Best places to shop for lab grown diamonds? Looking for best price on a 1 carat.

[whitewave]

@whitewave ugh. This is such a difficult decision. I'm going to talk to boyfriend and see what he thinks about mined, lab, antique mined, mined but not by debeers. I think his issue is with ALL mined diamonds, that the prices and values are artificially inflated and that it's a racket he doesn't want to be involved in. I kind of agree, but I still want a beautiful sparkly rock that will stay that way forever.

I might make an appointment with a local jeweler who has a lot of antique diamonds just to get an idea of what's available. I think bf and I would both feel good about an antique. Still a real diamond, will hold value, but not directly supporting the big bad diamond bros, although I guess supporting the used diamond market is still helping to perpetuate the idea that diamonds have a high resale value.

I bet if I said all of this to my bf, he would just be like holy shit I didn't know it was so complicated, just get whatever you want. Lol

I put up 3 choices on one of your other threads; I get them mixed up lol.

 

[dhoang132]

i Really feel it's up to the individual wearing the ring. If you feel lab grown is fake and don't want to feel like you are living a lie wearing the ring than I would go with mined diamonds. For my wife she said she didn't care, what she cared about was the fact that I loved her enough to spend a huge sum of money on it. So if i spend 5k for a mined diamond. She wouldn't care if it was lab grown just as long as it was still 5k on the lab grown. so it would have to be bigger and brighter. What she wouldnt like is if i spent 500 bucks instead of the 5k lol.

 

[MollyMalone]

Oh also "If you have a jeweler you trust" I don't. In fact I've really disliked every jeweler I've met so far. I would love to hear some personal recommendations for Philly jewelers. Someone who won't push, and will actually listen to what's important to me without making me feel like what I want is garbage.

I've not dealt with Leon's Jewelry face-to-face. (The inventory shown on their website & one of the pics posted on Yelp suggest that it's a glorified pawn shop; another photo does show an in-house "bench.") FWIW, I purchased a Cartier ring from Leon's via eBay. I was pleased that the ring was not a fake, but I returned it because I didn't like it very much on my hand. I received a very prompt refund.

http://www.leonsjewelryphiladelphia.com/
https://www.yelp.com/biz/leons-jewelry-philadelphia

ETA: I now see, from this post
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...in-a-ring-websites-local.243579/#post-4412504
that you've found a local jeweler who seems like quite a promising possibility, YAY!! (I'm mourning the retirement of the jeweler in my neighborhood who was excellent for small jobs & charged me virtually his wholesale price for Stuller settings.)

 

[MamaBee]

I wish they would do a date they are going live. The waiting is kind of driving me nuts!

It’s the big build up..so people are frantic to buy...I also bet they will have a limited supply to increase interest..

 

[DoeEyes]

@Mamabean It's working! Every day I wake up and check to see if they launched yet!

 

[MamaBee]

@Mamabean It's working! Every day I wake up and check to see if they launched yet!

 

[VDK1]

https://lightboxjewelry.com/collect...cts/halo-pendant_white_sterling-silver_1carat

01 day 18h 48 min 08s to go!

 

[vintageloves]

https://lightboxjewelry.com/collect...cts/halo-pendant_white_sterling-silver_1carat

01 day 18h 48 min 08s to go!

I was starting to think it would never happen!

Except what's now listed on their site isn't the same as it was and a lot of the styles they parade on instagram never made it. I'm not sure I like any of their current offerings. I wanted to two-stone pendant with the blue and white. Boo.

 

[MelloYello8]

Aw, no blues over half a carat either. There are 1 ctw studs but not sure how well they’ll match in real life. The pair depicted is actually the same picture shown twice. https://lightboxjewelry.com/collections/new-in/products/solitaire-studs_blue_10k-white-gold_1carat

 

[VDK1]

Synthetic stones can be made every day, 7 days a week, 24h a day .and as much as market want. Those listed at Lightbox web is just the very first batch of production. More to come, don't worry

 

[MamaBee]

I see they have 1 carat princess pendants. I could buy two and then have a jeweler set it in a stud setting..The stones would cost $1600..then I would have to buy the stud settings..and the labor to set them..I would have the equivalent of 2ctw studs which would be great..or...I could get 1.50ctw princess cut diamonds for a little over $5,000...I already have 3.03ctw mrb studs so don’t need to have them too big..I just want a pair of princess cut..Any thoughts or opinions?

