Bad experience at Adiamor.com

[Laila619]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to post this to get your thoughts and see if I'm overreacting about my experience shopping with Adiamor.com. I fell in love with a setting of theirs I wanted to buy for a RHR on a limited budget. At first I was going to order just the setting, and have the stone mounted with a local jeweler. But then I decided that it would be much easier to buy a stone from them too, so the entire ring could be shipped as a completed piece and I wouldn't have to worry about finding a competent local jeweler.

I assumed Adiamor wouldn't have the best prices, but for fun, I decided to browse their inventory and see if I could find anything good. Well lo and behold, I found what looked like a great stone (GIA excellent cut with a nice HCA score) at a great price, and it was actually one of their Affinity Diamonds, supposedly the nicest they sell. So I ordered up the ring and was all excited about my purchase and my good buy.

Then I get a phone call the next day from Adiamor telling me that they had the stone visually inspected by the cutter or seller or whomever has it in their possession currently, and they were told it was available, but that it had a brown tint (it's a GIA J and the lab report says nothing about the tint), and that therefore, because of the brown tint, Adiamor will not sell it to me. I asked the Adiamor rep if they looked at the stone themselves, and she said they did not. I told them that color is subjective and that I know all about brown tinted stones and that some people actually find them more desirable than yellow tint, as brown tinted stones can sometimes look steely. But they would not budge. She insisted that what I was saying wasn't true. I told them I didn't understand why the diamond was for sale on their site if they were not willing to sell it to me. The whole thing is just annoying and odd. So my order had to be cancelled and now I won't get my ring after all.

I just don't get why they put something on their site for sale if they don't want to sell it. And of course, all the other stones that are for sale are much more expensive, so there really isn't anything else in budget with the same specs and size.

 

[yssie]

Sorry Laila, how odd!

I can understand a vendor not wanting to sell a stone under a brand flag if that stone doesn't meet whatever specifications they've set for the brand, arbitrary though they may be - WF's ACA RB proportions don't permit stones with 36deg crowns and they can be perfectly lovely! I can't understand advertising a stone as belonging to a given line before checking to confirm that it actually meets the brand requirements, and I really can't rationalise not being willing to at least discuss selling it unbranded and compromising on upgrade/trade-in policies, etc... after having listed it as one of their premier stones!

Your experience tells us a lot about how Adiamor operates, honestly.

 

[Gypsy]

I think it's strange. But I get Yssie's point too.

I can understand the irritation though.

 

[Laila619]

Sorry Laila, how odd!

I can understand a vendor not wanting to sell a stone under a brand flag if that stone doesn't meet whatever specifications they've set for the brand, arbitrary though they may be - WF's ACA RB proportions don't permit stones with 36deg crowns and they can be perfectly lovely! I can't understand advertising a stone as belonging to a given line before checking to confirm that it actually meets the brand requirements, and I really can't rationalise not being willing to at least discuss selling it unbranded and compromising on upgrade/trade-in policies, etc... after having listed it as one of their premier stones!

Your experience tells us a lot about how Adiamor operates, honestly.

Yeah, it was really odd. I asked why it was for sale on their site then, and why is it an "Affinity" diamond, and she said something to the effect of "We put thousands of diamonds on our site. We don't actually approve them for sale until they are ordered by someone, and then we inspect each one."

Why not do that first? Seems like a waste of the customer's time.

 

[kenny]

Sorry Laila, how odd!

I can understand a vendor not wanting to sell a stone under a brand flag if that stone doesn't meet whatever specifications they've set for the brand, arbitrary though they may be - WF's ACA RB proportions don't permit stones with 36deg crowns and they can be perfectly lovely! I can't understand advertising a stone as belonging to a given line before checking to confirm that it actually meets the brand requirements, and I really can't rationalise not being willing to at least discuss selling it unbranded and compromising on upgrade/trade-in policies, etc... after having listed it as one of their premier stones!

Your experience tells us a lot about how Adiamor operates, honestly.

Yeah, it was really odd. I asked why it was for sale on their site then, and why is it an "Affinity" diamond, and she said something to the effect of "We put thousands of diamonds on our site. We don't actually approve them for sale until they are ordered by someone, and then we inspect each one."

Why not do that first? Seems like a waste of the customer's time.

Apparently they don't care if they waste YOUR time; they just don't want to waste theirs.

