Blue Nile UK signature cuts

[cutandprice]

Hey Guys. Firstly thanks to this site for educating me more than I thought was possible! When I first began to look at diamonds I thought clarity and colour were the only important considerations! I thought the cut of a diamond meant the shape!! I now realise I should place the cut above all other factors and not worry about having a colourless/flawless diamond (which was good news considering my budget!!).

I am currently looking for between 0.4-0.5 carat princess cut (AGA of 1A or 1B) in colour (yes I am from the UK!) F-H with a clarity of between VS1 & SI2 (I know I may have to refine this search some more!). My budget for the diamond is £700 (thats around $1300).

I have been to the Blue Nile UK site which offers several diamonds that meet my specs (I particularly liked the Blue Nile Signature Ideal Cuts). My questions are:

1) Are the Blue Nile signature cuts worth buying - i.e are they 1A/1B cuts? (from what I can tell re the table/crown/girdle and depth they seem to be)

2) Would it be possible to buy from a US vendor and still pay less (even after any taxes that may be payable)? I have seen diamonds for around $1100 - 1200 that fit my requirements but I am not sure what I would have to pay on top of this.

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[cutandprice]

I have discovered that the Blue Nile UK site offers the very same diamonds that the US version has. The only tax to pay is VAT at 17.5%. Therefore I am deducing that the same would be true for other US sites - I would have to pay 17.5% on top of the list price plus any shipping costs the vendor may add.

Can anyone confirm this?

 

[belle]

hopefully someone that has the answer to this will chime in soon. unfortunately, i think it is true. there have been many consumers from overseas that have found it to be cheaper to fly to the u.s. to make a purchase than to have it imported. again, i don''t know for sure but i just wanted to let you know that there are people here who have purchased from overseas, hopefully they will come along and help.

welcome!

 

[pricescope]

Cutandprice, welcome.

You can search this forum for UK AND TAX terms. Here are some old threads:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/whiteflash-are-fantastic-plus-important-uk-tax-info.16926/
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/does-goodoldgold-send-diamonds-to-the-united-kingdom.7887/

 

[CatherineMcGr]

Hello, cutandprice.

I copy below a message I sent to the forum in July of this year. It was in a thread entitled "Diamond C''s trade off" by romanthony


Quote begins:

"Hello, romanthony.

I, too, live in the UK, in Northern Ireland to be precise. Several months ago my husband bought me a diamond solitaire ring from Whiteflash, after I had persuaded him that buying online was the way to go. I''d been lurking on this site since last autumn and I was convinced that the money we had available would buy a much nicer diamond than I could get here. If you type "Can''t commit! ACA or Expert Selection: will I notice the difference?" into the search box you''ll find my thread.

My diamond cost $1478 for a .595 Expert Selection Round Brilliant from Whiteflash but the Wire price was $1404.
The setting, 18carat yellow gold with six platinum prongs, cost $225 (the prices have since gone up.)
Shipping/Insurance cost $65.

The total we paid Whiteflash was $1694, which is about £910. However, our bank charges £24 for a wire transfer.

The ring came by Fedex to London, where it was delayed at customs. This was the only "uncertainty" in the whole situation. We ordered the ring at the end of May and it was posted on the last Thursday in May, just before the May day bank holiday. The Fedex tracking number which we got from Whiteflash tracked it as far as Customs in London by the Saturday. We did not expect it to arrive on the Bank holiday Monday. It did not arrive on the Tuesday. On the Wednesday my husband phoned Fedex only to be told, "Yes, we were waiting for you to call us, to pay the Duty on this package." However, we did not know that that was the required procedure. Anyway, the credit card payment was duly made over the phone and the ring released for final delivery the next day. My husband worked from home that day so as to be sure not to miss the delivery.