 

[DoeEyes]

OMGGGG! It's going to be 5am my time when it's available to order. Tomorrow night is going to feel like Christmas Eve!

 

[tkyasx78]

I see they have 1 carat princess pendants. I could buy two and then have a jeweler set it in a stud setting..The stones would cost $1600..then I would have to buy the stud settings..and the labor to set them..I would have the equivalent of 2ctw studs which would be great..or...I could get 1.50ctw princess cut diamonds for a little over $5,000...I already have 3.03ctw mrb studs so don’t need to have them too big..I just want a pair of princess cut..Any thoughts or opinions?

I think if you are looking for princess cut earrings , lab diamonds are a very good deal! I am torn between getting 2 1 ct princess cut stones and waiting for rounds ... or getting both the princess now and the rounds when they are up

Because princess cut face up smaller than rounds though I dont know...

How big face up is a 1 ct princess cut?

 

[MamaBee]

I don’t know how the size is face up..I’m at the gathering all the info stage because I’m holding off buying until after Christmas. Then I can start getting some sparkly things. I like to plan ahead and make up my wish list so I don’t get something in a trigger finger moment. I was disappointed in the moissanite square cut studs I bought because the cut was odd..so my daughter in law will get them because she LOVES them. I’m hoping the lab diamond’s cuts are more like a mined diamond’s cut. The watchful waiting will be helpful to see how everyone rates them.

 

[MamaBee]

OMGGGG! It's going to be 5am my time when it's available to order. Tomorrow night is going to feel like Christmas Eve!

You are so funny!

 

[MelloYello8]

If anyone does buy the 1 ct pendants to reset into earrings, please let us know how that works out. I’d love to do the same for blues if and when they come out in that size. My concern is that given the range for 1 ct pieces (.95 to 1.11ct) there also may be significant variation in cut and color, thus potentially mismatched stones.

 

[OoohShiny]

I think the princess cut necklaces are 1ctw ??

I don't know how big the melee is, perhaps the main stones will all be nearer 0.9ct.

 

[MamaBee]

I think the princess cut necklaces are 1ctw ??

I don't know how big the melee is, perhaps the main stones will all be nearer 0.9ct.

I looked a little while ago and it said the center stone is one carat. They mentioned the melee was additional. Everyone’s going to be buying the pendants and all the little melees will be floating around getting sold for bands..I wish they would just sell the 1 carat Stones in a stud..I would even wear the 10k white gold stud. It’s sturdy and I would just rhodium plate it every so often.

 

[OoohShiny]

It's good that their advertising and statements in other places / responses to enquiries are so clear and consistent... lol

 

[MamaBee]

It's good that their advertising and statements in other places / responses to enquiries are so clear and consistent... lol

I just emailed them asking them how many facets in their princess cuts. I feel I have to be very detailed in asking them a question. The first time I emailed them with a question they were very perky but never answered my question about if they were going to sell white princess cut studs. I had to email them back and ask them to answer the question. They replied they didn’t know if they would sell them in white.

 

[mannycm]

Bumping up MelloYello8's post since it's the one to date that answered @frogplus 's query. Also tagging @ChristineRose in the hope that she will offer additional feedback for frogplus.

Hey everyone, new user here!

Although Lightbox's business model is fascinating, it's not super relevant for my engagement ring needs, so I was curious if any of you have used any of the vendors @MelloYello8 mentioned? I'm a little nervous about buying from a fly-by-night shop. For example, the first one seems to have just one Facebook review from 2017, and that's all I can find about them.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[DoeEyes]

@mannycm What size, shape, specs are you looking for? As others have mentioned, buying a regular lab diamond right now is potentially a bad idea since it's unknown how Lightbox will affect the prices of other lab diamonds. Is there any other reason you're interested in lab diamonds other than price?

