any opinions on diamonds from Costco?

[san diego searcher]

I love dealing with Costco because of their liberal return policy and I believe they have good product for the $ in most cases. I spoke to a local appraiser who said they have some pretty good diamonds. Others (diamond sellers) say their diamonds may not be that well cut (of course, competitors rarely speak well of eachother). They are not the cheapest but I''m having trouble deciding who to buy from. Any opinions?
thanks

 

[neatfreak]

You CAN get some pretty nice diamonds from Costco, but you must choose wisely. As always, make sure they have certs from GIA/AGS, bring the numbers back here, and ask away before you buy.

BUT that said, you can still probably get a better deal and have fewer headaches if you are willing to buy online...

 

[milton333]

I looked at Costco, and they were higher priced than many online vendors, if a bit less than B&Ms. They seemed to have very little selection in the budget-conscious realm, to my way of thinking. They stock mostly "magic weight" diamonds, right at .5, 1, 1.25, etc., which carry a premium that you need not pay if you''re willing to go a hair under in carat weight for about the same diameter spread. I did not see much in the H, SI1 realm, which is a fairly popular budgeting area, with near-colorless and usually eyeclean stones; instead, Costco seemed to be more geared toward unnecessarily high clarity and color, or, at least, clarity and color in excess of what a budgeting person might need. Given that Costco seems like it should be the budget-friendly choice, it just seemed weird to me. You could get a D, VS1 at Costco for less than in a B&M (more than online, though), but who''s shopping at Costco for a diamond with those particular specs? I don''t know, just my $.02.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I've seen some gorgeous diamond rings at Costco! If I was to buy locally, that is one store I would consider buying from (but mostly buy online because doing so is cheaper). The lighting in there is tricky though in that it CAN make a diamond appear to be especially sparkily.

Have you considered buying an idealscope? You can get one for about $25 and use that to test the cut quality of any perspective diamonds you may like there.

Here's a link to the idealscope page:
https://www.pricescope.com/idealscope_indx.asp

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 1/1/2008 6:20:12 PM
Author:san diego searcher
I love dealing with Costco because of their liberal return policy and I believe they have good product for the $ in most cases. I spoke to a local appraiser who said they have some pretty good diamonds. Others (diamond sellers) say their diamonds may not be that well cut (of course, competitors rarely speak well of eachother). They are not the cheapest but I''m having trouble deciding who to buy from. Any opinions?
thanks

Hello, I was set on buying my stone from Costco until I read about the difference in certificates, AGS, GIA, EGL and IGI. I also started reading the tutorials and plugging numbers into the HCA https://www.pricescope.com/cutadviser.asp and I learned that I could find a diamond cheaper online. If you have a budget in mind we can help you look. Hope that helps and Happy New Year!

 

[san diego searcher]

Thanks for offering to help me. I''m going circular. Started out planning to reset some very small studs in platinum due to problems with metal allergy. Then I decided they were too small and I wanted to get some one carat total studs. Once I started looking and trying on, I decided I really would be happier with larger stones (75 points per ear). But I don''t know if I can justify the expense. I''m kind of afraid that if I spend the $ for the 1.5 carats (probably at least $3-4,000) and then I decide I don''t want to wear them every day or I lose one, I''ll regret the purchase. But having spent time obsessing (particularly since I found this website), I don''t think I''ll be happy unless I get some nice well cut diamonds. I can see that online is a good way to go. But I''m not usually one to order things...would rather see, try on IRL. In the case of Costco, it seems they only sell the platinum set earrings online so I wouldn''t be able to purchase at warehouse...but I could return there. Any suggestions for a confused person?

 

[Skippy123]

San Diego, let us know your budget, color and clarity range and we can help you look. Good Old Gold and Whiteflash have a lifetime upgrade program so if you can''t buy the more expensive ones now, then you can upgrade later. I understand how scary it is to look online, in real life, etc; I know it is a big purchase but we all have been there so if you want help we are happy to help you look.

 

[san diego searcher]

Whiteflash sent me this info:

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-151618.htm
0.72 J SI1
http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-546087.htm
0.7 K VS2

I''ve also seen many more when I do a Pricescope search. Frankly, I''m overwhelmed.

 

[Skippy123]

Oops. What cut are you looking for?

 

[beaujolais]

I was once thinking about Costco, however I learned there are better ways.

 

[san diego searcher]

I can''t really answer that question very well. I guess very good or excellent. I had read a post on here where Lynn B talked about getting stones lower in color (j-k) and with excellent cut; her belief was that they showed white due to the cut. Local jewelers I''ve talked to disagree; they seem to think color is most important thing with diamond earrings...they would sacrafice some clarity and sell non-certed stone that is G or H color.

 

[UCLABelle]

Costco has fun stuff to look at, and can be cheaper than some BM stores, but I would second the idea to look at Whiteflash, and other trusted online vendors. They have a larger selection, jewelry service that is trusted, etc. And, sometimes (many times), cheaper....

Most important, I think, are certs from places like GIA or AGS. Many Costco diamonds do not have these...

 

[MrYoung]

I assessed costco as well as many other markets about a year ago. My subject was a platinum solitaire G-VS, good cut quality diamond ring. Here are the results:

Pawn Shop $5350
Online $5450
Auction House $6800
Brick and Mortar $7600
Department Stores $7975
Couture $9350

These values were adjusted in these ways:

Original Price/Adjusted Price
Pawn Shop 5200 „³ 5725
BY: Tax, sizing and setting

Online 5450 „³ 5500
BY: Shipping

Auction House 2875 „³ 6800
BY: Shipping, metal, current and constant dollar values and quality

Brick and Mortar 7600 „³ 8132
BY: Tax

Department Stores 7975 „³ 8533
BY: Quality, metal and tax

Couture 9350 „³ 7950
BY: Cut grade

I found these quotes from:
Brick and Mortar; Family owned
Pawn/Broker; Jewelry Buyer
Department store; Wal-Mart, and Costco
Online; Bluenile.com, Diamonds.com
Couture; Tiffany & Co.
Auction House; DuMouchelle and Bonhams

Seems a little strange, considering the highest grossing retail jewelers in the US are Wal-Mart followed by Costco then Service Merchandise.
Keep in mind- there are many benefits of shopping at some of the higher priced places. For example a brick and mortar store you can:

see the ring and stone
support your local community
Usually better return and refund policies
Get a ring created by someone you know

Good luck.