Buying a diamond, what next?

[sdunlap10]

So I'm going to pay for This diamond either today or tomorrow, and I'm wondering two things.

First, what do you guys think? It's a little more than I wanted to spend, but it's a 1.27ct and our first date was on 1/27 (6 years ago) so I figure it's got to be a sign, right?

Second, what should I do about getting it shipped to me? Do you guys normally get it shipped to you and then take it to an appraiser to make sure that it matches, or do you not worry about it? How much would it cost to send it to an appraiser and have him do his thing, then ship it to me? I'm concerned becuase this diamond is out of my budget and additional costs just put it further out of my budget.

Thanks guys! I'm excited to finally get a diamond picked out.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm not buying it from WF, I just linked to their page because they've got the AGS cert for you to take a look at. I ended up getting a better price from US Certed Diamonds.

 

[Maisie]

Date: 2/14/2007 11:05:34 AM
Author:sdunlap10
So I''m going to pay for This diamond either today or tomorrow, and I''m wondering two things.

First, what do you guys think? It''s a little more than I wanted to spend, but it''s a 1.27ct and our first date was on 1/27 (6 years ago) so I figure it''s got to be a sign, right?

Second, what should I do about getting it shipped to me? Do you guys normally get it shipped to you and then take it to an appraiser to make sure that it matches, or do you not worry about it? How much would it cost to send it to an appraiser and have him do his thing, then ship it to me? I''m concerned becuase this diamond is out of my budget and additional costs just put it further out of my budget.

Thanks guys! I''m excited to finally get a diamond picked out.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I''m not buying it from WF, I just linked to their page because they''ve got the AGS cert for you to take a look at. I ended up getting a better price from US Certed Diamonds.

Did you take into account the PS discount?

 

[sdunlap10]

Yes, I called him up and told him that PS was asking $5,149 with their discount, and he is beating that price. I guess I should also ask what you guys think about that place, I''ve not heard much around here.

 

[sdunlap10]

Hmmm, He wants me to wire the money before he''ll ship it to Bill Lieberum. I don''t know what the best thing to do here is, should I get it shipped to me and get it appraised once it''s been set? We need to get an appraisal of the ring for insurance anyway, so maybe wait until it''s been set to get an appraisal, and maybe just take it to a local jeweler once I get it just to make sure that the report is accurate? Is an appraisal of the loose stone even necessary?

 

[hikerchick]

We got our diamond appraised loose, just to be sure. It helped us feel better that we were getting what the cert told us.
Where are you getting the setting? If you are getting the setting locally, I would get it shipped to you (as long as there is a return policy) and then appraised, set and reappraised. Atleast that is how we are doing it.

 

[sdunlap10]

Thanks for your response. Ideally, that's what I would like to do. However, I think we'll have it set by someone in North Carolina (I'm in FL) because she's a friend of my father's and he trusts her to do a good job.

What I'm thinking right now is that I'd have to have the diamond shipped to Bill in Boca, then he'll check it out and ship it to me. Then, I'll have to ship it to NC and have her set it, and then she can ship the whole ring back. However, that's an awful lot of shipping, and those charges are going to start adding up. Plus, I'm starting to get antsy, and i want to propose ASAP.

Option 2 is to have the diamond shipped directly to me so that I can check it out. Obviously I can't do too much evaluating, but I can at least decide if I like it or not. If I do like it, then I can ship it to NC and have it set, then appraise the whole ring when I get it back.

Another option is to have it shipped to my parents in NC, who can drop it off with the jeweler who can judge for herself and set it and ship it to me. This would be the quickest option, but I don't particularly like the idea of not being able to see the diamond before it's set. Plus, since it's an SI2, I'd like to be able to see it firsthand to decided whether or not this is the diamond for me.

I'm probably being overly cautious though. I'm confident that the diamond will match the cert and all this appraisal business may just be a waste of time. Plus, it'll be appraised for insurance purposes either way.


EDIT: I think this is the same diamond, and they have a magnified image of it. It looks to be eye clean, and when I spoke with Marten at US Certed Diamonds, he called and asked the supplier to check and they said that it's eye clean.

 

[hikerchick]

Well, this is what I would do . . . I would have it shipped to you and have them send you a loupe or buy a cheap loupe locally or online. Check it against the cert for inclusions, with an SI2 this should be relatively easy even for a newbie. Take the diamond into sunlight and make sure it doesn''t have any effects from the fluor and make sure you are happy with how eye-clean it is. Once you are happy with it, there are 2 options as I see it. You can take it to a local independant appraiser, there must be some near you and have it independantly appraised (this is what I would do) or if you have enough confidence in your opinion and the opinion of your father''s jeweler friend, just ship it to them and have them "verify" it. Get it set and then independantly appraised. Just what I would do. Personally have an independant appraisal would be important to me. My BF is even considering 2 apparaisals even though that is likely overkill.

 

[sdunlap10]

I think that''s what I''m going to end up doing. He seemed really intent on me getting it appraised, but I want to see it for myself.

 

[hikerchick]

Date: 2/14/2007 4:39:55 PM
Author: sdunlap10
I think that''s what I''m going to end up doing. He seemed really intent on me getting it appraised, but I want to see it for myself.

You can do both. It doesn''t have to be appraised in another state . . . there must be perfectly good appraisers near you, just take it to one of them. Also, with strong blue fluor, you really do want/need to look at it yourself to know for sure that the effects are acceptable to you. Good Luck and keep us posted.

 

[sdunlap10]

Okay, I may end up doing that.

Besides that, what do you guys think of the diamond itself?