 

[MelloYello8]

Hey everyone, new user here!

Although Lightbox's business model is fascinating, it's not super relevant for my engagement ring needs, so I was curious if any of you have used any of the vendors @MelloYello8 mentioned? I'm a little nervous about buying from a fly-by-night shop. For example, the first one seems to have just one Facebook review from 2017, and that's all I can find about them.

Thanks for all your help!

Good point — the store that sold my own e-ring closed some years later. To me, it doesn’t matter that my e-ring stone now would sell new at light box for a third of what was paid for it 12 years ago because there was never an intention to sell or trade.

D.nea has probably been around the longest as I remember it being around even when I got engaged. A 100% trade up policy coupled with a price match guarantee may mitigate some concerns about the overall lab diamond price going down — if you so desire, you can use what was paid to get something even more fabulous down the road and without a manufactured markup. The downside is their posted inventory is pretty limited, but I don’t know if that’s a limitation of the website and that there would be more available through them since most of these retailers have overlapping virtual inventories. Yadav seems like a respected brick and mortar with more choices and good prices but I don’t know if it has a trade up program.

 

[mannycm]

I'm looking to buy a three-stone platinum setting with diamond side stones and emerald-cut, +/-9x7mm blue sapphire center stone, ideally all lab-created. I'm not concerned about resale value, just looking for higher quality at the same price point and see it as a positive that I don't have to be concerned about the sourcing of mined stones. Brilliant Earth has a ring at $3.5k and Miadonna has one at $3.2k that fit my needs, but I wanted to make sure I was doing my due diligence with other companies. Just took a look at D.nea and Yadav and they look great, but I'm not seeing any sapphires on their websites.

 

[Wewechew]

I found a nice pair of matching **edited by moderator, no sales allowed**.

FYI- If you are a vendor you need to add the “trade” banner to your profile.

I believe you also aren’t allowed to sell here.

 

[Ella]

Jill, please read our policies, every one of your posts has broken them thus far. We've messaged you.

 

[Jill Smith]

Jill, please read our policies, every one of your posts has broken them thus far. We've messaged you.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to cause trouble. I thought I could be helpful. I didn't mean to step on any toes. I'll try to figure out how to add a trade banner on my profile. I'm admittedly new here. I've only had brief encounters with Pricescope in the past. Was there any way I could have given that information that wouldn't have been against policy?

 

[OoohShiny]

Sorry, I wasn't trying to cause trouble. I thought I could be helpful. I didn't mean to step on any toes. I'll try to figure out how to add a trade banner on my profile. I'm admittedly new here. I've only had brief encounters with Pricescope in the past. Was there any way I could have given that information that wouldn't have been against policy?

Click on your name in the top right of this page to access your profile. Within that section there is a box to tick to declare you are a Trade person, which adds the banner.

Trade members cannot hawk their wares on this forum, for want of a better phrase.

 

[Ella]

There are strict rules for trade members and you cannot promote your business, post photos of your items, recommend stones or settings, etc. We have these rules to keep the forum unbiased. We can add a trade badge for you.

https://www.pricescope.com/content/forum-policies

 

[bv_jewels]

Yeah, that ' s the point!
Years in the history people are willing to pay high price or extreemly hight price for the precious jem stones like diamond, ruby, emerald, sapphire and jadeite... because of their physically beauty and the unique and finiteness ( rareness ) of those stones in nature !
MMD have the same physical and chemical structures of diamonds but are not unique not rare and not finite like nature diamonds. That is the point. Simple example, a piece of stone from the moon can be very expensive but if you can make a machine that produce the same physical and chemical of this stone, who will buy this? Same concept of the antique and fake antique : prices of those can not be compared

Amazed that you guys are willing to toss all scientific facts out of the window just because you "wish so"