetry, and 2 of them show good symmetry. One thing I had been unsure of at the beginning of my search was whether you could see an Arrow pattern in a diamond under normal viewing conditions, and I''m happy to say that you can see the Arrows with the naked eye when the light is hitting it right, and it is very neat to see that symmetry
Gorgeous rock.
Throughout this process I used Martin Fuller & Associates of McLean, Virginia for the appraisal work. Martin was recommended to me by a friend and I happily recommend his services to anyone in the DC metro area. With the appraisal in hand I got the loose diamond added to my home insurance policy, stuck the diamond in a safe deposit box, and started work on the setting.
I knew going in that my fiance''s dream band was the Full Round Eternity ring in the Memoire Purity collection. We had seen the Memoire bands in a couple of B&M''s and fell in love with them, I especially liked how the ering and wedding band fit together. I was comfortable with the idea of ordering the bands from an online retailer, but I wanted to find a local shop to perform the mounting. (I had decided from the start to get the ering and the wedding band at the same time). I called pearlmansjewelers.com and got an excellent price quote on the rings, but I did not order them right away.
I called Quest Jewelers of Fairfax, VA (recommended by friends and pricescope) and talked to Pete about doing the mounting. Pete informed me that Quest had recently become a Memoire authorized dealer and wanted a shot at providing both the rings and the mounting. (At that time Quest was not yet listed as a dealer on the Memoire website but they are now). Pete was able price the rings very competitively compared to the online retailers, so I decided to order them through Quest. Here are the details:
Memoire Purity Collection ordered through Quest Jewelers
Full Round Eternity with 999 Platinum
Engagement Ring:
- Model PPSPH1-3
- 12 x 0.25ct G/H VS2/SI1 round brilliants
- 3.00 tcw
Wedding Band:
- Model PPSP1-3.1/4
- 13 x 0.25ct G/H VS2/SI1 round brilliants
- 3.25 tcw
Pete at Quest Jewelers did an excellent job with the mounting and I was thrilled with the results. After a second appraisal of the finished rings and an update to my insurance policy, I presented the ering to my fiance with my proposal and she accepted We both love the ring and find ourselves staring at it constantly!
I prefer not to go into the details of the pricing of the individual components, but as a ballpark figure I will say that the total insured value of both rings and the center stone is $76,000. Often when making a purchase of this size it''s common to feel a small bit of buyer''s remorse, but I can honestly say that I have no qualms or remorse about this entire process, I couldn''t be more thrilled with the outcome, and a huge part of that is due to the help of pricescope.
I''ll just add that another interesting site that I found myself checking during this process was the front page of idexonline.com to check on the latest headlines from the diamond industry.
Now I''ll try to pull myself away from the constant diamond research and get on with the rest of the wedding planning, although it will be tough since this industry is fascinating. Hopefully this post will be of some use to people searching the forums in the future, and I wish everyone the best of luck with their diamond hunting!
I have to thank my fiance for giving me a big head start by telling me her preferences for shape, size, clarity range, color range, and the band/setting. I started my diamond education in late July when a coworker pointed me to this site. For the first few weeks I combined reading postings and tutorials on this site with visiting B&M''s around town in Northern Virginia. I feel lucky that I was looking for a round brilliant, since there are so many tools available for the consumer to evaluate quality of RBs (like the HCA tool). I didn''t study much about other cuts but my impression is that the process would not have been quite as transparent with a fancy cut.
After several weeks of studying I became confident that I knew as much (if not more) about RBs as most of the B&M sales people in the area. A typical scenario involved a helpful B&M sales person bringing in several diamonds for me to see, me finding the same stones online through pricescope searches, printing out the GIA reports and running the HCA scores, and going to the store knowing the quality and pricing details ahead of time. At this point (mid-late August) it became clear to me that buying the loose diamond from a quality online retailer was the way to go.