Anyway, £910 + £24 + £219 Duty makes a total of £1153. If I remember rightly, the £219 is made up of Import Duty and VAT and you pay both taxes on the whole package: the diamond, the setting, the postage etc

However, I have to say that my stone is absolutely gorgeous and even with the taxes it is worth it. As you know, few people wear really big diamonds in the UK and mine is bigger than average, certainly among my work colleagues and circle of friends. I don''t think it''s considered "vulgar big".........more "beautiful big but not too big" Certainly, when I look in the jewellers, especially the reputable ones like Lunn''s in Belfast, I''d need more like £2700 to £3000 to purchase anything similar.

I will admit to a few nerves when my husband made the wire transfer. But it all went smoothly. Whiteflash were great to work with, but there are other online sellers with an excellent reputation on this site. I suppose it helps if you know exactly what you are looking for, as I did, since I''d gone into jewellers here to get an idea of what I liked and what suited me. What difficulties we might have if we received a ring and then wanted to send it back, I''m not sure. There was no danger of me sending mine back as I just love it. Hope this helps,

giotto. "

End of quote.

I think Import Duty is 2 and a half % and VAT, as you probably know, is 17 and a half %. Hope you can get sorted. I am really pleased with my ring. The stone is stunning. So white, clear and super sparkly. We could not have afforded to buy the same quality of stone at UK prices.

giotto.

 

[cutandprice]

Thanks for all the help guys. I really appreciate your time.

I think I have found one or two suitable diamonds from Blue Nile UK and I believe I avoid the import duties (not had this confirmed yet though), so even with the 17.5% VAT I would save myself a reasonable amount of cash.

However, I now have another question!

Having researched the ideal proportions (i.e table, depth & crown height) for a princess cut equivalent to an AGA 1A I thought I could more or less expect an ideal cut which would produce a diamond with great sparkle and brilliance. However, during my studies I came across the Crown & Pavillion angles conundrum, which I am led to believe is the single most important factor for the brillance/sparkle of a diamond. I duly searched the forum for info on this but it seems there are no ''ideal'' values for a princess cut. I did manage to come across the values 34 and 41 degrees but I am not sure if these would, in conjunction with the other proportions/measurements, produce a diamond that maximises the sparkle. I intend to buy online and although I know I will have upto 30 days to return the diamond if it isn''t for me, the potential hassle of trying to get my VAT back is enough to persuade me to get it so right that I can almost guarantee (I know this is nearly impossible) that my diamond will be ''ideal''.

Does anyone else have ''ideal'' figures for the crown & pavillion angles for a princess cut? If my diamond fits the AGA 1A rating for all other measurements can I expect a more beautiful stone?

Also, as a slight aside - I went into Hatton Gardens in London (almost equivalent to 47th street NYC) yesterday to compare prices to see if I could get a diamond for around the same figure in this country and I found myself getting very frustrated. Every jeweller I spoke to tried to convince me that colour was the single most important factor in determining the sparkle of a diamond. I felt very uncomfortable because armed with the knowledge I have gained from this forum/site I felt I knew exactly what made a great diamond. One jeweller commented that I had done my homework when I started mentioning the table & depth percentages etc but he still insisted the colour was the most important thing, and not the cut (when I mentioned crown & pavil angles he drew me a diagram to confirm he knew what I was talking about but he didnt give me any info on the angles for the diamonds he was showing me and I didnt dare mention Sarin reports as I already felt like I was being conceited!)

I am amazed at how jewellers still sell diamonds to those that havent educated themselves - purely based on colour and clarity. Another jeweller got visibly angry with me when i suggested that the cut was the most important factor. He started telling me that a D stone would look so much better than a F/G regardless of the cut! I got so annoyed I started to mention this website and the AGA (he hadnt heard of it!) and Dave Atlas and all I got in return was "I have been doing this for 35 years and I know what I am talking about". I felt completely cheated! Either this guy was lying to me - in which case I would never do business with him - or he didn''t know what he was talking about - in which case I still wouldn''t do business with him!!

The internet has enabled information to become available to people who could never have known certain things previously and once more people gain this knowledge I am sure the jewellers will have to change their pitch. I am so grateful to Pricescope - two days of study have enabled me to (almost) confidently contest what a so called ''expert'' with 35 years in the business was telling me. Bravo pricescope (although I did feel a little arrogant contesting the so called experts!)