How odd.
You'd think they'd sell you the diamond but just not under their brand name.

I suspect something else is going on they don't want to reveal, like the stone was already sold to someone else, or they can't get it now at the price they thought.
Something.

 

[Laila619]

Sorry Laila, how odd!

I can understand a vendor not wanting to sell a stone under a brand flag if that stone doesn't meet whatever specifications they've set for the brand, arbitrary though they may be - WF's ACA RB proportions don't permit stones with 36deg crowns and they can be perfectly lovely! I can't understand advertising a stone as belonging to a given line before checking to confirm that it actually meets the brand requirements, and I really can't rationalise not being willing to at least discuss selling it unbranded and compromising on upgrade/trade-in policies, etc... after having listed it as one of their premier stones!

Your experience tells us a lot about how Adiamor operates, honestly.

Yeah, it was really odd. I asked why it was for sale on their site then, and why is it an "Affinity" diamond, and she said something to the effect of "We put thousands of diamonds on our site. We don't actually approve them for sale until they are ordered by someone, and then we inspect each one."

Why not do that first? Seems like a waste of the customer's time.

Apparently they don't care if they waste YOUR time; they just don't want to waste theirs.

How odd.
You'd think they'd sell you the diamond but just not under their brand name.

I suspect something else is going on they don't want to reveal, like the stone was already sold to someone else, or they can't get it now at the price they thought.
Something.

That's what I originally thought too, that they listed it too cheaply and they realized their mistake too late.

But they say I won't be happy with the stone because it's "dingy" because of this supposed faint brown tint (even though the numbers are about as safe as GIA ex gets). And that I will want to return it, and that they'd rather avoid all that.

 

[Todd Gray]

Okay so the first thought that I have is why not see whether one of the other vendors here on PS who takes more of a hands-on approach can source the diamond on your behalf and provide you with an evaluation of it, since it appears to be one found within the MLS and thus is most likely readily available to all vendors - since it's obviously not a branded Adiamor Affinity Diamond

 

[Laila619]

Okay so the first thought that I have is why not see whether one of the other vendors here on PS who takes more of a hands-on approach can source the diamond on your behalf and provide you with an evaluation of it, since it appears to be one found within the MLS and thus is most likely readily available to all vendors - since it's obviously not a branded Adiamor Affinity Diamond

Good thought Todd, but I wanted to buy the stone + setting together, and only Adiamor sells that particular setting.

Oh well, I thought I would try a new vendor out but lesson learned.

 

[Karl_K]

But they say I won't be happy with the stone because it's "dingy" because of this supposed faint brown tint (even though the numbers are about as safe as GIA ex gets). And that I will want to return it, and that they'd rather avoid all that.

That is the traditionalist view of the brown tint issue.
At one time all brown tinted diamonds sold at a large discount.
I can understand why they do not want them in their brand based on tradition.
Some people are likely able to tell the difference between a yellow j and a brown j but which they will prefer if it makes any difference to them is a question that has no one answer.
So some vendors avoid the issue by not selling them at all.

 

[yennyfire]

What a bummer and I agree, it's an odd policy!

 

[Laila619]

Hi Karl, yes I do understand that POV, but why list it on their site for sale? Seems so odd they don't vet their stones before they list them as their Affinity line. Ah well. I suppose it's for the best, because it would be risky buying a stone with a brown tint sight unseen. I think GIA should notate this brown tint in their reports too so buyers know what they're truly getting.

 

[Karl_K]

. I think GIA should notate this brown tint in their reports too so buyers know what they're truly getting.

There are some labs that note tint and a bit of controversy over requiring it in Europe.

Per the PS rules I should refrain from commenting specifically on their branding practices as much as I want too.

 

[insured]

Well lo and behold, I found what looked like a great stone (GIA excellent cut with a nice HCA score) at a great price, and it was actually one of their Affinity Diamonds, supposedly the nicest they sell. So I ordered up the ring and was all excited about my purchase and my good buy.