About those pricescope searches... I started out doing searches on GIA/AGS stones with a 2.85-2.99 carat range, F-H color, and VS1-SI1 clarity. After seeing some stones "live" in this size range I came to the conclusion that with larger sizes it was best (for my preferences) to stay away from H color and SI1 clarity. Also I found the supply of stones just under 3 carats to be pretty scarce, so I did expand the searches up to 3.10 carats. If I had added EGL stones to the mix I would not have gone less than F color and VS1 clarity, which was very rare in this size range and was not really an option. For a couple of weeks I noticed a JamesAllen 2.97 G/VS1/AGS0 priced right at the top of my budget range, and in late August I decided to pull the trigger on this stone. Here are the details:
JamesAllen.com
2.97 carat round brilliant (9.19-9.29mm spread)
color: G clarity: VS1
Jan 2007 AGS Diamond Quality Document
Light Performance: 0
Proportion Factors: 0
Finish: 0
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Table: 55.2%
Depth: 61.6%
Crown Angle: 34.7
Pavilion Angle: 40.7
Florescence: None
HCA Score: 1.1
I have to say that I''m very happy I got this stone when I did. A word about seasonality in diamond supply... while there were still a handful of 2.85-2.99ct stones available in mid-August, as Labor Day approached the supply began to dwindle, and by early September they were all but non-existent. Not sure if this had to do with the Jewish holidays arriving in September or some kind of backlog before the late-year holiday inventory build up, but my advice is that if you find yourself searching for stones that are in scarce supply you should be prepared to quickly pull the trigger if you find one you like.
Also a word about Ideal symmetry and Hearts & Arrows... as has been stated in H&A tutorials, Ideal symmetry does not guarantee a perfect H&A pattern. On our stone I would say 6 of the 8 hearts/arrows show very good / excellent symmetry, and 2 of them show good symmetry. One thing I had been unsure of at the beginning of my search was whether you could see an Arrow pattern in a diamond under normal viewing conditions, and I''m happy to say that you can see the Arrows with the naked eye when the light is hitting it right, and it is very neat to see that symmetry
Gorgeous rock.Throughout this process I used Martin Fuller & Associates of McLean, Virginia for the appraisal work. Martin was recommended to me by a friend and I happily recommend his services to anyone in the DC metro area. With the appraisal in hand I got the loose diamond added to my home insurance policy, stuck the diamond in a safe deposit box, and started work on the setting.
I knew going in that my fiance''s dream band was the Full Round Eternity ring in the Memoire Purity collection. We had seen the Memoire bands in a couple of B&M''s and fell in love with them, I especially liked how the ering and wedding band fit together. I was comfortable with the idea of ordering the bands from an online retailer, but I wanted to find a local shop to perform the mounting. (I had decided from the start to get the ering and the wedding band at the same time). I called pearlmansjewelers.com and got an excellent price quote on the rings, but I did not order them right away.
I called Quest Jewelers of Fairfax, VA (recommended by friends and pricescope) and talked to Pete about doing the mounting. Pete informed me that Quest had recently become a Memoire authorized dealer and wanted a shot at providing both the rings and the mounting. (At that time Quest was not yet listed as a dealer on the Memoire website but they are now). Pete was able price the rings very competitively compared to the online retailers, so I decided to order them through Quest. Here are the details:
Memoire Purity Collection ordered through Quest Jewelers
Full Round Eternity with 999 Platinum
Engagement Ring:
- Model PPSPH1-3
- 12 x 0.25ct G/H VS2/SI1 round brilliants
- 3.00 tcw
Wedding Band:
- Model PPSP1-3.1/4
- 13 x 0.25ct G/H VS2/SI1 round brilliants
- 3.25 tcw
Pete at Quest Jewelers did an excellent job with the mounting and I was thrilled with the results. After a second appraisal of the finished rings and an update to my insurance policy, I presented the ering to my fiance with my proposal and she accepted
We both love the ring and find ourselves staring at it constantly!I prefer not to go into the details of the pricing of the individual components, but as a ballpark figure I will say that the total insured value of both rings and the center stone is $76,000. Often when making a purchase of this size it''s common to feel a small bit of buyer''s remorse, but I can honestly say that I have no qualms or remorse about this entire process, I couldn''t be more thrilled with the outcome, and a huge part of that is due to the help of pricescope.
I''ll just add that another interesting site that I found myself checking during this process was the front page of idexonline.com to check on the latest headlines from the diamond industry.
Now I''ll try to pull myself away from the constant diamond research and get on with the rest of the wedding planning, although it will be tough since this industry is fascinating. Hopefully this post will be of some use to people searching the forums in the future, and I wish everyone the best of luck with their diamond hunting!
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