I had the same dilemma. I ended up buying 2 *loose* Blue Nile signature ideal diamonds, and examined both of them with my own H&A viewer and ideal scope. Both lived up to my standards as far as hearts and arrows are concerned. You can see the images here:Date: 4/4/2009 7:08:43 PM
Author:Sam82
Which should I go with a Blue Nile Signature diamond or a GOG H&A ideal? Are all Blue Nile Signature diamonds H&A diamonds? The budget is going to be pretty tight ,around $3,000. I''m hoping to get around .75 carats.
Yes, you definitely need to do so. Jon the owner is a great guy and you will have a wonderful time viewing diamonds!Date: 4/5/2009 9:03:13 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
yes, they are based in Long Island. You will need to call them and make an appointment first, I think.
Date: 4/6/2009 2:56:22 PM
Author: whitby_2773
hi Sam82
buying diamonds through BN or through GOG are two different processes. if you feel you want the help of an expert right there with you to explain and guide, then a vendor like GOG would be the way to go. but if you want to do the process by yourself and perhaps save a few bucks, you might want to try BN. if you decide to do the BN route, you might like to have your stone checked out by an appraiser if you want the extra images and info which BN doesn''t offer. expert info like GOG can offer you comes at a price and only you can decide if that''s worth it to you and how much help you need.
both processes can be a lot of fun -good luck!
Date: 4/6/2009 4:31:30 AM
Author: silverbuggy
Oh and here''s Blue Nile''s link that claims their signature ideal diamonds are all H&A:
http://www.bluenile.com/signature-ideal-round-diamonds
So while initially a skeptic, I''ve come away quite satisfied with Blue Nile and would happily go back to them if I were to buy a diamond in the future. But just to satisfy my anal self, I would still buy the signature ideal diamond loose first and take H&A photographs before getting it set. A word of advice is you should purchase the Jeweler''s Mutual insurance on the loose diamond. It''s a quick click away from the Blue Nile site and all information gets populated automatically so it''s really easy. The cool thing is if you return the diamond within 30 days, you can cancel the insurance completely FREE of charge. That is, they reverse all insurance charges so you don''t pay a penny for the duration that you keep the diamond. And that also means that if you choose not to keep diamond and ship it back to Blue Nile, you can do it via UPS/Fedex and not pay any insurance becaues JM would cover it. I have email proof from their sales rep saying they cover shipping of loose diamonds. So it''s a bit of hassle to buy a loose diamond, but at least it won''t cost you much.