Then I get a phone call the next day from Adiamor telling me that they had the stone visually inspected by the cutter or seller or whomever has it in their possession currently, and they were told it was available, but that it had a brown tint (it's a GIA J and the lab report says nothing about the tint), and that therefore, because of the brown tint, Adiamor will not sell it to me. I asked the Adiamor rep if they looked at the stone themselves, and she said they did not. I told them that color is subjective and that I know all about brown tinted stones and that some people actually find them more desirable than yellow tint, as brown tinted stones can sometimes look steely. But they would not budge. She insisted that what I was saying wasn't true. I told them I didn't understand why the diamond was for sale on their site if they were not willing to sell it to me. The whole thing is just annoying and odd. So my order had to be cancelled and now I won't get my ring after all.

I just don't get why they put something on their site for sale if they don't want to sell it. And of course, all the other stones that are for sale are much more expensive, so there really isn't anything else in budget with the same specs and size.

Sounds like a classic bait and switch to me. Lure you in with the promise of a low price (that they won't deliver on) and then try to sell you something more expensive.

 

[WinkHPD]

Okay so the first thought that I have is why not see whether one of the other vendors here on PS who takes more of a hands-on approach can source the diamond on your behalf and provide you with an evaluation of it, since it appears to be one found within the MLS and thus is most likely readily available to all vendors - since it's obviously not a branded Adiamor Affinity Diamond

Todd is correct. It is amazing to me how many times one can find a stone that is listed on one of the sites and the diamonds are not even in this country. I have found diamonds that are still in India or Hong Kong being listed as part of the inventory of a large site. YOu can be pretty sure that when a vendor is listing thousands of diamonds that they do not have more than a small percentage that they actually own up on their site.

A vendor with thousands or tens of thousands of diamonds listed can not begin to vet them all until a client actually chooses one of them. It simply costs too much money to do so.

Wink

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Okay so the first thought that I have is why not see whether one of the other vendors here on PS who takes more of a hands-on approach can source the diamond on your behalf and provide you with an evaluation of it, since it appears to be one found within the MLS and thus is most likely readily available to all vendors - since it's obviously not a branded Adiamor Affinity Diamond

Todd is correct. It is amazing to me how many times one can find a stone that is listed on one of the sites and the diamonds are not even in this country. I have found diamonds that are still in India or Hong Kong being listed as part of the inventory of a large site. YOu can be pretty sure that when a vendor is listing thousands of diamonds that they do not have more than a small percentage that they actually own up on their site.

A vendor with thousands or tens of thousands of diamonds listed can not begin to vet them all until a client actually chooses one of them. It simply costs too much money to do so.

Wink

Yes, all big drop shippers are like this. I have seen several times a well known PS vendor couldn't produce IS images for days because the stone is in another country. We all know the vendors who actually carry stones in-house and have selected them for their inventory. I am sorry you were disappointed, Laila, but this doesn't surprise me at all. The certs don't list the undertones, so the vendor wouldn't have known until they called the cutter about calling in the stone. If you really want that particular diamond, many vendors can access it for you if you kept the GIA report number.

 

[Ashleigh]

My observation is as follows though I'm not saying it's their practice since I have never dealt with them.

Parameters are set for ideal diamonds and any diamonds within these parameters become their signature stones. But they have never seen the stones before as they are located overseas/still in some supplier's boxes but not in their possession. As we are too used to signature stones being in-house stones, we would have thought that they were inspected. But they aren't. When a customer wants to buy a signature stone or any stone, they liase with the supplier. At least the supplier is honest about the brown tint and the vendor is also honest about the tint. A brown tint not listed on cert is so faint that unless you know what you're looking for, you would miss it. At least they didn't try to sell it to you and hope that you don't notice.

On the low price, I don't think it's so much bait and switch. Rather, brown tint commands a discount. Yes, the brown tint isn't listed so it's very faint and they can don't give the discount but at least the supplier is honest enough to acknowledge with a discount. Actually this is a good value diamond as the tint is most probably very faint, just that the diamond looks darker in general. It should command a 10% discount or thereabouts as compared to stones with similar specs without the tint.

The rap liasing with you can't make decisions and is just following rules not to sell such a diamond. If you really want the stone, pick a vendor you like and ask them to call it in for you. However, if it's located overseas, it's wiser to just look for another option.

 

[JulieN]

I think john p said brown tinted stones look darker face up than yellow tinted atones of the same grade

 

[Karl_K]

Here is a thread with some good discussion of brown tints.
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-many-h-i-j-k-diamonds-are-brown-and-do-you-care.184489/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-many-h-i-j-k-diamonds-are-brown-and-do-you-care.184489/[/URL]