BlueNile.com

[640k]

I'm new to the diamond market and am trying my best not to have one pulled over on me by a jeweler store. So I hopped on the net and came across Blue Nile's website. All of their diamonds are really fair in price but I don't know anyone that has done business with them. Can anyone make any recommendations on where the best place to buy a diamond is?

Thanks.

 

[pricescope]

640k, you can do a search on this board to read feedbacks on Blue Nile.

Basically quite a few people were satisfied with their experience.

 

[diamondsman]

Hi,

I think you should compare a few sites and see who is giving you the best deal,and then make your choice.
Many are giving away free gifts with your purchase such as 14kg setting, free shipping, free appraisal etc...,and if you are not in their state ,you could also save on sales tax. after you have checked a few than make your decision.
good luck!
diamondsman

 

[catatonic]

My boyfriend and I had a wonderful experience with Jim Schultz at DirtCheapDiamonds.com !!! After running search after search with certain diamond specs in mind, we kept coming up with a few of the very same stones. While Jim's price was listed at a few dollars more than one other company, Jim's policy is to meet the competitions price for that diamond and throw in free shipping. So the price was great, and Jim took a LOT of his time to go over every last detail with me and my boyfriend separately, so that we both knew what was going on and we were all on the same page. Jim is honest and PATIENT and does it all with a most reasonable price tag! I also was able to custom order the setting that I wanted from Jim, so that everything was taken care of all at once. One stop shopping....great prices, great people. DirtCheapDiamonds.com ....you cannot go wrong, run a search on the company like I did and you'll find nothing but glowing reports.

Best of luck to you....stick around here and you'll be running circles around some "professionals" in no time!

 

[640k]

Thanks, I appreciate it. I spent all weekend searching on the net for the "perfect diamond" after I was almost raped by a jeweler in the mall (who shall remain unnamed). They wanted to charge me $1399 for a .43c diamond that I found only for about $700-$800. I went over there this morning and showed her the diamond I found on BlueNile and she said she could come down to $1225 and that the .01c difference between the two diamonds isn't worth saving $100 with the warranty they offer. I then showed her that the diamond is AGS and GCAL certified and that the cut is "signature ideal" which exceeds or meets their "hearts on fire" diamond that they wanted to charge me $3400 for. She said there was no way she could match $1130 with that grade of cut or clarity, so I asked for my deposit back and left.

 

[luckyguy]

I'm glad that you were able to get your deposit money back. I don't know what their policy is with regard to refunding deposits, but at least they were "honest" enough to graciously loose your business. Heck, they'll more than make up for it on the next "blind" purchaser that walks through thier doors.

Keep doing research--the best decision is an informed one; don't forget to run a price check on pricescope.

 

[Mara]

Also be sure to make use of the Holloway Cut Advisor tool on Pricescope to run a final check on your selected diamond. It will give you an idea of how the 'cut' measures up in the way of fire, brilliance and scintillation of your diamond (e.g. sparkles, etc). This tool is great, and can help you cull out the diamonds that might look great on paper, but not have the best ratings when it comes to how the diamond shines. You can read more about the HCA on that section of this site as well. Fascinating!!

One thing that I wanted to note as well is that when I was researching, I ran across a great diamond on Blue Nile that was a 'signature ideal' (aka their idea of great diamonds for dummies). I was all excited as it was a great price, then I ran it through the HCA and found that it scored around a 2.9 or so, which is still good, but we were looking for something under 2.0 which is in the excellent range. I was surprised that BN would consider a 2.9 HCA diamond to be a 'signature ideal' when I had run across other diamonds on sites such as DirtCheapDiamonds.Com and Diamondwholesale.cc for less $$ that scored around .5-1 Tolowksy Ideal Cut on the HCA.

So just be cautious, there are many branded diamonds out there (e.g. Hearts and Arrows, Hearts of Fire, Lazare) and 'Signature Ideal' from BN is just another brand, its all the same way of saying 'these are great diamonds'..but you can figure that out for yourself with a little research and then save some $$ on not buying the brand name! (My little marketing heart quivers when I say this but its true!)

Best of luck! You'll find this forum very helpful in your research.

 

[640k]

I did that HCA test and the diamond I'm after scored a .5. The blurb on the right said that .5 is an excellent cut but may below current standards. So far this is the rock I'm getting. I checked dirtcheapdiamonds and they have very similar stones with only a price diff of about $50-$100, plus you have to pay $30 shipping. Most of them are only GIA certified anyway, the stone I'm looking at is AGSL and GCAL. BN gives free overnight and I think I might get those $20 silver earings for her just to throw her off. I'm pretty excited, this diamond is great and blew away anything they had in the mall. Once I get it set in the mount, I'll post the pics. Thanks for everyone's help.

By the by... I'm letting myself get screwed on the mount ($350 with setting). Roger's has an 18k white gold bypass setting thats very contemporary, but I can't find it anywhere else. The original design I found on the net searching for platinum engagement rings. They were only asking $800 for the ring with a diamond, but I liked the design the best. I'm trying to find something cheaper, as the jeweler told me it could take 4 weeks for the mount to arrive and I plan on proposing xmas morning.

 

[Mara]

Actually .5 on the HCA is a very excellent cut!! Anything under 2 is excellent, and the closer to 0 is better I believe...though there will never be a 0..nothing is perfect! You can read more about the HCA and how it was created on this site as well, but I don't have the URL handy.

Sounds like with the knowledge you have, the HCA scores and the info from BN this is could be a great stone! Plus BN is great with their return policy and they are a reputable online etailer so you know they aren't going to run off with your hard-earned funds to Fiji for a week. Congrats!

 

[640k]

Here is a rough sketch of the ring (with diamond) that I plan on proposing with. I don't have an actual picture, although I know what it looks like

Check out my post in the other forum on how I plan on proposing. Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[640k]

Here is the final ring. She absolutely loved it and the diamond that came from BlueNile is spectacular. The hearts and arrows on it are flawless and the sparkle is incredible.

 

[Rockford]

Nice Ring! I say that because I just proposed on New Years with a ring that's almost identical to that. What's your's made out of? Does it have a little bar under the stone to tie the two sides together? My fiancee's does and hers is platnium. If I knew how to post pictures I'd do it. the rings are VERY similar. Good choice. Mine loved her's too by the way.

 

[Mara]

Stunning ring!!! Very nice! Congratulations

 

[JayTee]

Beautiful diamond. Congratulations!

I know this is a bit after the fact, but BN's Signature Ideal doesn't always correspond to HCA scores, because their Signature Ideal (and Ideal and on down. . .) only take into account Table and Depth %, while crown and pavilion angles are also factored in for HCA.

Again, congrats!

 

[Mara]

Actually BN's Signature Ideal diamonds normally have AGSL certification with them, which do have the crown and pav angles on them, just a little blurry in the scanned shots they use for the web..though you can ask them to confirm before purhcase, etc.

Their Signature Ideal diamonds are pretty much the only ones on their site though that carry an AGSL cert so all the other non Sig Ideal diamonds have GIA or similar.

 

[640k]

I got really lucky with my signature-ideal - it came with both the AGSL cert and a GCAL cert. The ring is made of white gold. Not the most precious metal, but I thought it really brought out the brilliance of the stone. The jewelers who faceted it were even impressed with the stone, as with the appraisers.

Thanks everyone!